24 August 2010

Jade Jones (coach: Ian Thompson/Tanni Grey-Thompson) made it an impressive four individual wins from four with two further victories on day two of the IWAS World Junior Championships in Olomouc, Czech Republic (20-26 August).

It was a great day for the Aviva Great Britain and Northern Ireland team as a whole however, as the athletes matched their opening day’s total with an additional 14 medals on the second day of competition.

Jones, who won double gold in the T54 100m (19.70, -1.7m/s) and 1500m (4:11.17) on Sunday (22 August), once again had to battle a strong headwind on the track as she secured her third and fourth gold medals of the competition with wins over 200m and 800m on this occasion, clocking times of 36.10 (-4.7m/s) and 2:11.23 respectively.

Also on the track, there were victories for Ola Abidogun (coach: Steven Thomas) in the T46 200m (24.19, -2.1m/s) – his second in two days following his 100m victory on day one and a perfect way to celebrate his inclusion in England’s Commonwealth Games team named yesterday – and Dan Lucker (coach: Jenny Archer) in the T54 under-18 200m (28.98, -1.9m/s), his third win from three after his opening day double over 100m and 1500m.

Lucker also added a silver medal to his overall tally in the under-20 800m clocking 1:52.33, while Will Smith, also coached by Jenny Archer, made it a trio of second place finishes with runners-up spots in the T54 under-16 200m (31.14, -2.9m/s) and under-16 800m (2:01.12) to add to his 100m silver on day one.

Not to be outdone, and also adding to their previous day’s medals, Sally Brown (coach: Phillip Tweedy) finished second in the women’s T46 200m in 27.80 (-3.8m/s), while Nikki Emerson (coach: Ian Thompson/Tanni Grey-Thompson) and Joe Allen (coach: Martin Rush) finished third in the T53 200m (36.98, -3.9m/s) and 800m (2:16.95) and the T46 800m (2:07.77) respectively, Allen’s mark only marginally outside his lifetime best.

There were four PB’s for Aviva GB & NI team athletes on day two of the Championships, two of them gold medal winning performance, and all coming from athletes on the infield.

Holly Neill, who finished third in the F40 discus in a new PB of 20.16m on day one – an event won by her team mate Vicky Silk (coach: Anthony Hughes) – won the F40 shot putt with a mark of 6.63m, also a PB, to reverse the previous day’s podium positions. Silk finished third with 6.45m, a significant PB of 25cm.

Owain Taylor (coach: Anthony Hughes) delivered a high quality series to take the F57 discus title with a best of 33.22m, while his training partner Kyron Duke, also coached by Hughes, finished fourth in the F40 javelin with a PB of 29.53m.

The IWAS World Junior Championships continues later today and a daily session report will follow.

For the timetable and additional information, check out the official event website at: http://www.iwas2010.org/index.html