HARLOW AC member, Bebe Jackson, has enjoyed a stellar start to her international athletics career. Classed as an T and F 44 athlete, for athletes with lower limb impairments, she represented Great Britain in both senior and age group events as a sprinter last year. She began this year with selection for the indoor world championship, in Birmingham, also as a sprinter.

Then looking ahead to the year’s programme saw that there was no opportunity to compete internationally other than in jumps and throws. Whilst maintaining her training as a sprinter, she has thrown herself into training for both long jump and discus. She did enough to get selectors’ attention and made the trip to South Africa for the South African Disability Games back in February.

She has maintained her form with regular competition in Harlow’s Southern Athletics Women’s Team and earned selection for the Commonwealth Youth Games Team, for Team England, held in Trinidad and Tobago, to throw the Discus. She was one of only six throwers selected for England as either a Para or able-bodied athlete; she was the only discus thrower. If this wasn’t enough kudos, she was then selected to be Team England’s Flag Bearer.

Once in competition, she lived up to all of the expectation that comes with such an honour. The Hasley Crawford Stadium, in Port au Prince, hosted all of the athletics and Jackson was up against stiff competition in the guise of Nigeria’s Nina Agbo. Agbo threw 25m exactly in Round One and this proved to be her longest throw of the competition. Jackson threw a decent 23.52m in Round One and then fouled in Round Two. In the third round, she threw her longest throw, 24.24m. This was good enough to secure silver and was a new personal best. 

With a day of competition still to go, seventy-one nations have competed in thirty sports for ninety-nine medals and all at Harlow AC are very proud that Bebe Jackson claimed one of them for herself and her country.