Speed skater Steven Outen left his rivals chasing shadows when he raced to victory in the Battersea Park half-marathon.

Steven, from Stanford-le-Hope, picked up £250 worth of new skating kit after coming top of the pile against stiff competition in the 17-kilometre sponsored event last weekend.

The 14-year-old, who is a member of the Federation of In-line Speed Skating and trains three times a week with the North London club, now has his sights set on even more glory.

"I was up against 30 other racers at Battersea and it was a great feeling to come in first," said Steven.

"At one time I was falling behind in the race, but I've got strong stamina and I managed to keep on going and pull the race round by crossing the finishing line first.

"Now I want to go on and grab even more success and achieve my long-term ambition of forcing my way into the Great Britain skating team."

Steven, who has only been skating for just over a year, will compete in a meeting at Birmingham soon, but his future lies in the USA.

At the end of August, the Outen family will emigrate to Arizona, where Steven's dad, Derek, believes his teenage son can receive the best coaching in the world.

"Skating is still a minority sport in England and when it come to quality coaching you can't beat what's on offer in America," said Derek.

"The USA has the best coaches in the world and if Steven can receive this level of tuition I'm sure he can become an even better skater.

"Skating is taken much more seriously in America and there is a good chance that he could earn his living over there from his sport."

When they get to America, Derek will search for a coach on the internet, but until then he will be urging Steven, who started out at the South Woodham Ferrers Rollerspeed Skating club, to keep working hard in England.

"One of the reasons we are going to America is to help Steven fulfil his potential," he added. "But he still has a few competitions to race in over here before we leave and hopefully he can do well in them.

"Steven has come a long way in speed skating in a short time and I'm sure with the right coaching he can go even further and achieve more."

On the right track - Steven Outen won at Battersea Park but is moving to America to further his dream of skating success

Picture: STEVE O'CONNELL

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.