25 June 2013

GB & NI has today announced the team to head to Donetsk, Ukraine for the IAAF World Youth Championships on 10-14 July.

Two years on from winning five medals in Lille, a team of 26 athletes will travel to the RSK Olimpiyskyi and will be headlined by heptathlete Morgan Lake (coach: Eldon Lake). The 16 year old has been in impressive form this year after posting a world-leading youth mark of 5725 points on her way to victory at the England Athletics Combined Events Championships in Bedford at the start of the month.

Lake, who broke Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s (Mike Holmes) British U17 record last year, will be in confident mood going into the championships ranked as world number one and has set an impressive five personal bests out of the seven events in 2013.  

Also joining Lake in the GB & NI team is Harry Coppell (John Mitchell), who cleared a personal best height of 5.20m this month to put him inside the top 10 UK rankings for 2013 in the pole vault. The 16 year old, ranked world number two in the youth rankings, also claimed the scalps of British senior vaulters Max Eaves (Steve Rippon), Andrew Sutcliffe (Julien Raffalli-Ebezant) and Luke Cutts (Trevor Fox) on his way to victory at the Loughborough International.

Reece Prescod (Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo) is another athlete in form after the 17 year old recorded the eighth fastest 200m youth time the world this year on his way to victory at the England Athletics U20 Championships & European Trials in Bedford this month. Prescod’s time of 21.21 was also a personal best, and will set him up well for an assault on the world’s best in Donetsk next month.

Only two athletes have recorded faster youth times in 2013 than GB & NI’s Shannon Hylton (John Blackie) after the 16 year old recorded a personal best of 23.54 in Loughborough earlier this month. Only three of her American counterparts have run quicker this year, and the Blackheath and Bromley athlete will be looking to translate her domestic form into a podium finish at the IAAF World Youth Championships.

Bobby Clay (Peter Mullervy), who was a part of the GB & NI bronze medal-winning junior women’s team at this year’s IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Poland, will also join the team as the 16 year old lines up in the 1500m.

British Athletics Development Manager Jo Jennings, a high jump silver medallist from the 1998 Commonwealth Games and two-time Olympian will lead the team in the Ukraine and believes there is some great potential coming through the youth ranks.

“We have a really promising team heading out to the Ukraine for the World Youth Championships and I’m sure the athletes will take inspiration from some of the names that have competed on this stage before. 

“The likes of Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Jessica Judd, Asha Philip and Harry Aikines-Aryeetey have all experienced what it’s like to be a part of a GB & NI team at the early stages of their careers, and believe it’s a great base to work from.

“There have been some strong performances around the world this year, but I’m confident that the team that has been picked will mix it with the best and remain competitive throughout.”

GB & NI team for the IAAF World Youth Championships:

BOYS

100m

Reuben Arthur (Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo)

Ojie Edoburun (Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo)

200m

Reece Prescod (Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo)

Thomas Somers (Geoffrey Barraclough)

800m

Kyle Langford (George Harrison)

1500m

Jack Crabtree (Blake Ellis)

Liam Dee (Simon Doyle)

2000mSC

Matthew Axe (Janet Nash)

Haran Dunderdale (Mark Baddeley)

110m hurdles

Euan Dickson-Earle (David Brown)

Pole vault

Harry Coppell (John Mitchell)

Adam Hague (Trevor Fox)

Shot Put

Kai Jones (Lukasz Barzyk)

Hammer

Taylor Campbell (Paul Dickenson)

GIRLS

200m

Shannon Hylton (John Blackie)

400m

Sabrina Bakare (Jane Dixon)

800m

Emily Jenkinson (Todd Bennett)

Chelsea Jarvis (David Turnbull)

1500m

Bobby Clay (Peter Mullervy)

3000m

Bronwen Owen (Andrew Henderson)

100m hurdles

Moesha Howard (Julie Pratt)

Shirin Irving (Neil Dodson)

High Jump

Robyn Petitt (Julia Machin)

Shot Put

Adele Nicoll (Andy Brittan)

Discus

Georgie Taylor (John Hillier)

Heptathlon

Morgan Lake (Eldon Lake)