Atheltics Weekly

RESULTS
TRACK & FIELD
GALE-FORCE VICTORY
DOMINANT WINNERS AND RISING STARS IMPRESS AT BEDFORD STADIUM
JULY 29-30
CAU INTER-COUNTIES
CHAMPIONSHIPS (Inc
ENGLAND ATHLETICS SENIOR
CHAMPIONSHIPS), Bedford
Report: Cherisse Walley
Pictures: Mark Shearman
THERE were plenty of rising stars
competing at the weekend, off the back
of international championships earlier in
the month.
The most notable individual effort
came in the high jump from Tom Gale,
who became the 12th Briton and second
UK junior to clear 2.30m. It came a week
too late, though, to gain selection for the
IAAF World Championships in London.
Off the back of a European under-20
bronze in Grosseto, where he jumped a
2.28m PB, the 18-year-old took to the
stage in Bedford and stole the show with
a tremendous leap.
“It’s been a pretty good year so far,”
he said. “I started the season a bit rocky
with a 2.07m and a 2.08m, but I jumped
2.28m at the Euros last week. It feels
incredible but also a little frustrating that
I’ve got the world qualifying standard
too late.”
Gale was one of 10 athletes in the
world who had jumped 2.28m and could
have expected the IAAF to add them
to the World Championships under the
quota system, but they have decided to
have just 29 in the final rather than the
recommended 32.
The first day of the championships
got off to a great start on Saturday. With
the opportunity to secure a place on the
Manchester International team in August
and places on Commonwealth teams
still up for grabs, many athletes went the
extra mile. Ojie Edoburun continued his
golden streak from the European
under-23s in Bydgoszcz and looked
comfortable through the rounds before
winning the final in a modest 10.26
ahead of Andrew Robertson’s 10.35 and
Reuben Arthur’s 10.41.
Diani Walker was also victorious in
the women’s short sprint, improving her
lifetime best to 11.45 in the final. She
continued her medal haul on day two with
a bronze in the 200m and another PB.
Youngster Kare Adenegan made
her mark on the championships by
dominating the 100m, 400m and 800m
wheelchair events, after finishing second
in the 100m behind team-mate Hannah
Cockroft at the World Para Athletics
Championships the previous week.
The 16-year-old from Coventry said:
“I thought my time today was a bit quicker
than it was (18.32) but I’ve just come
back from the Worlds in London. It was an
amazing experience, especially in front of
a home crowd.”
Kimbely Baptiste of Crawley finished
just ahead of Beth Dobbin to take the
200m title in 23.54 and Antonio Infantino
narrowly retained his title with 21.14.
Edmond Amaning also had an eventful
day, finishing third with 21.26 and also
picking up a bronze in the 400m with a
PB of 46.49, despite already doing two
rounds of the 200m.
The speed at which Ben Snaith
rocketed out of the blocks, anyone would
have thought it were a 200m final.
However, in the last few metres, Koumi
Tom Gale: 2.30m to go
second all-time as UK junior
6 6 A T H L E T I C S W E E K L Y
Sadam glided past his fading competitors
to take the 400m win in 46.14 for a
lifetime best.
The women’s event was equally
dramatic and was a true battle between
the experienced Margaret Adeoye and
rising star Maya Bruney, who were
shoulder to shoulder down the home
straight, both reaching for the line. At
first it appeared that European under-20
200m gold medallist Bruney had taken
the gold, but a photo finish separated the
two by 0.04 and Adeoye came out on
top this time.
The 400m hurdles saw James
Forman fly down the home straight and
hold off Matthew Sumner in second to
win with 50.72, just shy of his lifetime
best, set back in 2011.
Kirsten McAslan produced possibly
one of the biggest performances of the
weekend as she tried her hand at a new
event. With her 400m flat speed of 52.13,
the Scottish Commonwealth athlete and
former British indoor champion flew out
of the blocks and attacked the first 200m
extremely hard, clearing every hurdle
ahead of her competitors and took the
win ahead of Lina Nielsen in a lifetime
best of 57.31.
