Crystal Palace National Sports Centre
Filling the huge multi sport site at Crystal Palace on Thursday 28 June were teams of primary aged children from all 33 London Boroughs that were competing in many sports ranging from mini rugby, boccia football and indoor rowing as well as the Sportshall Athletics competition in the main arena.
33 mixed teams delivered a unique atmosphere throughout the event and also generated plenty of local pride from the children (and parents!) representing their respective boroughs. Most teams arrived having been selected through borough trails or school championships held across the preceding months and it was clear that the children had been training hard before their London Final.
As the event unfolded many performances in the six field events were outstanding for the age group and looks great for the future of athletics in the capitol. To highlight the standard of competition some of the youngsters (under 11s) were edging towards 7 metres in the Standing Triple Jump, many were flying over 2 metres in the Standing Long Jump, Javelins were sailing over 20 metres and the top Speed Bouncer completed 61 bounces in 20 seconds!!!!
The track races were very competitive – with five heats for each race the time across the line was vital and in the end the London Borough of Wandsworth came out top with a superb all round display, edging out the fantastic performances from Redbridge (2nd) and Harrow (3rd) – only 16 points separated 5th to 2nd.
A big thank you from Sportshall to all the officials who volunteered their time throughout the event from some of the teams and from England Athletics. Also well done and thank you to the team managers and coaches who have raised the bar again with the development of talent in London. We look forward to seeing all of the young athletes competing for many years to come and to the event next year.
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