Abigail Pawlett

Last updated

Abi Pawlett
2025 UK Athletics Championships 20250802 173451 Abigail Pawlett.jpg
Abigail Pawlett at the 2025 UK Athletics Championships
Personal information
NationalityBritish (Welsh)
Born (2003-01-14) 14 January 2003 (age 23)
Sport
Sport Athletics
Event(s)
Heptathlon, Pentathlon, 100 metres hurdles
Club Trafford AC
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)Heptathlon: 6320 (Bergen, 2025)
Pentathlon: 4675 (Toruń, 2026)
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain
European U23 Championships
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2025 Bergen Heptathlon

Abigail Pawlett (born 14 January 2003) is a British multi-event athlete. She won the 2025 British Indoor Championships in the 60 metres hurdles, and competed in the heptathlon at the 2025 World Championships, having won a silver medal in the event at the 2025 European U23 Championships. [1]

Contents

Early life

From Chester, she attended Tarporley High School. She started athletics at eight years-old at West Cheshire Athletics Club. She broke the British Indoor Under-17 heptathlon record in 2019 and broke the north-west girls’ heptathlon record as an Under-17 athlete, which had been held previously by Katarina Johnson-Thompson. [2]

Career

Pawlett races for Trafford AC. [3] In 2021 won the U20 heptathlon at the England Athletics Combined Events Championships in May 2021. [4] Subsequently, she competed in Tallinn at the 2021 European Athletics U20 Championships in heptathlon. [5]

In June 2023, she made her debut in a senior British vest, selected for the British team for the 2023 European Athletics Team Championships held in Chorzów, Silesia, Poland between 20 and 25 June 2023, in the 100 metres hurdles. [6]

2024

Having won England combined events gold in every age group previously, [7] in January 2024, she became the English national indoors pentathlon senior champion. [8] During the competition she broke a 25 year-old English national record held by Julia Bennett in the 800 metres and a championship record tally of 4325 points. [9] On 17 February 2024, she qualified for the final at the British national indoor championships in the 60 metres hurdles event, running 8.24 in the final in Birmingham to finish second behind Cindy Sember. On the same day she competed in the long jump and finished seventh overall. [10] She was subsequently selected for the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, in which she finished ninth overall. [11] [12]

Pawlett set a new heptathlon personal best of 6011 points at Hypo-Meeting in Götzis in May 2024. [13] In November 2024, she was named by British Athletics on the Olympic Futures Programme for 2025. [14]

2025

Pawlett won the 60 metres hurdles at the 2025 British Indoor Athletics Championships in Birmingham in February 2025. [15] [16] Competing as a Wales international, Pawlett finished third in the long jump at the Loughborough International with a personal best 6.17m in May 2025. She also set a personal best at the event in the 100 metres hurdles, with a time of 12.97 seconds. [17]

Pawlett lowered her 100m hurdles personal best time to 12.94 seconds at the 2025 Hypo-Meeting in Götzis on 31 May 2025. She also ran a personal best 23.06 seconds for the 200 metres on that day before finishing in eighth place overall with an overall personal best sscore of 6315 points. [18] [19] She was selected for the 100m hurdles at the 2025 European Athletics Team Championships in Madrid in June 2025. [20] She won a silver medal in the heptathlon with a lifetime best of 6320 points for the British team at the 2025 European Athletics U23 Championships in Bergen, Norway. [21] [22] On 2 August, she finished second in the 100 metres hurdles at the 2025 UK Athletics Championships in Birmingham, in 13.12 seconds. [23]

In September 2025, she competed in the heptathlon at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan. [24] [25] Although she fell in the 100m hurdles, she completed the race, and went on to clear a personal best 1.80m in the high jump and won her 200m heat. However, suffering from delayed concussion from the fall in the hurdles she ultimately had to withdraw from the competition. [26] In October 2025, she was named on the British Athletics Olympic Futures Programme for 2025/26. [27]

