Proud Pewsey Vale student Gemma Bawcutt is preparing for the run of her life after being selected to carry the Olympic torch in Salisbury on July 11.

Wiltshire is the only county in the UK which will have the torch carried through it twice, firstly on May 23 when it goes through the north of the county including Marlborough as it heads for the West of England and again on July 11 on its return journey back to the London Olympic stadium.

Gemma will be 12 on April 17 and she was nominated by her PE teacher Lyndsay Shaw after the school became aware that the Olympic torch route organisers were looking for a 12-year-old to be one of those who run with the torch through Salisbury.

She captains the Year 7 netball team and is a sports all-rounder, goes trampolining at Devizes Leisure Centre and is a keen rider.

Gemma said: “I am very excited and I look forward to having my family, some of my school friends and my teacher watching me.”

The Year 7 student is the third daughter of Duncan and Eliza-beth Bawcutt from Hilcott to go to Pewsey Vale and her sisters Philippa, 16, who is studying for a sports diploma at Andover College, and Olivia, 14, also at PVS, plan to be at the roadside in Salisbury with her school friends and PE teacher to cheer her on as she carries the torch 300 metres.

Proud grandad Alan Latham, also from Hilcott, will also be there and has paid £200 for the torch she carries, as a keepsake.