Aspiring athlete and East Ham schoolboy Kane Drysdale demonstrated his running talent for Olympian Sally Gunnell.

The promising sportsman was picked for a group of 15 young athletes from all over the UK to take part in the McCain Home Grown Talent Winners’ Day in Birmingham.

Spotted at the Newham McCain Track and Field Road Show in 2010, Kane got the chance to train with first class athlete ambassadors and UK Athletics (UKA) coaches.

Olympic gold medallist Sally Gunnell was also on hand to offer her expertise and Kane tried out the high jump with GB and NI International Matt Roberts.

Sally, who is also a McCain UKA Ambassador, said: “It was great to get all these talented young athletes together and give them the opportunity to train at such top class facilities.

“I was so pleased to see some familiar faces and hear about the young athletes’ progress and how they have benefited from the McCain Home Grown Talent scheme.

“I’ll be watching out for these youngsters in a few years’ time.”

Bill Bartlett, corporate affairs director at McCain, said: “We started supporting some of the athletes more than a year ago and it is great to hear how they developed.

“There were a lot of passionate youngsters on the track today and seeing them train hard with Sally Gunnell and embrace something new in high jump was a pleasure.”

McCain launched their Home Grown Talent Scheme in 2010, offering winners like Kane one year membership for their local athletics club.