Caitlin set for the world stage at the U20 champs in Oregon

U18 DAC 400m specialist runner Caitlin Hadfield has topped off a great 2026 season with a national call-up to the U20 World Championships in Oregon.

The 2026 U20 World Championships, from Wednesday 5 to Sunday 9 August, are at the iconic Hayward Field stadium in Eugene, host of the 2022 World Athletics Championships. Caitlin has gained her Great Britain and Northern Ireland vest for the event as part of the 4×400 relay team, after stellar performances and national call-ups in 4x400m relays and the individual 400m this summer.

Caitlin, who is still only 17, said: “I’m so happy that I’ve been selected to represent GB & NI in the 4x400m relay in Oregon. This season has been absolutely incredible and to be going to the World U20 Championships is a dream come true.

“This wouldn’t be possible without the endless support and time from my coaches, my teammates, family and friends, and I am grateful to British Athletics for this incredible opportunity. I’m so excited to compete at the track capital of the world and to represent GB again.”

Caitlin’s first international vest was for GB Juniors at the Loughborough International in May, when she came fifth in the individual 400m and was part of the 4x400m mixed relay team that also came fifth.

In June she travelled to Germany as part of the GB & NI U20 team at the Mannheim International Gala, where she competed in the women’s 4×400 relay. She led off the team and helped them storm to a stunning race win, in 3:33.83, just five hundredths of a second away from the meeting record set by the GB team in 2024.

Caitlin commented about the Mannheim event: “I was so grateful to have been selected to represent GB in the Mannheim Gala in the women’s 4x400m relay. I had so much fun being leg one for the first time. I’m so proud of the girls along with the rest of the team.”

Caitlin’s form in the 400m has been improving throughout the season. She hit 54 seconds at the Loughborough Open event in April this year, and went sub-54 for the first time at the Stratford Speed GP series in May, setting her PB of 53.75.

She has built on that with solid times of 53.88 at the Novuna UK Championships at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham in June, and 53.86 at the English Schools Championships, also at the Alexander Stadium, in July.

In the English Schools champs she picked up a silver medal in the 400m, showcasing her continuing improvement, after she came fourth in the 300m in 2025 and sixth in the 300m in 2024.

Also in July, a week before her English Schools silver medal, she competed at the England U20 & Senior Track & Field & Combined Events Championships in Bedford, an event which led directly to her selection for the World Championships in Oregon. She commented then that she was “over the moon with this weekend, finishing second in windy conditions and being 0.12 off the gold”.

You can follow the progress of Caitlin and the rest of the U20 GB & NI team in Oregon via the free World Athletics livestream.