Rafael Rhys Pollitt stood proudly on the podium at the British Youth Championships after picking up a bronze medal.

The young fencer, who is a year seven pupil at Chesham Grammar School, represented the region when he competed at the tournament which was held at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield on May 4.

Rhys Pollitt progressed from his pool with ease after winning five of his six matches against fencers from across the country, earning him a ranking of eighth out of the 72 competitors.

Convincing victories in the knockout rounds followed before the 12-year-old came up against number one seed Jamie Briggs, who was representing the South East, in the quarter finals.

A confident display saw Rhys Pollitt advance as 10-2 winner before his run in the competition came to an agonising end against Dylan Daniel.

The fencers were tied at 9-9 in their semi-final encounter before the Eastern region representative took the final point to progress to the final and leave Rhys Pollitt with a bronze medal.

Success in Sheffield followed two golds the previous weekend as he became Hertfordshire County under-12 champion before he won the Leon Paul Junior Series first team event of the year in Finchley.

Rhys Pollitt’s coach, Dominique Szokolovics, said: “Rafael is simply unstoppable, and shows remarkable skill and maturity in competitions. We have much more to see from this talented young fencer.”