GB & NI under-20 team leader Trevor Painter discovers who would win in a head-to-head competition of junior athletes through the ages
Who would win in a 100m hurdles contest featuring an under-20 Sally Gunnell and Jessica Ennis-Hill, or a 100m starring Adam Gemili, Dwain Chambers and Mark Lewis Francis as juniors?
Following the cancellation of the Loughborough International last month, an event which puts a GB & NI juniors squad up against teams representing England, Scotland, Wales, Loughborough and British Universities, team leader Trevor Painter decided to create his own type of contest.
A head-to-head competition of junior athletes through the ages.
Dina Asher-Smith (left) in 2014, a year in which she ran 11.14 for 100m, and Jessica Ennis-Hill (right), pictured six days before her 13.26 100m hurdles in 2005. Photos by Mark Shearman
Painter started out by taking the best junior result by an athlete in each decade for the past four decades, but the last decade proved to be a strong one so he split it in two – 2010-14 and 2015-19.
Each athlete was only allowed to do one event plus a relay.
This created a five-way match, so in each event athletes scored 5 points for the win, down to 1 point for fifth place.
Dwain Chambers (left) celebrates his world junior 100m record in 1997 and Charlie Grice (right) on his way to breaking the UK U20 1500m and mile records in 2012. Photos by Mark Shearman
In the women’s events such as pole vault and steeplechase that were not contested in some of the earlier decades, the team received 3 points for an average score.
In the relay events the top four times were added to create a total time. “No batons got dropped!” Painter says.
Max Burgin (left) breaks the UK U20 800m record with 1:45.36 in 2019 and Amy Hunt (right) pictured during a 2019 season when she broke the world U18 200m record with 22.42. Photos by Mark Shearman
“As you can see, it led to quite an epic match with many familiar faces and some events being very close,” he adds.
“For example only .06 separated the top three in the men’s 400m. Also, when you look at some of the relay teams, it would have been a fabulous contest to see head-to-head.
“What is quite apparent when you see the final scores is that the standards of coaching and sports science support has really helped the junior athletes in this past decade, which is a great kudos to all of the work both UKA, the various home nations along with the personal coaches and support teams have been doing.”
| 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | Athlete | Performance | Points | Athlete | Performance | Points | Athlete | Performance | Points |
| Women | |||||||||
| 100m | Bev Kinch | 11.30 | 3 | Kath Merry | 11.52 | 1 | Ashleigh Nelson | 11.36 | 2 |
| 200m | Sandra Whittaker | 23.24 | 1 | Sarah Wihelmy | 23.23 | 2 | Vernicha James | 22.93 | 4 |
