Sprinters Alex Pycock and Josh Goodfellow received the praise from Great Britain's 400m runnner Nicola Sanders after qualifying to compete in the UK School Games.

Sanders, 26, has set her sights on a podium finish as she prepares for her first Olympics in Beijing next month.

After being involved in athletics from a young age she says she appreciates the commitment required, hence her reasons for acknowledging younng talent.

She said: "It doesn't seem so long ago that we were all competing in school sports days and now here I am off to the biggest sporting event in the world.

"Having young athletes coming through behind us is vital for the sport and I'm delighted that Goodfellow and Pycock will have the opportunity to compete at the UK School Games as it will hopefully give them a taste of what it's like to be part of something like an Olympics or Commonwealth Games.

"Just as my preparations are now solely focused on the Olympics, I'm sure Josh and Alex will be for the UK School Games which takes place only days after the flame will have gone out in Beijing. I wish both of them the best of luck."

The UK School Games will be held in Bristol and Bath on August 28-31. Boston and District AC members Josh and Alex qualified to represent the East Midlands at the event.