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22/01/2020 00:00, In Blog / Track & Field /

This Saturday over 350 Welsh athletes will converge on the National Indoor Athletics Centre in Cardiff in the hopes of being crowned Welsh Champion for their chosen discipline at the Welsh Athletics Indoor Championships.

16 Champions from 2019 will be returning to defend their title which will be shown through a live stream on the Vinco website.

“It’s the best place to show off the growing talent Wales is producing.” -Sam Gordon, 100m Outdoor Welsh Champion

The men’s 60m is looking strong with the previous champion Arron Owen set to compete, along with outdoor 100m Welsh Champion Sam Gordon and GB Junior Jeremiah Azu.

In the women’s 60m, Commonwealth sprinter Mica Moore and 2019 Champion Shannon Malone are both looking to get their hands on the Welsh title. Speaking to Shannon, she said:

"I'm looking forward to be opening up my first race of the 2020 season and hopefully trying to retain my title."

Both 200m events will see a close showdown between Wales’s top sprinters. Owain Lloyd Hughes and Zachary price will be looking to steal the win from the other this weekend.

In the women’s race, GB U23 4x100m teammates Melissa Roberts and Hannah Brier will be going head to head to see who is fastest on the day. Roberts is the returning champion and holds the championship best performance but Brier will not let that stop her from challenging for the gold medal.

"I'm really looking forward to this weekend, I absolutely love competing in the Welsh Championships. I've had a different approach going into this year so I'm really excited to see what I produce. I'm aiming to get as close or even beat my championship best from last year." - Melissa Robers, 2019 200m Indoor Champion

Swansea Harriers and training teammates Caryl Granville and, 2019 champion, Steffan Dylan Jones will be looking to take both 400m Welsh senior titles.

In the distance events, Jade Williams and Lizzie Harris will both be looking to negotiate their way around 4 laps to try and earn their place at the top of the podium in the 800m

In the 1500m, youngster and U20 1500m Welsh record holder Benjamin Reynolds is looking to claim his first senior championship title but will have to battle 2018 U20 Indoor Champion James Vincent who is also looking to gain his first senior championship title.

Over in the field, Patrick Swan is hoping to reclaim his Indoor Welsh shot title, but Daniel Cork will be aiming to snatch this 2^nd victory away from him as he sets his sights on the top of the podium.

The women’s pole vault is also looking too close to call with 3 Welsh athletes jumping just over 3.70m. Carys Jones will be going in as the one to beat with 3.73m but Cardiff teammates Isabel Thomas (3.70m) Megan Griffiths (3.70m) will be hoping to beat her to the title.

Another incredibly close showdown will come in men’s long jump, with 2019 Ceirion Hopkins and Curtis Matthews both having a personal best of 7.21m.

Commonwealth jumper Rebecca Chapman returns to the Cardiff sand with hopes to beat fellow Welsh jumper, Sarah Abrams, to the Welsh Senior title which looks to be an exciting showdown between the pair.

Full start lists and results can be found here
 

You can follow all the action through the vinco livestream, opentrack and our social media channels. Make sure you use the hashtag #WelshChamps20 so we can like and share your posts!

Full List of 2019 returning champions