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North East athletes retain top trophy at Typhoo Junior Nationals

The North East team is celebrating after they successfully retained the regional trophy at the Typhoo National Junior Athletics Championships. Over 240 of the country’s finest young disabled athletes took part in this weekend’s event in Coventry (27 and 28 June).

Team Manager, Liz Neale, Team Manager for North East, was elated to lift the trophy with her team and said:

“We spent many years trying to get to this level. We won it for the first time last year and thought it would be really hard to maintain it this year. But we’ve got there! The continued success of the regional athletics championships really helps. As a region we all come together to make sure those championships do happen every year.”

With a stack of personal bests and notable performances, the annual event confirmed its status as a favourite in the disability sports calendar.

Many elite disabled athletes began their own success at this prestigious event, including Hannah Cockroft, Shelly Woods, Aled Davies and Hollie Arnold. Amongst the competitors in Coventry were those hopeful for the same golden career in athletics.

The Championships at the University of Warwick’s athletics track was organised by the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS). A full programme was on offer, meaning athletes with a wide range of impairments took part- something which is not often supported at many other events.

The Typhoo programme was designed with EFDS to make sure more disabled athletes have access to participation opportunities under the ‘Sports for All’ banner. Typhoo Tea sponsored the regional qualifiers in England as well as the Nationals.

Liz continues:

“The Typhoo sponsorship has enabled it really to continue to grow. There is a team spirit, and that’s because we pool athletes from a small area of the North East – Tyne and Wear, Tees Valley and Durham. We need a good, successful regional competition that people feel confident coming to, so that we can get the qualifiers from that competition to come to the nationals.”

All individuals’ medal performances accumulated points for their own regions, which means there is always fierce competition for the Team Trophy.

One athlete to note this weekend is Malachi Oram, who ended his junior career in style. Now 19 years old, Malachi will be too old to compete in the event next year. The talented runner from Knightsfield School in Hertfordshire, was presented with the Outstanding Male Performance Award.

After claiming gold in all his events- 100m, 200m and 400m, Malachi was recognised for his commitment over the years to the East junior team. As Malachi is deaf, his team mates and the watching crowd reacted to his award with a huge applause in British Sign Language.

Malachi said:

“I love running. I always train really hard and I really enjoy the fact that I do it with my friends. I’ve really enjoyed the weekend. I think everyone who can, should play sport. You will make new friends. More people should take it up as the country is getting better at sport.”

Megan Ashman from Disability Sport Wales, picked up the Female Award, after her gold winning performances in 100m, shot and discus. Megan competed in the T/F44 classes. The 11 year old was part of a small Welsh team led by their Manager, former Paralympian Nathan Stephens.

Jimmy Simpson from North East team was given the Lion's Club International Endeavour Award after his successful weekend in the Powerchair events.

Jannine Walker, National Events Manager for EFDS, said:

“We are really thankful to Typhoo for supporting such an amazing weekend. From beginners to potential international champions, this event encapsulates the meaning of true sports participation. We hope all the young disabled people who took part continue to develop their talent, but most of all, continue to enjoy being active for life.”

It is the third time Typhoo has backed the charity’s work after sponsoring the Typhoo Sports for All project in 2009 and 2010 with this year the international tea company supporting EFDS’s Disability Sport Events programme.

Somnath Saha, Chief Executive of Typhoo Ltd, said:

“This is an important celebration of talent and Typhoo has been delighted to support it. Sport can change lives and that is certainly true for those who have taken part in the regional qualifiers and this weekend’s national championships.”

Lions Club International has been involved with the event since it began. Their fundraising and volunteers have supported the national and regional events across England. They presented a cheque for £7,200 to the charity, to support the ongoing events programme.

Results are available to download here.

For further information on EFDS please contact Sarah Marl, Marketing and Communications Manager. Email smarl@efds.co.uk. Mobile: 07764 291671. Please contact our Events Manager, Jannine Walker, jwalker@efds.co.uk or call 07725273158 if you have any questions regarding the programme.