Harry Kendall, who finished sixth for England in the decathlon at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, says it was disappointing to have zero clarity on the standard of competition

Gabby Pieraccini reports from Sheffield 

Several athletes have commented they didnt realise the recent UK Combined Events Championships title was at stake until they got to the actual podium and saw the medals.

Some of the UKs top combined eventers arrived at the English Institute of Sport last weekend (January 6-7) for what they thought was primarily the England Athletics Combined Events Championships.

The event is open to athletes outwith England and the distribution of English and regional medals always requires much shuffling on and off the podium, particularly when international athletes are in attendance.

However, on this occasion there was an additional twist.

As the pentathlon ceremony drew to a close, the stadium announcers called up the athletes to receive their final medals for the UK titles. A murmur of surprise spread through the group of coaches, friends and families assembled on the track, many of whom were clearly not aware the UK title was being handed out.

A short while later, the equivalent ceremony for the heptathlon followed. Again, an air of surprise and confusion, as UK championship medals were hung around the necks of the top three.

We didnt know about this, one coach said in surprise. Many were frustrated at the confusion, including Harry Kendall, who finished sixth for England and lit up the Alexander Stadium in the decathlon at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

After the event, he said: It was disappointing to have zero clarity on the standard of the competition last weekend, as it could have encouraged a larger turnout of athletes or inspired better performances.

For all of us athletes it feels like another slight towards combined events, in an attempt to continually sideline us from the main events. Were just asking for equal treatment, not special treatment.

The competition itself saw 20-year-old Abi Pawlett impress over the five events at EIS to win the English pentathlon title.

She led from start to finish, scoring a lifetime best of 4325 points. That mark will position her well against the highly competitive international field in Tallinn in early February.

The Estonian meeting is one of the highlights of the combined events indoor season and England Athletics have secured places in the field for a team of English athletes in both 2023 and 2024. Behind Pawlett was Anna McCauley (4118), Lauren Evans (4041) and Jordanna Morrish (4025), who all scored over 4000 points.

In the heptathlon, Sam Talbot successfully defended his England title. A year ago he won the event in a whirlwind PB of 5823 points.

While he was down on that score by almost 200 points (5624) this year, his performance was a solid step on return from a year of injury.

Lewis Church took silver with a mark of 5493. Church crashed to the ground during the hurdles on the second day of competition, when Talbots hurdle interfered with his stride but recovered his composure quickly to rerun the race and continue in the competition. Oliver Adnitt was third with 5194 points.

Pawlett and Talbot were also named UK pentathlon and heptathlon champions. The English championships are Category F in the World Athletics ranking system, attracting 10 placing points for first place, while the UK championships are Category D, bringing 30 points for a win.

UK Athletics state that all athletes competing in Sheffield were informed of the UK championships status in advance of the competition.

However, this isnt the first time there has been frustration around communication between athletes participating in the combined events and UKA.

Last November, British combined eventers launched a petition for combined events to be included in the main UK championships.

The petition, organised by heptathlete Jordanna Morrish on behalf of combined eventers, highlighted the uncertainty facing decathletes and heptathletes in preparing for their national championships.

This centred around the fact that last years UK pentathlon and heptathlon titles were tagged onto the Birmingham World Indoor Tour event, separate from the main UK championships.

The petition listed a litany of the athletes concerns, including:

Lack of prior notification that their events would not be included in the main UK championships
A last-minute identification of an alternative event
Inadequate advertising, promotion, and preparation time
Spectators who wanted to remain in the stadium to watch the combined events being asked to leave after the main World Indoor Tour programme had concluded

The ultimate goal for the combined eventers is inclusion in the main UK championships, in order to benefit from the same atmosphere and support their counterparts in other events enjoy.

The athletes wanted confirmation from UKA that if there was to be an alternative championships, then it would benefit from equal planning and promotion akin to the main championships.

These concerns, including the request for promotion, were the subject of correspondence between the athletes and UKA CEO Jack Buckner at the time the petition was launched.

Much of British Athletics social media in December was filled with celebration of British combined events, from the nomination of double world heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, to the election of 2000 Olympic heptathlon champion Denise Lewis as President of UKA.

The main UK Championships (February 17-18) in Birmingham have also been promoted widely.

This was therefore an ideal opportunity to highlight the fact that the UK combined events championships were taking place in Sheffield last weekend, to capture the attention of athletics fans enthralled by the exploits of KJT and attract them to the Steel City to see the next generation of combined eventers chase national titles.

Instead, fans were left in the dark, unaware the UK championships were happening.

Communication from UKA appears to have been insufficient to ensure that coaches and athletes were clear when the UK championships were taking place and the concerns of the UKs combined eventers continue to go unaddressed.

A UKA spokesperson said: The Combined Events Championships in Sheffield last weekend were well attended with 33 athletes competing in the senior events; significantly higher entry numbers than at previous UK Championships and a key component of UKAs aim of developing Combined Events in the UK.

There was communication to event group coaches in advance on the incorporation of the UK Combined Events Championships into the England event hosted by England Athletics and athletes entered were informed that Senior UK Combined Events Championships medals would be awarded to all eligible athletes.

We are looking forward to building on this progress in future years.