Every year the club chooses two of its outstanding young
athletes, one male and one female, and honours them with the Darren
Campbell MBE Award for their achievements through the year. This
year the awards go to sprint sensation Clovis Asong and the UK's
leading young triple jumper Ahtollah Rose.
Clovis Asong is a class apart as an athlete. In his early
career he used to be a pretty good footballer with a promising
career but packed it in after he fractured his ankle to pursue his
track dreams. He initially displayed fantastic ability in field
events. As a thirteen year old, he was No 1 in the UK in the
long jump, second in the high jump and fourth in the shot putt but
in 2009 he turned to sprints and this year has become a sensational
top performer in the 400m winning every 400m domestic race he's
entered. He won the 400m England indoor and outdoor
Championships; became the English Schools 400m Champion just
missing out on an event record; at the Home Country U17
international in July, he won in a PB and championship best of
47.04 seconds that moved him up to third on the UK all-time under
17 list. In July he made sure Europe's best sat up and took note as
he became GB's start attraction in his GB debut at the European
Youth Olympic Festival in Turkey. There, he rewrote the history
books running a Championship record of 46.74 seconds en route to
winning the gold medal and also picked up the 4 x 100m relay
silver. Finally, in September's Commonwealth Youth Games at the
Isle of Man, he again won a fantastic gold medal. Clovis is now the
fastest U/17 400m runner in the UK by nearly two seconds and sits
joint second on the all-time list as he chips away at Mark
Richardson's 23 year old record of 46.43. He was awarded 'Young
Achiever of the Year' at the Manchester Annual Sports Awards.
Ahtollah Rose's athletic career began as a young teenage
sprinter and such was her talent that in 2005 she ranked
3rd in the UK in the U13 75m. She then turned to the
triple jump and long jump and by 2009 became the U17 England triple
jump Championship and the England Schools silver medallist and
climbed to second in the UK indoor rankings. In 2010, she won
the prestigious English Schools triple jump Championship title.
During 2011 her career particularly blossomed. It began in February
when she won bronze at the England Indoor triple jump
Championships; then silver at the England outdoor Championships and
retained her English Schools triple jump Champion title with a PB
of 12.88m that put her top of the UK rankings. Finally, she made
her GB debut at the European Championships in Estonia and topped a
fantastic year by being nominated runner-up in the Young Achiever
of the Year Award in the Manchester Sports Awards.
These Young Athletes Awards began in 2005. Athletes are
nominated by coaches and team managers and decided by the club's
executive committee. Previous recipients are:
2010 Katie Byres and Jack Andrew
2009 Abigail Haywood and Niall Brooks
2008 Abigail Irozuru and Andy Sutcliffe
2007 Rebekah Wilson and Andy Robertson
2006 Katherine Sherry and ezekiel Rowe
2005 Kathia Lannon and Darren Hammond
(Researched and compiled by Fechin Mc
Cormick)