A Gateshead girl has her sights set on the archery national championships as she follows in her family's footsteps by competing in the sport.
Eleanor Thornton, who has been shooting arrows since she was just four years old, ranked number one in her age group last year. The 12-year-old will now compete against other young, talented archers for the title of U18 National Field Champion on May 27-28.
Eleanor's dream is to represent Team GB at the Olympics, and she also competed on Saturday as part of Archery GB's Junior Series in York.
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Among her peers in year 7 at Dame Allan's School in Newcastle, Eleanor likes to promote archery as a sport, and she encourages anybody who is interested to give it a try.
She said: "It's such a great sport for individuals and there's no better feeling than when you get the arrow to land in the gold."
Eleanor is not the only member of her family to take up archery, with her paternal grandparents Ken and Jan Thornton, and her parents Jared and Abby Thornton all members Whitburn Archers in South Shields, which was founded by Ken in 2000.
Her mother Abby also competed at the Euronations Tournament in 2009, with Eleanor's seven-year-old brother also taking part. Eleanor herself took part in her first event aged just six.
Eleanor tends to split her focus between two different disciplines; target archery, which involves shooting stationary circular targets from varying distances, and field archery, which involves shooting at outdoor targets - usually in woodland areas.
Eleanor spoke of her pride when she competes and what her ultimate goal for her future is.
She added: "I'm really proud of everything I've achieved so far, and I really love hitting gold, so I'm getting excited and prepared for the upcoming competitions. My ultimate goal would be to make it into the GB team for the Olympics one day."
Will Scott, the Principal of Dame Allan's School, has also talked about the example that Eleanor's success sets for other students at the school.
"Eleanor has already achieved incredible success in archery and at such a young age; she is a signing example of a pupil who is truly committed to a sport that she loves," he said.
"Eleanor not only demonstrates an innate talent with a bow and arrow but has the drive and determination to compete at an elite level. We wish her all the best in her upcoming competitions."
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