RICHARD White can be an example to us all.

His battle with cerebral palsy, which affects his mind and lower limbs, to become one of the world's leading disabled sprinters is one of immense dedication and huge success.

The Catshill athlete, Sportsman of the Year runner-up at the Midlands Disability Sports Awards last month, takes everything in his stride as he strives for his ultimate goal - paralympic gold.

Richard is already a paralympic bronze medallist in both the 100 and 200 metres, with personal best times of 13.8 seconds and 28.7secs respectively.

The 21-year-old, who lives in Wildmoor Lane, has just returned from a two-week training camp in Nicoseia, Cyprus, and is currently working towards the European Championships in Assen, Holland, from Sunday, June 15 to Saturday, June 21.

After that he will begin the task of making the qualifying times needed for selection to the Great Britain squad for the Paralympics in Athens next year.

But he has spent the last 18 months recovering from a hamstring injury and has his sights set on coming home with a medal.

"I am aiming to get gold in the Europeans," he said. "I want a medal after the injury and that would be a huge stride towards Athens."

Originally a swimmer with Worcester Special Olympics, life as a sprinter began for Richard when he was talent spotted by CP (Cerebral Palsy) Sport at the age of 15. Just 12 months later he was in the Great Britain squad.

Trained by John Clatworthy of Evesham, in 1998 Richard won two bronze medals at the World Championships in Birmingham, and broke the world record over 100m in the heats. However, his world ranking dropped from number three to number five.

A year later Richard, who trains six days a week in Worcester, won the 400m at the Southern Cross Championships in Brisbane, Australia, and still holds the Australian all-comers record in the event.

But his big break into stardom came at the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney, Australia. There he won bronze in the 100m and 200m and had the opportunity to walk out with the GB team at the opening ceremony.

Richard, who is funded by the National Lottery, said: "I enjoyed the surroundings of the stadium and the village and walking out in front of 110,000 people at Stadium Australia."

As a result, he was part of the team of the year at the 2000 BBC sports personality of the year awards and he was taken to meet the Queen and Tony Blair.

Such success propelled him to local celebrity status with people recognising him in the street and stopping to congratulate him.

He was named Bromsgrove District Sports Council's Supreme Male in 2001 and the games room at Catshill Working Mens Club, where Richard and father Bill play snooker and darts, is named after him.

"It makes me feel proud to be a Great Britain athlete," Richard added.

And it didn't end there. Birmingham City fan Richard was presented to the crowd at St Andrew's before a league match with Burnley and his success story was used by then-manager Trevor Francis to inspire his team to a 3-0 victory.

But the elation of Sydney turned to despair as he injured his hamstring at the 2001 CP Sport World Games, despite claiming bronze in the 100m.

That injury was a major setback and it is only recently that he is beginning to get back to the sort of form he showed Down Under.

Last summer, still on the road to full fitness, Richard entered the World Championships in Lille but his fifth place was not enough for a medal and, by his own admission, ranks as one the worst points of his career.

Now, fully recovered from his injury, the attention switches to Assen with Richard totally focused on victory.

The horticulture student at Pershore College also comes from a sporting family. His 22-year-old brother Kevin, who also has cerebral palsy, is a former 800m and 400m runner for CP Sport while sister Karen, aged 15 and not disabled, competes in the 100m, 200m and long jump.