by Stuart Weir
Our senior writer for the European continent, Stuart Weir, is in Birmingham for the UK Indoor Championships for the February 22-23 weekend. Stuart always provides us with a bit of color regarding the events. We are glad the conflagration was contained quickly, and no one was hurt.
UK Athletics Indoor Championships
The Microplus UK Indoor Champs is more significant this year than usual, with selection for two Championships at stake – The European Indoor Championships (Apeldoorn, Netherlands, 6-9 March) and World Indoors (Nanjing, China, 21-23 March). It took place at its usual venue, The Utilita Arena, which – under a different name – hosted the 2018 World Indoors.
I arrived in good time for the 11.25 am start to find chaos! A small fire in the arena set off sprinklers (which did more damage than the fire), which required a reset of all the fire extinguishers and a physical check of the entire building. We got underway just over an hour late. The music – chosen by Wightman and Merry – included We Didn’t Start the Fire, Ring of Fire, Firestarter, etc!
Day 1 was prelims, with just 8 finals. The most exciting were the sprints, with Jeremiah Azu winning the men’s 60m in 6.56. He said afterward: “It was an emotional one after a crazy time coming into the champs. I have had a little niggle, so I haven’t run for nearly four weeks – all my training has been on the bike, but it shows how much it means to me to be here and get the win. I am chuffed to have equaled my PB because that has taken a while”.
Bianca Williams was a surprisingly popular winner of the women’s 60 in 7.19, with last year’s winner, Amy Hunt, only fourth.
Williams said: “It means so much as I have never been a British Champion after all these years. I am feeling great, balancing motherhood, and everything is aligning. My family is here; they have supported me for the last five years since I had my son, giving me the confidence to be here. I am so excited for this new chapter, as the last time I represented GB indoors was in 2018 before I had my son! I enjoy every little bit of success, small and big wins. This 60m will help me start outdoors for when it comes to qualifying for the worlds at the 200m”. Darryl Neita and Dina Asher-Smith had decided not to prioritize the indoors.
Other winners were:
Men’s 60m hurdles: Daniel Goriola 7.76
Women’s 60m hurdles: Abigail Pawlett 8.09
Men’s Triple Jump: Efe Uwaifo 15.64
Men’s Pole Vault: Owen Heard 5.26
Women’s Pole Vault: Nemiah Munir 4.21
Women’s Long Jump: Alice Hopkins 6.59
Congratulations to all the winners. The women’s long jump was an exciting competition, with the lead changing hands several times. Yet it is hard not to recall the days when GB had three seven-meter jumpers on Shara Proctor, Lorraine Ugen, and Jazmin Sawyers. Seeing 4.21 win the pole vault seemed strange, too, but Holly Bradshaw has retired, and Molly Caudery chose not to compete.
