St Helens Council Young Sportsperson of the Year

Nicole Donoghue

Team England karate starlet Nicole Donoghue clinched gold and bronze medals at the World Shotokan Karate Championships in Liverpool.

Nic, from New Bold, fought her heart out at the event held at Liverpool Echo Arena, winning eight of her 11 contests.

She reached the semi finals in the individuals’ junior section, took a bronze medal in the junior team event and gold in the cadet team event, along with team-mates.

The 18-year-old St Helens College student, who trains with St Helens Karate, will miss the awards night because she is competing in Portugal.

Chelsea Jarvis

Eccleston teenager Chelsea Jarvis did herself and the town proud with a fifth-place finish in the final of the women’s 800 metres at the World Youth Games.

Overcoming a shaky start in the tournament in Donetsk, Ukraine, the 17-year-old Carmel College A-level student battled through blistering temperatures in the heats and semi finals to reach the final.

There Chelsea clocked a time of 2mins 7.01secs to grab fifth spot.

It was a performance that rewarded years of hard work for the former St Helens Sutton runner.

She hopes to study at Florida State University for four years.

Emily Gormley

Swimmer Emily Gormley, a 17-year-old student at Carmel College, was part of a strong six women relay team that managed to smash both the British and world record for a women’s two-way English Channel relay team.

Former St Augustine’s pupil Emily, from Blackbrook, and the team swam from Dover to Calais and back again, which in total was a minimum of 42 miles in waters of 12 degrees.

They achieved this in an outstanding time of 18hrs 13mins, breaking the world record by nine minutes and the British record by 54 minutes.