Written by Alex Seftel

“I went through this season knowing ‘whatever happens, happens’ and thankfully what’s happened has been incredible,” says Tyri Donovan.

In breaking a 25-year-old record, smashing his personal best and being named NAL Male Track Athlete of the Year, he has had a brilliant 2024.

But it has felt all the more rewarding because of a freak training accident last year, which led him to miss the 2023 season, and put a big decision in his hands.

“My back had slowly started to get a little bit weak. There was a training session where we just jogged over some hurdles and suddenly it felt like someone had wrapped a rope around my waist,” Donovan recalled.

“What we later found out was that I had a prolapsed disc. From there, we started to see the developments of my central nervous system starting to shut down.

“I was having elements of phantom limb, stuff which I couldn’t believe was effecting my livelihood as much as it was at the time, because we were still thinking of it as a little training blip we could get over,” he added.

At the end of the 2023 season, the 26-year-old had to decide whether or not to have surgery, which would likely have meant a further nine months out.

The other option – which the Windsor, Slough, Eton and Hounslow athlete ended up taking – was to forge his own recovery plan.

‘They had more champion mindset’

“Fortunately, seeing what’s happened this year, I’ve been grateful to say I have made the right decision, but it was a very, very tough decision,” he admitted.

“Family and friends, they were very concerned about my livelihood and I think still to this day it’s damaging me in ways which I still need to manage.

“I’m thankful for the support, because not a lot of people had my backing – they did believe surgery was the right decision – but we pulled through and I’m more than grateful for everyone around me.”

Coming into this year, Donovan found himself in a situation whereby in trying to make next step in his career, he didn’t feel he had much to lose.

“I’ve always been in that top layer of podium places, in the under-20s, under-23s, being very grateful to share the track with Alex Knibbs and Alistair Chalmers, as the main rivals over the years.

“They had quite a bit more champion mindset. I was always slightly in the shadow of that.”

Donovan believes the recovery process, whereby he was meticulous over detail with his body and learned more about it, was beneficial in the long run.

‘Windsor had my backing from day one’

Determined to grasp the opportunity of being fit and healthy again, he smashed his personal best at the NAL season opener at Eton in June – stopping the clock at 49.23 seconds – the fastest time ever in British league history.

The previous best of 49.40 had been set by Commonwealth Games gold medallist and two-time Olympian Chris Rawlinson in 1999, while the time was 1.41 seconds faster than what Donovan’s PB had been at the end of the 2023 season.

“It was special. What made it more [special] is that it was at my home club for Windsor – they’ve had my backing since day one,” he said.

“There’s something about club athletics in general which I think we haven’t got enough appreciation from as a community. That kind of performance, kind of showcased what can be done from anyone, really.

“To have a jump of that magnitude at your home club, first league match of the season…I was really happy to be a part of that history.”

Donovan backed up his performance with another NAL match win in Birmingham in August, with a time of 49.28, two weeks after he won the England senior title on the same track.

He credits the league for helping him find his feet as an athlete.

“I think we need to be very grateful to NAL. People don’t get many opportunities when you get to senior to establish themselves domestically.

“Especially for the 400m hurdles at the moment, we’ve got some incredible athletes…a good friend of mine, Efe Okoro…he has run some phenomenal times this year as well.

“I’m glad we’re able to develop the league with performances like that, long may that continue.”

‘Coaches don’t get enough respect’

The record was also one to celebrate for Donovan’s coach, Marina Armstrong, as the pair had been working together to mature his naturally-aggressive running style and prevent him from burning out.

Armstrong is well-placed to guide him, given her international success with the likes of Jessie Knight, Chris McAlister and Jacob Paul, which puts them among the most respected training groups in the country.

“I’m just a product of my environment,” said Donovan, who has been with Armstrong since he was 16.

“They’ve been almost like older siblings to me. I’m an only child. It feels like a proper kind of family when it comes to our training group and I’m so grateful for their support over the years.”

Donovan had been doing shorter sprints and triple jump, when he asked Armstrong if he could do the 400m flat.

“She said ‘look, you’re going to have to go over some hurdles for me because it would be a bit of waste of those long legs’. She has been my my rock in a hard place,” Donovan insisted.

“Coaches probably don’t get enough respect in the whole community of track. They’re always down there every single day, out in the cold, just doing what they got to do, they have [such an] array of knowledge.

“That’s not even from an athlete perspective either – the influence and guidance she’s given me as a person. There’s not going to be many people in your life, who are so dedicated to their craft that they want you to be the best you can be as a person, and as an athlete,” he added.

Many strings to his bow

The next step for Donovan is to try and establish himself as a senior international and next year brings the chance of a World Championships in Tokyo, before 2026 harvests the European Championships and recently-confirmed Commonwealth Games.

He was recently named in the cohort of athletes England Athletics’ Senior Talent Pathway, but there are a few things you might not know about him outside of track and field.

“I originally did an English Language and English Literature degree at Brunel University, and then a class in translation at the University of Surrey – main focuses were on Mandarin and Japanese,” he said.

“I’ve been playing guitar for about a good nine, ten years and wanted to develop my songwriting and go into a more creative industry scene.

“I’ve become a data analyst at a Utilities Company, so my day-to-day is making sure that the data and statistics of the energy provided up and down the country for water, gas, and electric is running well and that we can all have a good winter – it’s a lot of diversity I’ve got with my studies and my profession.”

Donovan started learning guitar at primary school, but later invested time in writing songs and spoken word at university, where he dabbled in performing at open mic nights.

I don’t want to go into a career of it, because it’s so deeply embedded into what I love to do, that if I was to end up making a career out of it, I would almost feel pressured to think ‘am I really enjoying this now am I just doing this work?’

“I like to have I like to use it as an escape,” he added.

Not the first guitar-playing hurdler

Tyri’s passion for guitar is reminiscent of memories shared by the successful Wolverhampton and Bilston team of the 1970s and 1980s, for whom fellow hurdler Pete Kelly provided musical entertainment on the team bus.

“I would take a guitar on the coach and we would sing all the way there and back,” Kelly told the BAL 50th anniversary publication.

It seemed to be a good addition for the Midlands club, who went on to secure eight titles in a row between 1975 and 1982. But has Tyri’s guitar made it to an NAL match or athletics meeting yet?

“It hasn’t, no. That’s brilliant. I’m looking forward to doing that maybe on the warm weather training camp with my group,” said Donovan.

“The music and the writing and the creative side of me has helped balance out the strategy and the pressures of the sport.

“One thing I actually take from guitar and what I like to relate to hurdles, is the essence of getting rhythmical.

“When it comes to getting my stride pattern right and fluidity, the essence that you need to carry yourself around the track is very much like music.”