| 400m | Linsey Macdonald | 51.85 | 5 | Donna Fraser | 52.54 | 3 | Lisa Miller | 53.18 | 1 |
| 800m | Lynne MacDougall | 2:01.11 | 3 | Jeina Mitchell | 2:05.85 | 1 | Charlotte Penford (Moore) | 1:59.75 | 5 |
| 1500m | Zola Budd | 3:59.96 | 5 | Andrea Whitcombe | 4:14.56 | 1 | Stephanie Twell | 4:05.83 | 4 |
| 3000m | Philippa Mason | 9:03.35 | 2 | Paula Radcliffe | 8:51.78 | 5 | Emily Pidgeon | 9:06.87 | 1 |
| 1500m SC | Not competed | 3 | Not competed | 3 | Louise Jackson | 4:44.23 | 4 | ||
| 100mH | Sally Gunnell | 13.30 | 1 | Diane Allahgreen | 13.25 | 3 | Jessica Ennis-Hill | 13.26 | 2 |
| 400mH | Simone Laidlow | 58.3 | 1 | Vicky Kennedy | 57.27 | 3 | Perri Shakes-Drayton | 56.46 | 4 |
| High Jump | Jo Jennings | 1.90 | 3 | Lea Haggett | 1.91 | 4 | Rebecca Jones | 1.88 | 1 |
| Pole vault | Not competed | 3 | Tracey Grant | 3.75 | 2 | Jade Ive | 4.05 | 3 | |
| Long jump | Fiona May | 6.82 | 5 | Sarah Claxton | 6.52 | 3 | Amy Harris | 6.38 | 1 |
| Triple jump | Not competed | 3 | Michelle Robinson | 13.05 | 2 | Yasmin Regis | 13.13 | 3 | |
| Shot | Myrtle Augee | 17.1 | 4 | Alison Grey | 15.72 | 1 | Eden Francis | 15.82 | 2 |
| Discus | Lynda Whiteley | 54.78 | 4 | Emma Merry | 52.58 | 3 | Claire Koom-Dadzie | 55.03 | 5 |
| Hammer | Not competed | 3 | Rachael Beverley | 57.97 | 3 | Nicola Dudman | 57.63 | 2 | |
| Javelin | ? | 3 | Nicky Emblem | 56.96 | 5 | Goldie Sayers | 55.4 | 4 | |
| 4x100m | 45.77 | 3 | 46.25 | 1 | 45.78 | 2 | |||
| Relay | Bev Kinch | 11.30 | Kath Merry | 11.52 | Ashleigh Nelson | 11.36 | |||
| Relay | Shirley Thomas | 11.43 | Marcia Richardson | 11.53 | Vernicha James | 11.40 | |||
| Relay | Simone Jacobs | 11.45 | Rebecca Drummond | 11.59 | Shaunna Thompson | 11.46 | |||
| Relay | Stephi Douglass | 11.59 | Donna Hoggarth | 11.61 | Montell Douglass | 11.56 | |||
| 4x400m | 210.29 | 4 | 215.37 | 1 | 213.72 | 3 | |||
| Relay | Linsey Macdonald | 51.85 | Donna Fraser | 52.54 | Lisa Miller | 53.18 | |||
| Relay | Jane Parry | 52.65 | Lauretta Thorne | 54.27 | Laura Finucane | 53.23 | |||
| Relay | Sian Lewis | 52.80 | Alison Curbishley | 54.28 | Kim Wall | 53.52 | |||
| Relay | Angela Baxter | 52.99 | Carey Easton | 54.28 | Gemma Sharp | 53.79 | |||
| Men | |||||||||
| 100m | Jamie Henderson | 10.21 | 2 | Dwain Chambers | 10.06 | 4 | Mark Lewis Francis | 10.10 | 3 |
| 200m | Ade Mafe | 20.54 | 2 | Christian Malcolm | 20.29 | 5 | Dwayne Grant | 20.64 | 1 |
| 400m | Roger Black | 45.36 | 4 | David Grindley | 45.41 | 3 | Martin Rooney | 45.35 | 5 |
| 800m | David Sharpe | 1:45.64 | 4 | Curtis Robb | 1:46.63 | 3 | Ricky Soos | 1:47.18 | 1 |
| 1500m | Gary Taylor | 3:40.72 | 3 | Brian Treacy | 3:40.68 | 4 | David Forrester | 3:41.6 | 1 |
| 5000m | Paul Davies-Hale | 13:35.95 | 5 | Keith Cullen | 13:54.52 | 3 | Mo Farah | 13:56.31 | 2 |
