A TEENAGE athlete has been selected to represent the North-East at triple jump despite never having had any training in the event.
Luke Kelly, a Year 9 student at Teesdale Comprehensive School, was selected for the North of England schools team after representing County Durham at trials in Middlesbrough earlier this month.
Luke, aged 14, qualified for the northern area finals after successes at the south-west Durham area trials and then the County Durham trials held at the Riverside ground at Chester-le-Street.
These competitions were the first times he had ever competed in the triple jump.
He said: "We'd done triple jump in PE and the teacher suggested I try out for the county. I never expected to get this far.
"I play rugby at county level but I've never really done triple jump before this or had any training in it."
Luke's personal best for the triple jump is 12.05m. Although he did not achieve his target distance of 13m at Middlesbrough, he has been selected to represent North of England schools at the English Schools Championships, to be held at Gateshead International Stadium on July 9 and 10.
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