A TEENAGE athlete won six gold medals in international sprint competitions, despite suffering from an eye condition which has left him partially sighted.

James Ball, from Ponthir, was born with two visual impairments known as achromatopsia and nystagmus which have left him with severely reduced vision when his eyes are exposed to too much light.

But 18-year-old James has never let his sight hold him back, representing Wales in swimming competitions at the age of 12, before moving on to athletics when he turned 14.

He decided to make the 100 and 200 metres his race of choice, fitting 10 hours of training a week around his studies at Coleg Glan Hafren college in Rumney, Cardiff.

Although he narrowly missed out on the qualifying time for the Beijing Paralympics in 2008, James can now run 100m in 11.84 seconds, wearing 98 per cent tinted contact lenses so he can run in bright sunlight without straying from his lane.

Between July and September he collected six gold medals, taking the top prize in the 100 and 200 metre races at international competitions in the Czech Republic, Dublin, and Nottingham.

And James, also a keen drummer, has even turned his skills to other events, bringing home a silver medal in the javelin when a sprained ankle forced him to pull out of the sprints at the International Blind Sports Association Youth and Students World Championships in America.

James, who now hopes to qualify for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, said: “It's a lot harder to compete because of my eye sight, but this year has just been brilliant. I'm really am proud of myself.

It's great to win the medals, but all I want to do is run.”