With national titles and places on the team for the European Indoors at stake, who will stand out in Birmingham?
This weekend’s UK Athletics Indoor Championships in Birmingham acts as a trial for the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul next month and will be shown live the BBC red button, iPlayer and website.
The top two athletes will be selected provided they have achieved at least one European Athletics qualifying standard.
Here are 10 of the best athletes to look out for.
Daryll Neita – her 7.05 victory over 60m in Berlin last weekend saw her just one hundredth of a second outside Dina Asher-Smith’s UK record. The two are due to clash at next week’s World Indoor Tour Final in Birmingham as well but first Neita will hope to add a national indoor title to her outdoor golds from last summer in Manchester. (Women’s 60m final is 16:45 on Saturday).
Daryll Neita (Getty)
Reece Prescod – the man to beat in the men’s 60m. The 2018 European 100m silver medallist destroyed his personal best with a run of 6.49 in Berlin last weekend. He is now being coached by Marco Airale in an Italian-based group that includes Neita, Adam Gemili and Jeremiah Azu. (Men’s 60m final is 16:55 on Saturday).
Morgan Lake – the four-time British indoor champion arrives in Birmingham in the form of her life, having broken the British record outright with a leap of 1.99m in the Czech Republic recently which overtook Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s previous mark of 1.98m. (Women’s high jump final is 14:57 on Sunday).
Morgan Lake (HustopeÄŤskĂ© skákánĂ)
Aled Davies – the two-time Paralympic shot put champion reacquainted himself with the discus last year as he went in search of Commonwealth gold, the only major medal missing from his collection. With that ambition realised, he is making a return to shot put action for the first time since winning Paralympic gold in Tokyo and after overcoming injuries he is targeting his own F42 world indoor record of 16.14m in Birmingham. (The men’s shot put final is 12:46 on Sunday).
Holly Mills – the talented combined eventer will hope to make an impact in the pentathlon in Istanbul and this weekend she tests her ability in the sprint hurdles, shot put and long jump.
Scott Lincoln – one of the biggest favourites of the weekend to win his event, the shot putter will be hoping to get near his PB of 21.28m following a good 2022 season that saw him win Commonwealth bronze at the Alexander Stadium. (The men’s shot put final is 12:46 on Sunday).
Jazmin Sawyers (Mark Shearman)
Jazmin Sawyers – the in-form long jumper – she jumped an indoor PB of 6.75m recently – is also entered for the 60m as she builds up to the European Indoors in Istanbul. (Women’s long jump final is 12:00 on Sunday).
Issy Boffey – the University of Birmingham graduate ran an outright 800m PB of 2:00.99 indoors in Sheffield last month and in the absence of training partner Keely Hodgkinson she has a great chance to win senior gold. (Women’s 800m final is 16:05 on Sunday).
Guy Learmonth – a spell training in Australia recently has left the 800m man in great form and he has been tantalisingly close to breaking Tom McKean’s long-standing Scottish indoor record of 1:46.22. (Men’s 800m final is 15:55 on Sunday).
George Mills (KME/Andreas Arndt)
George Mills – the German-based miler built up a solid base of training this winter in South Africa and returned to Europe to win the 1500m at the Karlsruhe meeting in style. He will be tough to beat over the metric mile this weekend. (Men’s 1500m final is 15:15 on Sunday).
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