12 July 2013

Five more British athletes advanced beyond their heats in the morning session of day two at the European Under 23 Championships in Tampere, Finland.

British record holder Sophie Hitchon (coach: Tore Gustafsson) needed just one throw to secure automatic qualification for tomorrow evening’s women’s hammer final. The European leader recorded a first round throw of 66.85m, comfortably over the automatic qualifying mark of 64.50m.

GB & NI’s two representatives in the men’s high jump also qualified for Sunday’s final. Allan Smith (Bryan Roy) and Chris Baker (Aston Moore) both cleared the automatic qualifying mark of 2.20m to make it through to the final safely, with Smith going clear on his second attempt and Baker on his third.

James Gladman (James Hillier) finished fourth in his 110m hurdles heat with a time of 14.02, enough to advance as a fastest loser, and he will line up in the final tomorrow evening.

In the women’s pole vault, Katie Byres (Julian Raffalli-Ebezant) entered the competition with a clearance at 4.05m and then passed at 4.10m before equalling her season’s best with 4.15m and bettering it with a clearance of 4.20m to secure automatic qualification for tomorrow afternoon’s final.

Ashley Bryant (Ian Grant) continued his challenge for a medal in the decathlon with good showings in both the 110m hurdles and the discus. The 22 year old ran a time of 14.45 for the 110m hurdles, the fourth fastest in the competition, before throwing 41.17m in the discus.

With three events remaining, Bryant lies in fourth place with 5753 points, 85 points behind third placed Adam Helcelet of the Czech Republic.