Osian Perrin Smashes Welsh 5K U20 Record In Barrowford

By Owen Morgan

Osian Perrin smashed the Welsh 5K under-20 record on a historic night of racing in Lancashire on Saturday.

The Menai Track and Field athlete clocked a time of 14.02 at the Podium 5K in Barrowford where he set his previous best of 14:30 in August last year.

Welsh Athletics says the performance puts Perrin joint eighth on the UK’s all-time 5K Under-20 list – ahead of fellow countrymen Jake Heyward, who held the previous fastest Welsh best of 14:25 and Andres Jones (14:26).

The Anglesey triathlete, who is still only 18 years old, finished 13th in the men’s A race, which was won by Tom Mortimer, of Stroud AC, in a time of 13:39.

https://twitter.com/WelshAthletics/status/1378454264020881411

Perrin wasn’t the highest Welsh finisher on the night as Jonathan Hopkins claimed a top 10 spot in the A race.

The Swansea Harrier clocked 13:58 as he finished ninth in his first competitive outing since he was eighth in a steeplechase at the Pavlo Nurmi Games in Finland last August.

Finishing one place and two seconds ahead of Perrin was James Hunt, of Cardiff Athletics, who was just outside his personal best of 13:58.

Earlier in the evening, another triathlete – Scotland’s Beth Potter – beat the women’s official world record time of 14:43 when she clocked 14.41.

However, there was some confusion on the night whether Potter’s time would be ratified ahead of official world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech.

A reminder of @jennynesbitt win from last night ⬇️ https://t.co/r033vTGMfV

— Welsh Athletics (@WelshAthletics) April 1, 2021

It was a landmark event all-round as betting giants William Hill set odds on the evening ‘s main men’s race after the organisers had set their own fake pre-race odds for fun on twitter.

Normally only major track and field championships or large road races such as the London Marathon attract official odds. But athletics fans were able to place bets on the outcome of the men’s A race.

*Last Wednesday evening, Hunt’s Cardiff Athletics team mate Jenny Nesbitt produced a brilliant performance to win the Comeback 5,000 at London’s Battersea Park.

Nesbitt dipped under 16 minutes for the first time since August of 2019 as she powered away from the rest of the field to win impressively in a time of 15:46.62.