Elliot O'Neill took a leap of faith when he gave up sprinting to become a triple jumper.

The 19-year-old Macclesfield Harrier, who also used to compete in the long jump, decided to make the switch just last year.

But O'Neill's decision has been fully justified with a series of sensational performances this season.

The former Henbury School pupil finished eighth in the televised Commonwealth and World Championship Trials in Manchester last month.

Taking on the cream of Britain's triple jumpers, including Nathan Douglas and Phillips Idowu, he leapt a personal best 15.54m, but missed out on a top three finish which he needed to qualify.

However, his meteoric rise has not gone unnoticed and, after coming third in the AAAs Under-23 championship, O'Neill has been selected to represent Great Britain in an international against Spain, France and Czech Republic this weekend.

"I'm quite nervous but I'm really looking forward to it," said O'Neill, who has just finished the first year of a sports science degree at the University of Wales Institute in Cardiff. "If everything goes to plan I should finish in a good position."

O'Neill, of Gawsworth Road, Macclesfield, has now firmly set his sights on next year's Olympic trials for Beijing, though he is still young for a triple jumper.

He added: "Triple jumpers normally develop a little later; Jonathon Edwards only jumped 15.09m at 19, while Nathan Douglas, who is 22 and Britain's number one, jumped 15.50m when he was my age, but is now jumping 17.64m."

The future certainly looks bright for the teenage athlete and fully justifies his change of direction in the sport. He said: "It's definitely worked out for the best. A lot of people commented on my speed and how, because I'm light, triple jump would suit me.

"I'm No1 in the country for my age and things can only get better."