Written by Alex Seftel

Paris 2024 Olympian Alex Haydock-Wilson has established himself as a recognisable member of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland athletics team.

The 24-year-old won European 4x400m gold and individual bronze in Munich in 2022.

But, take a closer look at National Athletics League (NAL) start lists in recent times and you will often see him competing for his club Windsor, Slough, Eton and Hounslow (WSEH).

As well as that, you will notice that he isn’t the only Haydock-Wilson involved in blue and yellow.

Younger brother Jamie has competed in the long jump, triple jump and 400m in the NAL this year, while fellow sibling Max previously featured in the 100m in 2021 and 2022.

The athletic trio clearly have something in common.

“Our family is just so big on pursuing what is in your heart and doing it well,” says Alex, who is part of the relay pool for the 4x400m relays in Paris.

He opted to focus on speed work in the 100m and 200m at the most recent NAL Premiership match in Woodford.

“Max has been doing the sport more recreationally, but his passion…he’s really throwing himself into film-making and music videos…he’s great at that,” Alex says.

Jamie’s first full season in athletics was last year.

“He started quite late,” explains Alex. “He is very talented. I don’t want to put too much [pressure on him] but I think from what I’ve seen and what I know of him and his mindset, that’s my brother.

“I think he’s going to make some big moves quite quickly.

“If he still loves the sport as much as he does now, in the next few years, and then we’ll see that trajectory, so I’m really excited to see that.”

Interviewing him from his current holding camp base near Saint-Germain-en-Laye, I put to Alex that within one family, you can effectively see a microcosm of the sport, with three different athletes on different journeys, currently committing at different levels.

“Exactly,” he agrees. “Jamie’s just finished his A Levels, but he’s been training throughout.

“But we’re not like ‘Alex was an athlete, so you’ve got to now go and become an athlete’. If you love it, give it your all. If something else takes your interest, then give that your all. There’s no pressure.”

Alex loves the opportunity to compete for his club, but also relishes the chance to test himself in another event.

He has shown this while studying for his PhD in photovoltaic technology, by racing over shorter sprint distances for Loughborough at the British Universities’ Championships (BUCS).

Earlier this month, he clocked a windy 10.74 100m and a 21.15 200m in Woodford for WSEH.

And how many of the current Olympic crop would you say has turned up at Eltham, Bromley and Kettering over the past few seasons?

“The thrill of competition comes from the challenge and sometimes that unfamiliarity,” Alex insists.

“As I did those ones and twos, I did a couple back-to-back and then I was looking a lot more myself over the 400.”

Having admitted that this year’s European Championships in Rome left a “bad taste”, the opportunity to compete in the NAL was a chance to remind himself of his beginnings and where his Olympic dream started.

There is a ‘bigger picture’ element to all this, too.

“The reconnecting with the club, the being seen, the being visible to grassroots athletes, people who are just figuring themselves out, I think it’s so important.

“People can see your process up close,” he adds.

“Even if you run into disappointment, like I had a really bad really on that day, I think it’s important for athletes to see that, you know, I’m not always ‘Mr Big Medallist’, ‘Mr Big Shot’.

“I can also have bad days and I can have great days and they should also take heart when they have their bad days.

Alex isn’t the only NAL athlete who aspired to be in Paris, of course. Molly Caudery had a smooth passage to France as the world pole vault leader and UK champion, but she still found time to eclipse the all-time league record with a 4.50m clearance for reigning champions Thames Valley Harriers.

The likes of Amelia Campbell, Jade Lally and Jake Norris didn’t get the Olympic opportunities they felt the deserved given their positions in the world rankings.

But Alex perhaps stands out in terms of his family connection.

“Yeah, my brother, I did want to compete with him,” he says. “I did want that experience of being on the bus with him.

“Like all of my brothers, we get on so well. So it’s just a fun day out for us to be honest.”