A YOUNG athlete from Basingstoke has won a gold and a silver in modern pentathlon at the Youth Sport Trust School Games at Loughborough University.

Immi Edwards, 14, from Lychpit won the medals by competing in under 17 age group, alongside athletes older than her.

As part of the modern pentathlon competition, she competed in both the triathlon (swim, run, shoot) and the laser-run – where athletes have to shoot with a laser pistol at 10 metres and run 600 metres four times. This is a tough test of shooting accuracy, nerve and athletic ability.

Friday’s Triathlon competition left her in 16th place after the swim, but an outstanding laser-run brought her up to finish in second place overall.

She approached the individual laser-run competition on Saturday with quiet determination, having taken a silver medal in the national laser-run finals in Edinburgh earlier this year. Four superb shoots and strong runs saw Immi lead from the front to win gold by over 10 seconds.

After the event Immi said: “I was really happy to recover to win silver in the triathlon, and particularly proud of my gold medal in the laser-run.

“I spend lots of time practicing my shooting at home and in my club, but it is a sport where things can easily go wrong and nerves can badly affect performance. The school games was a fantastic opportunity to compete with athletes from all over the UK using the world class facilities offered by Loughborough University. Best weekend ever.”

Becoming the 2022 School Games champion was a big boost to her confidence as she prepares to represent Team GB with several of her Wessex Wyvern clubmates in Lisbon for the World Laser Run finals, the European championships in Athens and World Triathle finals in Madeira.

Immi is a member of Wessex Wyvern Modern Pentathlon Club and Basingstoke and Mid Hants Athletics Club and attends St Nicholas School in Fleet.