Jessica Ennis-Hill might retire at the end of the season but the future of British multi-eventing still looks bright even if the reigning Olympic champion hangs up her seven pairs of spikes after Rio de Janeiro.
Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Morgan Lake are established names on the international circuit but another British heptathlete tipped for stardom could grab the headline at the inaugural European Youth Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Niamh Emerson made her breakthrough last month, improving Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s British youth record to 5815 points in Arona, Spain. The 17-year-old might arrive in the Georgian capital trailing Austria’s Sarah Lagger (6066) and Ukraine’s Alina Shukh (5989) in the rankings but she would have surely improved the record by a greater margin if she wasn’t pinned back by strong headwinds in the 100m hurdles and 200m.
But it is in the jumps where Emerson excels which has naturally led to comparisons with Johnson-Thompson, who holds British records in the high jump and long jump. Emerson would have been one of the favourites for the gold medal in the individual high jump in Tbilisi with a 1.89m PB and the 17-year-old is also ranked inside the world’s top-10 at youth level in the long jump with a 6.21m PB.
.@niamhemerson headlines strong @EuroAthletics Youth Champs team heading to Tbilisi https://t.co/WF7aK0tJpp pic.twitter.com/meIfipOtAV
— British Athletics (@BritAthletics) June 28, 2016
Even though Emerson hasn’t chosen to focus solely on the heptathlon, a 33-strong British team still arrives in Tbilisi with medal hopes in the individual events. Abby Ward is ranked alongside Emerson on the world youth rankings having cleared 1.89m indoors while Eleanor Broome and Holly Mills are ensconced inside the world’s top-10 in the long jump with PBs of 6.26m and 6.24m respectively.
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The British team for Tbilisi will also arrive with high hopes for Sam Talbot in the decathlon. The 17-year-old fell out of contention at the World Youth Championships after incurring a lane violation in the 400m but he has since improved the British youth decathlon record to 7035 points.
For a country which tends to excel on the track, the team is particularly strong in the field events. Jake Norris is ranked second in the hammer with a British youth record of 78.54m while Jude Bright-Smith starts as a medal favourite in the triple jump with a 15.39m PB.