Only a year after he started wheelchair racing, a Chessington schoolboy with brittle bone disease has been tipped for Olympic success by athletics legend Sebastian Coe.

Last week, Jack Binstead, 10, was shortlisted for Junior Sportsman of the Year by the London Sports Forum after becoming one of the youngest wheelchair competitors in the 2006 Mini London Marathon. Although he did not win the award at the gala dinner at City Hall, Jack was named at the event as one of the future stars of the 2012 Games by Sebastian Coe, chairman of the Olympic Committee, and BBC sports commentator John Inverdale.

Jack's recent success in wheelchair racing with Kingston-based club Velocity has really boosted his all-round confidence, according to his mother Penny.

She said: "Jack has only been racing for a year but he has become physically so much stronger.

"He has come along mentally as well, and his confidence is soaring. He has now accepted his disability and is finally happy in his own skin.

"He is so thrilled to be recognised for something he is very good at. If his progress continues, we are told he could be a real contender for the 2012 Paralympics."

Amazingly, Jack has not broken a bone in 18 months, something Penny puts down to his new drug treatment programme at Kingston Hospital.

She said: "Jack goes into hospital every three months for three days to have the drugs administered intravenously. To begin with, there was little progress and the effect of the drugs to make his bones less brittle wore off immediately after about three days. Now though, he is stronger and less floppy and the drugs stay in his system for about three or four months. He can even take a few steps."

Jack, who trains at Kingsmeadow three times a week with coach Christine Parsloe, also recently won the Kingston School Sports Partnership award for Junior Sports Person of the Year for his age group, and the Neil Mear award from his school, St Mary's, for his outstanding abilities within sport, considering his disability.

Jack is taking part in this year's Mini London Marathon on April 22 and is looking for sponsorship to fund new racing wheelchairs for his club Velocity. To sponsor Jack, contact Penny Binstead on 020 8391 0303.