A teenage roller-skater has achieved her dream of competing at the European Championships and has reached a new international person best.

Orla Willis, 14, from Faringdon, has been skating for the Marlborough-based Moonrakers Roller Skating Club since she was just seven-years-old.

Back in June, she won the GB Skate Artistic National Championships with a 10-point lead over her competitors and now Orla and her mum, Rosamund, have just come back from Portugal, where she ranked in 19th place at the European Championships.

Orla’s coach Tia Shortall said: “It was such a good experience and Orla was fantastic. She skated in her category against the top skaters in the world and it was her first time skating at this kind of level.

“She smashed it and she was a total professional. She skated her programmes well and next year she will move up to the next category. Not only is she aspiring to do better but she’s going to have to do that in an even harder category and she hopes to finish in the top ten.

“She’s taking a couple weeks off now, she’s at a festival at the moment and then going on holiday, so she’s got some nice treats while the pressure is off slightly, but we are hoping she might have another international competition later on this year.

READ MORE: Teenager crowned British Champion in skating competition

“Orla is quite high level in athletics as well, so she’s been watching the athletics and gymnastics in the Olympics saying things like ‘I could use that in my skating’, so it’s really inspirational.

“This year she’s done a lot of work on her mental preparedness. Just before the competition she doesn’t like to watch the others in her category perform or hear their scores.

“She puts her earphones in and visualises her programme in her mind, which seems to be working really well for her. She’s practicing those techniques and getting better at it.”

“Orla has just chosen her GCSE options and she’s chosen things that will help her with her skating. She’s chosen Spanish because there’s a skater who she really admires, Natalia Baldizzone, who lives in Malaga, and she said that way she can speak to Natalia, who is the current world champion.”

Tia added: “She does love it and she’s very talented, so I’m glad she’s looking at what the next step is, because I think she’s got a great future ahead of her.”

Moonrakers Roller Skating Club offer a public session on Saturdays at Marlborough Leisure Centre for people of any ability to give it a go.