Keely Hodgkinson deliberately withdrew from the final at the British Indoor Championships in order to protect herself and maximise her chances of attacking the world indoor 800 metres record. It was a calculated gamble – and one that paid off handsomely. At the meeting in Liévin, the Paris 2024 Olympic champion erased the long-standing mark of Jolanda Ceplak (1:55.82), set back in 2002. Clocking 1:54.88, the British star produced a historic performance, becoming the first woman ever to dip under 1:55 indoors. Read more Read More
Tito Odunaike was the standout name at the 2026 British Indoor Championships. In Birmingham, the 16-year-old produced a winning leap of 15.75m in the triple jump to become the youngest British male champion since 1979. No athlete of his age had claimed a senior national title since Phil Brown won the 200m crown 47 years ago. With this victory, Odunaike underlines what his performances had already suggested : he is currently the leading British men’s triple jumper of the indoor season. Read more Read More
Divine Iheme, Shaikira King, Lucia Bertacchini and Charlie Chambers have, in turn, left their mark on the recent national championships and indoor meetings with a string of statement performances. After the surge of qualifying marks in the field events, the track has underlined the current depth of British athletics at youth level. European records, continental and global standards, seasonal leads : the United Kingdom heads towards the European U18 Championships and the World U20 Championships with genuine strength in both the sprints and middle-distance events. Read more Read More
Tito Odunaike, Moyo Stumpenhusen, Emilia Adese or Harley Henry are all among those who have marked a clear turning point for British youth athletics. Over the space of just two days, athletes from across the United Kingdom delivered a remarkable haul of qualifying standards for the European Under-18 Championships and the World Under-20 Championships, while also setting multiple national age-group records. Most strikingly, these breakthrough performances came not on the track, but in the field events – jumps and throws – disciplines in which Britain has traditionally struggled to assert itself at the highest international level. Read more Read More
Matthew McKenna continues to leave a strong mark on British athletics. In Glasgow, at the scottishathletics EAP Indoor International, the young middle-distance runner clocked 1:48.20 over 800 metres indoors, setting the fastest British U20 indoor performance in history. That time allowed him to break a long-standing national record held since 1986 by David Sharpe (1:48.53). It represents another significant milestone in the rapid rise of an athlete already regarded as one of the leading prospects in British middle-distance running and, more broadly, British athletics. Read more Read More
