MUCH WENLOCK OLYMPICS

There was a fantastic BRAT turn
out at the Wenlock Olympic Games on Sunday 2nd July. Being the home of the
modern Olympic games (and a 200m track) made the day extra special . To add
another layer of history, the Wenlock Olympian Society were honouring
Harold Langley who won the pentathlon at the 1923 Wenlock Games and finished fourth
in the triple jump at the Paris 1924 Olympics. The medals presented to
competitors at the Games this year are replicas of those awarded in 1923.

It was great to see so many young
athletes there and so many disciplines represented. This means that it’s not
possible to mention all of the BRATs that took part, but I am sure that Collin
has made a mental note of the grit and determination shown by all.

The U11 category was very well
represented across all four eligible events, with field events being a
particular strength. In Howler, for the boys there was a gold medal for
Charlie Keenan and a bronze for Elliot Jones, and for the girls a silver
for Hiba Bailey. On the track Nya Williams picked up a Silver medal
in the girls 600m in a very fast race with a PB of 2.01.30 and Elliot Jones
finished 3rd in the boys 75m to pick up a Bronze medal, finally breaking
through the 11 second mark with a PB of 10.80s.

In the u13 events there were lots of tough races, throws and jumps
in very difficult, windy conditions. Congratulations to Oshi Knox who picked up
the only U13 medal, a silver in a hotly contested 100m final with a PB of
14.70s.

The U15’s
performed well, but before we get to their medals a special mention for the
multi eventers on the anniversary of Harold
Langley’s pentathlon win! Noor Bailey, competed in her
first pentathlon and although she didn’t quite make it to a medal she
showed true strength and determination, especially having to run
an 800m on a 200m track, (I take my hat off to all the athletes that did that)!
Robert Lee completed his second pentathlon in just over a week and he was
carrying an injury. Despite this he managed to finish in first place,
receiving an historic medal that was first made by Queen Victoria’s jeweller in
London and features Nike the Greek Goddess of victory.

The rest of U15’s
performed well too with a 200m Bronze for T’yana Josephs and Gold in the 200m
and 100m for her training partner Kenyah Reddin. Both girls did well just to
get to the finals with the standard of sprinters there. There were plenty
of medals for jumping despite the wind, with Seb Horten taking the silver
and Joel Davies the bronze for high jump, Ad Prabhakaran getting gold for long
jump and Matty Morris taking the silver. Erin Mcdaid took home a silver for
long jump and she also achieved a bronze for her 75m hurdles. Ad also completed
a tough 800m to win a silver medal and Joel ran a 200m for another bronze
medal.

There were plenty
of medals in the U17 age group for the girls. On the track there
were Bronze medals for Telisha Wiltshire-Bailey
in the 800m, Bonheur Tshibola in the 200m (cheered on by her hurdles rival) and
Isabelle Carruthers in the 80mH. Nancy Foster-Jones took silver in the
200m and a gold for the 100m with Isla O’Connor taking silver for the
100m. Some great sprinting this weekend across the age groups. In
the Shot Put it was a BRAT 1, 2 with Bonheur taking gold and Izzy taking
silver.

A summary of all
the medals is below (apologies if we have missed anyone):

Charlie Keenan	U11	Howler	GOLD
Adhvaith Prabhakaran	U15	Long Jump	GOLD
Kenyah Reddin	U15	100m	GOLD
Kenyah Reddin	U15	200m	GOLD
Robert Lee	U15	Pentathlon	GOLD
Nancy Foster-Jones	U17	100m	GOLD
Bonheur Tshibola	U17	Shot Put	GOLD

Nya Williams	U11	600m	SILVER
Hiba Bailey	U11	Howler	SILVER
Oshi Knox	U13	100m	SILVER
Matthew Morris	U15	Long Jump	SILVER
Seb Horton	U15	High Jump	SILVER
Adhvaith Prabhakaran	U15	800m	SILVER
Erin McDaid	U15	Long Jump	SILVER
Isla O’Connor	U17	100m	SILVER
Isabelle Carruthers	U17	Shot Put	SILVER
Nancy Foster-Jones	U17	200m	SILVER

Elliot Jones	U11	75m	BRONZE
Elliot Jones	U11	Howler	BRONZE
Joel Davies	U15	High Jump 200m	BRONZE BRONZE
Erin McDaid	U15	75mH	BRONZE
T’yana Josephs	U15	200m	BRONZE
Isabelle Carruthers	U17	80mH	BRONZE
Bonheur Tshibola	U17	200m	BRONZE
Telisha Wiltshire-Bailey	U17	800m	BRONZE

In total, BRAT
won an amazing 26 medals ranging all the way from U11s up to the U17s and
across field and track. This showcases the strength and depth of the current
BRAT juniors – a huge credit to all the athletes, coaches and parents.

It is also worth mentioning the
camaraderie of the day, with people not only cheering loudly for their team
mates, but also for rivals if they were not competing in the same events.
This for me sums up the joy and spirit of athletics!

Thanks to Victoria Lee and Becky Jones for the write up and parents for the photos