Ellington, who had missed out on Lottery funding due to injuries, thought he had secured the finance he needed after advertising his quest for a sponsor in December, but in the meantime he had been tweeted directly by the King of Shaves chief executive Will King who had guaranteed support if his deal fell through.

When Ellington's top eBay bidder turned out to be fake, King, whose company helped support Olympic skeleton competitors Kristan Bromley and eventual silver medallist Shelley Rudman at the Turin 2006 Winter Games, stepped in to secure his primary sponsorship.

"Going on eBay gave me an amazing exposure but unfortunately the winning bidder wasn't genuine," Ellington said.

"I couldn't be happier that the deal has been sorted – and with a brand I really like.

"Now I can focus on winning a medal for Great Britain in the 2012 Olympics.

"Thankfully Will King and King of Shaves stepped in and 'shaved' my life.

"I personally want to thank all of the people who emailed, tweeted and wrote to me.

"I've been so touched by all of your messages of support and even donations to my cause.

"Whatever I manage to achieve at London 2012 I'm doing it for you."


King (pictured above right with Ellington) added: "When I heard James was struggling to raise funds and go for gold I was delighted to get King of Shaves involved as part of our forthcoming 'Wingman' Project – supporting people and businesses with real potential."

In 2007, King of Shaves sponsored James Sheppard in powerboat P1 and he won the world title in that year.

In 2010 the company also supported Jon Beeby who walked across the United States in 80 days to raise money for charity.

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