Magnificent 100m victories from Amy Hunt (Marco Airale) and Romell Glave (Michael Afilaka, Croydon) were accompanied by Championship records from Marcia Sey (Lorna Boothe, Blackheath & Bromley) and Elise Thorner (Helen Clitheroe, Wells City Harriers) on a stacked day one of action at the Novuna UK Athletics Championships in Birmingham.
The penultimate final of the day, a stacked women’s 100m field saw the in-form Hunt star post 11.01 (1.7), her second fastest-ever legal time following a recent sub-11 clocking, and retain her 100m crown.
Left a little at the gun, and with Dina Asher-Smith (Michael J Ford, Blackheath & Bromley) pushing out strongly, Hunt found her gears as the field came upright, driving through and moving away in commanding fashion to cap a fine month with domestic honours.
Asher-Smith came through in a notable season’s best time of 11.13 for silver, while 19-year-old Mabel Akande (Denise Timmis, Lincoln Wellington) ran the race of her life to clock a personal best of 11.18 for the bronze.
Hunt reflected: “It shows our National championships is the best in the world. We have the best fans and the best athletes currently competing. Dina is one of the quickest on the circuit, so I know when I come here I have to bring my A Game. It’s been a really good one to get the victory today.
“I don’t feel too much pressure in my mind. I have so much fun when I run, I truly love it. I can’t express to people how much joy it brings me. Running and running fast is 10/10 for me.”
In the men’s equivalent, Glave scorched a brilliant 100m title in 9.98 to take his first legal sub-10 clocking of his career, holding off the Zharnel Hughes and his classic late surge who took silver with a season’s best of 10.0. Louise Hinchcliffe (Carl Lewis, City of Sheffield) out-dipped Jeremiah Azu to take bronze with their times separated by thousandsths.
On his performance, Glave said: “I wasn’t really worried about the time, today was all about qualification. The time was secondary. It’s nice to come back to Birmingham, the audience were amazing. It makes me even more excited for Europeans.
“This gold medal has been a long time coming, I know the quality was there and the potential. But I had to believe it.”
The first track final of the weekend, Marcia Sey lit the track up with a scorching championship record of 12.65, a huge personal best, to win the women’s 100m hurdles title in style.
Emma Nwofor (Joel Brown, Thames Valley) took silver in a time of 12.90, one of the quickest times of her career, while the experienced Alicia Barrett (Lewis Samuel, City of Sheffield and Dearne) dipped over in a season’s best time of 13.09 for bronze.
Post-race, an elated Sey said: “Last year I had a mishap at hurdle one, so I didn’t get to finish the race. So, this year I was like ‘stay patient, get out, and focus on what I need to get done’. I am delighted with the result. I came into this meet knowing I needed to get first place and secure my spot (for Europeans), so I don’t have to worry about it for the rest of the season, so I am over the moon that I got that sorted.”
European leader Elise Thorner (Helen Clitheroe, Wells City) set out to defend her title in the women’s 3000m steeplechase as she broke away from the pack early, joined by three others. Looking comfortable throughout, Thorner surged to the line to smash her own championship record with 9.16.95. Lawrence-Wrist clocked a five-second personal best of 9:32:03 for silver with Sarah Tait (Linda Smith, Lasswade) crossed the line in 10.01.42 in her first steeple of the year for bronze.
The first medal-deciding action of the weekend, the women’s hammer saw Anna Purchase (Mo Saatara, Notts AC) rack up a third British title following a best effort of 71.88m in round three, retaining her national crown while confirming her spot on the Novuna GB & NI team for the European Championships.
Behind Purchase, Charlotte Payne (Ian Payne, Newbury) adding to her domestic collection with silver thanks to a 70.25m effort, while Tara Simpson-Sullivan (Wigan & District) took bronze with 63.90m.
Post-event, Purchase reflected: “I got a little bit injured last week, so I have been having treatment all week, so I really had to trust in my team and my training heading into the Championships. I am super proud to have still got a good throw out there and win again. So, I would say this title means the most out of all three.”
The women’s 5000m saw some tough competition with U20 European Cross Country Champion Innes FitzGerald (Gavin Pavey, Exeter Harriers) taking the lead for the majority of the race, but as the bell rang World Finalist Hannah Nuttall (Helen Cliteroe, Charnwood) struck down the backstraight to take the lead and claim her back to back national titles clocking 15.15.06 for the win. FitzGerald held off the charging Eloise Walker (Trevor Painter, Edinburgh), their times 15:18.94 to 15:19.34, as Walker settled for bronze.
Joel Clarke-Khan (Dierdre Elmhurst, Thames Valley) produced the very definition of a clutch jump, going clear at 2.27m to take men’s high jump gold with his very final effort of the day, the mark a season’s best.
World lead following a 2.31m jump back in May, Kimani Jack (Shaftesbury) was forced to settle for silver following his best of 2.24m on the day, while Charlie Husbands (Dierdre Elmhurst) took bronze after going clear at 2.21m.
