OBAMAKINWA & CARVELL NAMED GB & NI CAPTAINS FOR EUROPEAN ATHLETICS U20 CHAMPIONSHIPS

British record holder Zara Obamakinwa (coach: Mark Chapman, club: Blackheath & Bromley) and defending champion Charlie Carvell (Stewart Marshall, Telford) have been named captains of the Great Britain & Northern Ireland team for the European Under-20 Championships in Jerusalem.

Discus thrower Obamakinwa and sprinter Carvell both competed at the previous European Under 20 Championships in Tallinn two years ago, the latter winning gold as part of the GB&NI 4x400m relay quartet, and will jointly lead a 55-strong British team at the 2023 edition after being chosen to be captains in Israel.

Both also arrive at the Championships having set personal bests this year with Obamakina having added almost a metre in the discus for 55.99m, breaking the 16-year-old British under-20 record, while Carvell has taken nearly half a second off his 400m time for 46.18 seconds.

Obamakinwa’s career best puts her second in the European under-20 rankings this season alongside  British teammates Success Eduan (Anita Richardson, Sale Harriers Manchester) and Abigail Ives (Luke Gunn, Basildon) selected in the 200m and 800m respectively.

Obamakinwa will have to wait until day three of the Championships to compete in Israel but she is relishing the honour of being captain, she said: “This is my third junior championships – I have had a bit of experience – so I am quite honoured. Everybody is such high quality here, so it is quite cool to be told ‘we want you to help lead the team’.

“Hopefully it puts a bit of a highlight on us throwers – we are here, British throwers are doing amazing things. We have really high calibre throwers coming to the Championships and hopefully with a bit more support, great things can happen.

“The British record is quite cool to have. I have been competing well and a lot more consistent because my training set up has been more consistent by moving back home. Being able to see my coach week in, week out has definitely helped a lot and hopefully all our hard work will come to a culmination, and I’ll be able put out a good performance.

Carvell is the only British male medallist from the 2021 European Under-20 Championships on the team but Tendai Nyabadza (Robert Hawkins, Harmeny) and Edward Bird (Mark Pauley, Poole) return to Jerusalem having won medals at the European Under-18 Championships in the Israeli capital last year, alongside a host of their female teammates.

Carvell is among the highest ranked British men, placing fifth in the European under-20 times for 2023, and he said: “It is a big honour to captain your country at such a prestigious meet – Europeans is the highlight of the year for a lot of us.

“If you had told me ten years ago, when I was just a little boy, that I would be captaining my country at a European Championships, I’d tell you you’re lying but it is a real honour and I am really, really happy.

“I definitely feel like I am going in the right direction. I am learning every race, every training session, learning from some really good past athletes like Martyn Rooney – I’m sure he’ll like that name drop – and this is another stepping stone in hopefully a career that I’m going to have until my mid-30s.

“This season I’ve run a half a second PB, so I am coming into here in good shape and I can hopefully bring home two golds.”

There are two changes to the originally completed 57-strong announced for the Championships last month with Nia Wedderburn-Goodison (Ryan Freckleton, Harrow) withdrawing from the 100m and 4x100m relay and Daniel Goriola (Tony Jarrett, Blackheath & Bromley) withdrawing from the 110m hurdles.

The full Great Britain and Northern Ireland team for the European Athletics U20 Championships is:

Women

100m

Renee Regis (Tamunonengiye-Ofori Ossai, BFT Track Academy)

Joy Eze (Gateshead/Harrow)

200m

Success Eduan (Anita Richardson, Sale Harriers Manchester)

Sophie Walton (Trevor Williams, Horwich)

Faith Akinbileje (John Blackie, Blackheath & Bromley)

400m

Ashley Nemits (Trevor Painter, Wigan & District)

Charlotte Kelsey (Glynn Williams, Middlesbrough)

800m

Abigail Ives (Luke Gunn, Basildon)

Indienne King (Trevor Painter, Wigan & District)

Iris Downes (Colin Lancaster, Shrewsbury)

