4 Gold Medals, a Championship Record & 3 new Club Records for ESM athletes at the 2026 UK Age group Indoor Championships
Report by Debra Booker
Two ESM athletes enjoyed a spectacular weekend of success at the 2026 UK Indoor Championships in Sheffield on 7th and 8th February.
On Saturday, Emmanuel Ofori-Manteaw dominated from the start in the U15 60m, winning by a huge margin and improving his PB with a spectacular new ESM record of 7.08; a full tenth of a second clear of the next fastest athlete. A lightning start, followed by an impressive pick-up, saw him power home for gold: a remarkable achievement for a 12-year-old competing in his first UK Indoor Championships.
Leila Newth also took gold on Saturday in the women’s U17 long jump. Her fifth-round jump sealed first place and took her into the 6-metre club with 6.02: a new PB which smashed a club record that has stood since 1987!
Success continued on Sunday, with another PB for Emmanuel in the 200m. Emmanuel, who is coached by Trevor Matthews, showed speed and power usually only seen in much older athletes, winning by another significant margin in a time of 23.15 seconds.
The afternoon finished with Leila, competing in her main event, the U17 triple jump. It took just one jump to break the championship record with a leap of 12.64m. She went on to surpass that with jumps of 12.68m and 12.76m, extending the championship record, her own PB and securing another gold medal … her nearest rival trailing by more than 1.5 metres.
Hard work with her coach, Dave Johnson, has placed her in a strong position to compete Internationally in the coming year, while Leila’s indoor season continues with a big step up, competing in the senior UK Championships in Birmingham on 15 February, where she will be one of a tiny handful of athletes ever invited to compete aged 15.
Read more on England Athletics website:
https://www.englandathletics.org/news/england-u20-u17-and-u15-open-indoor-championships-super-sunday
