Even the celebrations are more ambitious at Colston’s

Two outstanding young athletes at Colston’s School brought their own celebrations to GCSE results morning.

High jump and long jump specialist Ding Yang was leaping for joy at gaining 9 A*s and 3As, and performance gymnast Shaun Malone went straight into a handstand with news of his 7 A*s and 4 As safely under his belt.

The two 16-year-olds both have international ambitions in their respective sports, and have London 2012 firmly in mind.

Ding will join Britain’s leading young track and field athletes at the UK School Games in Bath from August 28th-31st. It will be the first event in the London Olympiad following the Beijing Olympics.

Shaun is pinning his hopes on acrobatic gymnastics being adopted as a demonstration sport at London 2012.

His mother and father Carol and Patrick Malone are both international gymnastics coaches, and his sister Kirby (14) – also a pupil at Colston’s – is another accomplished gymnast.

The whole family have just returned from Beijing where Carol Malone was a judge at the gymnastics events.