A host of 2018 World Junior, European Under-18 and World Para Athletics European Championship medallists have been named on the British Athletics Futures Programmes for 2018-2019.

A total of 26 athletes have been selected for the Olympic Futures Programme, with 24 chosen for the Paralympic Futures Programme.

The Olympic programme, supported by Nike, and the Paralympic programme, supported by Sport England and Nike, aims to highlight athletes that have the potential to win medals at future Olympic & Paralympic Games, World and European Championships, and those that have the potential to progress onto the World Class Programme (WCP) in the next cycle.

Max Burgin, the 800m age-15 world record holder and European U18 Championship gold medallist is included along with fellow European U18 gold medallists, Keely Hodgkinson, Sam Bennett and Dominic Ogbechie.

Photo: European Athletics via Getty Images

Welsh 1500m star Jake Heyward, is also named, along with US-based Thomas Staines. Over the summer, the son of GB Olympians Gary and Linda Staines ran a 1:45 800m to rank 19th in the world.

RELATED: Running latecomer Thomas Staines set to fulfil family legacy

World U20 Championship 200m and hammer gold medallists respectively, Jona Efoloko and Jake Norris, are also named on the Olympic Programme, the latter breaking his own British U20 record in Tampere.

Fellow British U20 record holder in the women’s pole vault, Molly Caudery, is selected, along with World U20 4x400m bronze medallist Alastair Chalmers and World Indoor 4x400m bronze medallist Hannah Williams.

Five medallists from this summer’s World Para Athletics European Championship are selected for the Paralympic Futures Programme, with double gold medallist in T38 100m and 200m, Thomas Young heading the list.

The programme runs from December 1, 2018 to November 30, 2019 and has been redeveloped from previous years, with the focus on supporting aspects of the athletes/coaches 2018-19 Individual Athlete Plan (IAP) and, through a series of camps and experiences, provide athletes with the opportunities to develop the skills and abilities required for senior international success.

Athletes and Coaches invited onto the programme will be assigned a British Athletics Point of contact, whose role is to understand where the programme can support and add value, and identify conditions necessary to make progress throughout the year.

Over 40 athletes have progressed onto WCP funding since the programme was launched in 2009, most recently Jemma Reekie and Naomi Ogbeta, who are now receiving support as ‘Podium Potential’ athletes.

Athletes Supported by the British Athletics Olympic Futures Programme 2019

Distance: Isabelle Boffey (800m), Alex Botterill (800m), Max Burgin (800m), Jake Heyward (1500m), Keely Hodgkinson (800m), Markhim Lonsdale (800m), Canaan Solomon (800m), Thomas Staines (800m)

Sprint: Alicia Barrett (100m hurdles), Sam Bennett (110m hurdles), Maya Bruney (200m), Alastair Chalmers (400m hurdles), Charlie Dobson (200m), Jona Efoloko (200m), Hannah Williams (400m)

Field: George Armstrong (discus), Lewis Byng (shot), Jake Norris (hammer), Divine Oladipo (shot/discus), James Tomlinson (discus), Serena Vincent (shot), Molly Caudery (pole vault), Lucy Hadaway (long jump), Holly Mills (combined events), Jade O’Dowda (combined events), Dominic Ogbechie (high jump)

British Athletics Paralympic Pathway Athletes 2019

Distance: Owen Miller (T20 1500m), Luke Nuttall T46 1500m), Hannah Taunton (T20 1500m)

Sprint: Amar Aichoun (T38 100m), Joe Brazier (T34 100m), John Bridge (T47 400m), James Freeman (T33 100m), Bulbul Hussain (T51 100m), Harri Jenkins (T33 100m), Simran Kaur (T46 100m), India Oates (T35 100m), Ross Paterson (T38 400m), Ali Smith (T38 400m), Kirsty Taylor (T44 100m), Bethany Tucker (T37 100m), Eve Walsh-Dann (T38 100m), Thomas Young (T38 100m).

Field: Ed Clifton (F56 shot), Bethan Griffiths (F32 club throw), Taz Nicholls (F44 discus), Harrison Walsh (F44 discus), Jordan Andrew (T20 long jump), Holly Durbridge (T20 long jump), Callum Gardiner (T20 long jump)

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With two Olympic runners as parents, Thomas Staines has the genes to go a long way in the sport and, after improving his 800m best by nearly five seconds this year to 1:45.57, he is showing signs he might even eventually eclipse their achievements.

