Duo earn selection for Gyor festival

TWO LOUGHBOROUGH teenagers have been selected as part of the Team GB for the Gyor 2017 European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF).

The festival in Hungary will see around 3,000 athletes from 50 European nations come together to compete across 10 Olympic sports from July 23-29.

Team GB’s 50 athletes, who will all be aged 14-17 at the event, will compete in six of those; canoe sprint, cycling, gymnastics, judo, swimming and tennis with two of the swimming squad, Michaella Glenister (15) and William Bell (15) hailing from Loughborough.

Michaella Glenister said: “I’m so happy to have been selected. It was a huge shock when I found out and I’m so happy that I’ve put in all this effort and it’s been worth it. I’ve been away with teams before but never in multisport team at such a big event so I’m really looking forward to the whole experience.”

Paul Ford, Team GB Chef de Mission at Gyor 2017 said: “With just under a month to go until the start for Gyor 2017 European Youth Olympic Festival, it’s great to officially welcome these 50 young athletes to Team GB. There’s a fantastic mix of sports in our delegation this year and some real pedigree among the athletes selected.

“Returning home from Gyor with a haul of medals will be a great achievement for the team but the experience these athletes will get being part of a multi-sport event for the first time will be important and invaluable learning as they look to progress their sporting careers.

“We have seen a number of our senior Olympians go on to do great things after being selected for an EYOF and potentially some of the next generation of Team GB stars will be with us in Hungary.”