European Glory for Mansfield Harriers
Three Mansfield Harriers travelled to Toruń, Poland, last week to represent Great Britain at the 15th European Masters Athletics Indoor Championships. Competing alongside 3,500 athletes from 52 countries, all three returned home with medals.
Paul Wright entered the M40 800m as one of the favourites, following silver medals at the 2024 European Indoor Championships and the 2025 Outdoor Championships. In the heats, Wright controlled the race comfortably, easing through in 1:58.92 to qualify as the fastest for the final.
The final, held late in the evening due to the large number of entries, saw Wright adopt his trademark front-running strategy. He set a strong early pace, closely tracked by two Spanish athletes as the trio broke away from the field. With 200m remaining, the race became a head-to-head contest. A Spanish rival drew level with 100m to go, but Wright responded brilliantly, holding his form over the closing stages to secure victory and claim the Gold medal and become the M40 European Masters Indoor 800m Champion.
The following day, Stef Wilcockson competed in the M40 60m hurdles. He produced a season’s best of 8.77 seconds in the morning heats, qualifying fastest for the final in what was an exceptionally tight field, with less than a tenth of a second separating four athletes.
In the final, Wilcockson was in medal contention throughout. After the final hurdle, he sat in fourth place but executed a perfectly timed dip at the line to snatch bronze, setting a new personal best of 8.74 seconds in the process.
He also competed in the 200m, recording 24.65 seconds, and contributed to both the M40 Men’s and Mixed 4x200m relay teams, with both squads finishing sixth.
Martin White had a busy championship in the M55 category, competing in the 60m, 200m, and the 4x200m relay. In the 60m, he ran 7.84 seconds—his fastest time in over six years—but narrowly missed the semi-finals by just 0.03 seconds.
He carried that form into the 200m, finishing second in his heat in 25.82 seconds to qualify automatically for the semi-finals with the 13th fastest time overall. In the semi-finals, White improved again, running 25.67 seconds to finish fourth, just missing out on a place in the final and placing 10th overall.
White rounded off his championships as part of the M55 Great Britain 4x200m relay team. Running the third leg, he received the baton in fourth place and delivered an outstanding performance to overtake a Spanish athlete, handing over in third. A strong anchor leg secured the team a second-place finish and a well-earned silver medal.