Shepton Mallet heptathlete earns Team England call-up

By Laura Linham 8th Jul 2026

Local Sport by Laura Linham 1 hour ago

Shepton Mallet heptathlete Ellen Barber has earned her first Team England selection and will compete at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow later this summer. The 28-year-old, who won heptathlon gold at the 2025 UK Athletics Championships, will make her competition debut at the Games in front of a British crowd.

Barber says competing at a home Commonwealth Games is something she has dreamed about since watching the Games in Birmingham three years ago. She was in the crowd at Birmingham 2022, cheering on her training partner Jade O'Dowda, after narrowly missing out on selection herself through injury.

"I don't think you can really put it into words," said Barber. "I'm just incredibly excited to experience home Games and experience that home crowd.

"As a British population, we're so good at supporting our nation, so I just know it's going to be incredible."

Barber said the disappointment of missing out in 2022 made her Team England call-up even more meaningful. She said the chance to compete against the best in front of home support would be "really special".

"Being so close in 2022 and then having that gut-wrenching injury and just missing out was really difficult," the 28-year-old continued. "To come back, make the team and have the opportunity to compete against the best in front of the nation is going to be really special."

The moment she discovered she had secured her place is one she says she will never forget. Barber had just finished dinner on a Monday evening when the Head of Combined Events called with the news.

"He said, 'Congratulations, you've been selected,'" she recalled. "It was just amazing to know that everything I'd put in up until this stage had been worth it.

"I was just really happy."

Her fiancé, former decathlete James Finney, was with her when the call came. Barber then shared the news with the rest of her family, including her brother, who is working on a farm in Argentina.

Finney understands the demands of combined events, having met Barber while the pair were competing outside the UK. Barber said the couple also share a similar farming background.

"He was a former decathlete when he was younger," she said. "We actually met abroad while competing together, and he's also from a similar farming background to me.

"We just hit it off from there, really."

With her first Commonwealth Games now approaching, Barber is clear about her ambitions. She says she wants to perform at her best in Glasgow, but is not afraid to admit she is targeting a medal.

"First of all, I want to get there, do my best and compete at my best," she added. "But at the end of the day, I do want a medal.

"That is my ultimate goal.

"I know that in the heptathlon anything can happen, but if I put together seven good events, hopefully we'll come away with something special."

Away from athletics, Barber works part-time as an estate and property manager for her family's Somerset farming business, A.J. and R.G. Barber Ltd. The family's award-winning cheddar has been produced since 1833, with Barber part of the seventh generation of the business.

Team England says its athletes are "Ready to Win" at the 2026 Commonwealth Games. More information is available from Team England.