Jake Norris – from under 13 beginner to the world athletics stage

Jake joined Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow Athletic Club in 2011 as an under 13 and showed potential for throws straightaway, throwing the discus in competition almost 20m.

He holds many junior national records for the different weights of hammer, including the under 15 record for the 7.26kg, the under 18 record for the 5kg and the under 20 record for 6kg. He is currently ranked #1 in the U.K. and competed for GB at the 2024 European Championships.

He started in athletics wanting to do high jump and long jump, but tried different events and found he enjoyed throws the most, as seeing the implements fly a long distance felt more rewarding than anything else.

Working with the club’s throws coaches, (Paul Dickenson for hammer, Dennis Daly for discus and Ashley Fox for javelin), from under 15s upwards, Jake made great progress, enjoying major success when competing in league matches for the club, county championships, school regional championships, regional championships, etc across the different throws events.

Hammer became his main event and working with Paul, over the seasons they targeted national and international championships, achieving great success, as follows:

2012 (first year under 15)

• 6th at the England Athletics under 15 National Championships.
• 5th at the English Schools National Championships.
• 4kg under 15 hammer weight PB 52.60m (up from his season opening 35.46m)

2013 (second year under 15)

• Silver at the England Athletics under 15 National Championships.
• Silver at the English Schools National Championships.
• 4kg under 15 hammer weight PB 68.15m (up from his season opening new PB of 52.74m)
• 5kg under 17 hammer weight PB 55.56m

2014 (first year under 17)

• Gold at the England Athletics under 17 National Championships.
• Gold at the English Schools National Championships.
• 5kg under 17 hammer weight PB 69.32m (up from his season opening new PB of 59.89m)

Winning the English Schools National Championships resulted in being selected for England for the first time, representing his country at the SIAB International in Cardiff a week later – and he won.

Jake recalls travelling on the train with the team and realising he had packed two left shoes by mistake, but luckily his mum & dad, travelling in the car, had not unpacked all his other kit and had the other shoes, so he could still compete!

Being offered England selection and his England kit at English Schools was a great feeling, but Jake recalls how this was actually the second time it happened, as the year before the England coaches at English Schools offered him selection as they mistakenly thought he was an under 17 due to the distance he was throwing!

2015 (second year under 17)

• Gold at the England Athletics under 17 National Championships.
• Gold at the England Athletics under 18 National Championships.
• 5kg under 17/under 18 hammer weight PB 74.17m (up from his season opening new PB of 70.88m)
• 6kg under 20 hammer weight PB 64.00m

The major target this season was the World Youth Championships in Columbia in July.

This would be his first GB selection and Jake secured his place as a result of winning the under 18 National Championships, along with throwing over the qualifying distance of 70m, which he did at his very first event of the season. Jake said going to Columbia was a great experience and the competition itself was different to anything he had experienced before. He also said that looking back, it was closer to what he experienced this year at the European Championships. He qualified for the final with his very first throw being over the qualifying mark, which meant he could immediately rest up for the following day. This throw was also a new PB of 73.82m. Ranked 11th in the world, he finished 7th in the final, a great achievement. He said it was great to receive the phone call that he had been selected and subsequently to receive his GB kit and then to go and to compete as a GB athlete!

2016 (first year under 20)

• Gold at the England Athletics under 18 Championships.
• Gold at the England Athletics under 20 Championships.
• Gold at the Loughborough International, representing GB juniors.
• 5kg under 18 hammer weight PB 79.20m
• 6kg under 20 hammer weight PB 71.55m (up from his season opening new PB of 65.28m)

The major target this season was the European Youth Championships in Tiblisi, Georgia in July. After qualifying from his performances at the England Athletics under 18 Championships and the Loughborough International. Jake said that he wanted a medal at these championships, as he knew who his opponents were going to be and what chance he had of securing his first international medal. Ranked #2 in Europe, he unfortunately had food poisoning leading up to the competition, including the day before, but he overcame this to not only compete, but to win silver and achieve a new PB!