The 1500m bronze medallist at
the under-23 championships in June,
James McMurray, snapped up the gold
in the men’s 800m final in 1:50.41, just
a fraction ahead of Andrew Smith who
ran 1:50.58.
Hannah England was back to her
winning ways and, after a gold on day
one in the 800m with 2:06.68, the 2011
world silver medallist continued her streak
with a strong finish in the 1500m final in
a time of 4:17.84. It was a packed field
including plenty of juniors such as ESAA
champions Beth Barlow and European
under-20 800m champion Khahisa
Mhlanga, although it was the experienced
Jacqueline Fairchild who gave the winner
a good battle down the home straight.
In the 3000m race walk, 17-year-old
Chris Snook was the youngest champion
of the day as he claimed an impressive
win of 12:42.73 ahead of another
promising youngster, Tom Partington.
British champion Iona Lake stole
the show in the women’s 3000m
steeplechase, dominating from the gun
and winning in 9:50.61, a lifetime best by
over six seconds.
In the men’s event, the eventual
outcome was left to a 200m sprint where
Douglas Musson showed great flat speed
to take the title in 8:43.34.
The women’s high jump final heated
up when both Nikki Mason and Emma
Nuttall cleared 1.86m, achieving a
Scottish Commonwealth Games qualifying
height, although it was Nuttall who won
on count-back.
Callum Brown looked in superb form
to win a very fine men’s hammer final
in a lifetime best of 69.13m. Also in
the throws, a guest New Zealander, no
stranger to the big stage, Tomas Walsh,
threw an almighty 22.06m, smashing the
championship record in the process.
British champion Laura Whittingham
led from the get go in the women’s javelin
final, throwing 54.88m, four metres clear
of her competitors.
Angela Barrett, who placed fourth
at the championships last year, jumped
just shy of her PB with 13.19m to take
the women’s triple jump title. It was also
good to see former British junior and
ESAA record-holder Athollah Rose on the
podium with a bronze and 12.48m, after
a four-year battle with injury.
Olympian and no stranger to these
championships, Nathan Douglas, took
the men’s triple jump title in style with
16.40m.
In the men’s discus, the silver
medallist last year at the championships,
Alan Toward threw 57.59m, well clear of
George Armstrong in second.
Men: 100 (-0.1): 1 O Edoburun (SB)
10.26; 2 A Robertson (Sale) 10.35; 3 R
Hannah England: 800m and 1500m double
Arthur (E&H) 10.41; 4 J Otugade (SB)
10.43; 5 C Stone (B&W) 10.52; 6 C
Lawson (SB) 10.55; 7 T Williams (B&V)
10.63; 8 K Showler-Davis (BMH) 10.65.
SF1 (0.7): 1 O Edoburun (SB) 10.22; 2 R
Arthur (E&H) 10.36; 3 J Williams (Liv H)
10.56; 4 S Landsborough (Wirr) 10.71; 5
J Griffiths (Card) 10.72; 6 O Grant
(Harrow) 10.73; 7 J Lawrence (Bir) 10.75;
8 D Obeng (QM&WC) 10.78. SF2 (0.8): 1
C Lawson (SB) 10.37; 2 C Stone (B&W)
10.43; 3 T Etienne (HW) 10.51; 4 D
Hammond (Card) 10.57; 5 B Shields
(Shef/Dearn) 10.69; 6 T Olubi (B&B)
10.81. SF3 (0.5): 1 A Robertson (Sale)
10.34; 2 J Otugade (SB) 10.38; 3 K
Showler-Davis (BMH) 10.48; 4 T Williams
(B&V) 10.51; 5 O Barton-Ellington (E&H)
10.64; 6 G Cackett (Belg) 10.68. Ht1
(1.0): 1 A Robertson (Sale) 10.40; 2 K
Showler-Davis (BMH) 10.55; 3 T Olubi
(B&B) 10.75; 4 L Dorrell (AFD) 10.79; 5 K
Oludoyi (Harrow, U20) 10.79; 6 R
Frederick (SB) 10.85. Ht2 (1.9): 1 R
Arthur (E&H) 10.54; 2 J Griffiths (Card)
10.64; 3 D Obeng (QM&WC) 10.69; 4 D
Beadsley (Swan) 10.76; 5 J Cann (Craw)
10.81; 6 D Greenaway (Roth, U20) 10.84;
7 A Cross (C&C, U17) 11.06. Ht3 (1.6): 1
O Edoburun (SB) 10.31; 2 C Stone (B&W)
10.41; 3 S Gordon (Card) 10.53; 4 G
Cackett (Belg) 10.64; 5 D Oderinde (Mil
K) 10.81; 6 C Starr (Soton) 10.87. Ht4
(0.5): 1 O Grant (Harrow) 10.72; 2 J
Brown (Card) 10.75; 3 S Thomas-
Campbell (B&B) 10.85; 4 E Davis (Herts P,
U20) 10.89; 5 J Allaway (Guern) 10.98.
