Judo expert Curtis Dodge and swimmer Sara Lougher will spearhead the Welsh effort at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Belgrade.

The two athletes will form part of the 63 strong Team GB squad that will travel to compete in Serbia from 22nd– 27th July 2007.

Fourteen year old Dodge from Swansea first took to the judo mat at the age of seven and has since become Welsh champion, British Cadet Champion and 5th in the British Under 20s Junior Championships.

Thirteen year old Lougher from Bridgend was the youngest member of the Wales schools swim team and first took to the water at the age of nine.

Team GB will compete in seven sports: athletics, cycling, gymnastics, judo, swimming, table tennis and tennis. A total of 2,196 athletes from 48 countries will take part in eleven sports (seven individual and four team sports).

Mark England, Team GB’s EYOF Chef de Mission, said:

"Several of the British athletes selected for Belgrade are hopefuls for 2012 and we know how valuable it is for an athlete competing in an Olympic Games to have experienced a multi-sport environment and to have lived in an Olympic Village. The European Youth Olympic Festival is a perfect opportunity for our young athletes, aged between 13 to 17, to experience this. The squad is a strong one and I am confident that we will be coming back with many medals."