Joy Eze-Getting Faster – runblogrun

Joy Eze – getting faster

Joy Eze is just 20 but she seems to have been around for a long time.  Go back to 2017, when she was just 13 but she was already running about 30 races in the year.  2025 has been a breakout year for her with her first GB senior vest. But more of that later.

It all started when Joy was still at primary (elementary) school and always running round the school playground.  Everything changed when she met Michael Donnelly and was invited to join his training group when she was just 10.   

In 2021 (aged 17) she was aiming or the European Under 18s Championship.  When it was cancelled due to COVID, but the Europeans U 20s were going ahead that became the goal – but it was a big ask. She had just broken 12 seconds for the first time but the 100m standard for the Europeans was 11.6.  At the Loughborough International she ran 11.65 and made the team but 11.65 was hardly a time to threaten the best.  She recalls the 2021 European U20s (in Tallinn, Estonia): “So then I just went to the competition full of excitement. I think I was probably 11th ranked or 13th rank maybe. But I just kept improving throughout the rounds (11.52, 11.48) and by the grace of God I came third in 11.44 That was my first international medal.

In 2022 she ran in the World Under 20s in Cali, Colombia and reached the semi-finals.  In 2023 the Europeans Under 20s were in Jerusalem. She had struggled with injuries in 2023 and went to Jerusalem according to her ranking (and her PR of 11.44) unlikely to reach the final.  But Joy is a fighter who has a habit of putting in a performance when it matters. She won her heat with a windy 11.28: she won her semi with a legal PR of 11.37 and then won the final with 11.39. She recalls: “I just went there with confidence knowing I didn’t have pressure, didn’t have a target on my back. And again I kept improving throughout the rounds. And yeah, it felt really good to win because it was like showing that I’m still relevant, that I’ve still got it and I’m still here to stay”.

This year she came second in the GB Indoor Champs in 7.25 behind Bianca Williams and was on her way to the European Indoors in Apeldoorn, Netherlands. She had run 7.19 to win the British Universities Indoor Championships (BUCS) so entered the GB Champs and trials with confidence: “I’m  a…