Aberdeen based Bradley Francis was recently announced as the deserving winner of the Sportsperson of the Year award, sponsored by sportscotland at the 2025 Black Scottish Awards.
The Black Scottish Awards is a powerful celebration of excellence, diversity, and achievement within Scotland’s Black community and ally communities. Bradley was delighted to share the experience with his family. Reflecting on the event, he said:
“Seeing so many successful black Scots in so many different walks of life was a real inspiration, and I really felt like I was a part of something far bigger than myself. I don’t think I’d ever seen so many black people in one room!”
“I was born and raised in Edinburgh, and so growing up I didn’t have loads of organic interactions with people that looked like me. But being a part of this celebration was a real testament to the fact that my skin tone really has nothing to do with what I can accomplish.”
The starting line
The 22-year-old admits that his love for athletics began when he was slotted into a 400m hurdle race to fill up the numbers and he’s stuck with it ever since!
He said, “I had often been the quickest on the playground or on the pitch, so it was only a matter of time until I gave athletics a proper shot, and after spending a few years getting humbled in training and races by people much faster than me, I began to really dedicate myself to it.”
One of Bradley’s earliest memories attached to sport is watching Usain Bolt break the world record on his way to winning the 100m at the 2008 Olympics.
He said, “Being in a room filled with Jamaicans going insane at the TV screen is an experience I’ve luckily got to relive over and over. As I’ve grown up, Jamaica continues to be a global sprinting powerhouse.”
Key figures like Bolt, Shelly-Anne Fraser Pryce and Yohan Blake have been real heroes for Bradley.
He said, “They’re each from humble beginnings and prove that there’s really no substitute for hard work in the cut-throat world of elite sport. Every time I get to see a Jamaican stand on the podium, I’m reminded that my heritage is something to be unashamedly proud about.”
At 15, Bradley joined Edinburgh Athletics Club after playing football for much of primary and secondary school. Thinking about his experience of sport at school, he said:
“I think sport is one of the few areas that stereotypically, black people are expected to excel in. But I was never made to feel different to any of the other children or pressured into anything. Schools are often the first environments where children encounter structured sport, so the values they promote can have a lasting impact.”
Winning feeling
Over the past year Bradley has made significant progress in his performances, winning the Scottish Senior 400m Hurdles title for the first time last summer, establishing himself as Scotland’s number one in the event.
Reflecting on the race and the daily support he receives, Bradley commented:
“Going into the event as the favourite and coming second the previous year, I was so desperate to get my first senior title under my belt. My training group has an amazing sense of camaraderie, and I’ve got amazing coaches that genuinely believe in me.”
Bradley is currently studying medicine, so balancing sport and studies has been tricky at times, with a lot of late nights and early mornings. But his passion to succeed lies in the support of his great flatmates, friends, training partners and his understanding girlfriend who he says enables him to keep doing what he loves.
Leading by example
Bradley shares that it is a huge honour to be recognised as Sportsperson of the Year and hopes that he is able to be a positive influence on younger athletes as they navigate competition nerves and difficult training sessions.
While Bradley still considers himself as ‘quite a junior competitor with a lot to learn’, he has consistently competed in the 400m and 400m Hurdles throughout the season, setting personal bests in both events. He currently ranks 4th on the all-time Scottish 400m Hurdles list and sits within the UK top ten for the year.
During the indoor season, he claimed the 400m title at the Scottish University Championships and earned a silver medal over the same distance at the Indoor British Universities Championships (BUCS).
At the start of the outdoor season, he won the 400m Hurdles and 200m titles at the Scottish University Championships and finished 4th in a competitive 400m Hurdles final at Outdoor BUCS.
Advice to others
When thinking about advice for others who want to get involved in sport, Bradley said:
“I’d say to pick something you enjoy. As much as my event often brings me a great deal of pain and suffering, I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t enjoy it! I admit it’s easy for me to say, but It’s so important to not be intimidated by people who are more experienced/ better than you. That’s one of the reasons I love athletics, it’s just you vs the clock.”
Find out more
- Celebrating The Black Scottish Awards 2025 - Sport First
- The Black Scottish Awards
- Home - Scottish Athletics
Photo credits: Pat Scaasi @patscaasi and Bobby Gavin @Bobby_ThatOneMo
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