BARNSLEY teenager Vanessa Ndambakuwa won two gold medals at Yorkshire Athletics Championships and her GB international coach believes she could go all the way to the top of the sport.
The 17-year-old from Grimethorpe, representing Barnsley AC, won both the 100m and 200m at under 18s level at the Dorothy Hyman Stadium in Cudworth. She was English champion at under 16 level in 2024 but missed all of last year with a knee injury. She is now being coached by Joe Ferguson, the Team GB sprinter and former World Championship semi-finalist from Darton who is currently not competing due to injury issues.
Ferguson told the Chronicle: “It was a really big performance for Vanessa to come back to and it’s really exciting.
“We see massive potential in her.
“She’s significantly further along than I was at the age of 17.
“We have the right team around her and we’re giving her all the support.
“She has the talent to make a really good career out of it. I don’t see why she can’t go to the Olympics.
“She is one of the fastest under 18 girls in the country and that’s after one comeback race, having been out for 18 months.
“We will stay grounded and not put too much pressure on her. She’s a grafter, she has her head screwed on and does everything right in training.”
Vanessa – who is doing an apprenticeship in accountancy at Barnsley College – trains six times a week in Cudworth and Sheffield.
One possible target this season is the World Under 20 Championships in Eugene, USA in August.
Ferguson said: “This is a comeback season and anything she gets out of it is a bonus. We’re really pleased she’s running pain free and running fast.
“The main aim this year would be to smash both PBs.
“We don’t have the world juniors as a specific target but she’s definitely capable of running the qualifying times.”
Vanessa ran 24.46 in the 200m to lead home a Barnsley AC clean sweep of the medals with Amelie Spicer second in a PB of 25.64 and Poppy Kaye third with a time of 26.00.
Vanessa also won the 100m with a PB of 12.09 while Kaye was third in a PB of 12.65. Amelie then took bronze in the 400m with a PB of 1-00.37.
Under 16 boy Riley Hall won the 300m final with a PB of 37.73 while he took 100m silver with a PB of 11.37 and bronze over 200m with 23.1.
Chris Gillott won the 800m senior race with 2-00.32.
Finlay Starkey was second in the under 14 boys’ 100m with a PB of 13.05.
Archie Bisht took bronze in the under 14 boys’ 800m with a PB of 2-15.73.
Sam Thompson claimed a bronze in the under 20s men’s 800m with a PB of 2-17.1.
Graihagh Turner, from Penistone, came third in the under 18 1,500m with 4-52.26.
There were PBs for Barnsley AC’s under 16 boy Charley Marshall (100m, 12.31; 200m, 24.77), under 18 boy Joe Cox (800m, 2-09.54), under 16 boy Thomas Clark (200m, 24.36) and Kuba Obst (800m, 2-24.69), under 16 girls Joanna Adediran (100m, 13.36), Layla Kaye (100m, 13.37; 200m, 27.56), Elsie Portman (100m, 13.63; 200m, 28.32) and under 18 girl Rose Kaye (800m, 2-41.02).
