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An 11-strong team of
judoka will be among 64 athletes representing Team GB at the 11th
European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) in Trabzon, Turkey between
23-30 July.
Team GB will consist
of athletes from the six sports of athletics, cycling, gymnastics,
judo, swimming and tennis.
The 2011 EYOF will see
over 3000 athletes from 48 European countries assemble to compete
in a total of nine sports: athletics, cycling, gymnastics, judo,
swimming, tennis, basketball, handball and volleyball.
For all of Team GB’s
competitors, aged between 13-17, this will be their first experience
of a multi-sport environment and their first taste of Olympic
competition.
2011 European Cadet
Championship bronze medallist Hayley Willis will fight at -44kg
while Lucy Renshall, who took silver at the European showpiece,
battles at -52kg.
Katie-Jemima Yeats-Brown, 2011 European
Cadet Champion, will compete at -63kg while Prisca-Awiti Alcaraz
fights at -70kg and Jodie Myers tackles the +70kg category.
Kieran Gehlan fights
at -50kg, Sam Hall at -55kg while Aidan Moffat and Colin McDonald
compete at -60kg and -66kg respectively.
Max Murphy competes
in the -73kg category and Liam Donkin takes to the -81kg field.
Team GB Chef de Mission,
Craig Hunter said: “The European Youth Olympic Festival in Trabzon
later this month is a fantastic opportunity for young athletes
to experience high-level competition against Europe’s leading
sport nations. It also offers these athletes a unique opportunity
to participate in a multisport environment which is very much
like the one they would experience at an Olympic Games.
"Many Team GB Olympians
have already graduated from the EYOF to succeed at the Olympic
Games. Rebecca Adlington attended 2003 EYOF and went on to win
two gold medals at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, in the 400m
and 800m freestyle swimming events. I am hopeful this trend will
continue towards London 2012 and beyond.
"Team GB has finished
in the top three in the medal table at the past three editions
of the EYOF and I am certain that this year’s team will do us
proud!”
Matt Divall, Head of
judo delegation, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for these
young players to experience a multi-sport event and to soak up
the Olympic experience. We have players selected that will have
long-term aspirations to compete as part of Team GB at the 2016
and 2020 Games and this will exposure will help in that journey.
"We are taking
a strong team to the EYOF with three players who have already
medalled at the recent European Cadet Championships in Malta,
but that event has gone and the team are now focused on performing
in Trabzon, Turkey. We will be aiming for strong performances
from everyone and I know the players will have their own individual
targets to achieve.”
London’s Hayley Willis
said: “After winning a bronze at the Cadet European Championships
I am hoping that I can build upon that experience and maybe even
contend for a gold medal in Trabzon. All my family are involved
in Judo and I hope that I do can them and Team GB proud.”
Edinburgh’s Liam Donkin
said: “It means the world to me to represent Great Britain at
the European Youth Olympic Festival. With London 2012 just over
a year away it is an honour to be selected to represent Team GB.
I am inspired by the success that Euan Burton has had and hope
that one day I can follow in his footsteps and compete at an Olympic
Games.”
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