GREAT Britain has produced some of the world’s top multi-event athletes down the years, from Dame Mary Peters and Daley Thompson to Denise Lewis and Jessica Ennis-Hill.

The quartet have Olympic, world, European and Commonwealth titles coming out of their ears, as well as numerous other sporting accolades to boot.

One youngster hoping to follow in their footsteps is 16-year-old Kellen Jones, a member of Newport Harriers Athletic Club.

The teenager completed his first full decathlon earlier this year, while he is ranked number one in Wales in three multi-event disciplines at under-17 level.

Over the last couple of seasons he has picked up a host of honours on the track and in the field, both indoors and out.

Harriers’ secretary Ken Goodger coached Jones when the latter joined the club in 2013 after winning javelin gold at the Welsh Schools Plate Final in Brecon.

Goodger recognised that his pupil had potential in other events and it wasn’t long before Jones started branching out.

After being persuaded to have a go at the long jump, Jones, under the watchful eye of Goodger’s wife Hilary, made great strides – he would go on to break Christian Malcolm’s under-15 club record.

“Because he showed ability at a range of events we also started talking to him about trying a pentathlon,” said Goodger.

“Initially, Kellen rejected this because he did not like the idea of sprint hurdles or 800m, which was the final event of the pentathlon. Belatedly he decided to do the pentathlon and a few sessions over hurdles followed.

“Despite there not being sufficient time to get the best out of himself as a hurdler, Kellen took third place in the Welsh under-15 pentathlon championships that year and thus embarked on a career as a multi-event athlete.”

In 2015 he switched coaches and linked up with Nigel Lewis, who had a group of talented multi-event competitors under his wing.

The move saw Jones increase his personal bests in the long jump and high jump to 6.58m and 1.77m respectively.

After injuries saw him finish a disappointing fourth in the combined events championships in Swansea, Jones claimed third place in the Welsh indoor multi-event championships with a lifetime best of 3,058 points, which was also a new club record.

Fast forward to 2016 and the youngster is impressing everyone who sees him compete.

Not only did he smash the club record for the octathlon that had stood since 1993 and establish an under-17 club record for the heptathlon before the season was a month old, Jones scored a creditable 5,370 points in his maiden decathlon just last month.

And before June was out he demolished the field to win the Welsh and Welsh Schools pentathlon championships in Swansea.

“Kellen is undoubtedly an outstanding athlete and a fantastic prospect for the future,” added Goodger.