Army Championships: Military Athletes Return To Competition

British Army athletes have returned to competition at the 2021 Army Championships in Aldershot.

Many of the top sportspeople from the Army Medical Services, Royal Logistics Corps and their competitors were on show.

That included former England star Sergeant Danni Hodgkinson who won the 800m and 1500m races.

She spoke of her recent return from an Achilles injury saying: “Yeah, I'm happy. We've just started.

"I got in some races recently. Not brilliant but they've been getting a little bit better.

"This is my favourite event of the year."

She also discussed a potential international return and stressed that it will take time to get back to that level.

She said: "You've got to accept where you're at and build your goals from there.

"I've learned it doesn't come overnight when you've had so long off, but I'm quite determined to do it and I think I'm quite confident I can.

"Just give it a bit of time."

The RLC men won their first team title after success in the 3,000m steeplechase.

Lieutenant Max Walker believes the virtual races throughout lockdown played a part in their win.

"I think we've got a few good characters in the RLC," he said.

"It's a corps that have really been pushing it over the last year.

"Obviously, a lot of virtual events were going on and throughout that year, it was a good way for people to stay connected.

"I think from that, it blossomed, and now you can see today, I'm doing really well."

Another success story for the RLC was Private Keston James' win in the men's javelin who shook off some rust to get the result.

"For the last year, there wasn't much training at all... nothing really," said Pte James.

"It's just for the last two months that I actually started getting back into it.

"[I'm] coming in rusty. I know it's there but it's just putting it in and getting good results," he added.