| 2000m SC | Tom Hanlon | 5:32.84 | 5 | Alastair O'Connor | 5:40.9 | 3 | Mark Buckingham | 5:41.7 | 2 |
| 110mH | Derek Wilson | 14.13 | 1 | Chris Baillie | 13.57 | 2 | Lawrence Clarke | 13.37 | 3 |
| 400mH | Martin Briggs | 50.22 | 3 | Noel Levy | 50.70 | 1 | Richard Davenport | 50.2 | 4 |
| High jump | Geoff Parsons | 2.25 | 3 | Steve Smith | 2.37 | 5 | Robbie Grabarz | 2.22 | 1 |
| Pole vault | Andy Ashurst | 5.21 | 1 | Neil Winter | 5.50 | 4 | Luke Cutts | 5.40 | 3 |
| Long jump | Stuart Faulkner | 7.98 | 4 | Steve Phillips | 7.91 | 3 | Greg Rutherford | 8.14 | 5 |
| Triple jump | Mike Makin | 16.22 | 3 | Tosi Fasinro | 16.58 | 5 | Jonathan Moore | 16.43 | 4 |
| Shot | ? | 1 | Emeka Udechuku | 17.56 | 2 | Curtis Griffith-Parker | 19.30 | 5 | |
| Discus | Simon Williams | 56.00 | 1 | Carl Myerscough | 61.81 | 4 | Brett Morse | 60.46 | 2 |
| Hammer | Gareth Cook | 63.80 | 2 | ? | 1 | Peter Smith | 76.67 | 4 | |
| Javelin | Steve Backley | 79.50 | 5 | David Parker | 77.48 | 4 | James Campbell | 73.18 | 2 |
| 4x100m | 41.39 | 1 | 40.68 | 5 | 40.82 | 3 | |||
| Relay | Jamie Henderson | 10.21 | Dwain Chambers | 10.06 | Mark Lewis Francis | 10.10 | |||
| Relay | Lincoln Asquith | 10.34 | Christian Malcolm | 10.12 | Craig Pickering | 10.22 | |||
| Relay | Elliot Bunney | 10.38 | Jason Livingston | 10.25 | Simeon Williamson | 10.24 | |||
| Relay | Marcus Adam | 10.46 | Jason Gardner | 10.25 | Leevan Yearwood | 10.26 | |||
| 4 x 400 | 183.93 | 3 | 182.9 | 5 | 183.35 | 4 | |||
| Relay | Roger Black | 45.36 | David Grindley | 45.41 | Martin Rooney | 45.35 | |||
| Relay | Peter Crampton | 46.03 | Mark Richardson | 45.53 | Chris Clarke | 45.59 | |||
| Relay | Wayne McDonald | 46.22 | Mark Hylton | 45.83 | Tim Benjamin | 46.10 | |||
| Relay | Derek Redmond | 46.32 | Guy Bullock | 46.13 | Nigel Levine | 46.31 | |||
| TOTAL POINTS | 112 | 113 | 108 |
| 2010-14 | 2015-19 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | Athlete | Performance | Points | Athlete | Performance | Points |
| Women | ||||||
| 100m | Dina Asher- Smith | 11.14 | 5 | Kristal Awuah | 11.16 | 4 |
| 200m | Jodie Williams | 22.94 | 3 | Amy Hunt | 22.42 | 5 |
| 400m | Sabrina Bakare | 52.77 | 2 | Amber Anning | 52.18 | 4 |
| 800m | Jessica Judd | 1:59.77 | 4 | Emily Dudgeon | 2:02.32 | 2 |
| 1500m | Laura Weightman | 4:09.60 | 3 | Bobby Clay | 4:10.61 | 2 |
| 3000m | Emelia Gorecka | 8:55.11 | 4 | Harriett Knowles-Jones | 8:56.08 | 3 |
| 1500m SC | Katie Ingle | 4:50.89 | 3 | Victoria Weir | 4:40.23 | 5 |
| 100m H | Yasmin Miller | 13.13 | 4 | Alicia Barrett | 13.07 | 5 |
| 400m H | Shona Richards | 56.16 | 5 | Lauren Williams | 58.09 | 2 |
| High Jump | Morgan Lake | 1.94 | 5 | Abby Ward | 1.89 | 2 |
| Pole Vault | Katie Byres | 4.52 | 4 | Molly Caudrey | 4.53 | 5 |
| Long Jump | Jazmin Sawyers | 6.67 | 4 | Holly Mills | 6.51 | 2 |
