England Senior and U20 Championships return this weekend
This weekend’s England Athletics Senior and U20 track and field and combined championships, powered by Citroën, promises three days of truly world class competition at Bedford International.
So often, all eyes are on the senior competition, but this year there’s no arguing it’ll be the U20 athletes who will top the bill. The event is being used as the trial to finalise team places for the World U20 Championships in Oregon in August, which means Britain’s best young athletes will be competing.
With the promise of representing your country in the athletics capital of the world, the competition promises to be intense, dramatic and exciting. And of course, with the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the European Championships in Birmingham also just weeks away, no medal and no title can be taken for granted whatever the discipline or age group. A healthy selection of British champions and medallists from the recent UK Champs are all taking part in the senior age group while the combined events competition is the first major of the outdoor season and will undoubtedly be a classic.
With Olympian Phoebe Gill (Coach: Mark Rowland, Club: St Albans) taking on the 800 metres in the U20 and recent European record breaker Jake Odey-Jordan (Kevin Schnexnayder, BeFit Track Academy) looking to take a sprint double in the 100 and 200, also in the U20s, the strength in depth is nothing short of phenomenal. Credit to the clubs and coaches who are busy creating tomorrow’s Olympians, most of whom will be on show in Bedford.
Gill is one of those very athletes. While still a schoolgirl, mixing final year exams and athletics, she became a household name almost overnight thanks to her sensational 1:58.47 at the Paris Olympics aged just 17 (not to mention her 1:57.86 in Belfast). After a quiet season last year where she started university, she’s now fully back into the swing of things. She will be looking to build on her superb early season form that has seen her close to her best over two laps and faster than ever before in the longer distances. She’s already run 1:59.18 in Zagreb and a very interesting looking 4:05.53 for 1500 in Stretford. With that strength and speed she looks every inch a medal contender not just in Bedford, but also in Eugene, Oregon.
The same can be said of sensational sprinter Odey-Jordan, an U20 athlete with two sub 10-second performances to his name this year alone. More significantly, he’s run an incredible, wind-legal European record of 10.01 for the short sprint this season in Oregon as well as a windy 9.94 in Florida, and with the right conditions the super-fast Bedford track could even see him go a stride quicker. There has seen a sub 10sec in this sprint-friendly arena, so spectators, be ready for some fireworks. He’ll also be very hard to beat over the longer sprint. He’s run 20.33 this season for 200 metres and again, could go faster.
Watch too, for Scotland’s Sophie Thomas (Agustin Osorio, Dunfermline), she’ll be looking to complete the same double thanks to her 11.32 and 23.10 from a couple of weeks ago. Bedford is an important competition for the country’s best combined eventers and for many, it’s their one and only chance to complete the seven or 10 disciplines. In the U20 women’s heptathlon all eyes will be on Thea Brown (Ashley Bryant, Sale) who could rightly claim to be the star of the show, such is her world class dominance in the sprint hurdles and long jump (13.28, 6.49). She’s an enormously exciting prospect and looks to be in top shape for the upcoming season. She recently competed in Birmingham at the British Champs where she picked up a bronze in the long jump, so it should be fascinating to see how she’ll fare over seven events.
In the men’s decathlon, Sammy Ball (Rafer Johnson, Reading) has emerged from the U20 age group as one of the finest combined eventers in Europe and has already shown he’s ready for the season after an encouraging 100 in the British Champs. Close behind him is Harry Kendall (David Hull, Tonbridge) who has an early season 7615-pointer to his name as well as a very handy looking 7.21 long jump.
In the field, Freya Jones (David Callaway, Harrow) will be the name to watch in the javelin. She already has the British title to her name thanks to a mightily impressive 58.12. She’s enjoying a great season and was also second in the European Clubs Champs so will be odds on to defend her title she won last year in Birmingham. Likewise, Zara Obamakinwa (Mark Chapman, Blackheath and Bromley) leads the way in the discus. She won the British title with 55.85 and will be looking to move up one place from last year’s silver medal.
Also, keep an eye out for Charlotte Payne (Ian Payne, Newbury) in the women’s hammer. A serial winner of this event, she’s been over 70 metres four times already this year including a win in Bedford. Look too for Tom Rutter (Tom Dobbing, Harrow) who has a 70+ throw to his name in the U20 javelin (70.83).
Finally, back on the track, Mabel Akande (Denise Timmis, Lincoln W), is looking fabulous in the 100 metres and has an 11.18 to her name the season. Again, as with the U20 races, if the conditions are right – which they can be in Bedford – there could be something special on the books! And let’s not forget Cameron Corbishley (Andi Drake Medway and Maidstone) in the 3000-metre walk. No stranger to this event, he’ll be looking for his hat-trick and given he comfortably took the British title racing to a sub 20-minute clocking (19:54.98), he’ll be tough to beat.