Winter Long Throws Championships 2025: preview

This weekend throwers from across the country will come together for the inaugural UKA/England Athletics Winter Long Throws Championships. There will be lots of talent on show in Loughborough across all three throwing disciplines.

Saturday

The first day of the event will see the top U20 and senior athletes not only competing for titles in discus, hammer and javelin, but also looking to qualify for the upcoming European Throwing Cup, the World Championships in Tokyo and the European U23 Championships.

Discus

2024 Olympian Nick Percy (Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers, Zane Duquemin) is favourite in the senior men’s discus field with a PB of 67.73m, thrown in April 2024. Consistently throwing above 60m throughout the 2024 season, this competition will be a great test to see how Nick’s winter training has been going. In the women’s competition, Zara Obamakinwa (Blackheath & Bromley, Mark Chapman) is one to watch as the current U18 and U20 national record holder.

Hammer

2024 European finalist, Jake Norris (Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow, Paul Dickenson) leads the entry list with a PB of 77.37m set in May 2024. Following cochlear implant surgery in early 2024, Charlotte Payne (Newbury, Dave Smith) grew in confidence throughout the season and returned to 70m form. How far can she throw in 2025?

Javelin

The senior men’s javelin competition will likely see a battle for the title between 2023 European U20 medallist, Michael Allison (Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow, Tom Dobbing), and 2024 England Athletics Champion, Ben East (Team Kennet, John Trower), with only a metre between their personal bests on paper, Michael comes out on top with a PB of 76.97m compared with Ben’s 75.85m.

The U20 women’s event will be close-fought as athletes are looking to qualify for the European U20 Championships later this year. 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games gold medallist and 2024 World Junior finalist, Ayesha Jones (Marshall Milton Keynes, Tom Dobbing, pictured on the right) will be looking to secure another GB & NI vest. Following her recent victory at Växjö Indoor Throws, Harriet Court (Paddock Wood, Michael McNeill) will be looking to continue this form and challenge for the winter throws title.

Sunday

The second day of competition will see the top up-and-coming young throws athletes competing for the U16 and U18 titles. This provides a new competition opportunity for young athletes, including those on the England Athletics Talent Pathway to help their development, especially in a championship environment.

Discus

The U16 discus fields are both strong with a thrower from the top three all time list in both the boys and girls competition. Bethany Pendlebury (Trafford, Michael Martin) is 3rd on the UK all-time girls list with a PB of 42.11m and Chu Ononogbu (Shaftesbury Barnet, Clyde Gordon) is second on the UK all-time boys list with a PB of 53.26m. Having thrown a PB of 54.41m at the recent Växjö Indoor Throws competition, Godwin Mutandwa (Dacorum, Sebastian Wadlow) is in tremendous shape in the boys U18 discus event.

Hammer

Scottish athlete, Sophie Robertson (Cumbernauld) enters the U16 girls hammer throw competition as favourite having led the UK ranking in 2024 with 58.04m. In the U16 boys competition, Ciaran Merrett (Yate & District, Matthew Viner) is looking to follow in his brother’s footsteps. His older brother Owen reached a World U20 Championship final in 2022, so Ciaran could have a bright future ahead in the sport.

Javelin

Having topped the U15 javelin rankings in 2024, Lucy Bull (Swindon, Tony Jackson) has started 2025 strong having already thrown close to her best of 46.98m. Jersey athlete, Daniel Dubras (Shaftesbury Barnet, Catarina Hallden) is flying over to compete in the U18 boys javelin competition.

Nick Ridgeon, Event Group Lead for Throws, is excited to see talented athletes rise to the championship occasion and use this event as a stepping stone for future success.

“The UKA/England Athletics Winter Long Throws Championships is a pilot event, as we look to innovate and tailor our competition offering to the athletes. This competition is part of England Athletics drive to develop not only skilful and powerful throwers, but also those who can perform well under the pressure of a championships. With this ambition in mind, we welcome your feedback following this event to help us to continue to adapt it to create the best experience for athletes, coaches and spectators.

“I would like to thank UKA and Loughborough University for partnering with us to make this winter championships go ahead providing a great opportunity for our long throw athletes.

“Finally, we would like to wish all the athletes competing this weekend the best of luck in their final preparations. We hope to see lots of supporters at the event as well to support the athletes and create a fantastic atmosphere.”

More information

• View the start lists and results as they happen on the Roster Athletics platform and app.
• Get your tickets online and come along to support the athletes.
• This is a pilot event, so we welcome your feedback to continue developing this event to be the best it can be for future athletes. Give your feedback.