Awesome Andoh breaks record

A team of young athletes from the Tower Hamlets Youth Sports Foundation (THYSF) attended the recent Metaswitch Games, with some sparkling results to show for their efforts.

William Andoh ran his first ever competitive 60m race and showed some great early promise in breaking the British under-13 record twice, running a time of 7.78 seconds to knock 0.07 seconds off the previous record held by Bishop Challoner student Lathursan Vinyagamoorthy in 2011.

Andoh, who is also a Bishop Challoner student, is a product of the THYSF gifted and talented identification scheme, which recognises and nurtures the potential of young Tower Hamlets students.

Diane Mapamboli, another year seven Bishop Challoner student, ran a time of 8.5secs for 60m, which broke the Lee Valley Stadium record and ranks her 12th in the UK after her first ever race.

And coach Mike Whittaker was naturally delighted with the potential the duo have shown since taking up the sport.

“These young athletes show enormous potential yet we’re thinking long term rather than getting too carried away at this stage,” said Whittaker.

“They have worked extremely hard since entering year seven and have really taken to their athletics. Both came through Malmsbury Primary School and their development is due to the superb work done by their Primary teacher Lisa LeBlond.”

A total of 14 athletes competed and all set personal bests, including 15-year-old Langdon Park student Wahid Werrouki.

The London and Middlesex champion, who also reached the national final which was shown on Sky Sports, celebrated the end of his first year in athletics with a fine 800m win.

Whittaker added: “There is an incredible array of talent within Tower Hamlets and the athletes’ success is a testament to the hard work in training that they have recently been doing.”