A PENARTH youngster has beaten more than 50,000 schoolchildren from across Wales to be crowned with a Commonwealth Games inspired award.

St Joseph’s RC Primary School pupil Luca Nordine came third in the Inspire>Aspire awards that aims to ‘inspire and connect young people across the Commonwealth’.

Year Six pupil Luca was presented with the award in recognition of “exceptional work in personal development and self-discovery.”

Luca had been invited to an awards ceremony in Scotland where the 2014 Commonwealth Games are set to be held, but as he couldn’t make it world record holder and adventurer Mark Beaumont dedicated a video message to him and described his work as “outstanding”.

He was awarded a bronze medal, certificate and a £25 WH Smith gift voucher during a school assembly last Thursday, July 10.

As part of the project St David’s Crescent resident Luca, 10, chose Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt as his inspiration, drawing a poster about him, and wrote about his own strengths, weaknesses and ambitions for the future.

“I was amazed when I found out I had won,” he said.

“It was quite scary standing in front of everyone in school, but I really enjoyed it.”

Proud mum Julie said that Luca entered the competition in a bid to improve his reading and writing, as the project involved writing about that inspired him and what he was good at.

He was joined at the assembly by his parents, grand parents, his eldest brother and his younger sister.