FREERUNNER Mike Young has reached dizzying new heights in his daring sport and landed his dream job, all in the space of a year.

Since the Journal featured Mr Young, from West Grimstead, last November the 21-year-old has come on leaps and bounds.

He took up freerunning, a form of urban acrobatics where participants use buildings and other structures to perform moves, when he was 15.

Last year he was regularly practising his technique and hoping to eventually enter competitions.

But now he has signed up to compete in the USA and is coaching freerunning at schools all over Wiltshire.

In November, Mr Young and three friends, Josh Williams, Kieran Coombes and Seb Drewett, all aged between 18 and 20, will be taking part in the Parkulture Cross Urban Scramble in Miami.

The three-day event will feature 125 of the best freerunners in the world, representing more than 40 countries, and will be watched by 30,000 people.

Mr Young said: “They create a big arena with different levels and bars and we have to do a four-minute routine on the equipment there.”

The Salisbury team, who have been freerunning together for about a year, were asked to compete by the organisers and have been working hard on their routine. “We’ve gone into intense training mode. We’ve been training every other night at Andover Gymnastics Club and then just doing lots of conditioning exercises to get up to scratch.”

Mr Young, who was an apprentice electrician last time the Journal spoke to him, has also landed his dream job teaching the sport he loves after a coaching company saw him on YouTube.

After doing some coaching courses Mr Young has been teaching freerunning to children aged between ten and 16 at schools all over the county since January.

“I’m doing my dream job, which is great,” he said. “It’s all just going really well.”

To see Mike in action visit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL85_mjzW4U&list=UUpmH5cHfNzLDk4eI9rIlVzg&index=4&feature=plcp .