By Tom Degun

hannah_cockroftMarch 11 - Teenage star Hannah Cockroft heads up a 25-strong Great Britain and Northern Ireland team for the International Wheelchair and Amputee (IWAS) World Junior Games in Dubai next month.


The 18-year-old from Halifax won two gold medals earlier this year at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics World Championships in Christchurch.

The 2011 IWAS World Junior Championships, which will take place from April 14-21, are set to see T34 multiple world record holder and reigning Virgin Mini London Marathon champion Cockcroft continue her hugely promising career as she steps up her preparations for the London 2012 Paralympics.

Cockroft is joined by four of the team that claimed a podium place at the World Championships with F46 javelin thrower Hollie Arnold, F44 discus thrower Aled Davies, F40 javelin thrower Kyron Duke and T46 wheelchair racer Sally Brown all set to head to Dubai.

Great Britain and Northern Ireland Team Leader Paula Dunn, said: "We had a hugely successful World Junior Championships in the Czech Republic last year winning a total of 43 medals, and I'm confident we can exceed that figure in Dubai.

"We're fortunate that we've been able to select a talented – and in many cases experienced – junior team that includes ten athletes who competed at senior level in January's IPC World Championships.

"A combination of factors have contributed to our on-going progress in world disability sport, not least our increased professionalism and attention to detail.

"We've developed a high quality UKA Disability Athletics Challenge Series and a number of Aviva Parallel Success events domestically, while in addition, and thanks to National Lottery funding and our on-going support from Aviva, our athletes have increased opportunities to train and compete overseas."

The quartet of Ola Abidogun, Holly Neill, Vicky Silk and Owain Taylor will all be looking to defend the IWAS World Junior Games they won last year when the event was held in the Czech Republic, while Jenny McLoughlin, another member of the senior World Championships team that won bronze in the T35-48 4 x 100m relay, will target an individual podium finish on this occasion.

The 2011 IWAS World Junior Games will see more than 600 participants from at least 40 countries take part in table tennis, weightlifting and track and field.

Poland topped the medal table at the 2010 competition ahead of Germany and Britain respectively with an astonishing 65 in total, including 32 gold, and will be looking to repeat that success in Dubai.

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