Editors’ Notes:

Team England

Team England at the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games is organised and supported by the Commonwealth Games Council for England whose President is Sir Christopher Chataway and whose Chairman is Ian Emmerson.

Sport England

Sport England provides the strategic lead for sport in England and is a distributor of Lottery and Exchequer funds to sport. Sport England has invested over £21m since 2001 to assist young talented athletes across the country as part of the World Class Start and Potential programmes. Many of these athletes will now compete at Bendigo 2004. Sport England has also invested £100,000 in Commonwealth Games England to assist them with Team England preparations for this event.

Team England athletes arrive home with impressive medal haul

Team England's young athletes returned home from the Commonwealth Youth Games in Australia with an impressive haul of medals.

The tally of 31 gold medals, 29 silvers and 26 bronzes was enough to put England second in the overall medals table behind the host nation.

And England athletes won medals in each of the nine sports in which they competed at the Bendigo 2004 Games.

Among the star performers was Coventry gymnast Hannah Walker, who won six gold medals, including the individual all-around rhythmic gymnastics title and three individual discipline golds, as England dominated the gymnastics events. Hannah was also a member of the England team that won the rhythmic team title and a gold for the overall best gymnastics team.

"I didn't really expect to get a gold," said the 17-year-old. "Because it was in Australia we thought the Australians would beat us, but we went there and won almost everything. It was just amazing."

Hannah now hopes to return to Australia to compete at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and is also aiming for the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

England's boxers were also in awesome form, winning gold medals in all six of the weight divisions being contested at Bendigo.

Their attitude was typified by the performance of James McElvaney, from Stokesly, Middlesbrough, fighting at 57kg. He out-pointed Australia's Joel Brunker in the final to take gold. His opponent recently represented his country at the Athens 2004 Olympics.

Ian Irwin, England's boxing team manager at the Games, said: "I said we'd win six medals, but I didn't say what colour. We took boxers with good track records and we were terribly well focused.

"I'm extremely pleased and proud of the way they conducted themselves outside the ring and when they stepped through the ropes," he added.

England's medal winners at Bendigo 2004

England's boxers complete clean sweep of golds in Bendigo

Team England's young boxers were in hard-hitting form - winning gold medals in all six of the weight divisions being contested at the Bendigo 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games.

England's impressive boxing clean-sweep of golds came on the final day of the Games in Australia.

Liam Walsh from Cromer, Norfolk took gold in the 54kg division, with James McElvaney from Stokesly, Middlesbrough winning the 57kg division and Barnet's Gary Barker, the 17-year-old younger brother of reigning Commonwealth Games welterweight champion Darren, taking the 60kg category.

Bradley Saunders from Sedgefield, County Durham took the 64kg crown, with Waltham Abbey's Ryan Pickard winning gold at 69kg and James Degale (Harlesden, London) taking the 75kg division.

England's track and field athletes were again in impressive form, winning a healthy collection of medals.

Julian Thomas (Birmingham) won his second gold of the Games when he took the 200m title in 21.06 seconds ahead of England team-mate Somto Eruchie (Leicester), who took silver in 21.37 seconds. Julian was a member of the men's quartet that won gold in the men's 4x100m relay yesterday (Thursday).

Dani Christmas (Horley) also took gold, winning the women's 800m title in 2:10.38. England's gold medal tally was further boosted by Amy Harris (Birmingham) and Samantha Hynes (Hanwell), who won the women's long jump and the hammer respectively. Amy leapt to 6.19m to win gold by 13cm, while Samantha threw 54.07m to win the hammer title by more than six metres.

It was a busy day for Jessica Ennis (Sheffield), who won silver medals in both the women's 100m hurdles and the high jump. Her high jump of 1.75m was just 3cm behind Australia's gold medal winner Sophia Begg. Jessica ran 14.50 seconds to take her hurdles silver medal.

Chatham's Chris Gearing also took a pair of medals, winning silver in the shot (18.30m) and bronze in the discus (50.81m).

