TWO school scribes won over judges with words inspired by this summer’s sporting spectacular.
Freya Alexander, 11, a pupil at Queens Park Community School in Queens Park, and Annabelle Hondier, 12, who attends St Gregory’s Catholic Science College in Kenton, were shortlisted for the Mayor of London’s 100 GreatThings About The Olympic Games poetry competition.
Freya, of Westminster, wrote a piece called The Olympics Are Coming To London and Annabelle, of Alperton, impressed judges with her effort entitled Olympics Poem.
Annabelle said: “It was a school project and I liked how the Olympic motto is Faster, Higher, Stronger and that encouraged me to be better.
“Winning was quite a surprise actually. I was happy and my parents were proud.”
Freya said: “I went on a cycling trip with my family and my cousins around the Olympic site and I saw the stadia and really liked it all so in the poem I wanted to show how much I wanted to go and how excited I was about it.
“I have never really got far in a competition before so my parents are really proud of me.”
The judging panel, including Holly Pick, editorial manager at listings magazine Time Out Kids, Julia Donaldson, the children’s laureate, and young athlete Stephanie King, chose the winners from more than 2,000 entries.
Mayor Boris Johnson said: “I’m delighted to see such a youthful passion for prose, inspired by what will undoubtedly be the most amazing year in the capital’s long history as we prepare to host the 2012 Games.”
