Omitowoju and Francis Join the Athlete Springboard for 2026

Stride Athletics, in association with Achilles Heel, is delighted to announce its six members of the Athlete Springboard programme for 2026, with Ade Omitowoju and Bradley Francis joining four of our returning members from our inaugural season.

Ade, a triple jumper representing Harrow AC, had a breakthrough 2025 where she won silver at the UK Indoor Athletics Championships with a jump of 13.29 metres before claiming the gold medal at the 2025 UK Athletics Championships in the summer, with a new personal best of 13.62m.

Bradley specialises in 400m hurdles and competes for Edinburgh AC. 2026 started by winning the Scottish 200m title, following on from his silver medal last year at the BUCS Indoor Athletics Championships in the 400m. That summer he also competed at the UK Athletics Championships for the second time in the 400m hurdles.

Returning to the Athlete Springboard from 2025 are: British long jump champion Alessandro Schenini (Giffnock North AC), and distance runners Andrew McGill (Cambuslang Harriers), Hannah Cameron (Aberdeen AAC) and Meg Gadsby (City of Norwich AC).

On joining the Athlete Springboard, Ade said: “I feel there's not loads of organisations out there that are similar to this. I think this one, it was really clear that it was a lot of people who are super passionate about sport.

“I think that can be really hard to find, especially something that addresses that gap between people being pretty high nationally looking to compete more internationally.

“It's just really nice to have a bit more of a team behind a jumper because I think it can be in so many ways such an individual sport. Being part of a team who are there supporting you, knowing that you have that team around you, I think it's really important.”

Bradley said: “It’s quite exciting to be the first sprinter on the programme and to see how Stride can help me personally in terms of achieving my goals.

“In general, I’d like to see how Stride can cover the sprint side of things; I’ve seen the cool things they’ve done with long distance.

“I want to become a role model. Not only to younger athletes but just any other athletes, and if I could be successful on the way, then that's a bonus.”

The 2025 induction saw many successes across the season, with two athletes graduating from the Springboard. British women’s 1,500m champion Sarah Calvert has signed a professional contract with New Balance following an outstanding 2025. Middle-distance runner Jacob Smith has been offered a scholarship at the University at Albany.

Athletes supported by the Athlete Springboard programme are provided benefits such as Stride Athletics racing and training kit, mentorship from professional athletes, event support, psychology, nutrition, physiotherapy and strength and conditioning support.