| Triple Jump | Laura Samuel | 13.75 | 5 | Naomi Ogbeta | 13.64 | 4 |
| Shot | Sophie McKinna | 17.12 | 5 | Divine Oladipo | 16.64 | 3 |
| Discus | Shadine Duquemin | 51.48 | 1 | Amy Holder | 51.89 | 2 |
| Hammer | Sophie Hitchon | 66.01 | 5 | Charlotte Williams | 62.84 | 4 |
| Javelin | Isabelle Jeffs | 54.89 | 3 | Emma Hamplett | 52.27 | 2 |
| 4 x 100 | 45.00 | 5 | 45.03 | 4 | ||
| Relay | Dina Asher- Smith | 11.14 | Kristal Awuah | 11.16 | ||
| Relay | Jodie Williams | 11.18 | Imani Lansiquot | 11.17 | ||
| Relay | Desiree Henry | 11.21 | Amy Hunt | 11.31 | ||
| Relay | Bianca Williams | 11.47 | Hannah Brier | 11.39 | ||
| 4 x 400 | 214.24 | 2 | 209.23 | 5 | ||
| Relay | Sabrina Bakare | 52.77 | Amber Anning | 52.18 | ||
| Relay | Katie Kirk | 53.69 | Laviai Nielsen | 52.25 | ||
| Relay | Lucy James | 53.87 | Catherine Reid | 52.25 | ||
| Relay | Kirsten McAslan | 53.91 | Hannah Williams | 52.55 | ||
| Men | ||||||
| 100m | Adam Gemili | 10.05 | 5 | Dom Ashwell | 10.25 | 1 |
| 200m | Thomas Somers | 20.37 | 4 | Jona Efoloko | 20.48 | 3 |
| 400m | Jack Crosby | 46.35 | 2 | Ethan Brown | 46.44 | 1 |
| 800m | Niall Brooks | 1:47.02 | 2 | Max Burgin | 1:45.36 | 5 |
| 1500m | Charlie Da'Vall Grice | 3:40.95 | 2 | Jake Heyward | 3:36.90 | 5 |
| 5000m | Jonathan Hay | 13:57.16 | 1 | Alex Yee | 13:37.60 | 4 |
| 2000m SC | Zak Seddon | 5:36.37 | 4 | Archie Walton | 5:47.76 | 1 |
| 110m H | David Omoregie | 13.17 | 5 | Joshua Zeller | 13.26 | 4 |
| 400m H | Jack Green | 50.49 | 2 | Alastair Chalmers | 50.07 | 5 |
| High Jump | Chris Kandu | 2.24 | 2 | Tom Gale | 2.30 | 4 |
| Pole Vault | Andrew Sutcliffe | 5.36 | 2 | Adam Hague | 5.60 | 5 |
| Long Jump | Elliot Safo | 7.86 | 2 | Shandell Taylor | 7.78 | 1 |
| Triple Jump | Kola Adedoyin | 15.93 | 2 | Montel Nevers | 15.83 | 1 |
| Shot | Anthony Oshodi | 18.68 | 3 | Lewis Byng | 19.18 | 4 |
| Discus | Lawrence Okoye | 63.92 | 5 | James Tomlinson | 61.64 | 3 |
| Hammer | Nick Miller | 73.76 | 3 | Jake Norris | 80.65 | 5 |
| Javelin | Joe Dunderdale | 72.55 | 1 | James Whiteaker | 77.03 | 3 |
| 4 x 100 | 40.76 | 4 | 41.16 | 2 | ||
| 4 x 100 | Adam Gemili | 10.05 | Dom Ashwell | 10.25 | ||
| 4 x 100 | Ojie Edoburun | 10.16 | Jeremiah Azu | 10.27 | ||
| 4 x 100 | Chijindu Ujah | 10.26 | Oliver Bromby | 10.31 | ||
| 4 x 100 | David Bolarinwa | 10.29 | Rachmial Miller | 10.33 | ||
| 4 x 400 | 186.39 | 2 | 186.51 | 1 | ||
| 4 x 400 | Jack Crosby | 46.35 | Ethan Brown | 46.44 | ||
| 4 x 400 | Elliot Rutter | 46.39 | Owen Richardson | 46.49 | ||
| 4 x 400 | George Caddick | 46.77 | Cameron Chalmers | 46.51 | ||
| 4 x 400 | Jarryd Dunn | 46.88 | Ben Pattison | 47.07 | ||
| TOTAL POINTS | 125 | 123 |
Final team standings
1 2010-14 – 125 points
2 2015-19 – 123 points
3 1990s – 113 points
4 1980s – 112 points
5 2000s – 108 points
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