UK to send team of 24 to Lille - IAAF World Youth Championships

http://www.iaaf.org/WYC11/news/newsid=60366.html

Headline names such as top-ranked UK under-20s Sophie McKinna (coach: Geoff Capes), Zak Seddon (coach: Jeff Seddon) and Georgia Peel (coach: Mick Woods) lead a group of 24 athletes who will take part in the event – the youngest age group global championships available to athletes and a crucial step in the development of Britain’s future stars.

Shot putter McKinna, who finished fifth at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games and has been throwing consistently over 15.50m this season, represents, together with Seddon and 800m runner Jessica Judd (Jeremy Freeman), one of the Aviva GB & NI team’s best medal hopes: her personal best of 15.71m places her third in the world at the moment, while Judd is currently ranked second with a season’s best of 2:02.80.

100m hurdler Yasmin Miller (coach: Jared Deacon), pole vaulter Rowan May (coach: Peter Hill) and sprinter Desiree Henry (coach: Mike McFarlane) – who will travel to France at the age of 15 years and 10 months - are the youngest members of the team.

Georgia Peel (coach: Mick Woods), who finished a convincing sixth in the 1000m at last year’s Youth Olympics, earns selection off the back of some good performances culminating in her clocking a 4:16:55 in Watford two weeks ago, while Amy-Eloise Neale (coach: Frank Dauncey), fourth in the world in her age group, achieved the qualifying standard in the 2000m Steeplechase by clinching silver in the highly competitive American School National Championships.
Great Britain and Northern Ireland Team -

BOYS =

100m:

Chijindu Ujah (Edwin Stephens) - Enfield & Haringey

200m:

Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake – Ilford

400m:

Alex Boyce (Stan Roberts) – Liverpool Harriers

800m:

Elliot Slade (Arwyn Davies) – Cardiff AAC; William Gurton (Nick Taylor) – Vale of Aylesbury

1500m:

Robbie Farnham-Rose (Mark Hookway) – Tonbridge; James McMurray (Deborah Steer) – St.Albans

2000m S/C:

Zak Seddon (Jeff Seddon) – Bracknell AC

Pole Vault:

Rowan May (Peter Hill) – Birchfield Harriers; Daniel Gardner (Beth Harris) – Stevenage & North Herts

Discus:

Nick Percy (William Bushnell) – Isle of Wight

Hammer:

Callum Brown (Lorraine Brown) – City of Norwich

GIRLS -

200m:

Desiree Henry (Mike McFarlane) – Enfield & Haringey

800m:

Jessica Judd (Jeremy Freeman) – Chelmsford; Katie Snowden (James McDonald) – Herne Hill

1500m:

Georgia Peel (Mick Woods) – Aldershot, Farnham & District

2000m S/C:

Amy-Eloise Neale (Frank Dauncey) - Unattached

100mH:

Yasmin Miller (Jared Deacon) - Derby

400mH:

Hayley McLean (Steve Mitchell) - Chelmsford

Pole Vault:

Lucy Bryan (Neil Winter) – Bristol & West

Shot Put:

Sophie McKinna (Geoff Capes) – Great Yarmouth

Hammer:

Louisa James (Ron James) – Hastings AC; Kimberley Reed (Alan Bertram) - Edinburgh

Heptathlon:

Jazmin Sawyers (Tony Williams) – City of Stoke

UK Athletics for the IAAF

This could be a good time to make a few predictions;

cant say ive seen any of these athletes in action as they are of such a young age. Any tips on which ones could feature in the medals?

http://www.thepowerof10.info/rankings/

A quick trip the above link will give you some idea of how they are currently performing, this is not an easy one to predict as they are only youths and there is not a lot of info on the worlds scene with this age group

compared the power of 10 with the iaaf youth rankings there and it seems the rest of the world have slightly better youths in most events. Any chance this would be on tv?

It is very hard to compare one country with another mid season. Our rankings at this age will ook very diferent in a couple of weeks when the various National Schools championships have taken place.

lfc91 wrote:compared the power of 10 with the iaaf youth rankings there and it seems the rest of the world have slightly better youths in most events. Any chance this would be on tv?

Every country has better than us?

Could be a great stepping stone for some. Like most on here, I'm unfamiliar with pretty much all the names on that list, but best of luck to all of them.

Jessica Judd is the stand out here. She's run 2.02 for the 800m - that's pretty amazing for a 16 year old.

I hate to over-hype young athletes but Jessica Judd is exceptional. She is currently ranked world No 2 over 800m and 1500m and No 4 over 3000m in her age group. In UK terms she's at No 2 in the all-time under-17 800m list, No 1 in the all-time under-17 1500m list and No 1 in the all-time under-17 3000m list. If she fulfills her potential as a senior athlete (still a big if at this stage) she will be a formidable force, in a few years time we won't be saying is she the new Kelly Holmes or Steph Twell, it could be the case that they are the old Jessica Judd. Based in Chelmsford she's not part of a particularly big or successful training group. So she's getting results from good coaching, high-motivation and lots of natural talent. I, for one, really hope she makes a successful transition to the senior ranks and doesn't go the way of Amy Spencer, Charlotte Moore or Vernicha James.

As for the rest of the squad - Georgia Peel is high up on the same all-time lists as Jessica - it will be fascinating to see the two of them and Emilia Gorecka develop in the next few years. Sophie McKinna is currently ranked 3rd in the world at the shot put - PBs in that event are pretty tight so she's a good medal contender - if she did win a medal of any colour it would be the first by a British female in the shot at world level - junior or senior.

On the men's side I believe Chijindu Ujah may be a controversial selection, I'd read elsewhere that he was involved in a trackside 'altercation' earlier in the season and has been disciplined. I know Alex Boyce has been picking up a lot of favourable notices, but the 400m is missing Clovis Asong who recently went to No 7 in the under-17 all time list. Reports on AW suggest Asong doesn't have a British passport yet though. Zak Seddon is currently ranked 8th globally for the 2000m steeplechase, elsewhere standards are phenomenally high on the boy's side. Elliot Slade, for example went to 17th on the all-time list last week with 1:51.82 - the No 1 is Mark Sesay with 1:49.9 - by contrast the top ranked in the world this year is Ethiopian Mohammed Aman who's run 1:45.75! This isn't an event we've been weak in historically, so I'll let you draw your own conclusions as to how good junior middle distance running is at the moment.

East End Bodybuilder wrote:As for the rest of the squad - Georgia Peel is high up on the same all-time lists as Jessica - it will be fascinating to see the two of them and Emilia Gorecka develop in the next few years. Sophie McKinna is currently ranked 3rd in the world at the shot put - PBs in that event are pretty tight so she's a good medal contender - if she did win a medal of any colour it would be the first by a British female in the shot at world level - junior or senior.

Didn't Judy Oakes medal?

Pretty certain Oakes only ever medalled at Commonwealths.

She came 4th in 1984 in the LA Olympics. Bronze medallist Gael Martin has since admitted to steroid abuse throughout her career at a federal court in Australia. So i guess it depends on your view.

Biggut wrote:She came 4th in 1984 in the LA Olympics. Bronze medallist Gael Martin has since admitted to steroid abuse throughout her career at a federal court in Australia. So i guess it depends on your view.

Thanks Biggut. Those were the days of widespread drug abuse, particularly by the East German's.

She probably could have picked up stacks of medals given the era and the event had all the dopers not been there.

That is presuming her own cleanliness, but in her favour, she did have a very long and remarkably consistent career.

Judy Oakes had 6 competitions over 19m in 1988. According to the IAAF website only 9 athletes in the world have thrown over 19m so far this year. In the 88 Olympics all three medallists were over 21m with a further four over 20m! Answers on a postcard etc.

I think she also lost a couple of Commonwealth Golds to Gael Martin as well.

Personally, I think Judy Oakes was such an outspoken critic of drug cheats that it would have indicated some kind of megalamania for her to be on something! Having met her this seems extremely unlikely.

I agree, I just don't like to say a British athlete would have won lots of medals without dopers and not put a disclaimer, because I know what type of reaction that post can bring.

i reckon that judy oakes must look bacl on her career with great pride. she made the most of her abilit without resorting to cheating.
she must be a little bitter though, i know i would be particularly when gael martin was a self-confessed drug abuser

how do you think that cheats look back at their careers? i imagine they justify it to themselves by just rpeating the mantra 'well, everyone else was doing it why shouldn't I', over and over again. Or maybe continually polishing their medals or just counting their money

Some of course of those self confessed cheats, East Germans in particular, have developed serious illnesses. So many of those will deeply regret the way they won their medals.