THE King’s School in Chester is congratulating upper sixth student Matt Willis who was selected to captain the England team at the 2018 ISF World Championship Cross Country in Paris.
More than 600 young runners from 34 countries gathered in Paris for the annual championship, which was held at the feet of the Eiffel Tower.
As the nominated captain, Matt was selected as Team England flag bearer for the opening and closing ceremonies.
Matt enjoyed a hugely successful weekend captaining Team England to a silver medal overall and was the top placed individual European athlete, finishing fifth in the main 5,500m race with a time of 16:18s. This was a hugely commendable achievement, made even more impressive by the fact Matt was only nine seconds behind the eventual race winner.
His success in Paris was coupled with another triumph during the Easter holidays as Matt was also crowned winner of the British Elite Junior Duathlon Championships at Bedford Autodrome. The race was a 5km run, 20km bike and a 2.5km run, with a total of 52 competitors. Matt finished in 1st place with an overall time of 51:37s.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here