Teenager Charlotte Henrich is celebrating after she earned a Commonwealth Youth Games silver medal.

Canterbury’s Henrich, 16, finished as the runner-up in Trinidad and Tobago in the women’s 400m event.

The Invicta East Kent athlete came between two athletes from Guyana after qualifying for the Final by clocking 55min16sec.

Prior to the Commonwealth Youth Games, set to finish this Friday, she explained how she spent the first five years of her life in France and struggled to adapt after her move to the UK, where she had to learn a new language while also suffering from dyslexia.

“Athletics literally changed my whole life,” she said. “I went to one competition in Loughborough and I came back a completely different person.

“It was actually massive.

“In my primary school, everyone was really academic. I used to go home feeling like I couldn't do anything!

“I couldn’t read - it was so bad - then I was home-schooled until I got into grammar school.

“I didn’t have any confidence and, now, people say I’m the most talkative person they know.

“It’s noticeable. My mum picked me up and we went to a family friend’s house, and I couldn’t stop talking. I haven’t stopped talking since, to be honest.

“That was two or three years ago - I went back to school as a different person.”

Henrich is part of a 59-strong English contingent, alongside more than 1,000 competitors aged 14 to 18.