Youngsters throughout the borough will be representing Barnet at the finals of the London Youth Games this weekend.

Thousands of boys and girls, from all 32 London boroughs, will descend on the National Sports Centre, Crystal Palace, in a bid to become the pride of the capital.

They will be taking part in 30 different sports.

The Games were first held in 1977 as part of the Queen's Silver Jubilee celebrations and they have gone from strength to strength each year. It is now Europe's largest youth sporting event.

Bromley won last year's Jubilee Trophy, with Havering and Redbridge in second and third place respectively.

Barnet came home with a number of medals, in sports such as swimming, squash, table tennis and athletics.

Though most of the finals will be held this weekend, some have already taken place at different venues throughout the capital.

The final of the fencing competition, another sport the borough excels in, took place on Sunday at Goresbrook Sport and Leisure Centre.

The Barnet youngsters finished an impressive fourth overall, with the senior team (U18s) coming home with a bronze after losing to Kensington & Chelsea in an extremely close and thrilling match. The squad consisted of James Brosnan, Daniel Habben, Amy Hyman, Daniel Jafferji and Alex Shayle.

Finchley Foil Fencing Club, which is run by Clare Halsted at Copthall Girls' School every Saturday, provided teams for three London boroughs: Barnet, Brent and Haringey, with a total of 18 fencers taking part.

A number of Finchley fencers have gone on to even greater things in the past, earning the club a fine reputation. The club's most famous ex-pupil is British Olympian Richard Kruse.