Team-mate Oliver McNeillis, from Hagley, took silver in the men's 110m hurdles in 13.72 seconds and Jo Blair (Kenilworth) won silver in the women's javelin with a throw of 49.85m.

There was also a silver for Croydon's Bernard Yeboah - another member of England's gold medal-winning 4x100m quartet - who added a silver in the men's long jump with a distance of 7.60m.

There were bronze medals for Joey Duck (Hanslope) in the women's 200m and Michael Rimmer from Southport in the men's 800m.

England's gymnasts were in imperious form, with Coventry's Hannah Walker winning three gold medals in the individual rhythmic events. She took golds in the rhythmic ball, clubs and ribbon. Elaine Kibble from Denton, Manchester, won gold in the rhythmic rope, with Hannah Chappell from Coventry taking silvers in the rope, ball and ribbon.

In artistic gymnastics, there were gold medals for Louis Smith from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire in the men's pommel and for Nottingham's Nathan Dunstan in the men's vault, while Imogen Cairns (Colyton, Devon) won gold in the women's vault.

There was also a silver medal for England in the rugby sevens tournament. The team successfully negotiated their way through the pool stage and the quarter and semi-finals with a 100 per cent record, but fell at the final hurdle when they were beaten by the host nation.

There was a bronze medal for England's badminton team of Andrew Ellis (Leeds), Dean George (Portslade, Brighton & Hove), Heather Olver (Heathfield, East Sussex), Rajiv Ouseph (Hounslow), Jennifer Wallwork (Leeds) and Helen Ward (Leeds). They beat Singapore by three games to one in the third place play-off in Bendigo.

Ouseph won his singles contest 15-6, 15-6, while the Ellis/George partnership won the men's doubles 15-7, 15-11 and Ouseph/Wallwork won the mixed doubles contest 15-11, 15-7. Although Ward lost her women's singes 6-11, 7-11, England took bronze with no need for Olver and Wallwork to go into action in the women's doubles.

England's lawn bowls players were also in the medals. Sam Tolchard from Paignton in Devon won a silver in the men's lawn bowls singles and Sian Gordon (Dunstable, Kent) and Jamie Chestney (Fakenham, Norfolk) won bronze in the mixed pairs.

And in cycling, there was a bronze medal for Manchester's Matthew Crampton in the men's Sprint.

Team England has an 86-strong squad of athletes to Bendigo in Australia to compete in nine sports at the second Commonwealth Youth Games, which take place from 30th November to 3rd December.

The Commonwealth Youth Games were devised to give young athletes an opportunity to experience a major multi-sports Games.

England topped the medal table at the Edinburgh 2000 Games with 36 golds, 41 silvers and 18 bronzes. Australia tied with England on golds, but had fewer silvers.

Thursday 2nd December 2004

More golds for England at Commonwealth Youth Games

Team England's sprinters raced to gold on the second full day of the Bendigo 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games in Australia.

Croydon's Joscelyn Hopeson led the way, striking gold in the women's 100m in a time of 12.18 seconds and then leading off the England team that won the women's 4x100m relay.

Johnelle Gibbons from Hackney, Joey Duck from Hanslope and Luccille Sargent from Romford brought home the baton in a time of 45.63 to take gold ahead of the host nation.

The England men's sprint quartet of Bernard Yeboah (Croydon), Julian Thomas (Birmingham), Harry Aikines-Aryeetey (Carshalton) and Worthing's Wade Bennett-Jackson were also in impressive form. They won gold in 40.90 seconds ahead of the New Zealanders.

There was also a silver medal for Aikines-Aryeetey in the men's 100m sprint.

Team England's young athletes also won a brace of gold medals in the field events. Sixteen-year-old Alex Smith from Hull followed in his father's footsteps by winning the hammer with a throw of 70.45m. His father, Dave, won gold in the hammer at the senior Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1986.

Graeme Matthews from Upton leapt a distance of 15.13m to win the triple jump in Bendigo.

There were plenty more athletics medals for England's track and field competitors on the first day of the athletics programme in Bendigo. Nicky Hamblin from Weymouth won silver in the women's 1500m in 4:29.27, while Nik Stanisavljevic from Cobham won silver in the high jump with a jump of 2.10m.

