By Owen Morgan
Forget Manchester United’s flying winger Dan James and Wales’ rapid Rugby World Cup try machine Josh Adams, Wales’ real speed kings will be going head to head in Cardiff on Sunday afternoon.
Sam Gordon and Jeremiah Azu are due to meet in a sprint showdown over 60m in the Non Thomas New Year Open at the National Indoor Athletics Centre.
Azu is the fastest teenager in Europe and was the red-hot favourite to win gold at last summer’s European Under-20 Championships in Sweden before he was cruelly struck down by injury while leading in the final.
Meanwhile, last summer Gordon clocked the fastest 100m time recorded by a Welshman, albeit assisted by an illegally strong tail wind as he raced to victory at the Welsh Championships.
Athletics fans heading for the Cardiff Metropolitan University organised meet may even enjoy the added bonus of seeing Wales’ two top sprinters lock horns twice in one afternoon – and it won’t cost them penny as entry is free.
Cardiff Metropolitan University’s performance director of athletics James Thie told Dai Sport: “That is one of the really exciting showcases.
“We’re super-excited at hopefully having them racing twice head to head, because the heats are seeded and then there is a final later in the day, so it will be interesting to see who comes out on top in both races.
“The nice thing is that they are great friends and really, really nice personalities. But you know when the gun goes there is going to be no love lost. They won’t want one to get anything over the other.
“That’s the exciting thing, whatever happens in the heats, hopefully, them being fit and healthy and ok, they are going to come back and do it again.
“So it adds a little bit more spice to it rather than just getting one head to head, you are getting two for the price of one!
Azu is the fastest man in the field with a blistering PB of 6.65, just ahead of Gordon’s 6.67, but the duo won’t have it all their own way with four other men in the field capable of going under seven seconds including last year’s Welsh 60m indoor champion Arron Owen and Swansea Harrier Dan Beadsley.
With almost 500 athletes taking part on Sunday, the men’s 60m is far from being the only attraction on what promises to be an action packed programme of top quality athletics with competitors attending from across the UK.
One of the highlights in the field events will be the women’s shot put where Welsh champion Adele Nicoll will take on England’s Amelia Strickler, who has a personal best of 17.83m and represented Great Britain at last year’s European Indoor Championships
Thie said: “Amelia Strickler has thrown well over 17 metres, so that gives somebody like Adele Nicoll a real quality athlete coming over the bridge to chase in the shot. It’s nice that we provide that kind of platform, especially for Welsh athletes.
“It shows by the entries that these meetings are a needed commodity. The fact that we’ve got open events, we’ve got the Welsh masters, south west of England champs, Welsh championship status in the 3,000m as well, it’s a busy meet with a lot going on.”
Thie, a former Wales and Great Britain middle distance international is excited about the quality of some of the longer races on the track as well as the sprints.
“The men’s 800 has Zak Curran, an Irish international coming over to face Piers Copeland, the European under-23 silver medallist. Last year Jamie Webb was athlete of the match with his 1:47, so we’re hoping to get close to that mark again
“Then we’ve got a super quality men’s 3,000m where we expect inside eight minutes because we’ve got a number of quality athletes that will be chasing that time.”
As well as established athletes, the meeting named in memory of a former lecturer at the university, will also feature a host of rising young Welsh talent on show, says Thie.
“When you look down the list there are athletes who have been to Youth Commonwealths for Wales, there are athletes who have broken under-17 records, so there is a really nice blend from Ben Reynolds to Osian Perrin to Lauren Evans in the hurdles.
“It will be nice because there will be a couple of surprises as well, people who have wintered well that haven’t raced yet, especially in the younger age groups where they can make big strides in a short space of time.
“Given the quality of races, it really gives them a chance to step it up. Then hopefully they can continue that into the Welsh champs the following weekend.
“It warms them up nicely for the Welsh champs, a lot of people are using our meet as an opener for the indoor season.
“A lot of students will have university comps and then it’s the British nationals at the end of February.”
The action starts at 11.05am and continues through until after 5pm with entry free of charge.