Young sportsmen and women from Havering were in jubilant mood on Sunday as they celebrated victory over 32 other borough teams in the 23rd London Heathrow Youth Games.

East London's finest, the most successful borough in the history of the Games, secured their fourth victory in a row -- but not before a nail-biting finish involving second placed Redbridge, and third placed Bexley, with Hillingdon finishing a close fourth.

After five weeks of knockouts (every weekend from June 10) through to the close fought Finals Weekend finale, 20,000 Londoners aged 12-19 have gone head-to-head in 52 sports -- from rowing and skiing to trampolining and badminton.

The London Heathrow Youth Games were opened in spectacular style on Thursday, with European and Commonwealth 400m champion Iwan Thomas igniting the official flame of Europe's largest youth sports event.

Ex-England rugby international Victor Ubogu and a team of pyrotechnic abseiling marines were also on hand to add a little flavour to the occasion.

Figures from British sport as diverse as the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Chris Smith MP, the Minister for Sport Kate Hoey MP, Duncan Goodhew MBE, Jon Ridgeon and former England under 21 footballer Chris Bart-Williams cheered on their teams over the three days of competition.

On Thursday, the opening ceremony was followed by the London Heathrow Mini Games -- a tournament for primary school youngsters (aged eight to 11) having fun and competing in eight sports especially designed for their age group: mini rugby, football, mini hockey, netball, swimming, sports hall athletics, short tennis and boccia.

Roger Cato, Managing Director of BAA Heathrow, sponsors of the Games, said: "I hope that this weekend and the Mini Games on Thursday will have provided hours of fun and excitement for the thousands of young sports enthusiasts that have taken part from across London.

''Who knows, we may have even seen another British world-beater we can all be proud of one day.

"The last three days of competition, and days like them over the seven years of our sponsorship, have helped the London Heathrow Youth Games to become one of BAA Heathrow's most valuable investments, underpinning our community relations programme.

''We invest time, effort and energy into ensuring their success. The Games are a fine example of how business, sport and local authorities can work together for the benefit of the community."

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