The weekend of 10–11 January 2026 saw the best young athletes in the United Kingdom come together for the South of England Championships at the start of the indoor season. At the heart of the action, several names stood out in emphatic fashion: Divine Iheme, Honor Oteng and Michael Maguire all left an indelible mark on the championships, producing performances rarely seen at their respective age groups. With national championships just weeks away and the European U18 Championships on the horizon, the signs could hardly be more encouraging.
Stand-out performances as Iheme, Oteng, Odey-Jordan and Maguire headline the week-end
The undisputed star of the weekend was Divine Iheme. Already renowned as the fastest 14-year-old in the world over 100 metres and the fastest 15-year-old ever over 60 metres, the now 16-year-old delivered another statement performance by claiming the U17 60m title in 6.70 seconds. The time was both a championship best performance (CBP) and a new personal best. He had already turned heads the previous day by clocking 6.71 in the semi-finals, which also set a championship record. Iheme now sits just one hundredth of a second shy of the British U17 record held by Mark Lewis-Francis — a mark that could well fall in the coming weeks if he maintains this trajectory.
The men’s U17 final reached an exceptional standard, one rarely witnessed at this level. Four athletes dipped under seven seconds, with three breaking 6.90. Behind Iheme, Bronson Hearn-Smith secured silver in a personal best 6.81, followed by Piers Spencer-Simms in 6.89, also a PB — a trio that promises some thrilling showdowns at the upcoming national championships.
In the younger age groups, Honor Oteng was the other major revelation of the weekend. Just 13 years old, she stormed to the U15 60m title in 7.55 seconds, setting a new championship record and finishing just outside her personal best set only days earlier. She finished well clear of Michelle Thompson (7.78) in a final dominated by the Be Fit Today Track Academy, which remarkably filled the top four places. Oteng was far from done: she also claimed gold over 200 metres in 24.48 seconds, an improvement of just over two tenths and a truly historic performance. Nearly a full second faster than the previous CBP, it makes her the fourth-fastest British U15 of all time indoors and the fastest ever in the history of the South of England, eclipsing Noah Akintokun’s long-standing mark of 24.68.
On the international stage, another young British talent also made headlines but on the other side of Atlantic Ocean. Jake Odey-Jordan, 18, a world U20 bronze medallist in 2024, had endured a difficult season last year following a coaching change. Competing in the United States, he bounced back in style by winning the Texas High School Championship, lowering his personal best twice — first to 6.74, then to an outstanding 6.64. That time elevates him to third on the British all-time U20 list, behind two iconic figures of British sprinting: Mark Lewis-Francis and Dwain Chambers.
The senior women’s sprint events also delivered encouraging performances. Mabel Akande clocked a personal best of 7.24, while Joy Eze ran 7.26, just a few hundredths shy of her own best. Meanwhile, the very young Annabelle Fasuba (7.51), Araya Williams (7.58) and Oteng (7.55) underlined the depth and potential of an exceptionally talented generation.
While sprinting naturally drew much of the attention, the long jump produced a truly historic moment of its own. Michael Maguire, born in 2010, dominated the U17 competition with a sensational leap of 7.52 metres. He not only won by more than a metre, but also shattered the championship record, improving the previous mark by nearly 30 centimetres. The jump represents another 11-centimetre personal best and leaves him just one centimetre shy of the British U17 all-time best, held by Dominic Ogbechie since 2018.
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