The petition set-up by the 26-year-old from Poole has already attracted more than 1,600 signatures.

 

Volleyball is one of several sports who were overlooked earlier this month by Government agency UK Sport when it distributed £292 million worth of funding to Olympic and Paralympic sport for the build-up to London.

 

They, along with beach volleyball, fencing, handball, shooting, table tennis, water polo and wrestling.must now wait until the end of next month to discover how much, if anything, they will receive.

 

Wicks has put her career as a physiotherapist on hold to pursue her ambition of competing in the 2012 Olympics and is part of the elite volleyball squad currently housed at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, a programme now in jeopardy because of the lack of clarity over funding.

 

She said: "All of the sports for which funding has not been  finalised are in the same position and all of us are now in danger of not  being able to pursue our dreams - to compete and possibly medal in London 2012.

 

"All the sacrifice and the hard work put in by the athletes, coaches, administrators and support staff could all have been for nothing, and the dedication shown by us all may end up being ignored.

 

"I believe we have the best chance of having an impact on the final decision if all the sports pull together.

 

"At the end of the day we are all fighting for the same thing – we want the Government to fulfil its promise to support our sports and to help us provide a legacy for future generations."

 

The petition can be signed at http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/OlympicLegacy/.