2026

Pawlett set a championship record to win the 60 metres hurdles in 8.14 seconds at the Welsh Indoor Championships in Cardiff on 7 February 2026. [28] The following week, Pawlett retained her 60 metres hurdles title at the 2026 British Indoor Athletics Championships in Birmingham on 14 February 2026, running a new personal best in each round; with 8.08 seconds in her heat, and 8.06 in her semi-final, and 8.05 in the final. [29] Pawlett set a pentathlon personal best of 4675 points at the Copernicus Cup in Toruń, on the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Tour, on 22 February. [30]

Personal life

Pawlett began at Loughborough University in 2022. [31] Her sister Emily competed as a youth international for England in netball. [32]

References

  1. "Abigail Pawlett". World Athletics. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  2. "Young heptathlon star Abi Pawlett hoping to follow in the footsteps of her heroes". The Northern Echo. 22 July 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  3. Moss, Emily (6 February 2018). "Abi Pawlett's winning habit". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  4. "Report: Day 2 - England Senior/U20 Combined Events Champs". England Athletics. 30 May 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  5. "Review: 2021 European U20 Heptathlon, Tallinn". Decathletes of Europe. 20 July 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  6. "BRITISH SQUAD ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2023 EUROPEAN TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS". British Athletics. 7 June 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  7. "England Athletics Senior and U20 Combined Event Championships". England Athletics. 25 May 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  8. "Athletes unaware UK Combined Events Champs title was at stake in Sheffield". Athletics Weekly. 11 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  9. "Champs record for Pawlett – Day 2: England Athletics Senior and U20 Indoor Combined Events". Englandathletics.org. 7 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  10. "Live results and start lists for the 2024 British Athletics Indoor Championships". Watch Athletics. 17 February 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  11. "British team enjoys boost in size ahead of World Indoors". Athletics Weekly. 22 February 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  12. "Women's Pentathlon Results - World Athletics Indoor Championships 2024". Watch Athletics. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  13. "Damian Warner and Anouk Vetter reign in Götzis". Athletics Weekly. 20 May 2024. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  14. "2024-25 OLYMPIC FUTURES PROGRAMME ATHLETES ANNOUNCED". British Athletics. 11 November 2024. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  15. "Azu retains British indoor men's 60m title". BBC Sport. 22 February 2025. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
  16. Adams, Tim (22 February 2025). "Azu and Williams storm to scintillating 60m titles". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
  17. "MOLLY PALMER IMPRESSES IN LOUGHBOROUGH LONG JUMP AS JAZ SAWYERS RETURNS". Athletics Weekly. 18 May 2025. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
  18. "Hall and Owens-Delerme lead after first day in Götzis". World Athletics. 31 May 2025. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  19. "Hypo-Meeting". World Athletics. 1 June 2025. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  20. "GB&NI Team for European Team Championships Announced". Fast Running. 12 June 2025. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  21. Henderson, Jason (3 July 2025). "BIG GB TEAMS FOR THE EURO U23 CHAMPS AND WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
  22. Mills, Steven (20 July 2025). "Championship record! 6563 points for Vanninen to win heptathlon gold". European Championships. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
  23. "Amy Hunt takes dramatic 100m gold at UK Champs". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
  24. "World Athletics Championships, Tokyo 2025". World Athletics. 21 September 2025. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
  25. Henderson, Jason (26 August 2025). "BRITISH TEAM NAMED FOR WORLD CHAMPS IN TOKYO". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
  26. Bailey, Gareth (4 November 2025). "Pawlett following in footsteps of heptathlon heroes". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  27. "2025-26 OLYMPIC FUTURES PROGRAMME ATHLETES ANNOUNCED". British Athletics. 23 October 2025. Retrieved 23 October 2025.
  28. "Welsh Senior Indoor Champs 2026 - Day One Round-Up". Welsh Athletics. 7 February 2026. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
  29. "KEELY HODGKINSON RUNS BRITISH INDOOR 800M RECORD OF 1:56.33". Athletics Weekly. 14 February 2026. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
  30. "Charlton, Crestan and Dosso close World Indoor Tour Gold in style in Toruń". World Athletics. 22 February 2026. Retrieved 23 February 2026.
  31. "Our 2022/23 Scholars". lboro.ac.uk. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  32. Reid, James. "Excited' Emily set to fly the flag at youth Games". The Free Library. Retrieved 11 January 2024.