Javelin thrower Freddie Curtis’s career will hit a new high when he competes at next week’s World Junior Championships in the USA.

The 19-year-old, from Hardwick, near Bicester, earned his place in Great Britain & Northern Ireland’s team for the championships in Eugene, Oregon after going beyond 70m for the first time.

Curtis and his GB teammmates are now at a training camp ahead of the main event from July 22-27.

The England Under 20 champion’s previous best of 69.48m was set last year, but he threw a landmark 71.83m to win the POPPI-Olympialaiset meeting in Kannonkoski, Finland earlier this month.

That mark sees him ranked 20th in the world for the junior age group.

Loughborough University student Curtis, who is coached by Fin Petteri Piironen, is also now the UK’s top under 20 thrower and fourth overall.

The Marshall Milton Keynes athlete comes from a family of javelin throwers, with older brother Jackson, 21, a former South of England Under 20 champion.

Younger brother Redford, 17, finished second behind Freddie in this year’s England Under 20 Championships.

And on Saturday, Redford finished fourth at the English Schools’ Track & Field Championships in Birmingham.

Representing Somerset Schools, Redford threw 58.71m in the senior boys’ javelin.