SILSDEN'S Jamie Kidd has been selected to represent Great Britain in two major championships next month.

The 15-year-old Ilkley Grammar student has been named for the Junior World Championships and the Youth Olympics qualification event, both in Hammamet, Tunisia.

The twice national World Taekwondo champion has also been selected as part of the top 14 taekwondo sparring athletes in the UK.

These achievements are a reward for the teenager's dedication in overcoming injury setbacks over the past two years.

Jamie, who has been doing taekwondo since he was four, had two major operations on a broken foot in 2016 after finishing fifth in the 2016 European Championships and was dropped from the GB Talent programme while he recovered.

However, the Horizon Taekwondo Academy member bounced back immediately with golds medals at the British National Championships and Northern Youth Games.

Jamie, who trains at Horizon's Silsden venue – they also have branches in Keighley, Cottingley and Baildon – was highly commended a fortnight ago at the Provident Bradford Sports Awards in the young male sportsperson category.

To help him raise funds for the two events in north Africa, Jamie has set up a gofundme page at www.gofundme.com/56wfhq8.

The Youth Olympic Games Qualifying tournament is being held on April 6-7, while Kidd and five other athletes will stop over for the Junior World Championships on April 9-13, where Great Britain has a squad of 14.

Development programme coach Romaine Bailey is confident, saying: “It’s been quite a quick turnaround from the European Championships last year, but the squad have worked hard over the last few months in the build-up and have been focusing on aspects of the game that we plan to execute tactically.

“We have a great team heading out to Tunisia, with some new and more established faces looking to leave their mark on the mats.

“As for the Youth Olympic Games Qualifiers, this is a great opportunity for the athletes to go and secure a federation place for their respective weight categories – a chance that only some juniors, (2001-2002 year of birth) are fortunate to have the opportunity and at such an early stage of their career.

“The athletes that have been chosen are looking forward to the prospect that lies ahead and I know they will do their best to qualify ahead of the Youth Olympic Games later this year (October) in Argentina.”