PUPILS at St Ives School were treated to a visit from British athlete Frederick Afrifa as part of the Sports for Schools programme.

Frederick is an international sprinter and is a two-time national gold medallist. He was London schools champion in 2011, world youth relay champion in 2013, Surrey county champion 2015 and national champion 2018 at the 400 metres. He is also hoping to represent Britain at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Working with children from Reception to Year 6, Frederick started the morning telling the children about his route to success, sharing that he was not the strongest athlete at school - he even fell over in his first race - but that hard work and continued determination over many years is what has led him to where he is now.

He was inspired by his first coach who instilled in him to "keep moving forwards" which has now become his motto. He asked the children to keep repeating this throughout the session.

Frederick then went on to lead the children in a circuit training session, putting them through their paces and introducing them to new exercises and challenges.

The session ended with a question-and-answer session where the children learned about Frederick’s plans to represent Britain at the 2024 Olympics and the gruelling training programme that will lead him there.

Kay Goldsworthy, headteacher at St Ives, said: "The children had such an incredible morning with Frederick Afrifa and were so motivated and inspired by what he had shown and taught them.

"We will keep his motto of ’keep moving forwards’ in our minds to inspire us to always do our best and to never give up. The Sports for Schools programme is such a worthwhile cause and we are delighted to support it."

St Ives families have been asked to raise sponsorship for Sports for Schools, which is then divided between helping support British and Irish Olympic, Paralympic and Invictus athletes financially and buying new equipment for the school.