Sport, Wimborne | Posted on April 23rd, 2026 | return to news

Wimborne athlete breaks UK javelin record

Mila Desborough, 13, became the UK U15 girls’ javelin all-time record holder at the Winchester Open for Wimborne AC.

Wimborne athlete Mila Desborough broke her own British age-13 record at the Winchester Open on 18 April, becoming the UK U15 girls’ javelin all-time record holder with 48.91m.

Her father Mark said: “Still only 13 years old, Mila’s 48.91m at the Winchester Open for Wimborne AC was far more than just a personal best. It made her the UK U15 girls’ all-time javelin record holder and also extended the British age-13 best in the girls’ 500g javelin. What makes the achievement even more striking is that this has not come from one isolated throw. Mila has already thrown over 46 metres 10 times, showing the kind of consistency that suggests this is a young athlete developing at a very high level.

“Behind the mark is a huge amount of work, commitment and support. Mila is a dedicated athlete who loves the event and is always looking to improve, and she has benefitted greatly from the guidance of her current coaches Bronwin Carter, Lee Doran and Lorraine Winton. Their support, along with Mila’s own determination and enjoyment of the sport, has helped create a very exciting start to the season. Breaking the all-time record at 13 is already a remarkable achievement, but it also feels like there is still much more to come.”

This surpassed Mila’s previous performance on Sunday 12 April, when she hit 47.95m at the Wessex Young Athletes League in Oxford. All five throws were over 46 metres. Mila is building on foundations laid with her English Schools and UK titles last year and recently surprised former Olympic athletes Steve Backley and Goldie Sayers, who thought that she was at least an 18-year-old when she has yet to reach the age of 14.

At Oxford, the well-drilled under-12s squad won the girls’ event, and a second-placed boys’ team meant an overall win for Wimborne. Jasmine Foster led the charge, winning the girls’ event outright, with Adriana Travers, Savanna Hastings and Iola Poretta scoring heavily in 1st, 4th, 6th and 18th places out of a total of 45 athletes. Toby Smith (3rd), Henri Elliott-Smith (6th), Ben Faulkner (9th) and Angus Craig (17th) did the business for the boys out of a total of 54 athletes.

Total points: 1st Wimborne 1706, 2nd Reading 1617, 3rd Southampton 1554, 4th Oxford 1494, 5th Fleet and Crookham 1413, 6th Camberley 1344 and 7th Waverley 1131.

In the main match, it seemed to be mainly the ladies who scored the points, and the squad was sadly missing some of their strongest male performers, and the under-18 age group was very underrepresented. Nevertheless, there were class performances in the under-14 girls, with Lani Moore showing the skills which gave her a winning 11.86 in the hurdles and 13.65 in the 100 metres. Lila Richards won the B string 100 in 14.24 and won the long jump outright with 4.67m. Eliza Blakeway won the high jump in a new personal best of 1.39m and was second in the 800 metres in 2:43.67, while Imogen Stanning won the B string in 2:48.41. Maisie Robbins is showing real promise in the throws, with a winning 8.60m shot putt and a second-placed javelin of 25.95m. Maddie Buchan backed up well, winning the B string javelin with 24.87m and the B string discus with 14.34m, where Tilly Pretty scored heavily with a second-placed discus of 22.20m and a winning B shot of 7.72m.

Ava Elliott-Smith has maintained her form of last year, winning the 100 metres in 12.77 and the 200 in 26.77. Kayla Robbins is slowly recovering from injury to win the high jump with 1.45m and won the B string long jump. Zara Cobb was second in the hurdles in 14.80. Harley Stanley won the under-16 boys’ 100 in 11.98 and was second in the 200 in 24.13. Elliott Trickey set a new personal best, winning the long jump with 5.88m and winning the B string 100 in 12.37. Thomas Froud won the javelin with an impressive 48.38m and was first in the B string 200 metres in 25.20.

Scores: 1 Reading 428; 2 Camberley 365; 3 Oxford 313; 4 Wimborne 266; 5 Southampton 255; 6 Waverley 184; 7 Fleet and Crookham 151.