Things are going well for 18-year-old discus thrower Chloe Jones – she’s currently competing at a national level, which is pretty impressive.

“I’m really proud that I’ve managed to step my level up,” said Chloe, who attends Beaufort Co-operative Academy Sixth Form.

“I feel like I truly fit in with my group now – they’ve all been competing this highly for ages and they’re all in the top 10 or 20 nationally.

“There’s definitely a sense of pride throughout the whole group for what we’ve achieved; the atmosphere that’s around when you get a new personal best is amazing.

“There’s just so much support.”

Chloe has already had some great experiences with discus.

“I’ve been a member of Gloucester AC since I was 9, but I have been doing athletics since I was 6. I have been throwing the discus for three and a half years now,” she said.

“When I was around 15 or 16, they were looking for some extra athletes to fill in for other people, so I helped out.

“I was then spotted and asked to join the throwing squad – I’ve been a member ever since.”

And that was just the beginning of an amazing journey.

“I’m now ranked 19th in the under 20’s age category, which I’m really proud about,” said Chloe.

“I competed in the English Schools competition. All the best people across the schools in England were there.

“I was ranked to come 16th but ended up coming 12th – I managed to up my performance which was great.”

That wasn’t the only instance where Chloe managed to up her game.

“The first time I threw the discus, I managed 20m. After a year, I was throwing it 32m and I’m currently managing 39m,” she said.

So, what are Chloe’s plans for the future?

“I’m aiming to do a degree level apprenticeship in engineering,” she said.

“I think it could really assist me. I saw that someone competing in the Winter Olympics had made their own shoes and ended up winning a bronze medal – it would be cool if I could do something like that.”

And what about her aims for discus?

“My coach, Lorraine Shaw, who competes to an Olympic standard, thinks that I’ll be able to at least compete in the Commonwealth Games,” said Chloe.

“I’d love to manage to beat all her records though – that’s my aim.”

It’s clear that Chloe is truly ambitious.

“I just really want to prove I can do it and that I can do it well,” she said.

“People are surprised when I say I’m a discus thrower – they presume that I’m a runner and say I don’t look like a thrower.

“People think it’s an easy sport. Boys say to me that all you do is throw it – you really don’t!

“Other people think you just throw it like a frisbee. It’s actually a lot harder and more technical than that.”

Chloe’s dedication is inspiring – she has a great attitude to what she does.

“My advice would be to never be deterred. It is hard, but stick with it,” she said.

“You’ll get better and better. You’ll be able to bounce back, even on a bad day.

“I never turn anything down – I’ll take every opportunity available to me.”

If you’re going to take anything away from Chloe’s story of continued improvement it would be this – hard work pays off, so never give up.