A YOUNG BMX rider is back on track after breaking her collar bone earlier this year and has been accepted as part of an Olympic talent programme.

BMXer Ellie Featherstone, from Crook, in County Durham, has been accepted as an Olympic Development Apprentice for the second year.

It means she gets to train with professional coaches at a world-class facility in Manchester and gets to ride alongside Olympians and elite level riders.

The Northern Echo: Ellie Featherstone, 13, of Crook, who had a setback when she broke her collarbone, has been accepted into Olympic development programme for BMXing. Picture: TOM BANKS

The 13-year-old, who goes to Parkside Academy in Willington, has been riding since she was five years old and was the youngest girl to be selected when she got on the scheme last year.

She had a setback in June, when she came off her bike at a training camp and broke her collarbone six weeks before the world championships.

With just a week of training before the championships she did not do as well as she wanted but has been working hard since and came second in the 13-14 girls category at the British Championships in September.

This month she has won the Scottish Championships and the Regional School of Racing competition, which ensured her selection on the squad.

Ellie said: “They looked at our results and our attitudes and only four girls and six boys were chosen in the country. There’s an Olympian who gives us good advice and encouragement which is really inspirational.

“In the next couple of years if I can keep progressing I’ll get to move up to a higher level and I’ll be closer to the Olympics. That’s one of my goals for the future.”

The Northern Echo: Ellie Featherstone, 13, of Crook, who had a setback when she broke her collarbone, has been accepted into Olympic development programme for BMXing. Picture: TOM BANKS

Ellie, who rides for the GT Factory racing team, practises six times a week and has to send daily videos of her progress to her coaches in Manchester.

She first got involved after her dad Brent and older brother Ben, now 16, got involved with the North East BMX club, which is based at Summerhill County Park in Hartlepool.

Her mum Sharon said: “We’re so proud of her and the amount of people that support her is brilliant. She’s so passionate about it.

“There’s school and there’s BMX and there’s nothing else. She’s very determined and she puts her heart and soul into it.”

Ellie has been backed by the County Durham Community Foundation and W Marley agricultural contractors, based in North Bitchburn, which managed to secure sponsorship through its contract on the improvement works to the A1 between Leeming and Barton.

Managing director Stuart Marley said: “It’ was good to be able to say yes to a young girl from the area. She’s on a long road so we hope we can help her again.”