Speaking afterwards, a delighted Clarke-Khan – who has this year returned after an injury – said:
“I was just thinking in the moment before I cleared it – this is the moment I have dreamt about. This is a moment that will live long in the memories. I don’t even mean if I clear it, even if I don’t clear it, to be in a position, fighting for the gold, a final jump, the whole crowd behind you: I thought, I’m living for the moment. The result is a bonus.”
In what was a phenomenal end to the men’s long jump, Stephen Mackenzie (John Scott, Edinburgh AC) stole victory setting a new Scottish Record with a final jump of 8.15m adding some 18cm to his best ever leap.
Archie Yeo (Lukasz Zawila, Kingston upon Hull) settled for silver despite jumping a massive personal best as well with 8.06, as the top two secured European qualifying marks. Behind the duo, Regan Corrin (Emma Lowry, Mansfield Harriers) won bronze courtesy of a 7.76m in round three of the action.
After the late drama, Mackenzie commented: “I have been gearing up for the Scottish record for a long while. I then saw Archie get over 8 metres and I’m just glad I could respond and get the lead back in that last round.
“I just needed someone to push me over the line and Archie did that today. The support over on that side of the track was brilliant and really spurred us all on to perform at our best.”
The first heat of the men’s ambulant 100m saw Thomas Young (Joe McDonnell, Loughborough) and Zac Shaw (Leon Baptiste, Cleethorpes) both produce lifetime best performances with 10.76 (WIND) and 10.79 respectively. The final saw Young again take the win, this time with a posting of 10.95, with Kevin Santos (City of Norwich) in second with 10.76, and Shaw third with 10.92.
Further para-athletics action saw the mixed-classification women’s wheelchair 400m race dominated by World medallist Melanie Woods (Rodger Harkins, Red Star AC) who crossed the line in 55.57 putting a sizeable distance between herself and her competitors. Kare Adenegan (Arno Mul, Coventry) pushed to take a season’s best of 64.49 for silver with Joanna Robertson (Philip Owens, Aberdeen AAC) clocked to 66.59 for third.
British number one Georgina Forde-Wells (Lukasz Zawila, Woodford Green) kept good to her ranking, racking up another domestic title in the women’s triple jump following a best effort of 13.34m (0.7). Reese Robison (Benjamin Davies, Harrow) produced a consistent series of six legal jumps, her best mark of 13.19m (2.3) in round four for silver, with Qi-Chi Ukpai (John Herbert, Bedford) sailing out to a personal best with 13.14m for bronze, and a first ever national medal.
After producing a monster throw of 68.81m with his first legal throw of the day in the men’s discus final, Lawrence Okoye (Zane Duqemin, Croydon) took just one more throw before retiring from the competition, the mark bringing up a winning margin of over eight and a half metres.
Nick Percy (Zane Duqemin, Harrow) also produced his best effort of the day in round one, with the mark of 60.27m seeing him win silver, while bronze medallist Dillon Claydon (John Hillier, Blackheath & Bromley) was quite the opposite, his best throw coming in round six, with 55.33m.
In the women’s shot-put saw Serena Vincent (Mike Winch, City of Portsmouth) dominate from start to finish, her opening throw of 17.02m putting a huge gap between her and the rest of the field, before following on with a series of five consistent legal throws.
Alani Dumbuya (Mark Edwards, Leigh Harriers) took silver following a personal best throw of 15.26m in round two, adding 1cm to her previous best, while Cleo Agyapong (John Hillier, Blackheath & Bromley) sent out to 15.15m in round three, a mark good for bronze.
Gemma Tutton (Richard Pilling, Lewes AC) seized her opportunity with both hands in the women’s pole vault, going clear at 4.50m for gold to continue a fine year. No stranger to a domestic podium, a season’s best clearance at 4.40m saw Jade Ive (Sutton & District) win silver, while Tilly Hooper’s (Kate Rooney, Birchfield) cleaner scorecard saw 4.30m notch her bronze.
In the women’s javelin, Freya Jones (David Callaway, Harrow AC) produced a commanding series of throws, topped off with a huge personal best of 58.12m with her sixth and final effort, to upgrade her silver from last year, to gold for 2026.
Lauren Farley (Mark Chapman Blackheath & Bromley) threw a best of 52.25m in round six to secure her hold on silver, with Harriet Wheeler (West Chesire) adding exactly a meter to her personal best with 51.07m, bump herself up the standings for a memorable bronze medal.
In qualifying action across the day, there were commanding navigations from the likes of Matt Hudson-Smith (Birchfield Harriers) and Amber Anning (Chris Johnson, Brighton & Hove AC) in the men’s and women’s 400m respectively, plus strong showings from Jake Wightman (John Hartigan, Edinburgh AC) in the 800m heats, and Emily Newnham (Nick Dakin, Shaftesbury Barnet) in early 400m hurdles qualifiers.
Action from the Novuna UK Athletics Championships continues tomorrow, with a stacked day of action featuring no less than 30 finals across five hours. Results from all the action can be accessed via https://ukac2026.microplustimingservices.com/#/schedule-bydate
