IT WAS A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER

The very best of Great Britain and Northern Ireland battled away for medals at major athletics championships across July and August.

A busy 38-day period saw the World Athletics Championships in Eugene take place before heading to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and concluding with the European Athletics Championships in Munich.

In an unprecedented year, British stars more than took their opportunity, winning a total of 75 medals across the three events.

The highlight in Eugene came from Jake Wightman, who claimed a stunning gold medal in a thrilling 1500m final. Wightman defeated Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen to win his first senior gold medal, becoming the first Brit to win a middle-distance world title since Steve Cram in 1983.

The 28-year-old showed his strength of character by going on to claim 1500m bronze in Birmingham and 800m silver in Munich.

Similarly, Keely Hodgkinson and Matthew Hudson-Smith also both claimed medals at all three championships. After winning Olympic silver last year, Hodgkinson once again found herself on a global rostrum with 800m silver in Eugene. And following a second silver of the summer in Birmingham, the 20-year-old struck gold in Munich as she claimed the first outdoor title of her career.

In Munich, Hudson-Smith captured two gold medals, successfully defending his 400m title from four years previously and also winning 4x400m relay gold alongside individual bronze medallist Alex Haydock-Wilson, Charlie Dobson and Lewis Davey. His Munich success followed on from Commonwealth silver and world bronze – his first individual medal at a global level – while earlier in the season he broke Iwan Thomas’ long standing British record.

Another star in Eugene was Laura Muir, who matched Hudson-Smith by winning four medals across the three championships. Muir won 1500m bronze in Eugene before winning gold in that distance at the Commonwealths, as well a gutsy bronze medal in the 800m. And she capped off her sterling summer with a successful defence of her 1500m title in Munich, cementing her place as one of the best middle-distance runners in the business.

Also finding success in Eugene was Dina Asher-Smith, who claimed bronze in the 200m and later added European silver to her collection.  Our women’s 4x400m team claimed an impressive double world and European bronze, and there was European gold and world bronze for the men’s 4x100m quartet.

One of the standout performers at the Commonwealth Games was Eilish McColgan, who captured 10,000m gold in a thrilling finish against Irene Cheptai in an Alexander Stadium that broke the sound barrier. McColgan’s sterling summer continued with a silver medal in the 5000m, before claiming 10000m silver and 5000m bronze in Munich.

Birmingham also saw Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Nick Miller respectively defend their heptathlon and hammer throw titles, while some of Britain’s best para-athletes shone on the Games stage. Hannah Cockroft, Kare Adenegan and Fabienne Andre secured an English 1-2-3 in the T34 100m, while Olivia Breen pipped Sophie Hahn to gold in the T38 100m. Emmanuel Oyinbo-Coker claimed T47 100m gold while there were also titles for Nathan Maguire in the T54 100m, JohnBoy Smith in the T54 marathon and Aled Davies in the F44/F65 discus. Meanwhile there was hurdles bronze for Cindy Sember and a first senior medal for Ben Pattison in the 800m, as well as triple jump bronze for Naomi Metzger.

At the European Athletics Championships one of the star performers was Zharnel Hughes, who claimed two golds and a silver. Hughes had already won relay gold and 200m silver at the Commonwealths alongside relay bronze in Eugene and started in Munich with a 100m silver medal.

However, he would proceed to capture 200m gold – with Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake taking silver – before he, Mitchell-Blake, Jeremiah Azu and Jona Efoloko claimed relay gold in a new championship record. Darryl Neita added to her 100m Birmingham bronze with bronze in Munich, while discus thrower Lawrence Okoye claimed Commonwealth silver and European bronze – a first ever discus medal for a British man at a European Championships.

Lizzie Bird also had a breakout summer, winning 3000m steeplechase silver in Birmingham and bronze in Munich – and set a new British record in between at the Diamond League in Monaco. Victoria Ohuruogu and Jodie Williams backed up 400m silver and bronze respectively at the Commonwealth Games with 4x400m relay bronze in Munich, alongside Ama Pipi and Nicole Yeargin. Long jumper Jazmin Sawyers and 1500m runner Jake Heyward also found themselves on the rostrum, among those capping off an astonishing summer of success for British athletes.

It was not just the senior stars in action, with several British juniors heading to Cali for the World Athletics U20 Championships in August. Yemi Mary John was the standout performer, setting a new personal best of 51.50 to claim 400m gold in Colombia. There was also bronze for Ethan Hussey in the 800m, while John, Jessica Astill, Ophelia Pye, and Etty Sisson claimed bronze in the 4x400m relay.

The track and field season kickstarted with our European U18 Championships team bagging a record 16 medals, eight of which were gold.

Our mountain and trail runners also excelled winning 11 medals at the inaugural European Off-Road Running Championships in Spain.

With a World Athletics Championships in Budapest and World Para Athletics Championships in Paris next year, as well as the return of the London Diamond League, and several senior and age-group Championships, 2023 also promises to be just as memorable.

Tickets are now on sale for the London Diamond League. Grab your seats as athletics returns to London for the first time in four years – don’t miss out!