Heptathlete was inspired by Jessica Ennis-Hill, as well as current training partner Katharina Johnson-Thompson, writes Stuart Weir.
Remember Super Saturday at the 2012 London Olympics when three British athletes, Jess Ennis, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah, won gold medals in just 45 minutes? A 12-year-old girl in Oxford couldn’t take her eyes off the TV screen. Fast forward 12 years and that Kidlington girl was at the Olympic Stadium in Paris, but this time she was competing. He describes himself as “part of the legacy of 2012”.
Jade O’Dowda was so taken by athletics that she asked her parents if she could try. He started going to Oxford City two evenings a week and found it fun. He recalls being “part of a group of kids who do about four events every night, with a bit of a run at the end to tire you out”.
He remembers the Oxford City chairman telling his parents they were worried about him because no matter how much they asked him to do, they never seemed to tire him.
Oxford City was really important to his development, as was meeting Marcia Marriott, who talked to him about the heptathlon. And with Ennis as his inspiration, it seemed a natural progression to take up the heptathlon.
O’Dowda adds that since the junior program involved some height and long jump and running, which she enjoyed, the heptathlon was an obvious choice.
Her first recorded events were in 2012 in the 800m and long jump. In 2013, he tried and won the pentathlon. In 2017, he participated in the World Under-20 Championship.
After school he gained a degree in geography and an MA in international relations at Sheffield, linking up with current coach John Lane. After Uni, he became a professional athlete, as he says. “I think 12-year-old me would never have thought that he would be able to make money from it.”
From then on it was steady progress.
2022: Commonwealth Games bronze, European Championships 7th
2024: Olympic Games 10th, European Championship 7thth
2025: European indoor spaces 4thWorld Champions 8:00th
12 years after being inspired by the London Olympics, he appeared at the Paris Olympics. “It was incredible, it was quite intimidating going out in the hurdles (his first event),” he said. “I hadn’t gone to the stadium beforehand and I remember standing in the tunnel before my hurdles and then I came out and I think my mouth just dropped.
“I felt like I was at the bottom of this cauldron, with lots of people looking at me. And yes, I just remember looking around and wondering how did little Jade get here.”
Finish by 10:00th The Olympic Games left him with mixed feelings. an amazing experience, but knowing that if he hadn’t been injured most of the year, he could have done better.
He describes 2025 as a “really good year”, but again there is a hint of disappointment. Fourth in the European indoor pentathlon – so close to a medal, but not quite.
The final is the 800m and he just needed to be a bit faster for a medal. Injuries over the winter forced him out of training for the 800m, “and it showed,” he says, “which was disappointing because I know I can do more and I’m a little sad I couldn’t show it.” It was like dangling a carrot up front that I just let go. As disappointed as I was, I was able to take a lot.”
He feels “a lot lucky” to have KJT as a teammate, explaining; “It’s really cool. I guess selfishly, I’ve had a bit of a front row seat for the past two years. It’s amazing every year the way he’s been able to come, show up and get a medal, especially in the heptathlon.
“Having done it myself and knowing how hard it is, I think it’s a little bit underrated how he shows up every year, every year, and brings us a medal. She is definitely such an inspiration. When we compete, I also have a lot of fun with him, between rounds, sometimes we laugh and joke between events.
“So it’s nice to see how he can be so calm and funny, but still be such a fierce competitor. And I think I’m not saying at all that he’s almost 7,000 points and he’s a two-time world champion multi-world medalist, but I’m a little bit away from that right now, but I think that’s what it feels like to me. maybe, so for selfish reasons it’s the biggest thing, but it’s also been really fun.”
O’Dowda is already in winter training and feeling confident for 2026, a big year for GB athletes with the World Indoors in Poland in March, the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the European Championships in Birmingham.
The 2025 season is the first year in several years that he has finished the season injury-free, and thus may as well start winter training healthy.
