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2025 Yearly Round-Up: A Year of Records, Medals and Milestones
30/12/2025 00:00, In Blog /
Welsh athletes once again shone on both the domestic and global stage during a hugely successful year for the sport.
World titles and records were achieved by the likes of Sabrina Fortune (Deeside AAC) and Cardiff Athletics duo Jeremiah Azu and Aled Davies, while others celebrated national titles, records and personal bests.
Many events and championships staged throughout the country also attracted record entries.
Welsh Athletics Transition Programme athlete Justin Davies (Team Bath) set the pace for the year ahead in January by claiming a new Welsh Indoor Under-23 800m record of 1:46.94 at a World Athletics Indoor Tour Challenger event in Spain.
There was a glimpse of some of the global glories to come at the 48th Welsh Senior, Under-17 and Para Indoor Athletics Championships in Cardiff on January 18 and 19.
Olympic Games bronze medallist Jeremiah Azu and Paralympic champion Sabrina Fortune were amongst the stars of a brilliant weekend of action.
Azu won the senior men’s 60m title in a new championship best of 6.64, while World Para Champion and F20 World Record holder Fortune won the senior women’s shot put with a best of 14.51m.
There were also a number of championship bests and personal bests from the likes of under-17 sprinters Aliyah Afolabi (Cardiff Archers) and Darcy Coslett (Llanelli AAC).
The 120th edition of the Welsh Cross Country Championships at the end of January attracted an entry of more than 1,100 runners of all ages and abilities.
Dewi Griffiths (Swansea Harriers) equalled Welsh marathon legend Steve Jones’ record of nine senior men’s cross country titles as he crossed the line in 31:31.
Lauren Cooper (Parc Bryn Bach) claimed the senior women’s title in 29:05 ahead of Gemma Tutton (Swansea Harriers).
On the first day of February, Piers Copeland (Pontypridd Athletics) ran the fastest ever indoor time for the mile by a Welsh athlete when he clocked 3:54.42 at Boston University.
The same weekend saw a number of outstanding performances across two days at the Welsh Under-13, Under-15, Under-20 and Para Indoor Championships in Cardiff.
Day One saw Darcy Coslett smash the eight-year-old championship 400m record of 56.63 and the 21-year-old Welsh age record of 55.75 by clocking 55.57 in the semi-final and 55.18 in the final.
The following day, under-13 athlete Rowan Carson (Bridgend Athletics) set a new 800m championship best and Welsh age best when he stopped the clock in 2:14.59.
Meanwhile, in the United States, Melissa Courtney-Bryant (Poole AC) produced one of her greatest performances at the star-studded World Athletics Tour Gold meeting, smashing her personal best and Welsh 3,000m record by nine seconds and posting a new world lead of 8:28.69.
A fortnight later, Welsh Athletics Performance Programme multi-eventer Abi Pawlett (Trafford/Loughborough University) broke the 33-year-old Welsh 60m hurdles record at the BUCS Indoor Championships when she took gold in 8.11.
At the Keely Klassic in Birmingham, Justin Davies smashed the Welsh indoor 800m record with a winning time of 1:45.78. At the same event, Piers Copeland set a new Welsh 1,000m record of 2:19.73.
The UK Athletics Indoor Championships in Birmingham, a week later, saw Welsh athletes bag eight medals, a world record and a national under-17 record.
There were golds for Jeremiah Azu, multi-eventer Abi Pawlett and Justin Davies in the 60m, 60m hurdles and 800m, respectively.
While Sabrina Fortune improved her F20 shot put world record on her way to winning a bronze medal and 15-year-old Darcy Coslett set a new UK under-17 400m record.
There were silver medals for Iolo Grant (Cardiff Archers) in the men’s 60m hurdlers, Mark Mellor (Cardiff Athletics) in the men’s pole vault and Patrick Swan in the men’s shot put. Hannah Lake (Cardiff Athletics) claimed bronze in the women’s high jump.
In March, Jeremiah Azu and Melissa Courtney-Bryant claimed gold and silver medals at the European Indoor Athletics Championships in the Netherlands
Azu equalled the Welsh record as he became European 60m champion with a brilliant run in the final, while Courtney-Bryant was pipped on the line as she tried to claim 3,000m gold the following afternoon.
