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Welsh Indoor Championships 2025 - Preview
15/01/2025 00:00, I Mewn Blog /
Welsh global medallists lead a stellar line-up of more than 450 entries at this weekend’s 48th Welsh Senior, Under-17 and Para Indoor Athletics Championships in Cardiff.
They include the nation’s first Olympic track and field medallist in 28 years, Jeremiah Azu, and F20 world record holder Sabrina Fortune, who claimed world and Paralympic shot put gold last year.
They are joined by fellow Welsh paralympic athlete Funmi Oduwaiye (Disability Sport Wales Para Athletics), who made her Paralympic debut in Paris last summer, contesting the discus and shot put.
The trio head an exciting line-up of talent at the National Indoor Athletics Centre which also includes some of the most promising athletes in the United Kingdom.
Fortune was recently made an MBE in the New Year’s honours thanks to the remarkable success she enjoyed in 2025.
At last year’s Welsh Indoor Championships, the Deeside AAC thrower spoke of her ambitions for the coming year - to win gold medals at the World Para Athletics Championships and the Paralympics, as well as extending her own world record.
Fortune, who achieved all three goals, will be competing in the women’s shot put on Saturday, while Oduwaiye will contest the ambulant shot. She will be up against the likes of promising multi-eventer Eden Robinson (Cardiff Archers), who was named Welsh Junior Female Athlete of the year after finishing fifth in the heptathlon at World Under-20 Championships in Peru last summer.
Azu, the fastest Welshman in history over 100m, added to his ever-expanding list of achievements when he claimed an Olympic bronze medal as part of Great Britain’s 4x100m team in Paris.
In doing so, he became the first Welsh athlete to claim a medal at the Olympics since Jamie Baulch and Iwan Thomas claimed silver in the 4x400m at the Atlanta Games in 1996.
Azu may have already competed at a Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games, but the Cardiff Athlete is still only 23-years-old and leads a wave of Welsh sprinting talent, many of whom will also be competing in Cardiff.
The Cardiff Athletics flier lines up in the men’s 60m which will boast a wealth of Welsh speedsters, including his brother Alex Azu (Cardiff Athletics).
Others to feature will be Great Britain international and Cardiff club-mates Sam Gordon, whose 60m PB is less than a 10th of a second behind Azu’s, and reigning Dewi Hammond.
Also entered are Welsh Athletics Transition Programme athlete Joseph Berry (Newport Harriers) and National Development Programme man Lewis Stephens (Cardiff Athletics), who will also contest the 200m on Sunday.
The jet-heeled talent isn’t limited to the men’s senior short sprint. The under-17 men’s 60m includes the likes of NDP athlete Finley Roynon (Cwmbran Harriers), who has a PB of 7.04. He is joined by Max Evans (Maldwyn Harriers) and Max Barratt (Swansea Harriers) who have clocked sub-7.10 second times.
Meanwhile, NDP athletes Will Bishop (Cardiff Met University) and Tomi Roberts-Jones (Newport Harriers) are on the start list for the (ambulant) para male and female 60m.
If the men’s sprints are stacked, so are the women’s, with the entries featuring Welsh 2022 Commonwealth Games stars Hannah Brier (Swansea Harriers) and Lauren Evans (Cardiff Athletics).
Brier, who will contest the 400m on Saturday, proved her form in the same NIAC venue last weekend when she broke the championship best at the Non Thomas Endurance Grand Prix, clocking 38.19.
Wales’ fastest ever woman over 100m is likely to be challenged by Tess McHugh (Sale Harriers Manchester) and Sian Harry (Belgrave Harriers).
The women’s 60m hurdles will feature Brier’s Welsh Commonwealth Games team-mate Evans, who competed in the heptathlon at the Birmingham Games. Over the weekend, Evans will also contest the long jump and high jump.
Elsewhere in the women’s sprints, some of the finest young talent in the United Kingdom, let alone Wales, will be competing.
Nell Desir (Cardiff Archers), the fastest under-17 sprinter over 60m last year with a best of 7.50, will contest the short sprint on Saturday.
Desir will be challenged by a number of athletes including Jessica Mantle (Cardiff Athletics), who recently ran a big new PB of 7.55 at Lee Valley.
Non-Welsh athletes Hayley Mills (City of Stoke) and Maltese Olympian Charlotte Wingfield (Cardiff Athletics) will be big threats here – both boasting sub-7.50 PBs.
The women’s under-17 60m will feature the fastest female under-15 athlete in the UK over the distance last year – Aliyah Afolabi (Cardiff Archers), who set a new championship best in the under-15 60m last year.
On Sunday, Afolabi will also contest the women’s under-17 200m, a distance over which she also led the UK under-15 rankings last year.
In the 200m, Afolabi is likely to be challenged by Darcy Coslett (Llanelli Harriers), who herself enjoyed a record breaking season last year. Coslett will also line-up in the 300m. At last year’s championships she set a new Welsh age best of 38.96.
One of the most anticipated middle distance events of the weekend will take place on Sunday. The senior women’s 1500m will feature non-Welsh athlete Innes FitzGerald, who last weekend broke Zola Budd’s British under-23 3,000m record in Cardiff.
The two-time European Under-20 cross country champion will be up against record-breaking Welsh youngster Libby Hale (Swansea Harriers), who currently holds every Welsh 1500m age group record from Under-13 to Under-20.
Also toeing the line will be former Welsh 3,000m steeplechase record holder Lauren Cooper (Western Tempo).
Another middle distance highlight is due to be the appearance of Justin Davies (Team Bath), who last weekend ran a new Welsh Indoor Under-23 800m record.
As well as heptathletes Lauren Evans and Eden Robinson, there will be a plethora of other exciting young Welsh multi-eventers taking part in various track and field events across the weekend.
They include young Deeside AC athletes Aidan Angilletta, who will contest five under-17 events and Lucca Tardivel, who features in three. As well as Luca Phillips (Cardiff Archers), who will feature in four senior men’s events including the long jump, which he won last year.
Among the young female multi eventers set to shine will be Matilda Quick, who claimed pentathlon gold at last year’s England Athletics U-15 and U-17 combined events championships. The Swansea Harrier is entered in three field events across the weekend.
Cardiff Archer Tina Odugbesan is entered into four under-17 events, while Lauryn Davey (Swansea Harriers), will enjoy an equally busy weekend in the senior championships.
The weekend’s field action gets underway on Saturday morning with the seated shot, which features NDP athletes Jac Sheehan (Carmarthen Harriers) and Kieran Jones (DSW Para Athletics). At the same time the track action stars with the Under-17 men’s 1500m heats.