REVIEW OF THE YEAR: NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2019

World Para Athletics Championships, Dubai, UAE

It was a hugely successful World Para Athletics Championships for the Great Britain & Northern Ireland team who finished the championships with 29 medals in total, including Derek Rae’s silver in the marathon earlier in the year, while there were 47 top eights, five world records and 13 personal bests.

Day one began with the first gold of the championships going to Paul Blake in the T36 800m, while day two saw Sammi Kinghorn return to the track with a bronze in the T53 100m. Olivia Breen was the star of day three as she added world T38 long jump bronze to her ever growing medal collection.

Day four was a bonanza on the medal front with Hannah Cockroft blasting to a world record and 11^th title in the T34 100m, while Aled Davies won his fourth consecutive world shot put title and Maria Lyle won her first individual world gold during the evening session.

Jo Butterfield kickstarted day five with silver in the F51 club throw, before Hollie Arnold and Jonathan Broom-Edwards won gold and Thomas Young and Kadeena Cox clinched superb silvers medals later in the day.

More field success came on day six as Vanessa Wallace bagged a maiden world medal before Sophie Hahn bagged a world title and broke her own WR in the evening, adding to Richard Chiassaro’s bronze.

Title number seven came in the T38 200m the following day for Sophie Hahn while day eight saw Hannah Cockroft claim world title number 12 and Kare Adenegan win her second silver of the week.

Sabrina Fortune won gold in dramatic style in the F20 shot put while Maria Lyle won title number two during the penultimate session, before Gavin Drysdale and Kayleigh Haggo made history as they sealed the first Race Running titles on the final day, with Rafi Solaiman and Ellie Simpson winning silver.

World Mountain Running Championships & Long-Distance Championships, Argentina

Joe Dugdale and Phillipa Williams claimed individual gold and bronze respectively as the British team collected four medals on the first day of the World Mountain Running Championships in Villa La Angostura, Argentina.

With the classic races scheduled for day one, Dugdale kicked the British team off in style with a superb victory in the junior men’s event, adding the world title to his European crown from earlier in the year, while Williams, on her British debut, rounded off the day with a fine bronze in the senior women’s event.

Individual success for Dugdale and Williams also turned into team glory as the junior men, which included Matthew Mackay and British debutants Matthew Knowles and Joe Hudson combined for gold.

Like Dugdale, Williams’ second medal was the same colour too as the senior women’s team of her Emmie Collinge, Sarah Tunstall and Heidi Davies contributed to win bronze.

In terms of the long-distance races on the second day of action, seven Brits in total tackled the course with reigning world champion Charlotte Morgan the highest Brit in the women’s event as she placed seventh while Jon Albon’s fourth was added to as the men’s team finished in the same position overall.

European Cross-Country Championships, Lisbon, Portugal

Great Britain and Northern Ireland won five team gold medals at the 2019 SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Lisbon to top the medal table once again.

Some excellent team performances saw the senior men, women and mixed relay teams’ triumph in the team standings, while both junior squads started off the day supremely, capturing the titles after several strong displays.

The highest individual finishes came from Andrew Butchart and Charles Hicks who were both fifth in the senior and junior men’s races respectively, while Jess Judd was sixth in the senior women’s race.