There were bronzes for Richard Buck (Pickering) in the men's 400m, Chloe Edwards from Cambridge in the shot put, Natalie Olson from Faversham in the pole vault and Yasmine Regis-Moses from Farnham in the triple jump.

There was also gold medal joy for England tenpin bowlers Holly Towersey from Crawley and Durham's Jenny Billingham. The pair finished more than 100 points ahead of the Singapore pairing to win the girls' doubles gold. They then teamed up with Sean Croke (Sheffield) and Gareth Stone (Huddersfield) to take bronze in the six-game team event.

England's cyclists were in the medals for the third successive day in Bendigo.

Manchester's Matthew Crampton won silver in the Keirin, while Tom Walters (Nottingham) and Ian Stannard (Milton Keynes) took silver and bronze respectively in the men's individual pursuit and Jo Tindley (Dursley, Gloucestershire) won silver in the women's individual pursuit. Ben Swift from Sheffield took bronze in the men's 20km Points Race.

England's gymnasts were also in the medals. Hannah Walker from Coventry won the individual all-around rhythmic gymnastics title, with team-mate Hannah Chappell, also from Coventry, taking bronze. England also took gold in the rhythmic gymnastics team event.

There was a gold for the women's artistic gymnastics team and a silver for the men, while Nottingham's Nathan Dunstan took a bronze in the men's individual all-around competition.

In weightlifting, Amy Eastmond from Ivybridge in Devon took gold in the women's 63kg class with a combined snatch and clean & jerk total of 150kg, while Manchester's James Hartley won silver in the men's 94kg class.

England's boxers will feature in each of the six weight division finals tomorrow. Liam Walsh (Cromer, Norfolk) fights Scot Jason Hastie at 54kg, James McElvaney (Stokesly, Middlesbrough) meets Aussie Joel Brunker at 57kg, Gary Barker (Barnet) takes-on Scotland's David Appleby in the 60kg division, Bradley Saunders (Sedgefield, County Durham) meets Northern Ireland's Patrick Murphy at 63.5kg, Ryan Pickard (Waltham Abbey) faces New Zealand's Joseph Blackbourn in the 69kg division and James Degale (Harlesden, London) meets Omar Shaick from Australia in the 75kg weight category.

And England's rugby sevens team justified their top seeding by winning all of their group games on the first day of the rugby competition. They topped their group by beating Singapore 43-0, Australia 17-12 and Samoa 29-19.

England's badminton players play-off against Singapore for bronze tomorrow. They won both of their matches on the opening day of the Games, but lost to 3-2 to India and then 3-0 to Malaysia on day two.

Team England has an 86-strong squad of athletes to Bendigo in Australia to compete in nine sports at the second Commonwealth Youth Games, which take place from 30th November to 3rd December.

The Commonwealth Youth Games were devised to give young athletes an opportunity to experience a major multi-sports Games.

England topped the medal table at the Edinburgh 2000 Games with 36 golds, 41 silvers and 18 bronzes. Australia tied with England on golds, but had fewer silvers.

England combine youth and experience in Bendigo

Team England have a combination of experience and athletes new to the international stage competing in the track and field events at the Bendigo 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games.

The England line-up includes Worthing sprint king Wade Bennett-Jackson, who was Britain's most successful track and field athlete at the 2003 European Youth Olympic Games in Paris, winning gold medals in both the 100m and 200m.

The squad also includes Horley's Dani Christmas, who has just spent four weeks training with Kelly Holmes in South Africa in the 'On Camp with Kelly' initiative. Dani won the English Schools Championship title over 1500m in July.

Reigning English Schools 200m title holder, Marimba Odundo-Mendez, and English Schools and AAA under-20s triple jump champ Yasmine Regis-Moses, will also be in action in England colours.

