UK Sport has launched a nationwide search for 'tall and talented' men and women to try out for the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.

Following the announcement on October 3rd that Rio will host the next Olympics, UK Sport and the English Institute of Sport and British Rowing have joined forces to find athletes capable of representing and winning medals for Great Britain in Rio de Janeiro.

The Talent 2016 initiative is looking for exceptionally tall men and woman who could find success in sports where height can give athletes a real advantage, such as rowing.

As well as being tall, entrants must also be athletic, keeping themselves in shape with a strict fitness training programme, perhaps including the use of an indoor rowing machine.

Applicants must be 6ft 3ins or over for men and 5ft 11ins or over for women, aged between 15 and 22 years old and competing in any sport at a minimum of county or regional level.

Show jumper Victoria Thornley, who was on the winning crew at the Under-23 World Championships this year, was picked out as a potential rower in a similar initiative in 2007.