Richmond swimmer Nicholas Maini admitted he could get used to standing on top of a podium after surprising even himself by clinching gold at the 2013 Balfour Beatty London Youth Games.
The 14-year-old was one of the stars on finals weekend at Europe’s largest annual youth sports event as the best competitors from all 33 London boroughs vied for medals in 21 different disciplines.
A blistering time of 28.38seconds in the 50m butterfly was enough for Maini to come away with gold and he revealed the result was extra special having finishing behind the leaders last time out.
“It was great to have the gold around my neck, I’m not used to that really, I usually come second or third so it’s a nice feeling,” said Maini, who helped Richmond’s boys swimmers finish fourth overall.
“I came two years ago to this event, I can’t remember where I came, but it wasn’t anywhere near the top three.
“I compete all over the place, but finishing second or third all the time is just a general feeling I get, but this is the first gold I’ve won in a major event so I’m delighted.
“The team is all really supportive, I really enjoyed being a part of it, it’s a big place and it was nice to see all the sports competing together at the same time.”
Richmond enjoyed another superb London Youth Games – matching last year’s fourth place in the overall Jubilee Trophy standings and finishing top of the pile in cross country and kayak sprint.
But at the finals weekend at Crystal Palace it was the borough’s road cycling squad that came to the fore as they emerged victorious.
And after securing individual silver in the under-16 time trial, Ben Moriarty admitted he feared the worst for his cycling career after a nasty injury at the start of the year.
“I was really happy with my time – I didn’t think I’d come second or even in the top 10 as at the beginning of the year I broke my thumb and was out of action for 10 weeks,” said 15-year-old.
“That was a huge dent and it affected me mentally. When I had the cast on I was contemplating stopping cycling, but a strong family got me back on track.”
Back in the saddle: Ben Moriarty has returned to action after 10 weeks out with a broken thumb
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 Richmond 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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