Hopeson looking towards a bright future in senior circles

By Jamie Holt, Sportsbeat

TWINELLE Hopeson has set her sights on ruffling her senior rivals' feathers on a regular basis after impressing at the Indoor UK Trials and Championships.

SENIOR BOUND: Twinelle Hopeson is hoping to ruffle a few feathers throughout the course of 2012

Hopeson is making her first foray into the world of senior athletics in 2012 but if she had any nerves about making the step up they didn't show in Sheffield on February 11.

Despite very nearly taking a tumble in the heats of the 200m, Hopeson recovered to qualify for the final, clocking 25 seconds dead at the EIS.

Just a few hours later the 20-year-old was back in the blocks for the final, improving her time to 24.77 for fifth as Margaret Adeoye took gold in 23.36.

And, while Hopeson is still very much the new kid on the block, she is confident she can continue to upstage her more experienced rivals right through to London 2012.

"It went quite well," said Hopeson. "It was my first senior competition so I was just happy to have my name on a bib. I was really happy to get through to the finals.

"The heats were going well, I was running really well and then I just stumbled as I was coming off the second bend, I was really happy to get back and recover and make it to the final.

"This is my first impression on the senior stage and I'm looking to make my mark. Consideration for the Olympics would be amazing but we'll just have to see how it goes."

Lloyds TSB Local Heroes, in partnership with SportsAid, provides support and funding to 344 emerging athletes all the way to London 2012 and beyond.  Follow the future stars of TeamGB and ParalympicsGB at: www.lloydstsb.com/localheroes

© Sportsbeat 2012