The British University Indoor Championships 2019 is just hours away, with the first event of this three-day championships commencing at 1pm today.
These championships are the stepping stones to bigger and better things for many junior athletes and numerous British stars started their humble beginnings right here.
So, to get you in the mood for what will undoubtedly be a fantastic championships yet again, here’s just a few of our stand-out performances over the past 7 years.
2012: Andrew Pozzi, 60mH
What a pinnacle year 2012 was for many aspiring British athletes, and Andrew Pozzi was no different. Off the back of a silver medal at the European juniors in Tallin the previous year and ahead of the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul later that March, BUCS championships played an important role in Pozzi’s racing schedule. His previous best going into the new year was 7.87, but he quickly improved on that and by the time BUCS came around, he was well capable of 7.6. He speeded to a new CBP and clocked 7.64. Check out his final here.
2013: Jade Nimmo, Long Jump
The women’s long jump final back in 2013 was full of talent, but it was Jade Nimmo who leaped to a championship best of 6.37m, which would have guaranteed her a silver medal at last weekend’s SPAR British Indoor Championships. Jazmin Sawyers settled for the silver.
2014: Jordan Kirby-Polidore, 200m
The championship best performance for the men’s 200m indoor still stands at 21.04, set by Loughborough Student Jordan Kirby-Polidore. He took the title back in 2014 ahead of experienced Italian international Antonio Infantino. Polidore continued his winning streak in the outdoor season, clocking 21.55 in the final at Bedford.
2015: Amy Allocock, 400m
This year was also a defining moment for Loughborough student Amy Allcock. Now a European championship semi-finalist at senior level, the then U23 athlete ran the time of her life indoors, smashing the champion best performance and clocking 53.19. Despite running sub-53 the previous year (52.83) her indoor time at the BUCS championships would be her season’s best that year. Also check out our recent article about Amy here.
2016: Sarah McDonald, 1500m
It’s hard to think that even Melissa Courtney and Sarah McDonald still started out their careers competing for their universities. In 2016, McDonald was well clear of Country and she took the BUCS title in 4.15.82. Just a week later she went on to the British Indoor Championships where she finished forth. Check out here winning race here.
2017: Finette Agyapong, 200m
Taking the indoor title by almost 1 whole second, Finette Agyapong is our star of 2017. Clocking an impressive 23.68 in Sheffield, the Brunel student smashed the previous record and was clear from Chloe Lambert by 0.9 seconds. That same year, in the summer, she broke the all-important 23 second mark for the first time (22.86) at the European U23 Championships in Bydgoszcz, which was enough to make her queen of Europe. Also at the BUCS championships that year, Cameron Chalmers equalled David Hall’s 400m CBP of 46.91 from 2015. It was Thomas Somers who led the majority of the race, but Chalmers had another gear and battled to the line.
2018: Lily Beckford, 400m
Also now in the states, former Brunel student Lily Beckford ran her 4thfastest time in 2018 at the BUCS championships. She beat Amy Hillyard to the post with her 54.65 win and was clear by just over 1 second.
If you’d like to check out any more videos over the years from these championships, or any others for that matter, be sure to head to our Videos Page.
