Matthew McKenna started the year with modest ambitions at domestic level and will end it as a European gold medallist.
The 800m runner gave an assured display at the European Athletics U18 Championships in Banska Bystrica 18-21 July, winning the two lap title as yet another British middle distance prospect emerged on the international scene.
Brit exceeds own expectations
“To be honest, I just wanted to make the English Schools finals at the start of the year,” he said in the aftermath of his impressive victory.
“And then coming into the BMCs (British Milers Club, UK distance running events), I was running faster every race, especially in the 1500m as well. And (then) getting that call to come out here (Banska Bystrica) and race, it was such a shock. To come out here and win it was amazing.
“It means everything to me. I’ve been putting in so much effort with my coaches and my family. To come out here and win it for me and them, it was perfect.
Running with confidence
McKenna cuts a confident figure on the track, racing with a baseball cap backwards and – as he triumphed in each round - spreading his arms wide to savour the crowd’s appreciation.
“If you try and keep the confidence, you race well off the back of that,” he says. And of the cap, he says: “I’ve always run with this. Throughout lockdown when I started running, I’ve always had a hat. It’s just my thing, I never really know anything different. I always keep the hat on.”
The COVID-19 pandemic was the genesis of McKenna’s athletics career. “My mum would make me 4-6 miles every morning when I was 12-13 and then I moved down from Scotland to Surrey and started track and I really built in some speed,” he explains.
Perhaps it is born of his introduction into the sport, but training remains a solo pursuit with the support of coaches Jamie McLoughlin and Martin Norman.” I’m just training by myself. I’d love to have a training partner at some point. But this year has just been me,” he says.
All in for track career
McKenna is also at perfectly at ease being the latest name on the conveyor belt of British middle distance running talent and the expectation it inevitably brings. “I see it as privilege,” he says. “I want to keep it going. I don’t see any pressure with it. I race my own races. I train how I train. I’m not going to let that get into my head too much.”
There is a still a long way to go for the teenager, but for now he is fully committed to making his way in athletics. “It’s all about track,” he says. “I love waking up in the morning, going running and getting those endorphins. It’s just my thing. I love it!”
Chris Broadbent for European Athletics