Teen talent to take on the world

Holly Tadman, who has a learning disability and communication problems, has this week been notified that she will be heading to Los Angeles next summer.

The 18-year-old European champion has been a member of the Battle-based Westerleigh Judokwai for almost a decade, and will join fellow club members Thomas and Harry Farley - who were selected earlier this year - in the GB team.

Due to her comparatively late selection, however, Tadman has little time to raise the £2,500 needed to get to the Games.

She is therefore appealing to anyone who would like to make a donation towards her fees to get in contact with her club via westerleighjudo.org.uk

Alternatively, cheques can be made payable to Westerleigh Judokwai, c/o 6 Asten Close, St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, TN38 8DJ.

With 7,000 athletes and 3,000 coaches representing 177 countries, along with 30,000 volunteers and an anticipated 500,000 spectators, the 2015 Special Olympics World Games - being staged from July 25-August 2 - will be the largest sports and humanitarian event anywhere in the world in 2015, and the single biggest event in Los Angeles since the 1984 Olympic Games.