After my column about Henry Jonas last week and his recent successes, which included a 1:47.44 new 800m PB and a call-up to run for GB, I have had it said to me by some people that they would like to see more track and field mentioned within these weekly columns.

At the same time, I also received a message from Clive Poyner (chair of Athletics Norfolk) telling me that City of Norwich AC decathlete, Conrad Winter, broke the club decathlon record last weekend in Nantes, France for U20, scoring 7,032 accumulated points. This has also put him into the all-time top 30 in the UK.

At this point in my column, I will also be honest and say that whilst I like to follow what is going on in the world of track and field, since the days of Daley Thompson, who not only reigned supreme during the 1980s as well as having a personality to go with it, I haven’t really followed the decathlon and other field and multi events.

I remember Dean Macey performing very well a few years later and of course the likes of Denise Lewis, Kelly Sotherton and Jessica Ennis in the heptathlon, but other than that, I am ashamed to say that is about it.

However, when you look at their individual performances at each discipline, they are/were all very talented and well above average at each event.

For instance, Daley Thompson always said his worst event was the last one in the decathlon which of course is the 1,500 metres. He looked so slow too when what appeared to be him plodding round the track whilst also keeping his main rivals in sight yet can still boast a PB of 4:20.3.

When checking out Conrad’s own individual performances on the Power of 10, he, as you would expect, also has some impressive PBs over each discipline.

This of course required further dialogue with Clive.

“Many congratulations go out to Conrad for a superb decathlon performance in Nantes last weekend when scoring 7,032 points which not only broke the county record, but puts him into the top 30 all time in the UK,” he said.

Clive also told me that he still has to wait to see if the total will be enough for the World U20s qualification standard for Lima, in Peru, but all those around him are keeping their fingers firmly crossed.

Going back to the quality of individual performances, Conrad’s event performances in Nantes were as follows – 100 metres 11.44 secs, long Jump 6.86 metres, shot putt 13.91 metres, high Jump 1.87 metres, 400 metres 52.06 secs, 110 metres hurdles 15.82 secs, discus 37.32 metres, pole vault 4.40 metres, Javelin 51.37 metres and the 1,500 metres 4 mins 44.65 secs.

As local fitness expert Chas Allen once said to me: “The decathlon is an event which is designed for the all-round ultimate athlete.”

Never has a truer word been spoken!

I must also mention just how grateful I know Conrad is for all the support and coaching he received from Denis Costello, who is one of Norfolk’s best all time performers when it comes to track and field.

Two other young Norfolk athletes who also rightly deserve a mention this week are Tyler Bilyard and Michael Clark who I wrote about a few weeks ago (EDP March 22).

Firstly, Tyler, who has a long list of impressive PBs over varying distances, produced another fantastic performance on the back of his sub four-minute mile (3:59.33) earlier this year, when competing over 1,500 metres in Brussels, Belgium last Sunday, recording a time of 3:40.76.

Then on Wednesday night of this week at Watford, Michael recorded a time of 8:23.98 for 3,000 metres, which now ranks him number one in the UK for the under 17s. Once again, tribute also has to be paid to the coaching behind the athlete in Jane Clark who has not only guided Michael, but also has a group of other athletes who I am sure will all go on to produce some super performances during the next few months.

I think it is fair to say that the future looks bright for Norfolk athletics and as Tim Ash said in my column last week “Watch this space!”