On 20th February 2010, at The Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham’s NIA, UKA will be taking the high jump to a new level. In addition to a full schedule of world class athletics, the Aviva Grand Prix will host a new competition: ‘Extreme High Jump’.
Introducing extreme youth sports to the world of athletics, this exciting, unique event will see British high jumpers compete against the UK’s top BMX-riders and inline skaters. The competition will be judged by the audience and will take in to account skills such as style, flips and technical difficulty as the athletes fling themselves over a ‘laser’ bar – all to entertain the crowd.
Demonstrating spectacular athleticism, the event will highlight that athletics – running, jumping and throwing – is the foundations of all other sports, even extreme sports like BMXing and skating.
Fuzz Ahmed, UKA’s National High Jump Coach is looking forward to the event on 20th February – “The High jump is one of the most challenging of all the track & field disciplines. Our top male athletes traditionally jump well over 2m – that’s higher than the average doorframe.
High jump is a really technical event and requires lots of hard work and discipline, but occasionally at the end of a training session, the athletes show off ‘alternative’ ways of getting over the bar, with somersaults and backflips! I’m confident that my high jumpers will win the crowd over, but whatever happens, it will be great fun to watch.”
Among the extreme youth sports athletes, is 21 year old Jenna Downing. The 2008 LG Action Sports World Champion and 10 x British Champion Inline skater.
Jenna says: “I’ve always enjoyed watching athletics on TV but never thought I’d actually get a chance to compete against athletes, especially in the high jump! It’s a great idea and I can’t wait to show-off my jumping skills on my skates.
“I have no idea how the high-jumpers jump so high off the ground, with no ramps to help them. With inline skates, we can do some awesome tricks and I’ve seen the BMX athletes do some cool stunts. I’m looking forward to taking my sport to a new audience at the NIA and hopefully people will see what we do and want to get involved!”
For those lucky athletics fans that have already purchased tickets to the Aviva Grand Prix, make sure you’re in your seats when the Extreme High Jump kicks off at 12.30pm
If you’re yet to purchase tickets, it’s not too late, click here to book now!
—uka.org.uk
