A Shropshire man who is hoping for a podium place at the Rio Olympics this year has urged all school children to try a variety of sport.

Joe Evans, 22, said potential athletes could be missing out if they don’t try out sports – and his school is to thank for his opportunity.

The professional athlete travels the world training for the modern pentathlon after taking part in a biathlon at Thomas Adams School, Wem, when he was 11-years-old.

He said: “The school biathlon was running and swimming, they put me forward because I did the schools cross country and swimming galas so they knew I could do it.

“There were three of us from the school that took part in year seven and I was the only one that made the national competition.

“It was a great introduction and I got the bug – this was my first taster of what would later become my job.”

Joe grew up on a farm in Whixall, near Whitchurch, but now trains six days a week from 8am to 7pm at the University of Bath.

He also regularly visits training camps in Paris, Mexico, Florida and other parts of the world.

At the age of 15 he joined UK Sport’s World Class Performance Pathway, which aims to bring talented sports people up to Olympic standard.

And Joe says it was his school and teachers that got him to that stage.

He added: “The deputy head Mark Cooper approached me after I’d tried the biathlon and he introduced me to the right people.

“He was integral in encouraging me.

“It is people like him who help youngsters to get started, perhaps one in 100 keep it going but it is not about that, it is about having the chance.

“At that age you should try everything, you just don’t know what you are going to be good at.”

The former Whitchurch wasps swimming club member first experienced pentathlon when Mr Cooper put him in touch with the West Midlands Pentathlon Club.

“I was quite sporty anyway, I was doing lots of other sports at the time,” he added.

“I enjoyed the high jump, long jump, cross country and triathlon but after the success in the biathlon I had the opportunity to go and try shooting and fencing.

“If I hadn’t have started pentathlon I probably would have stuck to swimming.”

Joe has since gained a place on the Great Britain pentathlon team.

In August at the first Olympic qualification event, the European Championships in Bath, Joe finished fifth in the mixed relay.

In March he finished 15th at the World Cup series in Cairo, Egypt – which followed a silver medal in the World Championships mixed relay in Warsaw, Poland alongside Kate French, in September last year.

He added: “Rio is what I have been working towards for the last six years. I’d be over the moon if I qualify.

“But it is one thing to get there, then it is another thing to do well when you’re there.

“I am taking each stage as it comes and doing my best.

“I had never imagined this, to go from growing up on a farm in rural Shropshire to being written about in your local paper, competing with the best and travelling the world to train – it is fantastic and I just want to do everyone proud.”

Mark Cooper added: “Joe is one of the most dedicated pupils I have come across, training before and after school and throughout sixth form he would often use his free lessons as well.

“We knew he would do well from the first moment we saw him so it was without hesitation that we wanted to encourage him.

“It is just rewards for his efforts and exemplary attitude that he has gone on to achieve what he has so far and I am confident that he will continue to be successful.

“We are all proud of his achievements – I pointed him in the right direction but he did all the hard work.

“All staff and many pupils at the school now eagerly track his successes and we are so pleased to have had the opportunity to be involved in his story.”

Headteacher of the school Liz Dakin added: “We do our best to offer a variety of sporting opportunities to every pupil who attends both Thomas Adams School and Adams College.

“We are not a quiet school in north Shropshire, we know our pupils can be great and we are not afraid to encourage them.

“We are so pleased for Joe and his is a name that we will long be talking about at Thomas Adams.”