Battersea's Aaron Okuleye followed in the footsteps of Olympic stars Kelly Sotherton and Mark-Lewis Francis on Sunday as he claimed silver at the Aviva Sportshall UK Final in Birmingham.

The 13-year-old finished second in the standing triple jump with a best leap of 7.71m at the flagship junior athletics development event of the year.

Okuleye, who attends Elliott School, narrowly missed out on getting his hands on a second medal coming home an agonising sixth in the two-lap sprint race.

But, after writing his name into the Sportshall history books alongside the likes of Sotherton and Lewis-Francis – who tasted success in 1992 and 1998 respectively – Okuleye was more than satisfied with his day's work.

“I am pleased with my efforts and I am going to train really hard from now on to make sure I do better next year,” said Okuleye.

“It was hard to get used to the size of the event and atmosphere but once I did I was fine and things took care of themselves.

“I was a little bit off my personal best which shows me there is still plenty of room for improvement. I got into athletics through my school and I really enjoy it but I also play football.”

Aaron’s efforts at Birmingham’s LG Arena didn’t go unnoticed with current Aviva GB & NI Team hurdler Will Sharman keeping a close eye on the Battersea teenager.

And Sharman, who finished fourth in the 110m hurdles at last year World Championships in Berlin, believes the youngster has a bright future ahead of him.

“All the athletes including Aaron gave their all and that is great,” said Sharman.

“Some big names have come through Sportshall and it seems to be that this place identifies talent very well so let’s hope we are seeing some more future GB stars.”

Aviva Sportshall forms part of the Aviva UKA Academy giving children aged nine to 15 a competitive and fun introduction to athletics, with the hope of unearthing future champions along the way. To find out more about athletics, visit aviva.co.uk/athletics