Tyri Donovan pips Alastair Chalmers to gold at the national championships in Birmingham on Sunday

Tyri Donovan won one of the best races of the 2025 Novuna UK Athletics Championships when he pipped Alastair Chalmers to 400m hurdles gold in 49.18.

The 26-year-old has enjoyed a big breakthrough this year and won the national 400m hurdles race at the London Diamond League last month.

Here in Birmingham he went off at a steady pace into the back straight wind with defending champion Chalmers and Seamus Derbyshire making up the stagger on his inside, whereas Jake Minshull was also going well.

Once his long legs got moving, Donovan enjoyed a superb final bend and it meant he came into the home straight with hardly anything separating himself from Minshull on his outside and Derbyshire and Chalmers on his inside.

Derbyshire began to fade and Minshull’s challenge evaporated when he lost his balance off the final hurdle and crashed to the track. This left Donovan with a small lead from Chalmers and despite the latter’s efforts he couldn’t quite close the gap as he finished two hundredths of a second behind.

Donovan said: “The strategy in my mind was to go off conservatively because I can race with a bit more patience. The guys know I can go off fast, but I’ve learned to hold it back a bit in recent weeks. I knew by the time I got to the top bend, I would be more in the mix. I was hopeful I had the strength to finish, and I am glad I could hold it together.

“Alastair is a seasoned international, so I always know he’ll be finishing strongly, so I didn’t know if I was going to get it or not. It was instinct at the line and, fortunately, I was able to take the win.”

READ MORE: Tyri Donovan interview

Tade Ojora retained his 110m hurdles crown as he clocked 13.34 to beat 2024 winner Daniel Goriola (13.81) as Sam Bennett was third with 13.87.

“I didn’t win the title last year, so to get it back feels amazing,” said Ojora. “To have it another year, I am really happy about that.”

More articles about the Novuna UK Athletics Champs here. 

Full results here.