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Welsh Senior, U17 & Para Indoor Championships 2026 - Preview
05/02/2026 00:00, I Mewn Blog /
Global stars, Commonwealth Games hopefuls and some of the most exciting young athletics talent in the UK promise to make this weekend’s 49th Welsh Senior, Under-17 and Para Indoor Athletics Championships an event to remember.
They will be amongst an entry of more than 400 athletes who will go head to head for honours in an action-packed schedule across Saturday and Sunday
Among those to have shone on the world stage will be shot putter Sabrina Fortune (Deeside AAC), multi-eventer Abi Pawlett (Trafford AC) and Wales’ fastest woman Hannah Brier (Swansea Harriers).
Fortune once again led a strong Welsh challenge at last summer’s World Para Athletics Championships in India when she won the F20 shot put gold with a world record breaking effort of 16.75m.
On Saturday, home athletics fans will have the opportunity to cheer on Fortune as she takes to the circle at the National Indoor Athletics Centre in Cardiff.
The Deeside AAC thrower will face another Welsh athlete to hit the headlines on the world stage last summer.
Heptathlete Pawlett (Trafford AC) won the hearts of athletics fans around the globe and widespread praise from respected pundits with her brave performance at last summer’s World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
In the first event of the competition, Pawlett suffered a horrendous fall as she crashed to the floor in the 100m hurdles.
The Welsh pentathlon record holder picked herself up from the track and within the hour was soaring to a new personal best in the high jump.
Although ultimately forced to withdraw from the competition due to the injuries she suffered in the hurdles fall, Pawlett had grabbed the attention of the athletics world with her performances and tenacity.
The shot put won’t be the only opportunity to witness Pawlett’s all-round abilities this weekend as she also lines up in the senior women’s high jump and 60m hurdles.
In both events, Pawlett will be faced with more outstanding Welsh multi-event talent, including Matilda Quick (Swansea Harriers), who last month smashed the Welsh Under-20 women’s pentathlon record.
On her way to winning the English Under-20 pentathlon title in Sheffield, Quick celebrated four new personal bests.
The under-17 events across the weekend will also boast a treasure trove of promising multi-eventers.
They include National Development Programme athletes Aidan Angilletta (Deeside AAC), Macsen Martins-Hughes (Cardiff Archers) and Tiana Odugbesan (Cardiff Archers).
The young athletes will be hoping to emulate the kind of success enjoyed by the third of the Welsh athletes on show who was involved on the world stage last summer.
Welsh 100m record holder Brier (Swansea Harriers) was part of the Great Britain 4x400m relay squad at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
As a teenager, Brier represented Wales at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and is aiming to return to the Scottish city for this summer’s games.
Over the weekend, Brier will face the latest wave of Welsh female sprinting talents as she lines up in the 200m on Sunday.
Last year’s senior men’s 60m proved to be the springboard for Jeremiah Azu’s remarkable indoor season which culminated in him becoming World 60m Champion.
The Cardiff Athletics man isn’t competing this weekend, but the line-up does include his brother and clubmate Alex, who claimed bronze at these championships last year.
Also back this time around is last year’s silver medallist Lewis Stephens (Cardiff Athletics). Fellow Welsh Athletics Transition Programme sprinter Aron Tugwell (Cardiff Archers) also takes to the starting blocks.
The young guns will have plenty of competition though in the shape of a quartet of experienced internationals and Cardiff clubmates Sam Gordon, Dewi Hammond, Josh Brown and Makoye Kampengele.
The Under-17 sprints are also peppered with talent. The women’s 60m features the likes of Aliyah Afolabi (Cardiff Archers) who is amongst the top five ranked athletes in the United Kingdom over the distance.
Also in the line-up is fellow NDP athlete Ava-Lexi Placide (Cardiff Athletics) and Olympia Murray (Cardiff Archers) who have also both run under eight seconds.
The Under-17 men’s short sprint boasts the likes of Kaleem Islam (Cardiff Athletics) Lasitha Ekanayake (Deeside AAC) and Uyiosa Dosomah (Cardiff Athletics), who have all clocked under 7.25 in 2026.
Dosomah also lines up in the 200m, where club mate Oliver Shearer and Joshua Thomas (Cardiff Athletics) are the fastest on paper with bests of 22.47 and 22.52 respectively.
The ambulant men and women’s 60m final boasts a number of athletes who have competed at the Commonwealth Youth Games. NDP sprinters Will Bishop (Cardiff Metropolitan University Athletics Club), Tomi Roberts Jones (Newport Harriers) and non-Welsh competitor Maddie Down (Halesowen Athletics and Cycling Club.
Over the longer distances, Nate Greig (Bridgend Athletics) will look to follow up his win at the Welsh Cross Country Championships when he takes to the track in the Under-17 men’s 1500m.
There are several intriguing match ups in the field events, including the senior men’s pole vault where UK championships indoor medallist Mark Mellor (Cardiff Athletics) will be competing. Mellor’s brother Jonathan is also on the start list following his gold medal at the Welsh Indoor Junior Championships.
UK championships indoor and outdoor medallist, Patrick Swan (Cornwall Athletic Club) will be the overwhelming favourite in the men’s shot put, while Seb Clatworthy (Chelmsford AC), who narrowly missed out on a medal at last year’s UK outdoor championships will be aiming for gold in the men’s high jump.
The weekend’s action gets under way on Saturday morning with the seated shot put which will see F34 throwers Kieran Jones (Cardiff Athletics) and Jac Sheehan (Carmarthen Harriers) go head-to-head.