Since the start of December, athletics has resumed with the opening of the winter meetings. While the presence and performances of athletes will intensify in the coming days leading up to the European Indoor Athletics Championships (March 6-9 in Apeldoorn, Netherlands), young British athletes have already posted some very impressive times. Here’s a look at the opening of the winter season.
Honor Oteng Continues to Break Records
Although her promising career is on track, it is unlikely that she will compete in the Olympic Games before 2032 at the earliest, possibly 2036. However, Honor Oteng is a name to remember. Born in 2012, she had already made a name for herself by achieving the second-best performances in British history for the U13 100 meters and 200 meters, both behind Jane Parry, at just 11 years old, as well as the fourth-best in the U13 60 meters. On December 8, at the Lee Valley Athletics Centre in northeast London, she shattered her personal best by more than two-tenths of a second to become the fastest female U13 athlete in her country’s history with a time of 7.66 seconds, surpassing Debbie Bunn’s record set in 1975 by 14 hundredths. Even more impressively, this time would have placed her among the top 100 U18 athletes in the world last year, competing against athletes who could be up to five years older.
Divine Iheme Makes an Impressive Return
After making headlines as the fastest U15 athlete in the 100 meters with a time of 10.29 seconds, “Lightning Divine” is back, but this time in the 60 meters, still posting jaw-dropping times. Last year, her record was 6.94 seconds, but she lowered it to 6.76 seconds in her season opener, just two hundredths shy of breaking the world record that has stood for 21 years. She is now only seven hundredths of a second away from Mark Lewis Francis’ U17 national record, with two years remaining to potentially surpass the 2004 Olympic champion’s time. As with Honor Oteng, this remarkable time would have placed her fifth in the U18 rankings last year and within the top fifty U20 athletes, at just 15 years old. With such early-season times, anticipation is high for her upcoming performances throughout the season. However, without special permission from her federation, she won’t be able to compete in the British Athletics Championships until 2026.
Other Notable Performances
After reaching the semifinals of the U18 European Athletics Championships last year, Mabel Akande started this new season with a time of 7.36 seconds, just one-tenth off her personal best. Already a finalist at the national championships last year in the 60 meters, this season could see her receive her first call-up to the senior team for the European Indoor Championships in early 2025. In a completely different discipline, Rayhan Mourtada, known for his promising performances in the 100 meters hurdles alongside Daniel Goriola and Noah Hanson (both slightly older), tried his hand at the 400 meters hurdles at the end of September without any training for the event. The result exceeded expectations, as his time of 53.09 seconds in his first race at this distance made him the fourth-best U18 performer in Europe for 2024. Mourtada may have found his new specialty, with times very close to those of world record-holder Karsten Warholm at the same age. Whether in the 100 or 400 meters hurdles, this athlete, who plans to join the NCAA circuit next year, seems destined for a very bright future.
