19 July 2015

There was a mixture of good and bad news for Great Britain & Northern Ireland on the final morning of action at the European Athletics Junior Championships in Eskilstuna, Sweden.

In the men’s decathlon, Tim Duckworth (coach: Toby Stevenson, University of Kentucky) got off to a slow start clattering one of the final hurdles in the 110m hurdles clocking 15.58 before putting 16cm on his lifetime best in the discus. The session ended with the USA-based athlete topping the pole vault with a season’s best clearance of 4.70m to close in 12th place after eight events with a total of 6071 points. 

There were a few nervy moments in the women’s 4x100m but the quartet of Shannon Malone (Richard Sayer, Deeside AAC), Shannon Hylton (John Blackie, Blackheath & Bromley), Charlotte McLennaghan (David Hourd, Notts) and Imani Lansiquot (Joseph Felix, Sutton & District) came through to win their heat in 45.32. The first and second changeover left the team with a little bit to do in the last leg, but a smooth transition between McLennaghan and Lansiquot saw GB & NI finish as the third fastest qualifiers behind Netherlands and an impressive German team.

Lansiquot said: “We’ve never tried out that combination before, so I think it was good to get out the first race nerves.

“I was so scared – we didn’t finish in Mannheim, so having had that experience before, it was all about getting it round this time,” added Malone, who ran the first leg.  

McLennaghan, who finished fourth in the 200m final believes the team are now well equipped for a smooth run in the next round: “We know where our mistakes were, so hopefully we’ll sort that out for the final.”

However, it was bad news for the men’s 4x100m who were disqualified for a lane infringement after winning their heat ahead of the Swedish team. 

For full results and information on streaming this afternoon, please visit: www.european-athletics.org