JERSEY athletics stars Steven Mackay and Ted Chamberlain flew the Jersey flag high on the national stage, as they competed at the UK Athletics Championships this past weekend.
Held at Birmingham’s prestigious Alexander Stadium, which is no stranger to hosting high-profile events after putting on the 2022 Commonwealth Games, everything was set for a thrilling weekend of athletics.
The added spice of World Championship qualification being at stake upped the intensity and athletes were ready to give it their all in pursuit of a spot in the illustrious global event.
Quality wasn’t an issue at the championships, as this year’s edition drew a stacked line-up of athletes, including Olympic stars Zharnel Hughes, Dina Asher-Smith, Charlie Dobson and former 1500m world champion Josh Kerr.
First up on the track was Mackay, keen to impress in the men’s 100m event on his third time of asking after “disappointing” results in his past two outings at the Alexander Stadium.
That wasn’t going to be easy, however, as the depth of the competing field was immense. In his heat alone, Mackay was up against a British Indoor Athletics Championships’ 60m runner-up and 2025’s European Championship semi-finalist in John Otugade and former U20 European Championships bronze medallist Chad Miller, presenting a tall task.
That didn’t seem to faze the Jerseyman, however, as he was full of excitement, embracing the occasion: “On the Saturday morning, it was if I had never been more excited to go and do something.”
“It was really cool. Seeing the crowd to the right clapping and cheering made for a great atmosphere, it was unbelievable. Even had a bit of fun with the camera and put on a show, it was really enjoyable.”
When it came down to the race, Mackay put in an admirable debut effort at this level, clocking an impressive 10.77 second time.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to seal a spot in the semi-finals, just falling short by 0.05 seconds.
Even though he didn’t qualify for the next stage, the Caesarean sprinter was happy with his result.
“I was so happy with that run. Obviously, it wasn’t the fastest time I’ve done this year, but with the injury I’ve had over the past four weeks, I’ve lost a lot of fitness trying to recover.”
“I definitely broke the curse, as I said before that it’s going to be a slow track, but during the practice round I just shot out the blocks and thought ‘this feels good’.
“I usually have my blocks quite high and aggressive, and because it felt so good there, I put it on the highest block, as you normally dictate how you feel. During the first 30-40 metres, I was ahead of everybody, it was just the speed endurance that let me down towards the end.”
After this experience, there’s no sign of him resting on his laurels, as Mackay is eager to keep moving forward: “Now I’ve got to put my head down again, as I’m chasing the time for next year’s Commonwealth Games.”
“Comparing the times I’m getting to last year, it’s clear that the form is still there, my fitness just needs to be improved. This experience has definitely boosted my confidence, it’s made me hungrier and want to push on in training.”
Next up on the track was middle-distance runner Chamberlain, who tackled the men’s 1500m event during the evening.
Although the Jerseyman is coming off a dream Island Games, where he secured three gold medals, getting a result on such a big stage was always going to be difficult, competing against the likes of last year’s champion and World Indoor Championship silver medallist Neil Gourley.
World Cross Country Championship mixed relay bronze medallist Thomas Keen and U20 European Cross Country Championship silver medallist George Couttie in his heat, among a host of other exceptional athletes.
However, Chamberlain remained focused, describing his mindset going into competition: “I don’t want to sound arrogant, but I’ve never really been intimidated or fazed by racing against big names. We’re all deserving to be there at the end of the day.”
“Somebody might be faster than you on paper, but it’s all about turning up on the day. Respect is earned, so no matter who I’m up against, I always go into a race believing I can win.”
That mindset, as well as the strong preparation going into the championships, would have put Chamberlain in good stead for the race, where he competed in the second heat.
A really slow first heat would have boosted hopes of qualification for the Islander. However, this time around it wasn’t meant to be, as he placed 10th in the heat to narrowly miss out on the next round.
“It’s still a great place to finish at that level, but I just missed out on qualification by two places, which was a little frustrating.”
“As there were a lot of guys fighting for the same sort of positions on track, it amounted to quite a physical race as when there’s around 14 guys running similar times, there’s always going to be a level of that.”
“I wasn’t bullied at the start, but I just got bumped and barged, literally two-hand shoved, which really affected my rhythm as it was just constant. For build-up, you always have to visualise as much as you possibly can and create several strategies, meaning that I never panic during the race, even when things weren’t going my way.”
“I think that took it out my legs a little bit, and I was a bit frustrated because I didn’t have the zip that I wanted to near the end of the race, but all in all I felt good.”
This event was bigger than just the race for Chamberlain, as he’s always keen to promote the sport and inspire others to keep active, saying: “I love racing at this level, as it has that bit more visibility on a national level, and I try be a good ambassador and inspire kids to get into sport. Doesn’t even have to be athletics, but it’s important that young people stay active.”
“So it’s nice when people come up to you outside the stadium and you’re signing autographs, as they look up to you as an athlete.”
Even though it wasn’t the result he was hoping for, Chamberlain won’t be putting his head down, eager to finish his season strong: “It’s definitely more about just learning tactically from this weekend, as there’s no alarm bells ringing on anything specifically.”
“It’s about sitting down with my coach and looking back on the race, trying to evaluate everything and see what we could have done to be more effective. I have all the tools I need to finish the season strongly, I just need to keep focused, remain hungry and hopefully push out a couple of faster times.”
What a weekend for Jersey’s athletics scene, proving we have the talent here locally to make a dent on some of the biggest stages.