Away from the track, Osian Perrin (Menai Track and Field) broke Roger Hackney’s 40-year-old Welsh 5K road record at Leicester’s Podium Festival 5K by clocking 13.33.
The following day, Cari Hughes (Cardiff Athletics) broke the Welsh women’s 5K record in France when she ran 15:18.
On March 21, Jeremiah Azu completed the remarkable Grant Slam of Welsh, British, European and World indoor 60m titles in Nanjing, China.
Leading the final going into the last few metres, Azu managed to hold off the challenge of Australia’s Lachlan Kennedy to claim gold by 100th of a second. South Africa’s Akani Simbine was third in 6.54.
The winning time of 6.49 matched Azu’s personal best and the Welsh record held by Colin Jackson.
At the other end of the distance range, World Championship marathoner Josh Griffiths won the Adidas Manchester Marathon in 2:16.56, while Olivia Tsim (Pontypridd Roadents) finished second as she recorded 2:35.43 on her marathon debut.
The TCS London Marathon saw Nicholas Coyle (Stroud and District AC) claim the Welsh men’s title in 2:24.55, while Emily Marchant (Swansea Harriers) celebrated the women’s title in 2:38.47.
At the Belfast Irish Milers Meet in May, Justin Davies followed up his outstanding indoor season by opening his outdoor campaign with a brilliant new Welsh 800m record of 1:44.35 – smashing the existing senior record by more than half a second.
Melissa Courtney-Bryant smashed her own Welsh 5,000m record by more than five seconds when she ran 14:48.20 in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, in Germany Freya Jones (Harrow) improved her own Welsh javelin record of 53.74m by throwing 55.28m.
May ended with Abi Pawlett finishing eighth at the prestigious Gotzis Hypo Meeting in Austria – improving her own Welsh under-23 and senior heptathlon records with a huge total of 6,315.
Mid-June saw Freya Jones obliterate her own Welsh record by launching the javelin out to 56.19m. The distance also improved her personal best of 55.36m, which she set 11 years previously, before she was eligible to compete for Wales and therefore not a Welsh record.
A record breaking Welsh U13, U15, U20 and Junior Para Track and Field Championships in Swansea attracted a bumper entry of almost 600 athletes with national records, championship bests and personal bests galore.
One of the many highlights was Swansea Harrier Millie Gold smashing the under-20 Welsh 2,000m steeplechase record, all comers record and championship best times in 6:48.53.
While the 107th senior championships witnessed a successful and exciting weekend of high quality athletics, which also featured the Great Britain team trials for the European Under-23 Championships in Norway later in the summer.
There were a number of all-comers records and championship bests as almost 800 athletes flocked to the Cardiff International Sports Campus.
At the European Under-23 Championships in Norway Justin Davies and Abigail Pawlett both won their first major medals for Great Britain with silvers in the men’s 800m and women’s heptathlon.
Davies’ lunge for the line in the 800m final secured him second place, with a time of 1:44.97, while Pawlett set a new personal best and a new Welsh record with a score of 6,320 to earn her silver.
The Wanda Diamond League London Athletics Meet saw two legends of the past receive their 1997 World Athletics Championships gold medals in a special ceremony recognising their elevation from silver following the disqualification of the USA team.
Welsh stars Iwan Thomas and Jamie Baulch, along with team-mates Roger Black, Mark Richardson and Mark Hylton (who ran in the heats) finished second in the final in Athens 27 years ago.
Multi-talented distance runner Cari Hughes unveiled yet another string to her bow as she broke the Welsh 3,000m steeplechase record on her debut in the event in Sweden. Hughes produced a brilliant run to clock 9:55.55.
Hughes also starred at a successful Novuna UK Athletics Championships in Birmingham, where Welsh athletes returned with an impressive array of medals, records and Commonwealth Games standards.
Adele Nicoll (Birchfield Harriers) claimed her third UK shot put title with a best of 17.17m, while the para shot put competition not only saw Sabrina Fortune (Deeside AAC) claim gold, but also break her own F20 world record with a brilliant third round effort of 15.75m.
