Harding and Papworth in Team GB squad for Youth Olympic Games

Teenagers Anthony Harding and Maria Papworth have been selected to represent Great Britain at the Youth Olympic Games in Argentina.

The event is being held in Buenos Aires over 12 days from 6-18 October and will see Team GB compete in 17 of the 32 sports taking place.

Harding, 18, from Lancashire, and 16-year-old Papworth, from Surrey, are the only two divers chosen to represent Team GB.

Earlier this year, City of Leeds’ Harding won the British Junior Elite Group A 3m Springboard title for the third straight year.

And Dive London’s Papworth also claimed the Group A 3m Springboard during the Championships in Plymouth in April.

The Youth Olympic Games provides crucial multi-sport experience for aspiring Olympians and Team GB’s class of 2018 will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Tom Daley, Jade Jones and Duncan Scott who all went on to win medals at an Olympic Games having first competed at a Youth Olympic Games.

Youth Olympic Games a fantastic opportunity

Mahdi Choudhury, Team GB’s Chef de Mission for Buenos Aires 2018 said: “Being selected to Team GB for a Youth Olympic Games is a fantastic achievement and our 42 young athletes should be hugely proud to be heading out to Argentina next month.

“Buenos Aires 2018 will offer a fantastic opportunity for our team to experience a multi-sport event for the first time and I’m sure it will act as a great springboard for their own senior Olympic dreams.

“Youth Olympic Games such as Buenos Aires offer the chance for young athletes to experience life in an Olympic Village, mix with competitors from different sports and nationalities, and are given the chance to grow as individuals as well as athletes.

“These events have helped shape the careers of Team GB Olympic stars such as Jade Jones and Tom Daley and we hope the same will be said for this group of young stars.”

Buenos Aires 2018 is expected to welcome just under 4,000 of the world’s best young athletes from 206 nations for the third edition of the Games following Singapore 2010 and Nanjing 2014.

The Games will also make history through its commitment to gender equality by becoming the first Olympic event to host the same number of male and female athletes with 1,999 of each set to compete in Argentina.

Joining the athletes in Argentina will be 62 Athlete Role Models (ARMs) whose presence as Olympians at the Games will be to support, advise and inspire the young athletes.

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