Ht5 (0.7): 1 J Otugade (SB) 10.42; 2 J
Williams (Liv H) 10.57; 3 O Barton-
Ellington (E&H) 10.62; 4 D Hammond
(Card) 10.65; 5 S Ige (Belg) 10.79; 6 R
Ewer (R&N) 10.93. Ht6 (3.2): 1 C Lawson
(SB) 10.42; 2 T Etienne (HW) 10.56; 3 B
Shields (Shef/Dearn) 10.63; 4 S Aaron
(Bir) 10.82; 5 J Fairclough (Liv H) 10.90.
Ht7 (1.7): 1 A Thomas (Brack) 10.33; 2 T
Williams (B&V) 10.53; 3 S Landsborough
(Wirr) 10.64; 4 J Lawrence (Bir) 10.69; 5
A Da Silva (Card) 10.69; 6 J Williams
(Harrow) 10.71. 200 (0.3): 1 A Infantino
(King’s College London AC & X-Country
Club) 21.14; 2 C Stone (B&W) 21.14; 3 E
Amaning (TVH) 21.26; 4 E Powell (Leic C)
21.35; 5 J Gladman (Warr) 21.38; 6 J
Williams (Liv H) 21.42; 7 D Putnam (B&B)
21.73. SF1 (1.8): 1 E Amaning (TVH)
20.95; 2 E Powell (Leic C) 21.14; 3 J
Williams (Liv H) 21.16; 4 D Putnam (B&B)
21.23; 5 C Dobson (Col H, U20) 21.45; 6
C Hilliard (Hale, U20) 22.04. SF2 (1.7): 1
A Infantino (King’s College London AC &
X-Country Club) 20.90; 2 J Gladman
(Warr) 21.37; 3 T Ramdhan (Bexley)
21.49; 4 J Williams (Harrow) 21.66; 5 O
Abiodun (WG&EL) 21.77. SF3 (0.6): 1 C
Stone (B&W) 21.24; 2 S Miller (Prest)
21.28; 3 S Landsborough (Wirr) 21.58; 4
L Thompson (Shef/Dearn) 21.64; 5 T
Williams (B&V) 21.83; 6 K Howitt (RSC)
21.99. Ht1 (3.3): 1 E Amaning (TVH)
21.05; 2 J Williams (Harrow) 21.47; 3 J
Williams (Liv H) 21.47; 4 C Starr (Soton)
21.98; 5 F Afrifa (Craw) 21.99; 6 M
Warner (NEB) 22.00. Ht2 (2.3): 1 S Miller
(Prest) 21.20; 2 S Landsborough (Wirr)
21.48; 3 C Dobson (Col H, U20) 21.51; 4
L Thompson (Shef/Dearn) 21.57; 6 L
Smith (SB, U20) 22.40. Ht3 (-0.1): 1 A
Infantino (King’s College London AC &
X-Country Club) 21.10; 2 D Putnam (B&B)