A BRENTWOOD School pupil has been given the opportunity of a lifetime after being asked to compete alongside world stars at an indoor athletics meet.

Nicole McKechnie,17, will being put on her trainers for the 400m competition at the Sainsbury's British Athletics Indoor Championships in Sheffield on February 8 and 9.

She will be lining up against Olympians during the contest, saying she is very excited at the prospect.

Nicole, who won gold in the Essex Schools’ Athletics Championships last year, said: "I just want to embrace the experience and try and do as well as I can against such able competition and just enjoy myself and soak up the atmosphere."