CEO Blog: August 2024

On behalf of everyone at England Athletics, I would like to congratulate all the competing English athletes and team support staff, led by Paula Dunn, for all that they achieved at the 2024 Olympic Games representing Team GB.

Amid a raft of impressive performances – from Matthew Hudson-Smith and Katarina Johnson-Thompson, to the full house of relay medals – the two performances which resonated most with me personally were that of Keely Hodgkinson and Georgia Bell.

Georgia’s story - which now includes an Olympic 1500m bronze medal - is one which the entire sport can be both proud of and learn lessons from. Georgia was a talented junior who, for various reasons, fell out of love with the sport, only to return as that spark and enthusiasm for running reignited in her late 20s. Hard work and talent then combined and resulted in that wonderful performance in Paris, a story which the media have labelled 'parkrun to podium'. We are incredibly proud to have played a small role in supporting Georgia this year on the England Athletics Senior Performance Programme.

While an extreme case, Georgia’s return to the sport and subsequent achievements at the highest level underline the reasoning behind our belief that keeping the talent funnel as broad and as deep as possible, for as long as possible, is so important. Ours is a late-development sport where many athletes will not realise their full potential until well into their twenties and sometimes into their thirties, like Georgia.

We know we have a challenge in retaining track and field athletes in our sport during those difficult, transitional teenage years, and that providing excellent experiences at all levels, and in all environments, is fundamentally important to this goal. We also realise that the trajectory to success is not linear and there are often many ups and downs on the road to glory.

It is important that as Home Country Federations, working closely with our partners at UKA, we continue to provide appropriate competitive representative opportunities for as many athletes on the talent pathway programmes as possible – at both age group and senior level.

Keeping that fire burning, that aspiration alive, and the dreams and hopes of all athletes well and truly in focus, is so important. We are a sport that sadly loses participants to other sports at key development stages, to sports in which those transferable athleticisms are central to success and where arguably the financial rewards can often be greater.

Retaining athlete interest is crucial, as is ensuring that we can resource teams to compete in age group and senior international competitions wherever we can. We realise that some athletes might not final, might not medal, or might not even perform to the best of their potential at that given time, but in due course they may return much stronger for the experience and be more rounded, and a competitive force to reckon with at future events. I believe that this is particularly relevant in field events where athletes can continue to develop and realise their potential into their 30s and beyond.

In 2024 England Athletics has taken 31 international teams to compete across different events covering field events, track, road and multi terrain, and this is fundamentally important in supporting the ongoing nurture of athletes (and coaches) who will be at different stages in their development.

As and when success is achieved, this won’t just be attributed to the athlete, but to the support network around them, as was evidenced so well by the brilliant scenes following Keely Hodgkinson’s 800m win in Paris.

Behind every wonderful athlete achievement is the focus, planning, detail, and commitment of the coach or in Keely’s case, the coaches. I was absolutely delighted for both Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows for all they have achieved not just during these past few weeks with Keely, Georgia and the other athletes coached by them who competed in Paris, but for the selfless commitment and skill they have displayed for a number of years now in supporting various athletes of different abilities and backgrounds to realise their personal best.

They serve as an example of forward thinking, innovative coaches, an embodiment of the modern coach: forever developing, open to new ideas, looking to support other coaches, and to share their learnings whilst looking for that extra snippet of knowledge themselves.

I would also like to mention Barrie Wells, someone who has personally invested his time and personal resources to support a large number of British athletes over the last few decades including Katarina Johnson-Thompson and many others. It was wonderful to see Keely seek out Barrie to thank him for the selfless kindness and support that he has provided to her over those important development years, and I am sure that many other athletes in the UK would say the same.

That support network is present across the country, with countless individuals giving their time and energy to help athlete development. That is something we take great pride in and will continue to work to develop and sustain – it is fundamentally important in enabling us to retain a broad and deep participation base across all the events.

Keely herself serves as a fantastic role model for those other aspiring athletes following in her footsteps, many of whom may be starting out on the England Athletics talent pathway programmes or setting foot on their local club track for the first time. 

I am writing this blog from the Thames Valley Athletic Centre near Windsor, where aspiring combined eventers are competing for age group medals in our annual age group championships – many of these athletes will aspire to follow in the footsteps of those role models who performed so well in Paris. It is a practical and real example of why keeping the aspiration, dreams, and ambitions alive for as many young athletes as we can is important.

Enjoy the Paralympics when it starts – good luck to all the competing English athletes wearing a ParalympicsGB vest. We are all behind you. I am sure that the Stade de France will continue to rock as it has done for the last few weeks.

Olympics photos: with permission from World Athletics.
Ruben Stovell at Combined Events champs photo: by Pat Isaacs.