July 2024: Performance round up

Two action-packed weekends at the England Athletics Championships concluded a successful month of competition for English athletes. Future stars shone in Slovakia, Championship records were broken at the National Championships and the London Diamond League proved fruitful for British athletes. 

The British contingent excelled in front of a home crowd at the London Diamond League. Matt Hudson-Smith (Gary Evans, Birchfield Harriers) set a new European record of 44.07 in the 400m to head to Paris as the fastest athlete over one lap of the track. Keely Hodgkinson (Trevor Painter, Leigh) and the women’s 4x100m relay team also set new British records and head to Paris in great form. 

National Championship action lighting up the Alexander Stadium 

Two years on from the Commonwealth Games, the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham played host to two electrifying weekends of England Athletics Championships with lots of new personal bests achieved and even British records broken. 

The U20/Senior and Senior Para Championships were up first and provided a great spectacle as many athletes secured their place on the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team for the World U20 Championships in Peru later this summer. One of these athletes was Ava Lloyd (Trevor Painter, Wigan and District) who dominated the 1500m gun to tape. Joining her on the team after strong performance in the 100m will be Teddy Wilson (Shaftesbury Barnet) 

Read the full team heading to the World U20 Championships. 

Both Charlotte Payne (Paul Dickenson, Reading) and Innes Fitzgerald (Gavin Pavey, Exeter) set new Championship best performances on their way to securing England titles in the hammer throw and 3000m respectively. 

The following weekend, there were more records to be broken at the England Athletics U15/U15/ Para Championships and U20/Senior Combined Event Championships. The standout performances of the weekend came from Divine Iheme (Nkiruka Iheme, Radley) as he broke not one but two Championship Best Performances in the 100m and 200m, including a British age group record of 10.56 in the 100m. Ava James (David Leach, Lewes) also set a Championship Best Performance to win the 1500m steeplechase. 

In the Combined Events, Sammy Ball (Michael Dyer, Reading) impressed in the senior men’s decathlon as he set multiple personal bests across the weekend leading to a lifetime best overall and the British decathlon victory. 

Young athletes medalling in Europe 

The junior Great Britain and Northern Ireland team secured 11 medals across the European U18 Championships and we are proud to support lots of these young athletes on our Talent Pathway. Lyla Belshaw (David Smith, Colchester Harriers) led the medal charge in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia as she won the 1500m in a new Championship record of 4:13.01.  

Katie Pye (Mick Woods, Aldershot Farnham and District) finished strong in the 3000 to also secure the gold medal. Matthew McKenna (Martin Norman, Walton) finished the championships in style to take gold in the men's 800m final.  

King of the Mountains 

Joe Steward (Salford Harriers & AA) impressed as he raced to victory in the Snowdon International Mountain race and helped the England team to secure second place, behind a strong Italian team. The women’s team followed suit also securing second place on the podium. 

Still to come this summer 

As the Olympic athletics action kicks off in Paris let’s celebrate all the English athletes who have been selected to represent Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the Olympic and Paralympic Games – many of which we support across our Talent Hubs. You can keep up to date with all the action from the Games by signing up to our Summer of Sport newsletter.

Lots of talented athletes, including a few England debutants, have been selected to represent England in the Home Nations 5k and Masters 5k later this month.