Two siblings from St Albans have been selected to represent England at fencing.
Brother and sister Alex and Nathalie Culkin will compete in the Paris Marathon in February with Year 10 Verulam School pupil Alex in the U17 category and Samuel Ryder Academy's Nathalie in the U14s.
Alex, who finished the season ranked second with Nathalie in fourth, said: "This is probably the toughest competition on the European circuit as it's run over two days. Over 300 fencers start with the outright winner last year needing to defeat 25 fencers in order to lift the trophy.
"Our aspirations are to make it on to the GB cadet squad and fencing internationally for the England cadet team is a great stepping stone.
"British Fencing lost its Olympic funds and we don't have the same resources as some but with the introduction of the Athlete Development Programme, which I was fortunate to be invited to join this year, we are starting to create a winning mentality among athletes my age."
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