Despite having run for only four years, the 20-year-old son of GB internationals Gary and Linda Staines is ranked 19th in the world this summer.

However, although the Colorado-based runner has run well inside the standard for the European Athletics Championships, he is exercising great patience in sticking to his original plan – saying that his PB win at the Music City Distance Carnival in Nashville at the beginning of June is his last race of the summer.

His father, Gary, was a 13:14 5000m runner who won a European silver medal, while mum Linda – competing under her maiden name of Keough – won a World Championships 4x400m silver medal, two Commonwealth relay golds and an individual silver. Both competed at the 1988 Olympics.

You might say that Staines, who moved with his parents from Britain to the States when he was around four, has running in his veins. On top of the genetics, his parents own a running shop and he was always around international runners growing up.

Yet he wasn’t under any pressure to get involved in athletics. In fact, the Colorado State University student concentrated on football until he was 15 or 16 year-old before realising his talents lay elsewhere.

“I didn’t run before that,” says Staines. “I was just full-on football. I did join the track team for my high school, but used it as soccer training. Then the season came and I realised I was better at running off the short amount of training I did – like 10 miles a week. It was then I thought, ‘this is what I should be doing’.

“It wasn’t just the sport itself but also, the people you meet at track and cross country, they’re more team-oriented, which sounds odd, but a lot of soccer players over here are more ego. So I think the team aspect was the first thing that won me over. Then obviously with how fast I was running, it was a no-brainer.”

Photo: Alan Versaw

Running 1:47.82 indoors last winter in his 800m season debut was just a sign of better things to come. He improved to 1:46.56 to win the NCAA Division II Championships title at the end of May and a week later, on June 2, went nearly a second quicker with a storming finish.

“I didn’t expect to be running this fast so quick,” said the 6ft 4in tall athlete, who confirmed he is edging towards eventually competing for Britain rather than USA. “I thought maybe by the time I left college I’d be running times around this, but I’m happy with it obviously. It’s come as a big shock to me but also it’s a big confidence boost to me as well. I’m enjoying it.”

Focusing on his long-term development

Staines’ time ranks him third best nationally in what has already been an amazing summer for British 800m running, with as many runners under 1:46 – eight – as Kenya. But he says he won’t be tempted to compete at Britain’s trial for the Europeans.

“It’s sort of annoying,” he says. “The race I ran 1:45 at, I knew that was going to be my last race, and then I ran it and wished I had more races, but that probably wouldn’t be the smartest thing to do at this point. You kind of think in your head ‘I wish I could run more’, but I’m happy to end my season on that.

“It’s obviously tempting because you watch Diamond League races and you see people running around the times that I’m running and you think, ‘I wish I could do it.’ But we have a plan and I think it’s smart to stick to it.”

With a 50.98 400m runner as his mother and a 2:11:25 marathoner as his father, the blend of speed and endurance that is the 800m would appear to be perfect for Staines, although he also ran a 45.98 400m off a standing start, without blocks, this season.

“I like racing so I’ll do anything you put me in, but I like the 800m the best,” he says. “I don’t know if that’s what I’ll end up doing, but I definitely like it the best at this point.”

He receives some general advice from his parents but they’re happy to let his coach, Matt Morris, carry on doing what he’s done so well at so far. That said, he has had conversations with his father about the sort of training he did when he was running competitively.

“All I can think is ‘thank God I’m a middle-distance runner’ because the stuff he was doing would break me in half,” says Staines, who tends to run 50 or 60 miles per week at most. “His average pace was like 5:45, 5:30 and some of the sessions he would do were just ridiculous like 16×400 off a minute but all at 63 pace.”

The young student-athlete intends to complete the final two years of his degree at Colorado State University-Pueblo before turning professional. He is studying automotive industry management and has a part-time job fulfilling his passion for cars at Jaguar and Land Rover.

“Running doesn’t last forever,” he wisely says. “I could drop out of school and then get injured and then I’m screwed and I’d have to go back. The safest thing to do would be to finish school. I think I’m running fast enough at this age that I can finish school and still have a tonne of time obviously to run professionally.”

Much like his choices of dream cars – the Maserati Granturismo for day to day and McLaren P1 for the weekend – the motor enthusiast is going places fast, but he also seems to have the patience and level-headedness to aid him in getting to the top in one piece.

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