Track Transfer . . . Isabelle Boffey Moves From England To Wales

World class middle-distance runner Isabelle Boffey will make her debut for Wales at the prestigious Loughborough International Athletics meeting on Sunday.

Boffey, whose proud Welsh mum hails from Porthcawl, has decided to switch allegiance from the red rose of England to the red vest of Wales.

The 25-year-old has represented Great Britain over 800m at the World Athletics Championships and England at the Youth Commonwealth Games.

Now she is setting her sights on running for Wales at next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Boffey explained she came to her decision due to her mum’s heritage. 

Also, thanks to conversations with Welsh Athletics head of performance Chris Type and hugely talented multi-eventer Abi Pawlett, who has also recently decided to compete for Wales.

“I'm half Welsh. My mum was born and raised in Porthcawl,” said Boffey.

“I grew up in London, so we did English schools, and therefore just naturally competed for England. But I’d been thinking about making the move over for a while. I spoke to Chris about it and it was quite an easy transition.

“I also spoke to one of the girls, Abi Pawlett, who had made the transition last year. I spoke to her about it briefly then. 

“It’s taken me a while to actually make the move across. My mum was super happy, it was something that she'd always wanted to see me do. 

“And obviously you’ve also got the Commonwealth Games coming up next year, so that would be a great opportunity to be racing in the Welsh vest. So I thought, yeah, now is the time.

“I'm super excited and I’ll be so proud to run for Wales at the weekend. Everyone is so lovely and supportive. I obviously know a lot of the athletes already on the team.” 

Boffey will bring a wealth of experience and talent to the Welsh set up.

The 25-year-old enjoyed a stellar early career winning all three continental age group 800m titles – at the European under-18, under-20 and under-23 championships.

As a senior, she has represented Great Britain at the European Athletics Championships and the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.

Boffey had her sights set on competing at the 2024 Olympics until a grade two hamstring injury meant she missed the whole of last summer, putting paid to her hopes of competing in Paris.

The 2023 British indoor champion has already been impressed by the support Welsh athletes receive from the governing body in helping them achieve their potential. 

“The performance support is great. Obviously, I've only just made the switch, so it's something that I’m just getting used to,” says Boffey, who has previously competed for England at the Loughborough International.

“But from what I've heard from Abi, and obviously Melissa Courtney-Bryant, who's been part of the Welsh set-up for a long time now, that support is amazing. So it was a very easy switch for me to make.”

Having made her name as an 800m runner, Boffey explained why she will be making her Welsh debut over the one lap distance on Sunday.

“We were aware that the season is a lot later this year. The British national championships isn’t until the first weekend of August, so it just made sense to open with eights a little bit later.
 
“I had the whole summer off last year, so it was nice to get a good indoor season done and have a lot of time to do a lot more base training across April,” said Boffey, who competed at the European Indoor Championships in March. 

Boffey is happy with where her form is having finished third over 400m at the Irish Milers Club meeting in Belfast last weekend.

“I know I can run a lot faster than I did in the indoor season, but you know, having had all of last summer off, it is taking a while to get that race fitness back up to speed. 

“I'm super happy with where I'm at now, and I'm excited to race this weekend, and then my first 800 of the season the following weekend in Zagreb.”

Looking further ahead, Boffey is excited at what the next couple of years could hold for her in the Great Britain and Wales vests.

Having competed at one World Championships, Boffey, who has an 800m personal best of 1:59.30, is keen to repeat the experience in Tokyo this September.

“I'd love to get a new PB this season,” she said. “Last year was a time full of injury for me, so I'd love to be back out there running sub twos and, yeah, maybe get that qualifying time for World Champs.

“And next year is such a great year. We've got the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and then the European Champs in Birmingham which is my home city. It’s going to be great. The times are tough, but I think I can definitely do it.”

Boffey is joined in Sunday’s team by Pawlett and another relatively recent convert to the Welsh camp, javelin thrower Freya Jones, whose father was born in London to Welsh-speaking parents.

Sunday will be the season opener for Jones, who claimed a silver medal at last summer’s UK Athletics Championships in Manchester.

Pawlett has been in outstanding form so far this year having won the 60m hurdles title at the UK Indoor Athletics Championships and more recently the BUCS 100m hurdles title in a championship best time.

The Welsh women’s team is captained by double British shot-put champion and Winter Olympic bobsleigh hopeful Adele Nicholl (Birchfield Harriers).

There is further experience in the shape of World Para Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Olivia Breen (City of Portsmouth) who will compete in the para long jump.

Amongst the plethora of emerging talent selected is sprinter Aliyah Afolabi (Cardiff Archers), who is the fastest under-17 woman over 100m and 200m in the UK so far this year.

Afolabi will contest the individual 200m but is also part of a development 4x100 squad alongside fellow Welsh Athletics National Development Programme sprinters Jessica Mantle (Cardiff Athletics), Menna Grant (Cardiff Archers) and Ava Placide (Cardiff Athletics).

On the men’s side, the Welsh team boasts an equally strong mix of established internationals and rising talent.

The captain is T11 para sprinter James Ledger (Swansea Harriers), who represented Wales at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on Australia’s Gold Coast.

Wales has also named a strong mixed 4x400, which features Olympian Joe Brier (Swansea Harriers), alongside his sister and Wales’ fastest woman, Hannah Brier (Swansea Harriers). 

The Loughborough International, which is held at the Paula Radcliffe Stadium on the town’s university campus, is recognised as the curtain raiser to the outdoor season.

The Welsh athletes will be competing against teams representing England, Scotland, GB&NI Under-20s, the National Athletics League and Loughborough University.

You can see the full Welsh team on the Welsh Athletics website.