BLACKBURN Harriers hammer thrower Sophie Hitchon has been tipped to compete for a medal at the 2012 Olympics in London after claiming gold at the World Junior Athletics Championships.

Burnley athlete Hitchon, 19, took gold in Canada with Harriers team-mate Holly Bleasdale, an 18-year-old from Chorley, securing the bronze medal in the pole vault and both have already qualified for October’s Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

The duo may yet decide to miss the Commonwealths to aid their long-term development after putting all their focus on peaking at the World Juniors this year, but they are likely to be in contention for both next year’s World Champ-ionships in South Korea and the 2012 Olympics.

Harriers chairman Tony Wood said: “It was fantastic news at the weekend and we’re over the moon. They are such dedicated athletes.

“We’ve known this was coming for a while but for them to actually achieve it at the top level is fantastic.

“It is a difficult transition from getting medals at the juniors to doing it at senior level, but the top athletes do it.

“Jessica Ennis was one who did it and although some who did well at the World Juniors have not made it, they’ve still been good athletes and been world class.

“It’s about keeping that progression going now, retaining that will to win and staying injury free.

“I certainly couldn’t discount the possibility that Sophie could be competing for a medal in 2012.”