Hunter, a previous Youth Games competitor who won gold in the lightweight double sculls at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, said: "Competing as a youngster for my home Borough of Havering at the London Youth Games was a truly great experience and an important staging post on my journey to the Olympic podium.

"It just shows that you can progress from the London Youth Games to the very top.

"Now as an elite athlete I benefit from Lottery funding, which means I have access to some of the best coaches and training facilities that the UK has to offer, which are supporting me as I aim for London 2012."

Sport England's chairman, Richard Lewis, added: "The London Youth Games is helping sport to change the lives of tens of thousands of young Londoners, and we at Sport England are proud to support it, thanks to funding from The National Lottery.

"Like so much of what's good in community sport, the Games' success is down to strong teamwork between local councils, sports governing bodies and many other partners."

Last year's event was the most successful since it was launched in 1977, with 64,000 youngsters participating in 30 sports across 33 London Boroughs.

The draw for this year's Games was conducted at the National Lottery headquarters, with each Borough assigned a lottery ball number.

The qualifying rounds of the event will be taking place on the weekend of June 11-12, with the finals week from June 30 to July 3.

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