10 July 2013

GB & NI enjoyed a successful start to the IAAF World Youth Championships, with seven athletes advancing from their opening rounds in Donetsk, Ukraine.

Moesha Howard (coach: Julie Pratt) gave the team a strong start to the competition after finishing second in her heat (14.11), to advance to the semi-finals with Shirving Irving (Neil Dodson) (14.17), who finished fourth in heat five to qualify as a fastest loser.

Howard said afterwards: "I’ve definitely got more to come in my start for the semi-final, 14.11 isn’t even my personal best so there’s a lot more to come from me.

Sabrina Bakare (Jane Dixon) showed why she is the fastest European in 2013, as the 17 year old showed maturity beyond her age with the fastest time of all the seven heats running an impressive 54.16 to secure her place in the next round.

"I just want to qualify from each round and finish with a faster time each race. When I heard the tannoy announce I was the fastest in Europe, I just blocked it out of my mind, I just wanted to focus on me and my race because I haven’t won any titles yet.

"I’m just going to rest up now and get fresh for the semi-finals and hopefully I can go out there and do well," added Bakare.

Both Ojie Edoburun (Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo) and Reuben Arthur (Tawiah-Dodoo) booked their places in tomorrow’s 100m semi-finals after coming through their heats in first and second place respectively. Edoburun, clocked 10.68 and is in no doubt that he can go quicker in the next round.

"I’ve been training really well and the first round was into a -1 headwind, so I know there’s a lot more left in the tank. It was a conservative race, as I didn’t want to give away too much, because I know I’ve got a semi and a final tomorrow."

Arthur meanwhile secured his automatic qualification running 10.71 and despite confusion surrounding which heat he was in, the 16 year old was happy with the final outcome.

Arthur said: "I’ve got plenty more to give – I wasn’t originally in this heat, so I didn’t have ample time to warm up. But the GB & NI team has already shown that when you have adversity, it’s the strong-minded that get through, so hopefully I can do more in the next round.

"It was tough out there – when you’ve got some of the best youths in the world, you’re going to get some good competition."

Bobby Clay (Peter Mullervy), who was a member of the GB & NI junior women who won bronze at this year’s IAAF World Cross Country Championships came through her first round test with a fourth place finish in the 1500m. Clay’s time of 4:21.18 secured her place in the final and the 16 year old was delighted with her progress in the 30 degree conditions.

"It was really hot, but I’m over the moon that I’ve qualified for the final. I know that I can do that final lap quicker, which is a nice thought to have. Coming through the home straight, I was pacing it through, but you don’t need to be completely killing yourself now."

Kai Jones (Lukasz Barzyk) also progressed through to tonight’s shot put final with a throw of 19.09m , but unfortunately Georgie Taylor (John Hillier) (discus) and Robyn Petitt (Julia Machin) (high jump) narrowly missed out on qualification. However, Petitt was in philosphical mood after her exit from the competition.

"I felt good out there, which is why I’m a little more upset than I usually would be. I just don’t think I had the power that I usually do, so I think that’s why it went wrong. I’m not one for excuses, so I’d just say something went wrong on the day, nothing to do with anything up to the competition or on the day itself," said Petitt. 

"I’ll take a lot away from this competition. I’ve learnt how to deal with a lot of things leading up to the event and during the event when they go wrong."

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