1500m

Ella Greenway (Joanna Evans, Cleethorpes)

Abigail Stratton (Edmund Finucane, Blackburn)

Ava Lloyd (Trevor Painter, Wigan & District)

5000m

Natasha Phillips (Dundee Hawkhill)

Olivia Martin (Bernard Wilkins, Abingdon)

3000m Steeplechase

Hattie Reynolds (Tim and Pauline Ash, City of Norwich)

100m Hurdles

Mia McIntosh (Jake Awe, Harrow)

Jessica Duncton (Paul Gripton, Birchfield Harriers)

Kira Holt (Richard Holt, Kingston & Poly)

400m Hurdles

Emily Newnham (Nick Dakin, Shaftesbury Barnet)

High Jump

Halle Ferguson (Andrew Wood, Trafford)

Gabrielle Garber (Jessica Taylor-Jemmett, Leeds City)

Long Jump

Lucy Fellows (Zac Harrop, Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow)

Shot Put

Cleo Agyepong (John Hillier, Blackheath & Bromley)

Discus

Zara Obamakinwa (Mark Chapman, Blackheath and Bromley)

4 x 100m Relay

Renee Regis (Tamunonengiye-Ofori Ossai, BFT Track Academy)

Joy Eze (Gateshead/Harrow)

Success Eduan (Anita Richardson, Sale Harriers Manchester)

Sophie Walton (Trevor Williams, Horwich)

Faith Akinbileje (John Blackie, Blackheath & Bromley)

Mia McIntosh (Jake Awe, Harrow)

4 x 400m Relay

Ashley Nemits (Trevor Painter, Wigan & District)

Charlotte Kelsey (Glynn Williams, Middlesbrough)

Emily Newnham (Nick Dakin, Shaftesbury Barnet)

Iris Downes (Colin Lancaster, Shrewsbury)

Jess Astill (Paul Keeble, Stevenage & North Herts)

Men

100m

Sean Anyagou (Tamunonengiye-Ofori Ossai, BFT Track Academy)

200m

Brook Cronin (Andrew Kennard, Walton)

400m

Charlie Carvell (Stewart Marshall, Telford)

800m

David Race (Kyle Bennett, Gateshead)

Harry Ross-Hughes (Andrew Fraser, Wirral)

Finlay Hutchinson (Dean Miller, Notts)

1500m

Tendai Nyabadza (Robert Hawkins, Harmeny)

Sam Mills (Harry Mills, Exeter)

Dan Galloway (Stuart Hamilton, Telford AC)

3000m

Edward Bird (Mark Pauley, Poole)

Dafydd Jones (James Thie, Swansea)

Bradley Giblin (Joe Pienta, Trafford)

5000m

James Dargan (Mick Woods, Aldershot Farnham and District)

Conan Harper (Joe Boardman, Giffnock North)

George Couttie (Joanne Day, Harrogate)

110m hurdles

Daniel Goriola (Tony Jarrett, Blackheath & Bromley)

Joseph Purbrick (Tony Jarrett, Shaftesbury Barnet)

Ruben Hedman (Richard Holt, Shaftsbury Barnet)

400m Hurdles

Sam Lunt (Andrew Fraser, Wirral)

Onyeka Okoh (Julia Benterman, Chelmsford)

High Jump

Luke Ball (Jeremy Dale, Yate)

Pole Vault

Lazarus Benjamin (Sale Harriers Manchester)

Discus

Rhys Allen (David Callaway, Newham & Essex Beagles)

Javelin

Michael Allison (Tom Dobbing, Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow)

Charlie Evans (Felicity Dawes, Banbury)

Hammer

Kai Barham (Paul Head, Dartford)

Decathlon

Sammy Ball (Michael Dyer, Reading)

4 x 400m Relay

Charlie Carvell (Stewart Marshall, Telford)

Sam Lunt (Andrew Fraser, Wirral)

Onyeka Okoh (Julia Benterman, Chelmsford)

Jake Minshull (Coventry)

Alex Houchin (Mike Bennett, Worcester)

Otis Irwin (Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow)