A 13-year-old girl from Stevenage has won gold at the Roller Speed Skating British Championships, and set a new national record.
Mia Crane participated in the aged 13-14 cadet category of the Roller Speed Skating British Championships in Colchester, racing in the age group's longest distance event - the 15,000 metres.
Mia took the gold medal and set a new national record time of 34 minutes and 1 second for this distance, all while skating in extreme heat.
Mia decided to incorporate the training for this competition into Cancer Research UK's 'Wheel 100 miles in August' fundraising challenge. By the end of August, Mia had skated over 200 miles and raised £480 for charity.
READ MORE
Behind Mia's success is her coach, Malcolm Chapman, who has over 40 years of experience in skating and coaching.
Roller speed skating is recognised by the International Olympic Committee and is a sport rapidly gaining popularity worldwide, with over 70 countries embracing it as an established discipline.
Many years ago, Malcolm started a community skate club called Rollerstart - dedicated to introducing roller skating and inline roller speed skating to children - and has been teaching beginners to skate in Barnwell School's sports hall in Stevenage once a week.
This initiative has provided an opportunity for aspiring talents like Mia, who started her journey as a beginner at the age of 6, to become part of a developing speed team.
READ MORE
Malcolm said: "We now have about 10 other children under development, aged between 7 and 13, and 90 per cent of these young talents are girls. We are dedicated to extending the reach of this exhilarating sport and aspire to introduce it to many more young individuals across the country.
"Roller speed skating is not only an exciting and physically demanding activity, but also an excellent platform for instilling discipline, teamwork and a healthy lifestyle in our youth."
Mia, along with Malcolm’s other developing skaters have won many medals at various different competitions throughout England this year, and are very excited to be forming Hertfordshire’s first roller speed team - the Herts Roller Speed Team.
