Sky Academy Sports Scholarships: Olivia Breen blogs on being part of Wales' Commonwealth Games team

Olivia Breen: Is set to compete for Wales at the Commonwealth Games

Hi everyone, I've had a very exciting couple of weeks.

I am still really excited about my PBs in the 100m and long jump and can’t believe that I have succeeded in taking more than four tenths of a second off my 100m PB. The night following my PB in the long jump I found out that Wales had nominated me for selection for the Commonwealth Games and a couple of days later discovered that I had been successful.

My selection for the Commonwealth Games completes an incredible two years of competition for me and it means I will have competed at an IPC European Championship, a Paralympic Games, an IPC World Championship and now a Commonwealth Games. I feel so privileged.

I’m so happy and feel very proud to have been selected to represent Wales. My mum is Welsh and all my school holidays growing up were spent with my grandparents and family in Cardiff. I have always felt Welsh and since becoming involved in disability sport I have received so much support from the Federation of Disability Sport Wales that it will be good to give something back.

Last Wednesday I attended the send-off for the Welsh team at the Swalec Stadium in Cardiff which is the home of Glamorgan CCC. I went with my grandparents and we had a really amazing day.

The day started with us being given our kit. We then had a champagne reception, an anti-doping talk and other talks and a group photograph which took ages to organise! We also met the First Minister of Wales, Carwyn James.

It was great to meet everyone on the team. Wales is taking its biggest ever team to a Commonwealth Games and it was amazing to feel part of such a special occasion. I was also delighted when my great friend from Paralympic sport Aled Davies was announced as captain of the Welsh team - he will be such an amazing captain.

Dreams Come True

Last Sunday I went to Hamleys toy store in London which had opened its doors specially for the children of the charity of which I am a young ambassador, Dreams Come True. It was so much fun and so lovely to meet so many inspirational children and their families.

The charity has made the dreams of thousands of terminally ill children from the UK come true. For many of the children and their families a simple toy shopping trip can be a nightmare as they will often have wheelchairs or find dealing with crowds difficult.

There was so much joy at the event and the children and their families were so positive and happy, I felt really privileged to be a part of it.

Olivia Breen: At Hamleys with the Dreams Come True charity for whom she is an ambassador

On Monday I attended the Sky Sports Studio where I was styled and then photographed for my own personal photo shoot - it was amazing! I had an incredible hair and beauty artist and a great stylist and then had so much fun having photos taken and wearing really high heels which I never normally dare to do.

Then on Tuesday, Sky sent a crew and reporter to my college to film me training and interview me which was also really good fun.

I am now looking forward to concentrating on my training over the next few weeks in the lead up to the Commonwealth Games. My coach and I are planning to head to Portugal for some warm weather training for a week, which I think will really set me up well for Glasgow and hopefully a medal.

The competition for my event is strong. It is a mixed class event, which means athletes from T37 and T38 are competing. There is really strong competition from England and Australia but hopefully I can put in a strong performance.

The week before the Commonwealth Games, I have also been asked to compete in the 100m at the Sainsbury Anniversary Games which should be a fantastic event and a real spectacle at Horse Guards Parade in London. It’s going to be a busy couple of months but also really exciting!