CLAIRES Court School pupils have brought home 21 athletics medals from the Independent Schools Association National Athletics Championships.

The pupils aged 8-16 came away with an astounding 11 gold athletics medals, nine silver and one bronze, plus an impressive three national records were broken.

Year 4 pupils Thomas Scargill, Freddie Holgate, George Norris and Kida Zhu ran the relay in one minute and 1.51 seconds (1:01.51).

In Year 6, Finn Keylock threw the cricket ball 60.09m, while Year 9 pupil Rachel Okoro reached 5.55m in the long jump to rank fourth in the UK.

The event took place at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham and athletes from all over the country, who had qualified by winning in their regional championships, came together to compete for their respective regions.

Year 9 pupil Rachel Okoro said: “I really enjoyed being part of a bigger team, jumping both for Claires Court and for the West London team.

“I jumped a personal best of 5.55m in the long jump which I’m really excited about, and this also marks the third year in succession that I’ve won the event.

“I now look forward to competing in the English Schools’ Athletic Association National Championships in July.”

Nick Butterfield is Head of Sport at Claires Court Junior Boys. He said: “I’m unbelievably impressed with our performance. All our pupils’ hard work in training has paid off.

“Their efforts also helped contribute to the London West region coming top out of seven regions.”

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