Borough improve overall position from 16th last year

Hackney’s Shaquille Eusebe took gold in the adaptive rowing competitions at the Balfour Beatty London Youth Games finals weekend – and immediately set his sights on another triumph next year.

The 13-year-old helped Hackney to a ninth-place finish at Europe’s largest annual youth sports event where all 33 London boroughs descended upon Crystal Palace National Sports Centre to battle for supremacy across 17 sports.

Eusebe, who attends Stormont House Special School, came top in the Year 8 boys’ event for his second successive gold medal after winning the Year 7 category last year.

And, before the dust had even settled on his victory, Eusebe was already plotting how to make it a golden hat-trick when he returns next summer.

“I’m really happy to have come away with the gold medal, it’s my best ever achievement and I’m really proud,” said Eusebe.

“I always love coming to this event – I won the gold medal last time. Now I want to do the same in Year 9.

“It is a really good event for me. Each year I’ve showed that I keep improving my skills and I keep learning.

“I just want to get better and better every single day, but I know it’s going to get harder every year.”

Eusebe’s gold helped Hackney finish an impressive seven places up from last year in ninth – as they finished first in the weightlifting and second in the girls’ table tennis.

The borough’s female basketballers also finished with silver and 17-year-old captain Bianca Maxwell was delighted to bow out of the competition on a high after four years of competing.

“I have been to the London Youth Games for four years and this is the best I have ever done so I am happy,” said Maxwell.

“This is the last year I am able to compete and although the final could have gone our way I am pleased to have ended on a high.”

Balfour Beatty have agreed to support the London Youth Games through to at least 2015, meaning �1.1m worth of funding post-2012 and a total contribution of �2.5m since 2007.