Jo has achieved great success in her basketball career so far, whilst still only being 22 years old. Her improvement since first representing Great Britain at Under 20 level in 2006, where the team won Bronze at the European Championships, has been rapid, and most recently Jo was at this summer's World University Games with GB, finishing among the tournament's top scorers averaging 18.9 points, helping the team to a very respectable 6th place finish.

British Basketball Performance Director Chris Spice said: "Jo's improvement over the past international season has been fantastic, and has laid the foundation for a long international career. Jo was the resounding choice for Olympic Athlete of the Year by the selection panel. On behalf of all at British Basketball I would like to congratulate Jo on her achievement and I look forward to watching her progress further both at college and with GB."

In 2006 and 2007 Jo was part of the U20 European Championships Division B team, scoring an average of 18.5 and 22.1 points per tournament respectively. In 2008 Jo took her place in the Senior Women's team competing for qualification to the 2009 Eurobasket Women. This campaign saw Jo step up to the senior level well, and she put up an average of 11 points.

On hearing that she had been named Olympic Athlete of the Year, Jo said: "I am honestly speechless and don't know what to say! This is such an honour, especially since someone like Luol Deng has received the award for the last 2 years. I have had a smile on my face for a while now!"

Jo has been invited to attend the annual BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award on December 13th in Sheffield along with the other Olympic Athletes of the Year.

Congratulations again to Jo.