Aviva Sportshall UK Final 2009

The 2009 Final marks the climax of this season’s Aviva Sportshall UK Championships with more than 500 athletes descending on the NEC’s LG Arena, Birmingham to contest the season’s final honours.

Former Sportshall winner Kelly Sotherton, the All-Rounder Champion in 1992, will be on-hand to welcome the athletes, offer support and encouragement and make presentations. Whilst Kelly of course competed for the Isle of Wight back in 1992, she will no doubt follow closely the performances of the Birmingham athletes, several of whom are fellow members of Birchfield Harriers. Birmingham emulated Avon’s success in the first regional event of the season in securing all four regional team titles. With Derbyshire, Norfolk and West Yorkshire repeating this feat, a number of counties will be out in force supporting their young athletes. The leading teams from each region are joined by the Regional All-Rounder Champions. Suzi Palmer (Derbyshire) and Ryan Stride (Birmingham) return to the UK Finals for one final time having qualified in successive years as Regional winners. Gloucestershire’s Sophie Clifford narrowly missed out on the South West All-Rounder title last year, but following a series of convincing performances in Torbay become’s Gloucestershire’s first ever representative at a UK Final.
A number of athletes are invited to Birmingham on the basis of outstanding performances in their individual events, with one performance standing out above all others. Nikita Campbell-Smith smashed the Under 13 Standing Triple Jump record, extending this from 7.73 m to 8.10 m, a record that had stood since 1994. Joe Bibby (Oxfordshire) joins the elite group of those having completed 97 in the Speed Bounce and Connor Laverty (North West Wales) set a new Welsh record of 7.95 m in Standing Triple Jump.

The UK Final is being staged at the LG Arena, NEC, Birmingham on Sunday 22 March.  Doors open at 10.30 am and the event starts at 12.00 noon. Admission to all spectators is free.

The full line up for Sunday’s event appears below: