By Ted Chamberlain
Huddersfield has a rich tradition of developing promising young athletes and it’s Holmfirth Harriers’ Chloe Law who’s the new kid on the block.
Chloe, 14, who currently competes in the Under 15 Girls category, recently wowed her fellow athletes by hopping, stepping and jumping to triple jump gold at the North of England Under 15 and Under 17 Outdoor Championships in Middlesbrough.
Just two weeks later she powered to an outstanding fourth place at the England Athletics U15 and Under 17 Outdoor Championships in Birmingham.
Astonishingly, these were Chloe’s first ever triple jump competitions at club level.
Chloe’s junior athletics career started back in primary school when she was consistently finishing highly in local school cross country races, even earning the right to represent Kirklees.
Chloe said: “On the back of this I asked mum to find me a running club and I joined Holmfirth. At middle school I took part in sports hall athletics which I really enjoyed. My favourite event were the standing jumps.”
Chloe experienced her first taste for competitive triple jump in Year 7 but it wasn’t until Year 9 that she did it again.
Chloe Law in action. Pictures: by Stuart Whitman
England Athletics impose restrictions on some events to avoid putting young athletes’ developing bones and tendons under excessive pressure.
These restrictions apply to triple jump, an event Chloe hadn’t been able to take part in until last month’s North of England Outdoor Championships.
Chloe added: “I have focused more on long jump over the last year with triple jump never being an option in [club] competitions.”
Taking full advantage of the opportunity she had, Chloe made no mistake when taking victory in Middlesbrough, beating Wigan & District’s duo of Emma Pimblett and Lauren Hewitt to the top step of the podium.
Chloe’s jump of 10.41m broke the Holmfirth Harriers’ under 15 girls triple jump record, the overall women’s club record and remains the eleventh best jump by any under 15 girl in the UK this year.
“At the Northern competition my aim was to jump over 10m and get into the final. I had two no jumps, so my third jump had to count,” said Chloe.
“I made it to 10.14m relieved it was a valid jump [enough to earn Chloe another three attempts]. It was on my fifth jump that I went the furthest with 10.41m and was in the lead.
“I had a very nervous wait as I was the last to jump but knew when it was my turn again, I was the champion.”
High on confidence and having jumped further than the qualifying standard set for the England Athletics Under 15 and Under 17 Outdoor Championships, Chloe produced an excellent 10.37m, finishing narrowly fourth behind Brighton & Hove’s Jaiten Best, who jumped 10.45m.
“My aim was to qualify for the final. Realising I qualified for that and going into the final in fifth place, I was 21cm behind third place so knew it was possible to go further but to jump 10.37m and claim fourth place I was ecstatic.”
And Chloe isn’t done yet. After an incredibly busy track and field season that’s seen her take on a whopping 11 disciplines, Chloe is taking on the West Yorkshire Track and Field Championships on Sunday September 10 before moving back into winter training.
Asked about any plans she has for the future, Chloe said: “I will be moving up an age category for the next season so I would like to aim for the new standards in triple jump to be able to compete at the national level again.”
