A young athlete from Malton has been offered some truly Olympic footwear after an injury caused his feet to bleed.

Lewis Papa, a runner, had to pull out of a race competition when his brand new running spikes hurt his feet. To compensate 16-year-old Lewis for the injuries he sustained, Puma UK have offered him a free pair of Olympic spikes which are not yet available in the shops. They are of the kind used by British athletes at Sydney 2000.

Lewis, who is a member of Nestle Rowntree Running Club, in York, was set to run three races in the Tartan Games at Gateshead Stadium on August 26 but had to pull out after the first race because his new spikes had become too painful to run in. His mother, Pamela Papa, said that by the end of the first race Lewis was limping so much he pulled out of the competition.

"We'd bought him some new running spikes specially for the competition but during the first race they were digging in quite badly and when he took them off his feet were bleeding," she said.

When Pamela contacted Puma to complain about the spikes, the company agreed to send Lewis the new top of the range pair.

Puma spokesman Geoff Wightman said Lewis should receive his brand new pair of spikes soon.

"Hopefully there will be a pair in this size; if not we may have to refund his money."