The 20-year-old breaks Merlene Ottey’s championship record, while Amber Anning settles for British bronze in the indoor 400m.
Day two of the UK Indoor Athletics Championships in Birmingham (February 15) took a poignant turn when Renee Regis received her 200m gold medal from none other than her father, John Regis, the former world indoor 200m champion.
Regis entered the 200m final as the favorite after an impressive run of 22.89 in the semi-finals, which set a new championship record. The previous record of 23.07 had stood since 1990, held by the legendary Merlene Ottey.
In the finals, Regis not only won; He left the field with an impressive 22.95, finishing comfortably ahead. Hannah Brier took silver in 23.37, while Brooke Ironside took bronze with a time of 23.92.
“I didn’t expect to run that fast in the semi-final,” Regis said. “My coaches told me to commit, so that’s exactly what I did.
“It was fun to see my dad hand me the medal. He didn’t tell me he was going to do it, but it made the moment even more special.”
The emotional family moment was just one of many highlights on a day that saw plenty of drama unfold on the track.
In the last race of the day, the women’s 400 metres, reigning world indoor champion Amber Anning was the favourite, but it was Yemi Mary John who stole the show. Maintaining his form into the final bend, John passed Anning to take the win in 51.69, securing his first British title. Louisa Stoney narrowly edged Anning across the line to take silver in a personal best of 51.83. Anning equaled that time to take bronze.
The women’s 800m final had high expectations after Issy Boffey’s 1:57.43 performance in Boston a few weeks earlier. Boffey wasted no time asserting control in the final, sweeping the field from the start. He pulled away with 100 meters left to clock 1:59.64, his second-fastest indoor time ever.
Emily Simpson made a brilliant breakthrough in the closing stages to secure an indoor personal best of 2:01.43 and take silver. Shaikira King also set a new indoor record, running a time of 2:01.49 to claim bronze.
In the women’s 1,500 metres, Jemma Reekie was the clear favorite and lived up to expectations with a commanding victory in 4:26.27. Molly Hudson showed remarkable strength to take silver in 4:27.21, while Revee Walcott-Nolan completed the podium with a time of 4:27.28 for bronze.
The women’s 3,000 meters also had a strong field, although only seven women were on the starting line. Eloise Walker led for much of the race but Hannah Nuttall made her move with 800m to go, picking up the pace and eventually breaking Jo Pavey’s 24-year-old championship record with a win of 8:41.76. Snowden took silver in 8:46.09, while Walker took bronze in 8:48.45.
“I never know how championship races will play out,” Nuttall said. “I wasn’t thinking about the time, but when I saw the clock, I got excited.”
Serena Vincent claimed the women’s shot put title with a season’s best throw of 17.33m, comfortably ahead of Sophie McKinna, who took silver with a throw of 16.27m. Sabrina Fortune achieved a personal best of 15.12m to take bronze.
Kate Anson enjoyed a flawless series of jumps to take the women’s high jump title with a clearance of 1.81m. Then he surpassed 1.84 m, attracting all eyes in the stadium. The competition was close, with Thea Brown clearing 1.81m to take silver and Hannah Lake winning bronze with a season-best 1.78m.
Reigning champion Georgina Forde-Wells had to fight hard for her title in the women’s triple jump. Despite strong performances from Reese Robinson and Leila Newth, Forde-Wells found her groove in the fourth round, jumping 13.46m and improving to 13.53m in the final round. Robinson took silver with a personal best of 13.05m, while 15-year-old Leila Newth took bronze with a jump of 12.95m, also a personal best.
Returning to the British Indoor Championships for the first time in four years, Bethan Davies added another British title to her name with a time of 14:00.94 in the 3000m walk.
