Congratulations to 16yr old Eve Dann who has been selected for the British team to compete at the inaugural IPC Athletics World Junior Championships taking place in Nottwil, Switzerland from 3-6 August. Para Athletics Head Coach, Paula Dunn, commented “The World Para Athletics Junior Championships provides a valuable opportunity for our talented young athletes to gain experience in the major games environment. I have no doubt that the 14 athletes selected will use this championship wisely and hopefully learn plenty from it. This is an important part in the development pathway for these athletes as we build towards the Tokyo Paralympic Games in 2020. For many, this will be their first appearance in a British vest, and it will be crucial as we progress over the next few years.”
Eve, who has cerebral palsy (CP), has come a long way in a few short years, having only taken up athletics in 2012 after watching fellow CP athlete Michael McKillop from Hollywood, competing in the 1500M at the London Paralympics. Although she began training with the junior middle distance group, her doctor suggested she try sprinting as it would be more beneficial for her CP and in 2015 she joined the sprint squad and hasn’t looked back since. She was initially classified as a T38 athlete in 2016, however, in spring 2017, she was re-classified. As a result of this re-classification, she quickly came to the attention of the Paralympic Performance programme at British Athletics and was invited to attend a Talent ID weekend at Loughborough in spring 2017. Now, following continued improvements in her times she has earned her first GB Junior vest and will compete in the U18 T36 100m & 200m in Switzerland.
