23 July 2014

GB & NI won two gold medals on day two of the IAAF World Junior Championships in Eugene, Oregon, as Morgan Lake (coach: Eldon Lake, club: Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow) was crowned heptathlon champion and Dina Asher-Smith (John Blackie, Blackheath & Bromley) took gold in the 100m.

Having led overnight, Lake started day two with a best leap of 5.90m in the long jump which gave her a lead of 142 points after five events. The 17 year old then broke another personal best, this time in the javelin, as she threw 41.66m to leave herself with a 138 point lead ahead of her nearest rival going into the final event.

She held her nerve in the 800m, running a personal best time of 2:20.06 to give her a winning margin of 142 points and a total score of 6148, a personal best and a world youth best score.

An elated Lake said: “I don’t even think it’s sunk in yet, I’m so happy. I’ve wanted it for so long, I haven’t really spoken about it with anyone because I didn’t want to jinx it.

“In the 800m I was so dead at the end, I’d pushed at 200m to go when maybe I should have gone at 150m or 100m but I was just trying to make the line. The world youth record means everything too, it’s what I train for so I’m really happy.”

Asher-Smith raced clear in the second half of the racr to take 100m victory by a huge margin with a time of 11.23, despite a headwind of -1.0m/s. She crossed the line 0.16 seconds clear of her nearest rival Angela Tenorio of Ecuador and was delighted to be crowned champion.

She said: “I was just thinking about running as fast as I could to get to the line. I’m so happy; I can’t believe that I’m world junior champion. So many great people have done it before and it’s really humbling to be among them. I don’t normally celebrate but I just threw my arms in the air and I’m completely over the moon. I’ve worked really hard for it for such a long time and to be able to fulfil what I really wanted to do is amazing.

“I think my start and drive phase wasn’t as good as earlier in the competition but this was a final and my aim was just to get to the line first so I’m not too fussed about that. I could have ran a better race I think but I’m happy that I crossed the line first.”

Desiree Henry (Rana Reider, Enfield & Haringey) ran well in the same race and finished fourth with a time of 11.56.

In the men’s 100m, Ojie Edoburun (Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo, Shaftesbury Barnet) placed sixth in the final. Having run 10.36 for third place in his semi-final, Edoburun went on to run 10.45 in the final, just 0.11 away from the podium positions.

Reuben Arthur (Tawiah-Dodoo, Enfield & Haringey) missed out on a place in the final after finishing fifth in his 100m semi-final with a time of 10.81.

David Hall (Ian Grant, Dartford Harriers) started day two of the decathlon as he ended day one, with a personal best, this time running 14.98 in the 110m hurdles. He followed this up with 35.77m in the discus as heavy rain made throwing conditions very tricky.

In the afternoon session he set a personal best in the pole vault with a clearance at 4.10m and then threw 53.53m in the javelin before completing his campaign with yet another personal best as he ran 4:35.82 in the 1500m. That ensured a 14th place finish for Hall with a personal best overall score of 7440 points.

Kimberley Reed (Scott Reed, Edinburgh AC) finished in tenth place in the final of the women’s hammer. After throwing 59.96m in round one she then improved slightly to 60.17m in round two but got a red flag in the third round so missed out on the chance of three further throws.

David Omoregie (Mike Guest, Cardiff) secured his place in the 110m hurdles final in style as the clear winner of his semi-final. His time of 13.36 was into a headwind but ranked second across all three heats.

Jack Crosby (Rick Betts, Middlesborough) put in a superb performance, running his second personal best in two days, to reach the final of the men’s 400m. Crosby finished third in his heat with a time of 46.35, good enough to take the first of the two fastest loser places. There was disappointment for Elliot Rutter (Dan Cossins, Birchfield Harriers) though, as he finished fourth in his semi-final and his time of 46.93 left him just outside of the fastest loser spots.

Jacob Paul (Marina Armstrong, WSEH) made easy work of qualification for the semi-finals of the 400m hurdles, despite being in the midst of a torrential downpour. With only the top two guaranteed to progress, he came home a clear second in his heat with a time of 52.79.

Chris Kandu (John Herbert, Enfield & Haringey) made it through to the final of the high jump, after clearing 2.14m he was guaranteed qualification without having to attempt any further heights. Rory Dwyer (Paul Bearman, Stratford-Upon-Avon) had to settle for 2.10m though and missed out on a final birth.

Jacob Fincham-Dukes (Matt Barton, Leeds City) was unfortunate not to make the final of the men’s long jump as he leaped to a best distance of 7.23m in qualifying, 8cm short of the required to reach the final.