European under-18 100m champion talks about her time spent training in Jamaica alongside the best of the best as she heads into the World Under-20 Champs this month
Training alongside Yohan Blake, the second-fastest man ever over 100m and 200m, is something few can claim to have experienced. For Nia Wedderburn-Goodison, however, this became her reality when she was given the opportunity to join his training group last year.
The 19-year-old seized the chance to be coached by world medallist Michael Frater for six weeks in Kingston. The experience has proved to be beneficial, with the Briton clocking a personal best of 11.21 seconds at Lee Valley in June and then competing in the 100m final at the UK Athletics Championships, facing a strong line-up of senior athletes and finishing sixth.
At just 16, Wedderburn-Goodison became the British under-20 champion and then European under-18 champion in 2022. Now, she is setting her sights on the world under-20 gold medal this month in Peru. Driven by her dreams, she has high Olympic aspirations for her future.
How did you get into athletics?
It started when I was five and it was because of a sports day win in reception. I wasn’t even in primary school yet. Before the sports day I had been telling my parents that I was the fastest in my school and they didn’t believe me. They then came down to sports day and watched me win by quite a distance. From there they took me and my older sister to a track club and I haven’t stopped since then.
Nia Wedderburn-Goodison (Mark Shearman)
How did it feel to run a PB of 11.21 this year?
I felt 11.2 had been coming for a long time. The first time I ran 11.3 was in 2022 so even back then I was looking to run 11.2 but I got injured mid-way through the season and I couldn’t realise my full potential. This season it was a big goal to chop down on that PB and seeing that time when I crossed the line was unreal. I was definitely expecting to see a drop, but I think I just needed the perfect race and I got that.
What was it like being the only junior in the British Championships final?
I feel like that is always the level I have wanted to be at. I’ve been doing the sport for 14 years and I’ve watched all the senior girls on TV. I was 15 when I first started dreaming of lining up with those athletes but, back then, it wasn’t as realistic, so it was a great feeling to make that final.
I definitely gave it my all in that race and that’s something I can be proud of, but I…
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