WARRINGTON rower Olivia Oakes is celebrating gold medal success in the Australian Youth Olympic Festival.

The 18-year-old from Grappenhall won the quadruple sculls event in a crew with Lottie Burgess, Katherine Copeland and Rachael Gamble-Flint.

They clocked 6mins 47.66secs over the 2,000m course, finishing ahead of Australia.

Oakes, a member of Warrington Rowing Club and a student at University College London, also finished fourth in the women’s eight event.

There was a coxless four crew of Jenny Arnold, Olivia Carnegie- Brown, Jo Fitzsimons and Lottie Howard- Merrill who also gained a gold medal.

The youth olympics provided Oakes with the biggest comptition stage of her career so far.

Oakes, a finalist in Warrington Sports Personality 2008, was one of only 11 participants from the north west among 100 of the finest young athletes selected to represent Team GB at the bi-annual competition Down Under.

The 1,600 competing athletes from 25 nations, all aged between 13 and 19, contested 11 sports in an event set up by the Australian Olympic Committee as part of the legacy of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

It is considered that the multi-sport environment and travel experience is vital for the development of senior Olympians of the future.