Jayden Ackerman entered three events at the National Junior Para Championships in Coventry on Saturday 6th June and came away with gold medals in all three. Jayden, who is a member of the C&C Disability Group and attends Soham Village College, is already known to his training partners as an impressive wheelchair athlete. He races in the T54 classification. (T54 includes people who have normal hand and arm function, normal or limited trunk function, and no leg function. It is usually the fastest of the disability classifications.)
This is Jayden’s first competitive season. He performed well in the County Championships and had already beaten athletes much older than himself at the June British Wheelchair Racing Grand Prix at Stoke Mandeville in appalling weather conditions. The National Championships were the first opportunity to race in a truly competitive race against athletes the same age.
Jayden raced the 100m (in 20.57), 400m (in 1:08.34) and 800m (in 2:38.85) and came away the gold medal in all three events. Wheelchair athletes are generally able to compete over a wider range of events than able-bodied athletes but this is a very impressive performance.
The championships are organised by the Activity Alliance using the new athletics age groups. Jayden was competing in the U14 age group. He now moves on to the England Championships in Birmingham at the end of the month where he will be competing as an U15 in the 100m and 200m. He will be at the bottom of the age group which adds an extra challenge. Good luck, Jayden, and massive congratulations.