Cambridge Athlete's Olympic Hope

19 June 2011, 08:00

A 20 year old athlete from Cambridge is on her way to represent Great Britain in the Special Olympics.

Charlotte Cox [pictured - right & below] will compete in the 200 metre, 400 metre, 600 metre and long jump events.

She is heading to Athens with 150 other athletes with learning disabilities.

Together, they will compete against around 7,000 athletes from 180 countries.

Charlotte, who has Down's Syndrome and lives in the village of Toft, recently met Prime Minister David Cameron at Downing Street along with several of her team-mates.

She departs for Greece today.

Charlotte Cox

Charlotte's dad David said it's taken lots of dedication for Charlotte to get where she is: "Charlotte trains about three times a week at the track, plus evenings at the gym.

Most of the athletes involved in Special Olympics are as committed and dedicated as traditional, professional athletes.

Charlotte is very excited about the prospect of competing in the games.

Charlotte Cox

She's also very excited about spending a week acclimatizing on the island of Skiathos, where Mamma Mia was filmed.

That's one of her favourite films so she's looking forward to being there!"

Photographs (c) www.DEphoto.co.uk