A Wembley-based sprinter could be heading for the London Olympics after receiving a £1,000 boost from Renault London West.

Junior Ejehu, aged 19, scooped the prize after polling an incredible 34,442 votes in a competition run by Renault’s largest UK dealership in conjunction with newspaper group Trinity Southern.

The campaign’s aim was to find young athletes from the west London area with the potential to go on to represent Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics.

Six entrants were initially chosen from the applications, before four of these were selected to face the public vote; Junior, Martha Reynolds, a middle distance runner from Hanwell, Jonathan Boyton, a 21-year-old kayaker from Brunel University and Emma Pallant, aged 20, a 1,500m runner.

It was then up to the newspaper’s readers to decide who should benefit from the training bursary, with Ejehu polling more than half of the votes cast.

Martin Wilcock, general manager at Renault London West, said: “Young people just starting out on their sporting career can find it difficult to find the budget to buy vital equipment for their chosen discipline.

“We wanted to offer a local athlete financial assistance as well as practical help in the form of car loans and support from our service department.”

Renault London East, also a Renault Retail Group dealer, ran a similar campaign with the Ilford Recorder throughout 2008 and now supports a young swimmer called Charlie Dentith.