The 2018 season has drawn to a close and we have been lucky enough to share with you some of the best moments in athletics throughout the year. Here’s a look back at some of the top picks of 2018 as streamed live on runjumpthrow.com.
Johannes Vetter – 92.70m Javelin Throw @ European Throwing Cup, Portugal.
It’s the twelfth furthest javelin throw in history. It proved to be world champion Johannes Vetter’s best throw of 2018. Whatever he had for breakfast must have worked wonders because he was a man on a mission in a rain-soaked Leiria back in March. 92.70m was a massive championship record for the German, who has a lifetime best of 94.44m, which is his national record.
Ultimately Vetter’s season did not have the climax he would have been wishing for at the European Championships on home soil in Berlin, but this was an almighty showcase of one of the greatest ever talents in his discipline.
Jamie Webb – Gold 1500m @ BUCS Outdoor Championships, Bedford.
With this year’s British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Outdoors full of high calibre athletes in the middle-distance races, this one was always likely to be tough to win, never mind Jamie Webb’s attempt to challenge in the 800m and 1500m. Competing in his last BUCS, Webb wanted to leave with a bang, attempting to battle his way through six intense rounds in three days to win both. After only picking up a bronze in his favoured 800m earlier in the day, it looked like the schedule might have taken its toll on the former British Indoor Champion.
Having led through the opening kilometre, Webb seemed to be fading and was soon spat out at the back of the pack. However, in 11th place with 300m to go, the Loughborough student seemed determined not to fizzle out of his final BUCS. He somehow found a second wind and put in a huge last minute surge around the final bend to close a gap from the leaders that had reached around 15m. As Kieran Wood, James McMurray and Dom Tobin began to tire coming into the home straight, Webb came around the outside and pushed through to the line with his arms aloft to finish his student journey with his third and probably his most challenging 1500m title.
University of Bath relay team – 4x400m gold @ BUCS Outdoor Championships, Bedford.
While we’re talking BUCS, a breathtaking end to three days of competition was sealed by the University of Bath in the final of the 4x400m. In the words of Ben Claridge and individual 400m champion Cameron Chalmers, they were so far back they wondered whether they’d just be jogging around in the final stages. But in reality a slight sniff of a great result was all they needed.
It was a race that had the hallmarks of Phil Healy’s recovery “from the depths of hell” in the 4x400m at the Irish Universities (IUAA) Championships. A monumental effort – started by Tim Stephens and Dominic Ringrose-Voase on the first two legs – helped the squad defy belief and overtake Loughborough on the last leg, having been in sixth place and more than 50m back at the half way point. Incredibly, it also sealed a hat-trick of marvellous BUCS 4X400m comebacks for Bath, who had sunk african violet hearts two years running prior to 2018. Déjà vu, anyone?
Alex Bell – 1.59.93 800m @ BMC Grand Prix, Watford.
The Commonwealth Games finalist managed to break the huge two minute barrier, an obstacle many top female athletes struggle to ever break. Bell became the first athlete to break the barrier in an all-women’s BMC race, and the feat was made even more impressive considering all the elements were against her.
The wind did not make fast times look likely, and the rest of the field weren’t able to live with the pace. Alex fundamentally ran the race on her own, and was left open to the wind – which just shows there is still more to come from the Pudsey & Bramley athlete. The solo run was the best women’s 800m ever at a BMC according to British Milers’ Club President, Norman Poole.
Dominic Ogbechie – Age 15 World Best 2.22m HJ @ England U17 Championships, Sheffield
=”s1″>Another exciting prospect coming through the ranks is Dominic Ogbechie. The multi-talented 16-year-old has had an incredible year lighting up competitions on the track as well as in the field and in the sand. The Highgate athlete managed a high jump and long jump double at the England Athletics Age Group Indoor Championships, a feat he repeated outdoors competing as an under 20 athlete. He also conquered the European Under 18 Championships in Hungary with a 2.16m effort.
If that’s not enough, his tremendously bouncy, galloping strides have also seen him dominate on the sprinting stage, winning the Inter Boys 200m at the English Schools’ Championships as well as at the SIAB Schools International. As a result, he has won 200m, long jump and high jump gold at English Schools’ across the last three years.
Naturally, it is his indoor performance way back in February where we cast our minds back, as Dominic catapulted himself over 2.22m, setting a new age 15 world best, smashing his own best by 10cm and winning the competition by a resounding 20cm. After opening the day with a clearance at 1.95m and a lot to spare, it looked like he was very much in the mood to produce something special. As he soared over 2.14 to break Brendan Reilly’s 29-year-old championship record, there began talk of an attempt for the European age record of 2.20. But not content just that, the bar was set at 2.22 and at the first attempt, Ogbechie set a world best to boot, which has kept him top of the world under 18 rankings all year. As they say, ‘shoot for the stars, and even if you miss, you may still clear the bar’.
Max Burgin – Age 15 World Best 800m 1:47.5 @ BMC Grand Prix, Manchester.
Of course, this list would not be complete without England’s answer to Norwegian super-kid Jacob Ingebrigtsen. Max sent shockwaves around the globe when he smashed his own world age best for the fastest 800m by a 15-year-old, running 1.47.50 at the BMC Grand Prix at Sportcity in Manchester. This blistering time also saw him win a hotly contested A race, featuring the likes of Spencer Thomas and Alex Botterill. Heck, he even made it into the Daily Mail!
This was a clear indicator that greater things were to come for Max, who has continued to go from strength to strength, leaving everybody in his wake with his relentless front-running from the gun. He rounded off the season by adding gold at the England U17 Championships to his collection, taking the championship record too. But his greatest triumph was the gold medal he took in Gyor at the European U18 Championships, once again obliterating the opposition by posting a new world age best of 1.47.36. Max is undoubtedly one of our biggest talents and we can’t wait to see him ripping up the track yet again next season.
It is safe to say this has been a wonderful year, with an amazing depth of young athletes coming through. We hope you’ve enjoyed watching many great championship, national and global records being taken as well as some simply brilliant races. We are counting down the days until next season already!
