By Jamie Holt
STRIKER Lewis White admitted he used the disappointment of last year’s bronze medal to fire Lewisham’s football team to victory at the 2013 Balfour Beatty London Youth Games.
The 14-year-old, who is on Millwall’s books, smashed home nine goals at the finals weekend at Crystal Palace as all 33 London boroughs battled it out in 21 different disciplines.
White saved his best for the final, scoring a hat-trick as Lewisham routed Harrow 4-0.
The performance banished the memories of 2012’s third place for the Forest Hill School pupil.
Lewisham finished 22nd in the overall Jubilee Trophy standings, down from last year’s 19th, but White was delighted to play a key role after being on the first-team fringes last year.
“I’m delighted, I came last year and we got bronze, but I wanted gold and I’ve got it,” said White, who lives in Catford.
“That gave me a bit of extra motivation missing out last year.
“I was in and out of the team because I was playing with a lot of older boys, but I’m in the team now, playing up front and it’s going well.
“At the moment I’m really enjoying my football. I’ve already started pre-season so I felt fine physically.”
Meanwhile, Bromley swimmer Tamara-Elise Elliott recorded a new 50m backstroke personal best and then immediately set her sights on further success at the ASA National Championships later this month.
The 13-year-old touched home in 31.96s at Crystal Palace on her way to securing gold as Bromley finished third in the race for the Jubilee Trophy, but she heads to Sheffield looking to impress in the 100m and 200m disciplines.
Bromley High School pupil Elliott said: “I’m really happy with my performance, the start was OK but I brought it back and it turned out well.
“I am really pleased with the time as well, it’s a personal best so it’s a nice place to do it.
“It was fun, I enjoyed it.
“I’ve been training really hard for this and for the nationals in a few weeks in Sheffield where I’ll be swimming the 100m and 200m backstroke.”
Cyclist Irfan Zaman, from Hayes, represented Bromley and won the U12 gold individual time trial, finishing ahead of 120 other competitors.
Zaman is a member of Bigfoot GoRide CC, which is based at Hayes Primary School, and competed for Bromley at the London Youth Games alongside club-mates Milly Shemmings and Jack Harradine.
West Wickham’s Michael Eagling, a pupil at Trinity School, won an individual gold in the Year 7 boys’ aquathlon and also a team gold as Bromley finished overall winners.
Eagling then went on to compete at the SuperTri 13‐14 years Tristar three non drafting triathlon and finished runner-up.
Yana Smith, sister of London 2012 weightlifter Zoe, claimed personal bests in both the snatch and the clean and jerk for Greenwich, who dropped two places overall from 13th to 15th.
Bexley’s best showing came in winning the girls’ tag rugby event as they finished much further up the Jubilee Trophy standings in fifth, two better than what they achieved 12 months ago.
The London Youth Games is delivering a sporting legacy from the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics by inspiring more young Londoners to play and volunteer in sport.
London’s councils including Lewisham, Bromley, Greenwich and Bexley, along with Balfour Beatty and Sport England, support Europe’s largest annual youth sports event which has over 100k athletes competing across 85 competitions over nine months.
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