Steph Owens, of Buckley, Flintshire, fulfiled a childhood dream when she was picked to appear on the popular TV Gladiators show.

The 18-year-old, who attends Deeside College, beat off stiff competition from 10,000 other applications to pit her wits against the professionals in the Sky TV show.

She said: "Appearing on Gladiators was the realisation of a lifelong dream for me. When I was little I even used to make my own 'eliminator' (the show's gruelling final challenge) with chairs and stools as obstacles and the stairs as the travelator.

"Filming the shows was amazing, it was surreal to be looking up at the flashing Gladiators signs and taking part in the events I'd watched as a child. It is easily one of my greatest achievements to date."

Steph undertook a range of challenges including sprint races, chin-ups and jump tests, and even overcame a dislocated finger to win through to the final 150 at the second Manchester audition.

During the audition, Steph was interviewed on camera to ensure she could cope with the pressure of appearing on TV.

Following her selection, she was invited down to London to compete against the final 40 hopefuls.

Steph said: "The final audition was far more event specific, we competed against other contenders in games such as 'duel' and 'earthquake'."

Following a painstaking wait, Steph finally received confirmation that she had been selected as a contender and was to make her way to the Shepperton TV studios in London where the programme is filmed.

Although Steph is an all-round athlete, her main event is the hammer.

She is the current under-17 welsh record holder with a distance of 48.69 meters.

She was ranked second in the UK and first in Wales in 2007 in the under-17 category and is placed 7th in the UK after her debut season in the under-20s.

Steph will complete her BTEC National Diploma in Sports Studies course this year and hopes to progress to University of Wales Institute Cardiff (UWIC) to study sports conditioning, rehabilitation and massage.

Deeside College programme area manager for sports, Nev Price, said: "Everyone at Deeside College is proud of Steph's achievements both on Gladiators and the track.

"She is keeping tight lipped about how far she has progressed on the show, which is ensuring that her fellow students will be tuning in to her quarter final appearance."