European Championship Bronze for Invicta's Oliver Downs!

What an incredible achievement for Oliver Downs of Invicta East Kent Athletics Club, who has won a bronze medal while proudly representing Team Great Britain & Northern Ireland at the European U18 Athletics Championships in Rieti, Italy, held on 18th & 19th July 2026.

Coached by Alex Pope, Oliver produced the performance of a lifetime, scoring an outstanding 7,341 points in the decathlon – a huge personal best and a performance that rewrites the record books.

Throughout the 2 day event, Oliver achieved personal bests in:

Long Jump – 7.09m

High Jump – 1.85m 

400m – 50.23s 

110m Hurdles – 14.33s 

His remarkable total points is a new British U18 Record!

This ranks him 5th in the world this year, and places him 60th on the World All-Time U18 list.

To make this achievement even more special, Oliver becomes the first British athlete in 40 years to win a medal in the decathlon at a European Championships across U18, U20, U23 or junior level, since the legendary Daley Thompson achieved the feat at the 1986 European Championships in Stuttgart.

Everyone at Invicta East Kent Athletics Club is immensely proud of Oliver and coach Alex Pope. This is a phenomenal achievement that reflects years of hard work, dedication and commitment, and we can't wait to see what comes next.

Congratulations Oliver – you've done your club, your coach Alex, and yourself proud!