The first year Sports Therapy student had a “surreal” experience as he lined up against some of the nation’s best athletes, who were battling to secure their place on the Great Britain & Northern Ireland team for the European Championships.

At Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium, Kyle, who has only been competing for three years, reached the final of the 200m event, as well as the 100m semi-finals where he ran a personal best time of 10.60 seconds – beating the personal best he had just set of 10.78 seconds in the heats.

The 22 year old said it was an honour to compete against the likes of World Indoor 60m champion Richard Kilty, former 100m and 200m World Youth champion Harry Aikines-Aryeetey and 4x100m relay Olympic gold medallist Mark Lewis-Francis.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend in terms of my performance versus tough opposition,” said Kyle, who runs for Banbury Harriers and the University of Bedfordshire Athletics team.

“I’ve never run against three world class operators (Aikines-Aryeetey, Kilty and Lewis-Francis) in the same race before, so to record a personal best versus that calibre of opposition was both an amazing and surreal experience.

“Racing against big names in big events, like the British Championships, is a different ball game and will only aid my development.”

Harbouring ambitions of running in the Rio 2016 Olympics, Kyle is considering switching his allegiance to Australia – the birthplace of his father – and focusing on his favoured 200m discipline.

Kyle, who hails from Silverstone, Northamptonshire, added: “I face a huge dilemma because I’m ranked eighth in the 200m with Australia, compared to 20^th in this country.

“I’m going Down Under to visit my Dad in September so I’m going try and speak with Athletics Australia, who will hopefully show an interest.

“My goal is to make Rio 2016 and I’d be extremely proud to represent either Australia or Great Britain & Northern Ireland.”

Kyle’s success saw him win a place on the University’s Platinum Performance Sport Scholarship programme in November 2013 – which rewards Bedfordshire students competing at a national or international level, or on a development programme, with a bursary.

He concluded: “The £1,000 funding from the scholarship has helped me a lot as I’ve been able to afford the entry fees to participate in certain open competitions, whilst I’m able to regularly travel to the Bedford campus, where I receive strength and conditioning and sports science support as part of the bursary package.”

Photo: Kyle Ennis (left) with Dr Andrew Mitchell (right), Head of Department for Sport Science and Physical Activity, at the Platinum Performance Sport Scholarship awards