There was further Welsh gold struck as Olivia Breen (City of Portsmouth) won the para long jump final with a best leap of 5.00m, while Hollie Arnold (Blackheath and Bromley AC) took the honours in the para javelin with 41.37m.
There were a number of other medal winning performances, including from Hughes, who improved her new Welsh 3,000m steeplechase record as she claimed bronze in 9:41.66.
Mid-August saw Swansea Harriers clinch promotion to the National Athletics League Premiership following an exciting Championship Final at Oxford Horspath.
On the same weekend, the aptly named Stratford Speed GP saw Hannah Brier (Swansea Harriers) shatter her Welsh 100m record with a time of 11.26, while Jeremiah Azu produced a blistering performance to equal his Welsh 100m record of 9.97.
The next competition for Wales’ fastest man and woman was the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. Also competing were Melissa Courtney-Bryant and Abi Pawlett
Azu reached the semi-final, where he bowed out after finishing fourth in 10.05. There was disappointment in the 4x100m where Azu ran a brilliant first leg before a missed final changeover saw the GB team fail to finish.
There was also a semi-final exit for Courtney-Bryant in the 5,000m as she crossed the line in 15:15.83, which wasn’t enough to progress.
Pawlett put in a brave performance in the heptathlon after hitting her head in an awful fall in the opening event – the 100m hurdles.
Despite being battered and bruised, Pawlett picked herself up from the track to record of a personal best of 1.80m in the high jump and run the fastest 200m before being forced to retire from the competition on the second day.
Brier was part of the women’s 4x400 relay squad in Japan, but was not included in the final team of four, which finished eighth in their heat and did not progress to the final.
Later in the month, there was a strong Welsh presence at the World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi.
The stand-out Welsh performance came from Sabrina Fortune who broke her own F20 shot put world record by exactly one metre to claim the gold medal with a remarkable first round throw of 16.75m.
There was more Welsh gold when legendary thrower Aled Davies (Cardiff Athletics) claimed his seventh consecutive F63 shot put title with a fifth round attempt of 16.44m to win a thrilling competition.
Meanwhile, Michael Jenkins (Swansea Harriers) threw a new European record of 18.84m to claim a superb bronze medal in the F38 shot put.
There were also bronze medals for six-time F46 javelin world champion Hollie Arnold who threw a best of 41.94m and Funmi Oduwaiye (Cardiff Athletics) who claimed her first global medal in the F44 shot with a new personal best of 12.11m.
The Championships also witnessed fine performances from Harrison Walsh (Swansea Harriers), Bree Cronin (Cardiff Athletics) and Olivia Breen (City of Portsmouth).
On the roads, Paris Olympian Clara Evans (Pontypridd Roadents) broke her own Welsh 15K record in the Netherlands in mid-November, stopping the clock in 49:22.
At the Liverpool Cross Challenge, Cari Hughes overcame illness and a muddy course to win the senior women’s race. The win earned Hughes a place on the Great Britain team for the European Cross Country Championships in Portugal alongside fellow Welsh athlete Ava Lloyd (Wigan and District).
In Portugal, Hughes won a silver medal as part of the Great Britain team which finished second in the senior women’s race, while Lloyd was part of an excellent GB team performance in the mixed relay, which saw them land a bronze medal.
At the Valencia Marathon in December, Natasha Wilson (Micky Morris Racing Team) rounded of the year in brilliant style by regaining the Welsh marathon record in 2:34.21, which also put her 10th on the all-time UK marathon rankings.
The domestic year once again ended with the annual Cardiff Metropolitan University Christmas classic. James Heneghan (Pontypridd Roadents) and Emma Powell (Western Tempo) claimed the Welsh indoor 3,000m senior titles.
Other stand-out performances saw Louis Starr (Rugby and Northampton AC), who ran 1:19.51, and NDP athlete Jack Organ (Brecon AC), who clocked 1:19.56, both surpass Organ’s Welsh Under-20 600m record of 1:21.11 set two years ago.
What an incredible year for Welsh athletes!