AN URMSTON Grammar School student has been selected to compete in cycling at the 2018 School Games this weekend.

Eighteen-year-old Leanne Hall will take part in the event which takes place at Loughborough University.

The Sixth Form student, from Irlam, will compete for England North West at the national multi-sport event for the UK’s most talented school-age athletes.

Hall represents Sportcity Velo and will be one of more than 1,400 athletes who will compete across 11 sports at the School Games, five of which include disability disciplines.

This year the School Games has introduced four new sports – canoeing and rowing, laser run, netball and triathlon.

The event will give many young people, across a variety of different sports, an experience of high-level competition in a multi-sport environment similar to an Olympic or Paralympic Games.

Hall will be following in the footsteps of some of Britain’s biggest sporting stars who have competed at the event before going on to senior international success.

Previous competitors include Paralympic champions Hannah Cockroft, Ellie Simmonds and Jonnie Peacock, Olympic champion Adam Peaty, heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson and sprinter Adam Gemili.

At the event the cyclists will experience the excitement of competing at the highest level and will live in a dedicated Athletes’ Village on the Loughborough University campus, take part in a School Games ceremony and perform in front of huge crowds of spectators.

“The School Games National Finals provide a great opportunity for talented young athletes like Leanne,” said Ali Oliver, chief executive officer of the Youth Sport Trust.

“Competitors get a real taste of what it’s like to be part of a world-class sporting event at the amazing sporting venues of Loughborough University, and the event is a great way to see our future sporting champions in action today.”

The School Games was established after London won the bid to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, as part of the legacy programme.

The 2018 School Games is supported by National Lottery funding from Sport England and Home Country Sports Councils and is delivered by the Youth Sport Trust.

Tickets for the event are available now at https://www.schoolgamesfinals.org/buy-tickets/