2017 (second year under 20)

• Gold at the England Athletics under 20 Championships.
• Gold at the English Schools National Championships.
• 6kg under 20 hammer weight PB 78.09m (up from his season opening new PB of 79.97m)
• 7.26kg Seniors hammer weight PB 68.86m

The major target this season was qualifying for the European Under 20 Championships in Italy in July and after achieving this, he went on to qualify for the final.

Jake also managed to qualify for the British Championships, after achieving the qualifying distance with the senior weight of 7.26kg.

2018 (third year under 20)

After receiving many offers for scholarships in the U.S.A., Jake chose Louisiana State University, where as well as training and competing he undertook his physiotherapy degree. Unfortunately, after a few weeks of starting his first term, the coach left, but Jake was able to train by recording his sessions, sending the videos back to Paul Dickenson for feedback. He also worked with a strength & conditioning coach, who was part of Jonathan Edwards team.

After winning gold at the England Athletics under 20 Championships in June came the biggest moment of Jake’s athletics career, when he won gold at the IAAF Under 20 World Championships in Tampere, Finland, setting a new U.K. national record of 80.65m!

6kg under 20 hammer weight PB 80.65m (up from his season opening new PB of 79.55m)

7.26kg Seniors hammer weight PB 73.24m

2019-2021 (first, second and third year under 23)

These were difficult seasons for Jake, as he experienced a number of injuries, disrupting his training and resulting performances. There was some highlights for him though, notably:

• Gold at the England Athletics under 23 Championships in 2019.
• Competing at the European Under 23 Championships in 2019.
• Competing in the indoor US college events in 2020 before the Covid pandemic.
• Competing at the British Championships in 2021.

2022 (first year seniors)

Despite further difficulties with injury, this was the first year Jake felt he was getting structure and consistency back into his training.

The highlight of the season was winning bronze in the UK Athletics Championships – which Jake said that, despite not quite being back to the distances he wanted, was a really good result and one he was chuffed with, considering he was still so young (when hammer throwers tend to peak aged 30-32) and he was competing against athletes such as Osian Jones (Welsh champion and record holder) and Nick Miller, (British record holder, Commonwealth Games gold medalist and Tokyo 2020 Olympic finalist).

2023 (second year seniors)

Won 14 out of the 17 times he competed, with the highlights of the season being:

• Gaining his first Senior GB team selection, for the European Team Championships in Chorzow, Poland in June (29^th).
• Ranked 11th in Europe, he finished 7th at those Championships, so a good result, thanks to achieving a good distance of almost 72m.
• Winning at the UK Athletics Championships on 9th July to become British Champion! – and setting what was a new PB at the time of 74.75m.
• Winning at the Loughborough European Athletics Permit meeting, part of the World Athletics Continental Tour, on 29th July.
• Third at the Motonet Grand Prix in Tampere, Finland in August (part of the International World Athletics Tour Bronze series), which was another good result considering he was competing against World Championship competitors.
• 7.26kg Seniors hammer weight PB 76.30m

2024 (third year seniors)

Won 14 out of the 18 times he competed, including continuing to compete and win for the club, with the highlights of the season being:

• Gold at the UK Winter Long Throws Championships in February. This is the first outdoor competition after winter training to help athletes see the effect of winter training and national medals are at stake as it is the same as a UK national championships.
• Competed at the European Throwing Cup in Leiria, Portugal in March.
• Gold representing England at the Loughborough International in May.
• Selected to represent GB in the European Athletics Championships in Rome at the start of June, where he qualified for the final and then out-performed his European ranking of #13 when finishing 10th, in what was his biggest championships to date.
• Gold at the UK Athletics Championships at the end June to become British Champion again
• Competed on the World Athletics Continental Tour (equivalent of Diamond League, as it does not feature all events, including hammer), as follows:

• Greece on 8th May (won)
• Czech Republic on 22nd May (won and threw a new 7.26kg PB of 77.37m)
• Germany on 25th May (third and threw his second longest distance ever, 77.20m)
• Poland on 23rd June (third)
• Loughborough European Athletics Permit meeting on 10th July (won)

• 7.26kg Seniors hammer weight PB 77.37m

Jake’s three major targets for 2025 are to win the UK Athletics Championships to become British Champion again, again be selected for the European Team Championships, being held in Madrid and the Tokyo World Championships in September. We wish him well.

Written October 2024