26th August 2009

DobriskeySET For Gateshead

Lisa Dobriskey has confirmed that she will follow up her silver medal performance by taking part in the Aviva British Grand Prix, being held at Gateshead International Stadium on August 31.

In the women’s 1500m World Championship final, Dobriskey was originally awarded the bronze, in a time of 4:03.75, she later found herself elevated to second place and an agonisingly close one –hundredth of a second from the gold medal won by defending champion, Maryam Yusuf. Dobriskey’s promotion came at the expense of Natalia Rodriguez, who was disqualified for pushing Gelete Burka on the final lap of the race.

It was a superb moment for the reigning Commonwealth champion, having just missed out on the medal places at the Beijing Olympics last year. She now looks forward to appearance at the Aviva British Grand Prix.

“It will mean so much to come back to the UK from Berlin as a medallist, particular after the Olympics last year and just missing out”, said Dobriskey.

“I like competing at Gateshead and last year they let me do a lap of honour there, which was so nice and I really enjoyed that and soaked it up.”

She continued: “The Gateshead fans can expect a really interesting 1500m and a quite tactical affair, which they usually are because of the weather, so I think an exciting technical battle will be something to look forward to.”

Another treat for fans at the Aviva British Grand Prix will be the men’s long jump competition, where Middlesbrough’s Chris Tomlinson will have an immediate chance to tackle newly crowned World Champion Dwight Phillips again. American Phillips stole the show in Berlin, with an astounding leap of 8.54m to clinch his third world title. Tomlinson was consistent, with three out of six jumps over eight metres.

Tomlinson said, “It’s Gateshead next for me now and I’m looking forward to competing there. I have plenty of mates there, and family, and I’m a ‘Boro lad so they’ll be heading up the A19 no doubt!”

Fresh from completing his hat-trick of World titles, Phillips added: “I’m so happy to produce a great result in Berlin. Now I’m heading to Gateshead and I can’t wait to put on another world class show there!"

Tomlinson and Phillips will be joined by the new British record holder Greg Rutherford, who finished fifth in Berlin. The 22-year-old set a new British record of 8.30m in qualifying and was close to that form in the final.

Also in attendance at the Aviva British Grand Prix will be all eight members of Britain’s World Championship medal winning men’s relay teams. The 4 x 100m team, consisting of Simeon Williamson, Tyrone Edgar, Marlon Devonish and Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, picked up World Championship bronze on Saturday, as they recorded a season’s best of 38.02 seconds.

In the 4 x 400m relay final last night, Conrad Williams, Michael Bingham, Rob Tobin and Martyn Rooney brought Britain’s medal total to six on the final day, as they took silver behind the USA team.

Tickets for the Aviva British Grand Prix at Gateshead International Stadium, Gateshead on Monday 31st August are available by phone on 08000 556 056 or online at www.uka.org.uk