CUMBRIAN taekwondo student Megan Hayhurst of Milnthorpe has tasted success at the highest level nationally, coming away with a bronze medal position at the British Championships in Manchester at the weekend.

The British Taekwondo National Championships is the biggest event of the fight calendar, with this year's event attracting its highest number of entries yet. 972 competitors descended on the Velodrome in Manchester to fight it out for the title of British Champion.

With Olympians and world champions amongst the crowd, children and adults set about the business of fighting their way to the finals for that coveted

gold medal.

With 12 girls in Megan's category, she successfully made her way to the last 4 and into the semi-finals. The fight remained even throughout the first two rounds with either girl looking set to make the final.

After an exhausting but courageous effort, kicking and pressuring until the dying seconds of the third round, it was to end with only a single points

difference which would see Megan take home bronze.

Megan, who is 10, said: "I'm really happy to win the bronze medal my first time in this competition and I want to come back again next year and win gold!

"I was a bit nervous at first as it's such a big event but after I won my first fight, I was more relaxed and really enjoyed myself."

Coach Steven Grabek added: "Megan has trained really hard all year, and is really focussed on what she wants to achieve in Taekwondo.

"We are lucky to have such a dedicated member at our club, so the coaches (myself and Andy) support her development in any way we can, even working alongside her parents who provide such strong support and encouragement at home.

"Her achievement at the Nationals is fantastic and well deserved and she has become an inspiration to the other kids at the club."

Taekwondo is a full contact Olympic sport, where competitors must fight over three rounds to win by either knocking out their opponent or successfully landing more kicks and scoring more points by the end of the match.

Cumbria Taekwondo Milnthorpe hold classes at Dallam School every Tuesday evening. For full details and other training times in Cumbria visit http://www.cumbriataekwondo.co.uk