The following competitors and officials have been selected by the British Olympic Association to compete in the Australian Youth Olympic Festival, which will be held in Sydney between the 14th and 18th of January 2009:

 

 

The shooting events are for Under-19 athletes, and the Australians have invited teams from China, India, New Zealand, Oceania and the United Kingdom to compete in 13 of the 15 Olympic events.

 

Sheree Cox, Vicki Mullin, Hannah Polak and James Huckle are athletes supported on the World Class Performance Pathway. They are joined by athletes from two Home Country squads - Matthew Hall from Northern Ireland, Rory McAlpine and Jen McIntosh from Scotland.  The majority of the team competed at the recent Commonwealth Youth Games in India, where James won all three of the Men's Rifle events for England, Sheree won the Women's 3P - again for England - with Jen taking Silver for Scotland, and Matthew and Rory taking Silver and Bronze for Northern Ireland and Scotland respectively in the Men's Prone event.

British Shooting Performance Director John Leighton-Dyson said "British Shooting are pleased to be supporting a young team of Rifle and Pistol shooters to Sydney this coming January. It is a wonderful opportunity for them to participate in an Olympic type multi-sport Games in a great city blessed with a wonderful climate for sport.  The competition will be stronger than ever before but we have realisitic prospects for medals and shooting with do Team GB proud".

Over one hundred of the UK's finest young athletes have been selected to represent Team GB at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival (AYOF) in Sydney from 14-18 January 2009.  The athletes aged between 13-19 will be competing in 11 Olympic sports; archery, canoe/kayak; diving; equestrian; fencing; gymnastics; hockey; rowing; shooting; triathlon and volleyball (beach).

1,600 athletes representing 25 nations (including China and the United States,) will compete, by invitation, at the AYOF.  The event was set up by the Australian Olympic Committee as part of the legacy of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

Leading Team GB at the AYOF Mark England, Chef de Mission said:

“As part of the BOA’s desire to discover future Olympic champions and provide them with the experience of participating in multi-sport events, this festival presents a fantastic opportunity for over 100 of our finest young potential Olympians to get their first taste of Olympic competition.

With the London Olympic Games less than four years away, many of these athletes will be hoping to use this experience as a stepping stone to 2012.”

The 2009 AYOF is the second time that Great Britain has been invited to compete in the AYOF. A total of 106 Team GB athletes attended the 2007 AYOF with 91 returning to the UK with at least one medal.  Great Britain finished with a highly credible 14 gold, 20 silver and 14 bronze medals.

Further details are available on the BOA's AYOF microsite.