England's line-up for the field competitions includes 16-year-old Alex Smith from Hull, who aims to follow in his father's footsteps. Alex broke the UK under-17 records for the 5kg hammer and the 6kg hammer earlier this year, and won the AAAs under-20s hammer title in June. Alex's father and coach, Dave Smith, won a gold medal in the hammer at the Edinburgh 1986 senior Commonwealth Games.

The athletics programme in Bendigo takes place over two days, beginning on Thursday (2nd December) and concluding Friday.

The full England track and field team for Bendigo 2004 is:

Friday 26th November 2004

Teenage tenpin bowlers prepare for Commonwealth action

Holly Towersey, former European under-18 number one tenpin bowling player, aims to lead England's medal charge as the sport makes its debut at the Commonwealth Youth Games.The 18-year-old from Crawley has already had an impressive year and is currently ranked 19th in the English senior women's rankings.Holly won silver medals in the trio and team competitions at the European Youth Championships in Augsburg, Germany in April. She followed that up with a bronze in the team of four event at the World Youth Championships for players aged under-24 in Guam in August.But her medal haul was even more impressive two years, when she won four golds and a silver in the European Youth Championships in Rome to reach top spot in the women's under-18 rankings.Holly is looking forward to the competition at the 2004 Commonwealth Youth Championships, which are being held in Bendigo, Australia. She also hopes tenpin bowling's inclusion on the programme will help raise the profile of the sport."A lot of people class tenpin bowling as a leisure rather than as a sport, but I hope that if people see it, they will realise what a sport it is," she said.Holly would also like to see tenpin bowling back on the senior Commonwealth Games programme - it last featured at Kuala Lumpur in 1998."It would be good to have tenpin bowling permanently in the Commonwealth Games and also at the Olympics," she said.Holly trains three times a week and also bowls twice a week in a league, as well as competing in tournaments.Jennifer Billingham, from Durham, also competes for England in the bowling alley in Bendigo. The 17-year-old is 30th in the senior national rankings. She was a member of the England trio that took gold ahead of Holly's threesome at this year's European Youth Championships, but joined her in the England team that won silver in the team event.Sean Croke and Gareth Stone aim to repeat their gold medal success in the doubles at this year's European Youth Championships when they go into action at Bendigo 2004. Sean, from Sheffield, is 18, while his team-mate Gareth, from Huddersfield, is 17.

Friday 26th November 2004

Five-strong weightlifting team prepare for action in Bendigo

England take a five-strong weightlifting team to Australia to compete at the Bendigo 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games.

The Team England lifters will be among more than 50 weightlifters from 15 countries competing at the Games.

Among England's medal hopes are the two women lifters in the team - Sheffield's Rebecca Heard, aged 18, who is ranked sixth woman lifter in the British senior rankings, and her team-mate in Bendigo, 18-year-old Amy Eastmond from Devon, who is ranked ninth.

England's lifters have a hard act to follow in Bendigo after the six-strong team returned from the Edinburgh 2000 Commonwealth Youth Games with an impressive haul of one gold medal and eight silvers.

The full England weightlifting team for Bendigo is:

The weightlifting programme at Bendigo 2004 takes place over two days, starting on Wednesday 1st December and concluding the following day. There are eight weight divisions for men and seven for women.

Team England is taking an 86-strong squad of athletes to Bendigo in Australia to compete in nine sports at the second Commonwealth Youth Games, which take place from 30th November to 3rd December.

The Commonwealth Youth Games were devised to give young athletes an opportunity to experience a major multi-sports Games.

England topped the medal table at the Edinburgh 2000 Games with 36 golds, 41 silvers and 18 bronzes. Australia tied with England on golds, but had fewer silvers.

Thursday 25th November 2004

Steven in battle for gymnastics medals after freak accident

Gymnast Steven Jehu is particularly excited about going into action at the 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games after suffering an ankle injury in a freak accident earlier this year.

The 17-year-old from Exeterfell from the fourth-floor window of a hotel in Slovenia before he was due to compete at the European Junior Championships.

The accident happened after Steven opened a window and leaned against a railing, which gave way. He fractured his right ankle in three places and also dislocated it during the accident.

But Steven