Canterbury's Qi-Chi Ukpai of Blackheath and Bromley Harriers AC looks ahead after England Athletics Age Group Indoor Championships success

Multi-talented teenager Qi-Chi Ukpai is looking ahead to the outdoor season after she became an indoor national champion.

The 13-year-old was first introduced to athletics while at Kent College Canterbury but has since moved to Simon Langton Girls’ Grammar School.

Canterbury’s Ukpai primarily competes across high jump, triple jump and long jump, and she enjoyed success at last month’s England Athletics Age Group Indoor Championships in Sheffield as she secured her first-ever national gold in the girls’ under-15s high jump - and was fifth in the long jump on the same day.

She also hopes to earn qualification for the English Schools’ Championships and the outdoor England Athletics Championship.

She said: “That’s, basically, the highlights of my outdoor season - the regionals, English Schools and then the outdoor English Athletics.”

Ukpai has reason to feel confident, too, going into a busy summer period.

She won gold at the indoor championships on Saturday, February 12 with a second-time distance of 1.64m - 3cm clear of her rivals - having claimed three first-place finishes at the Southern Championships in January.

“I think it was a very good experience as a whole,” she reflected.

“We drove up to Sheffield the day before and then we stayed in a hotel.

"It wasn’t a new experience completely because I have been to some national events before, but I’d never been to that stadium before.

“It was a good experience to see everything and I was very happy with a gold medal.”

She trains at Blackheath & Bromley Harriers AC - a club Orpington’s double Olympic bronze medallist Dina Asher-Smith is a long-time member of - on Saturdays, where she works with coach John Herbert. Her other training commitments are split between Tuesdays and