by Elizabeth Hudson

As well as the discus, Hancock also competes in the shot putt

Discus thrower Sophie Hancock hopes switching moving to Loughborough could help her secure a place in Great Britain's Paralympic team for Beijing.

The 20-year-old, who competes in the F40 category for dwarf athletes, has moved from her home town of Bolton to be closer to coach Mark Edwards.

She told BBC Sport: "It's early days but things seem to be working out well.

"It means that I can train five days a week and not have to worry as much about travelling."

Hancock is hoping to reach the qualifying distance for Beijing in Sunday's British Grand Prix in Sheffield, which will host a discus competition for Paralympic athletes.

UK Athletics has targeted a number of events for throwers to achieve the standards for Beijing, including Sunday's competition, and as well as Hancock, both CP athlete Bev Jones and Claire Williams, who is visually impaired, will also be trying to impress.

Jones, who won gold in the shot in last year's World Championships in Assen, is hoping to compete in both events in Beijing and needs to beat 25.50m while Williams' target is 35.20m.

Hancock threw 18.22m, just 3cm short of her qualifying target of 18.25 in the last event at the Throwsfest in Birmingham earlier this month and is hoping for better in Sheffield.

I had to make the decision to move or get a new coach Sophie Hancock

She is set to face German duo Petra Hommen and Karen Muller, who also compete in her category.

"It was wet and miserable in Birmingham and I threw from a standing start whereas on Sunday I will be throwing from a spin which should help," she said.

"Although it's still early in the season for me, the sooner you can achieve the standard, the less pressure there is on you.

"I just want to see Sunday's competition as another training session and focus on myself reaching the qualifying distance rather than on the other athletes I am up against.

"When I was at home I was travelling to Loughborough twice a week and having to stay over and it wasn't suitable, so I had to make the decision to move or get a new coach.

"Finding a new coach wasn't an option so I decided to make the move now to get settled down ahead of Beijing next year."

As well as her athletics career, Hancock has also enjoyed some television fame as one of the participants in last year's BBC television series Beyond Boundaries.

The programme followed a group of 11 disabled people as they took part in a month-long trek across Africa and Hancock believes that the experience has helped her enormously.

"Beyond Boundaries has made me a lot stronger and has helped in difficult situations when I've had to put in that bit more to achieve what you want," she said.

"Over the winter I've been doing a lot of strength work and I can see I am much stronger compared to last year so hopefully it will all come together as Beijing would be a dream come true."