Olivia Breen ready for IPC European Championships at Grosseto in Italy

The Rio Paralympics is closing fast and the IPC European Championships is the perfect stage to show off your skills and lay down a marker for your rivals.

Olivia Breen has put a niggling toe injury behind her and started the outdoor season with several fireworks on the track and in the sandpit.

The 19-year-old Sky Academy Sports Scholar has a busy schedule in Grosseto, Italy, competing in the 100m, 200m, long jump and 4x100m relay and is part of a 49-person strong GB team.

She first competes on Sunday in the 200m. Here are Olivia's thoughts on preparation for the Euros and her ongoing quest to make Rio....

I cannot believe that the European Championships have come around so quickly. The season is going by so quickly. It's amazing and before we know it Rio will be here!

My season has got off to a really positive start. I'm so happy to have personal bests (PB) in the 100m and long jump so early on and I know I have more to give in both events which is really exciting and shows all the hard sessions in the winter are paying off.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

I competed at Newham last weekend. It was a really hot and beautiful day and I am so pleased to have got a PB in the long jump. I was happy but was a bit annoyed because I achieved the mark by jumping about 10cm before the board!

It's still great to know I have a big jump inside me and hopefully it will all come together in Italy.

I also ran a 200m in Newham. I made a few mistakes in that race but still got a pretty good time so hopefully I will run a better race in Italy and achieve a PB and hopefully a medal.

It's very exciting getting ready for this event. It will be a good indicator on how other athletes are doing in the run-up to Rio and show me where I need to make improvements. I love Italy - the food is amazing, the weather is beautiful and the people are really friendly so it should be great.

It will also be good to have support out there. My parents are coming out with my long jump coach Jules and also Ellie and Sophy from Sky Sports will be there. It will be great to see familiar faces and I hope I can make the trip worthwhile for them by performing well.

Most of my time over the last few weeks has been spent training and there hasn't been much time for fun. I did, however, watch my twin brother Dan perform in London last week.

He writes and performs his own songs and I was really proud to see him in a pub in Shoreditch which was great fun.

I like being able to support him as both my brothers are always really supportive of me.

My final session before the Europeans was with my younger brother for his PE lesson at his school in Portsmouth so that was fun. I wanted to do some bend practice for the 200m so hopefully I won't make the same mistakes as I did last weekend.

Olivia's schedule in Italy:

Sunday: 200m final
Monday: Long jump
Tuesday: Day off!
Wednesday: 100m final
Thursday: 4x100m relay

Keep across the @SkyScholarship twitter account for updates throughout the European Championships.

WHAT'S COMING UP FOR OUR SCHOLARS

11-12 JUNE: Siobhan O'Connor, Mare Nostrum, Barcelona

10-16 JUNE: Olivia Breen, IPC Athletics European Champs in Italy

15 JUNE: Holly Bradshaw, Welsh Open

23-26 JUNE: Lucy Garner, National Road Cycling Champs, Stockton-on-Tees 

24-26 JUNE: Holly Bradshaw, Jessica Judd at British Championships, Birmingham

25-26 JUNE: Quillan Isidore, British BMX Round 7 & 8, Burgess Park