A SIXTH form pupil is celebrating golden success after helping his team finish top of the podium at an international event.

Joe Lane, a Year 13 student from Plume Academy, competed in the Open European Championships in Biathlon, Triathlon and Biathlon Mixed Team Relay held in Weiden, Germany.

The race consisted of a 1,600m run, a 200m open water swim, and another 1,600m run.

The events were part of a weekend of biathlon and triathlon events attended by teams from all over Europe.

Joe paced the first run well and entered the water in sixth place and after the swim moved up to second place going into the second run.

At the end of a competitive race, Joe managed to finish in fourth place, behind elite athletes from Russia, Germany and a British team mate.

With the top three athletes from each country combining times for the team event, the British team finished in first place with Joe picking up a gold medal and becoming part of a European Championship winning team.

Plume Academy principal, Carl Wakefield, said: “As well as being an absolutely fantastic athlete, Joe is also a thoroughly decent, modest and somewhat grounded young man.

“He continues to work incredibly hard to achieve such outcomes and we have every faith that should he remain injury free, he can go on to achieve positive accolades at the very highest level.”