Rafik Tahraoui

Despite breaking his ankle this year, Rafik (pictured right) has one ‘hand’ on a 2012 London Olympic jersey.

The 21-year-old is currently in Great Britain and England men’s handball squads, training towards the 2012 Games, after impressing on international training camps.

He has been selected to represent England in friendlies and in a home nations tournament with Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

And he is set to soon play handball in a top European league, where his skills will undoubtedly improve further with the standard being much higher than in England.

Rafik only started playing handball a year ago having originally been in training towards representing Great Britain in the 2012 Olympics at water polo.

Andrew Brown

Andrew confirmed that he is red-hot at sailing by reaching ‘laser standard’ this year.

This means that the 18-year-old from Appleton now competes in an Olympic class single-handed dinghy.

Laser standard is the strongest and most competitive dinghy class in the world, and most of the sailors who Andrew competes against are full-time professionals.

The former junior world champion won a gold medal at the RYA Youth nationals in Weymouth this year, competed at under-19s level in the European championships in Poland and took part in the world championships in September.

He gained places in the European and world championships through qualifying events on the south coast.

Abigayle Fitzpatrick

Abigayle moved closer to achieving her dream of becoming an Olympian with a stunning year on the track.

The 17-year-old from Great Sankey is now ranked first in the UK in the 400 metres hurdles at under 18s level and second in the UK in the 400m at under-20s level.

Abigayle smashed Warrington Athletics Club’s 400m hurdles record that had stood for 28 years in winning the event at the Youth Olympic Trials in Loughborough.

She also won a 400m bronze medal in this year’s Northern Indoor Championships in Sheffield, ran for Great Britain in the European Youth Olympic Trials in Moscow and competed for GB in her first ever World Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.

Chris Smith

In less than two years, Chris (pictured right) has turned himself from a 46-year-old man with a serious spinal injury who had never been able to swim, into a Great Britain triathlon ace.

Having lost four stone in just six months, he learned to swim at Penketh swimming pool and took up running and cycling, Chris has gone on to be selected by Olympic rower James Cracknell to represent GB in the Eurostar Tri-City-Athlon this year and finish second in his age category in the London Triathlon.

And the Great Sankey man has been named The Times newspaper’s ‘Health Champion’ having received more than 50,000 votes in a competition and won an inspiration award from the Triathlon Plus magazine.

John Nicholls

John’s achievements this year should act as a shot in the arm for older athletes all over the world.

This year the 45-year-old Stockton Heath shot put star (pictured right) broke the British record for the M45 category, which had stood for nearly 40 years, was crowned the European Masters M40 champion and became the oldest ever British thrower to make the cut at the UK senior indoor championships in Sheffield.

He holds both European indoor and outdoor titles and has achieved three lifetime best performances in his 40s – all in major competitions.

At 5ft 11ins and weighting 17 stones, John is often the smallest man in the competitions that he enters.

He has had the same coach for 31 years and trains alone in his carport all year round.