WITH many Team GB athletes on their way to Tokyo, Swindon fencer Edward Scott-Payne wants to scale the Olympic heights at Paris 2024 as he builds on the legacy of London 2012.

As an overeager eight-year-old, Scott-Payne was inspired to take up fencing after watching the Games nine years ago.

He started first starting sparring at his Prior Park Prep school in Cricklade and has represented Great Britain since the age of 12.

Scott-Payne, a national champion, won bronze on one of the events on the European circuit three years later before picking up seventh at the 2019-20 European Championships.

He missed out on the World Championships in Cairo owing to travel restrictions but Scott-Payne, 17, now wants to ensure he is in the best shape possible as he guns for Paris 2024 glory.

“I definitely want to go all the way,” said Scott-Payne, whose sporting ambitions are supported by an innovative partnership between SportsAid and Wall’s Pastry. I definitely want to go and compete at an Olympics. I want to be world number one and achieve as much as I can.

“After my career, I’d love to potentially go into a coaching role to help younger fencers come through, or work at British Fencing and be able to have a positive impact on the sport once I’ve stopped competing. I’m just so passionate about fencing. It’s my whole life.

“During the pandemic, the most challenging thing was the fact that we missed out on the 2020-21 season because I really thought I could win a lot of the circuit events, and I genuinely thought I could have won the World Championships if we had been able to go.

“Because I’ve been in the GB squad a lot longer than most people, the hope was when I got to age of 16, 17, that I could medal and win it, so it was quite a disappointment.

“But I’ve just got to pick myself up now because I’ve moved up to an Under-20 this season.”

Over the lockdown, Scott-Payne has taken his fencing to new levels thanks to the help of his school, Hartpury College, where he is trained by the head of the British epee program, John Rees.

And his career has also been fuelled by a partnership between SportsAid and Wall’s Pastry’s, with an innovative on-pack Wall’s promotion giving consumers a chance to win a handful of money-can’t-buy experiences.

The on-pack promotion launched earlier this month and involves 50p from every pack sold going towards supporting the next generation of SportsAid stars.

And the Wiltshire ace said: “John and I get on really well. We have similar personalities and we both really love the sport. We like to have fun a lot and can see the light-hearted fun in fencing as well as being serious and getting ready to compete. We both share a passion for the sport.

“Hartpury understand the demands of sport and what it can be like being an athlete and doing your academics at the same time.

“A lot of people are in the same scenario – they’re trying to do their individual sport at a high level and get the academics right and be on track at the same time.”