Ipswich's special talent

Ipswich has got a special talent on its hands in the form of 14 year-old javelin thrower Matti Mortimore.

The Kesgrave High School pupil broke the UK under-15 record in July this year with a throw of 58.35m and since then has gone on to break his own record on a number of occasions, his current personal best a staggering x.

To those unfamiliar with javelin distances though those statistics alone do not put into perspective just how good this young man from the village of Newbourne really is.

At the recent World Athletics Championships in Japan, Britain's top female thrower Goldie Sayers' throw of x falling x short of Mortimore's PB.

The ultimate seal of approval also came during those Championships when Mortimore was asked to join British javelin legend Steve Backley on a live BBC Radio 5Live shoe.

After revealing that he had only been throwing x at Mortimore's age, Backley announced that Mortimore was 'the future of British throwing'.

All this success becomes even more impressive when you consider the fact that Mortimore only took up the sport properly just over a year ago.

Having impressed his teachers during PE lessons in his first year of school, they recommended that he join Ipswich Harriers Athletics Club.

There, Mortimore blossomed under the tutelage of former international thrower Nigel Bevan, who sent him away to practice over the winter in his eight-acre garden.

Mortimore, who is half-Finnish through his mother, has attracted quite a lot of attention in his mother's homeland after competing and training out there for a period this summer.

However Mortimore has now indicated that he is likely to choose Great Britain as the country to represent when the time, almost inevitably, comes.

Over the summer Mortimore has shown enormous dedication. Competing all over the country every weekend, he has also trained at the Harriers twice a week and practiced at home almost every other night.