UK Athletics has announced 15 new athletes with a total cohort of 44 athletes on the Olympic Futures Programme for 2025/26.
The Programme – which is supported by Nike and delivered in partnership with the Home Country Athletics Federations – is focused on supporting athletes and coaches who have demonstrated the potential to succeed at future Olympic Games. Through a series of camps and experiences, and with the support of dedicated staff, the Programme provides opportunities for athletes to develop the skills and abilities required for international senior success and forms part of the pathway towards the World Class Programme (WCP).
The 2025 U23 European Champion Emily Newnham (pic), who won gold in Norway and made her senior international debut this year at the European Indoor Championships, secured silver as part of the mixed relay team. She then went on to compete at the World Championships in Tokyo, making the semi-final on her World debut.
She is joined by fellow U23 European Champion, sprinter Success Eduan, who won 200m gold in Bergen, months before she shone on her senior debut at World Athletics Relays, storming the anchor leg for the GB & NI team to take the gold in the women's 4x100m. Abigail Pawlett has had a standout season, claiming silver at the U23 Europeans with a lifetime best of 6320 points, then went on to be one of three female athletes to represent GB & NI at her debut World Championships in the Heptathlon.
This year’s European U23 Championship medal winners are among those selected for the 2025-26 cohort, including individual medallists Justin Davies [800m -silver], Abigail Ives [800m – bronze], Nia Wedderburn-Goodison [100m – silver], Brodie Young [400m – bronze], and several relay medallists, Faith Akinbileje, Joy Eze and Poppy Malik. Eze and Malik also gained valuable experience at the senior World Athletics Championships in Tokyo this summer, following years of support and success on the Olympic Futures Relay programme.
After a breakthrough on the senior stage this season – also competing in Tokyo – Innes FitzGerald continues to gain support through the Futures programme following her exceptional double gold medal winning performance at the European U20 Championships over the summer, with a Championship record and title in the 3000m, and another gold in the 5000m. Other medallists from Tampere who join the programme for the first time include women’s 800m champion Lyla Belshaw, and Otis Poole who bagged a silver in the men’s high jump.
Previous Futures graduates who have excelled in recent years include reigning world indoor champions Amber Anning and Jeremiah Azu; Molly Caudery; Charlie Dobson; Keely Hodgkinson; Yemi Mary John; and George Mills. UKA Head of Performance Pathways, Dan Wagner said: “We’ve seen another encouraging year of progress and development of cohorts past and present, and we are welcoming some bright athlete and coach pairings to the programme for the first time this year after some incredible results during the last season.
“Our mission with the Futures programme is to engage with and understand athletes and their coaches and offer the tailored support they need to achieve their goals. Everyone’s journey is unique with differing levels of development, whether that’s achieving a personal best, a GB & NI junior debut, or stepping up to the senior ranks.”
All selections are pending the outcome of the Olympic World Class Programme selection process, which will be taking place very soon.
OLYMPIC FUTURES PROGRAMME 2025-26:
New to the Futures programme
Mabel Akande (Denise Timmins, Lincoln Wellington) – 100m
Faith Akinbileje (David Sadkin, Blackheath and Bromley) – 200m
Lyla Belshaw (David Smith, Colchester Harriers) – 1500m
Thea Brown (Ashley Bryant, Sale Harriers Manchester) – Heptathlon
Piers Cameron (Kyle Stringer, Birchfield) – Shot Put
Justin Davies (Martin Rush, Team Bath) – 1500m
Henry Jonas (Sonia McGeorge, City of Norwich) – 800m
Shaikira King (Jon Bigg, Wreake & Soar Valley) – 800m
Elizabeth Korczak (Raymond Robinson, Brighton and Hove) - Javelin
Poppy Malik (Nick Dakin, Harrow) – 400m
Jake Minshull (James Wright, Coventry) – 400m
Otis Poole (Joy Bray, Yate) – High Jump
William Rabjohns (Mark Pauley, Poole) – 1500m
Joy Eze (Mike Donnelly, Gateshead) – Relay
Brodie Young (James McMenemy, Airdrie Harriers) – 400m
Retained on Programme
Michael Allison (Windsor Slough Eton and Hounslow) – Javelin
Sammy Ball (Rafer Joseph, Reading) - Decathlon
Will Barnicoat (Dean Miller, Aldershot Farnham and District) – 5000m
Edward Bird (Mark Pauley, Poole AC) – 3000m
Charlie Carvell (James Wright, Telford AC) – 400m
Success Eduan (Anita Richardson, Sale Harriers Manchester) - 200m
Innes FitzGerald (Gavin Pavey, Exeter) – 3000m
Shannon Flockhart (Mark Vile, Cambridge and Coleridge) – 1500m
Daniel Goriola (Tony Jarrett, Blackheath and Bromley) – 110m Hurdles
Charlotte Henrich (Nigel Stickings, Invicta East Kent) – 400m
Ethan Hussey (Trevor Painter, Leeds) – 800m
Abigail Ives (Luke Gunn, Basildon) – 800m
Ben Jefferies (Bristol and West) – 400m
Ava Lloyd (Trevor Painter, Wigan and District) – 800m
Samael Lunt (James Wright, Liverpool Harriers) – 400m Hurdles
Henry McLuckie (Terance Mahon, Isle of Wight) – 1500m
Emily Newnham (Nick Dakin, Shaftesbury Barnet) – 400m Hurdles
Zara Obamakinwa (Mark Chapman, Blackheath and Bromley) - Discus
Jake Odey-Jordan (Kevin Schexnayder, BFT Track Academy) – 200m
Abigail Pawlett (Ashley Bryant, Trafford) - Heptathlon
Renee Regis (Clarence Callender / Darren Braithwaite, Shaftesbury Barnet) – 100m
Eden Robinson (Christian North, Cardiff Archers) – Heptathlon
Jaden Smith (Shaftesbury Barnet) - 400m
Gemma Tutton (Richard Pilling / David Tutton, Lewes) – Pole Vault
Nia Wedderburn-Goodison (Harrow) – 100m
Teddy Wilson (Marvin Rowe, Shaftesbury Barnet) – 100m
Futures Relay
Joe Ferguson (Richard Kilty, Sheffield and Dearne) - Relay
Aleeya Sibbons (Colin Bovell, Newham and Essex Beagles) – Relay
Lucy Tallon (Nigel Stickings, Tonbridge) - Relay
Alyson Bell (Anne Scott, Glasgow Jaguars) - Relay
Jeriel Quainoo (Blackheath and Bromley) – Relay
Kissiwaa Mensah (Prince Duwai, Chelmsford) – Relay