A teenager found herself among illustrious company as she made her debut for Great Britain.

Canterbury’s Qi’-Chi Ukpai was involved in the triple jump at this month’s Loughborough International competition.

Others alongside Ukpai at the event included Katarina Johnson-Thompson, in her first outdoor competition since winning heptathlon silver at the Paris Olympic Games last year, and Commonwealth Games silver medallist Jazmin Sawyers as she made her injury comeback.

But it was a Jamaican international and three-time World Indoor medallist who Ukpai was able to see from really close-quarters.

She explained: “In my competition, there was Kimberly Williams. She competes for Jamaica.

“I had a really good chat with her and she was really helpful.

“She said ‘You should come and train in my group’. I said ‘I’m not quite at that level but, maybe, I can come back to you!’. That’s the end goal in terms of where I want to get to.

“I also got to see Jazmin Sawyers compete in the long jump. That was really good, as well.

“It was her first competition back after 18 months out.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the calibre of athletes she was competing against, 17-year-old Ukpai took a lot from the experience.

“The whole day was just an amazing experience,” she said. “I think the first person that I saw was KJT! It was a great competition.

“I think there were three Olympians there. I learnt a lot.

“It was a great learning experience.”

And even having reached this kind of stage at this point in her fledgling career is something that Ukpai should be proud of as she did battle in a GB vest for the first time.

She said: “My coaches and my parents kind of made sure that it was a celebration.

“Especially my dad, he was saying ‘This competition is a bit of a celebration of everything you have achieved’.

“But at the same time, I knew what I needed to focus on so there was a good balance.

“I think it’s important to recognise and celebrate your achievements in the moment.

“It was really great to be in a GB vest. But also, I am thinking ‘How can I improve and what can I do, moving forwards?’.

“It’s about reflecting but, also, thinking about moving forwards, as well.”

While Blackheath & Bromley Harriers’ Ukpai had to make do with seventh in the triple jump with a distance of 12.17m, Williams, 36, finished top in 13.32m.

Ukpai said: “It was pretty solid.

"I was not PB-ing with where I am in my training cycle. You cannot PB in every single competition.

“Even though I didn’t come away with a PB or anything, I still felt it was an experience that will really help me.”

It’s a busy time for the Simon Langton Grammar School for Girls pupil.

“I’m in my first year of sixth form,” she noted. “I’ve got my mocks in a couple of weeks’ time, those are quite important.

"They will be used by UCAS.

“I think it’s balancing out well because I don’t want big competitions around my exams. Now, it’s more about the student part of being a student athlete.

“I’ve just been selected as head girl at Langton. There’s no immediate commitments in terms of that because they don’t want me trying to think about too many things at once.

“But I’m really excited to take on that role.”

Ukpai is also one of six athletes who are Youth Talent Programme Ambassadors for sportswear brand Kukri Sports.

She said: “That’s been really nice.

“Away from sports, it’s about how you communicate with others and treat others. There’s five other ambassadors.

“We had to kind of show a bit of our personalities and, from there, I got picked.”

Among her main targets for the 2025 outdoor summer season are the Welsh Senior Championships in June and the English Schools’ Athletics Championships.

“The big one will be the Welsh Championships,” Ukpai said. “Obviously, I’m not Welsh, but they use it as an [under-23s European] qualifier.

“From there, I’ve got the English Schools. I’ll be looking to PB in those.”