England Athletics investing in the future of combined events

Throughout the winter months England Athletics, along with the other Home Countries, have been focusing on strengthening combined events for athletes, personal coaches and clubs.

Driven by the Combined Events Steering Group, we are excited to see the progression for this event group from athlete and coach education to brand-new competition and England team opportunities. This vital work brings together training support, clearer progression pathways and improved competitive environments, creating an exciting future for heptathlon and decathlon in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Here's just a snapshot of some of the activity from across the winter:

Winter Combined Event Training Days - building the foundations

Held at our key Talent Hub locations of Loughborough, Brunel and Birmingham, the Winter Combined Events Training Days invited talented athletes and their personal coaches to learn together.

Athletes from across the England Athletics talent pathway were welcomed, particularly from the Youth Talent Programme (YTP). Whilst the YTP compliments club training environments, the Combined Events Training Days enabled coaches to deliver practical training sessions which proved very valuable for both athletes and personal coaches. One coach expressed:

"It was a really beneficial learning experience for both myself as a coach and for my athlete. The coaches delivering the sessions were all fantastic and it was a pleasure to watch them work with the athletes. There were lots of take homes for myself and my athlete to take home and put into practice at training."

Led by England Athletics' Combined Events Lead, Rafer Joseph, the sessions gave athletes and coaches learnings about the demands of each of the events. The training days focused on on:

• Physical preparation
• Technical event skill development
• Understanding the performance behaviours required for success.

Speaking about the training days Rafer Joseph said:

"The Combined Events Training Day was genuinely one of the best talent days we have delivered. As well as an opportunity for parents and personal coaches to engage in the sessions with our England Athletics coaches, the athletes get to bond socially with peers pitching their own goals, ambitions, methods and a sense of community practice was created. It will be interesting to monitor the progress of these talented athletes as they head to the outdoor season and beyond."

Strengthening coach education - new Combined Events Elective

To support the growing combined events workforce across England, we are excited to be developing a new Combined Events Elective - available to all Athletics Coaches as part of their coaching pathway. This will in turn, enable more athletes to train, compete and enjoy taking part in combined events in the future. This course will provide coaches with:

• A deeper understanding of multi-event physical and technical development
• Tools to manage long-term athlete planning across multiple disciplines
• Enhanced confidence when supporting aspiring decathletes and heptathletes

Enhancing competition opportunities and experiences

Providing competitive environments for athletes to thrive is key and this year we are delighted to be able to integrate combined events into the competition pathway for senior and under-20 athletes. This means our championships will mirror a realistic competition environment to help prepare them for international representation in the future.

In addition to the domestic opportunities, this year we have increased the international competitions for combined event athletes to represent England. These opportunities have included high-level competitions indoors in Norway, Sweden and outdoors in Fuerteventura with additional Home Country representative events across the summer.

Helping athletes prepare for the age group changes

From 1 April 2026, the age groups in which young athletes compete under UKA rules will change from U13, U15, U17 and U20, as is currently the case, to U14, U16, U18 and U20. To prepare for these changes, each of the combined events contested at each age group have been reviewed. This is to:

• Create a smooth developmental progression for athletes
• Ensure that technical events, weights and heights are age-appropriate
• Support long-term athlete transition from junior to senior levels.

Combined Events Steering Group

It is fantastic to work alongside the Combined Events Steering Group to develop this area of our sport - both to make immediate changes and also planning for the future. The group meets quarterly and includes members from across each of the Home Countries to ensure that each nation is sharing alignment, expertise and collaborating wherever possible.