30 October 2015

T44 high jumper Jonathan Broom-Edwards (coach: Fuzz Ahmed) added a silver medal to British Athletics’ tally on the penultimate day of action at the Suhaim-Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha.

The silver medallist in Lyon two years ago replicated the feat here finishing on a height of 2.05m. The competition started well for the 27 year old, clearing the opening height of 1.90m before leaping to first time clearances at 1.99m and 2.05m. Unfortunately, he had three fouls at 2.11m, which saw him claim his third successive silver medal at major championships.

Broom-Edwards said: “I am a little disappointed considering the shape I’m in and all the hard work that’s gone into the build-up into this competition. I’ve got a fantastic team behind me, it just didn’t happen today.”

His Polish rival Maciej Lepiato, who has pipped him to the gold in Lyon and at the 2014 IPC European Championships, went on to jump a world record of 2.18m and Broom-Edwards is relishing the prospect of renewing this rivalry into Rio next year.

On his Polish opponent, Broom-Edwards added: “It’s great – I’m fortunate to be in a fantastic group (which includes Robbie Grabarz, Isobel Pooley, Chris Kandu and Marco Fassinotti) and with them jumping higher than me, it constantly pushes me. Having Lepiato that little bit ahead of me at the moment is pushing me, but I’ve got to make sure I don’t let that hinder me. But 100% there is fire in the belly going into next year.”

After winning bronze in the 400m last night, Shaun Burrows (Joe McDonnell) returned to the track to book his place in the T38 100m final on Saturday. The 17 year old ran a composed race to automatically qualify in third and post a time of 11.80, marginally outside his lifetime best.

Burrows commented: “I am very happy and got really close to my personal best, only two hundredths off my best. Hopefully I will beat it tomorrow; if I don’t I’m not bothered where I come in the race, I just want to enjoy myself.”

After narrowly missing out on the medals in the 100m last night, the Graeme ‘The Bullet’ Ballard (Tabo Huntley) stormed into the final of the T36 200m. The crowd were treated to a trademark fast start and held his form to cruise into another world final in a time of 25.68m.

The 36 year old added afterwards: “I didn’t come here to make up the numbers, so it’s important I end on a high.”

“I’m hoping to extend my stride length a bit, drive phase and I’ll hopefully pile on the pressure and you’ll see the ‘Bullet Ballard.”

In the T34 200m semi-final, Ben Rowlings (Job King) returned to the track to make it through to the final on the last day of competition. It has been a busy week for the 19 year old after two fourth place finishes in world finals and he will get the chance to round off Doha 2015 in style. He was given the automatic qualification spot in third after recording a time of 29.63, the same as American Austin Pruitt.

In the second semi-final teammate Isaac Towers (Peter Wyman) clocked a lifetime best of 30.35 to bring his championships to an end. Unfortunately, he did not join his compatriot in the final, finishing fifth and just one place outside of the qualifiers for the final.

Rhys Jones (Keith Antoine) faced a long wait to see if he had advanced to the T37 100m final but went through as the final qualifier. He was in the first semi-final and finished fourth in a time of 12.16 and eventually advanced to the world final.

Unfortunately, Stephen Osborne (Jenni Banks) withdrew from T51 400m semi-finals due to illness.

British Athletics’ medal tally at the IPC Athletics World Championships (28): 

Gold (10): Paul Blake (T36 800m),Jo Butterfield (F51 club throw),Hannah Cockroft (T34 100m and 800m), Kadeena Cox (T37 100m),Aled Davies (F42 shot put and discus), Sophie Hahn (T38 100m), Georgie Hermitage (T37 400m), Richard Whitehead (T42 200m)

Silver (10): Paul Blake (T36 400m), Daniel Bramall (T33 100m), Jonathan Broom-Edwards (T44 High Jump), Sophie Hahn (T38 200m), Georgie Hermitage (T37 100m),Maria Lyle (T35 100m and 200m),Mel Nicholls (T34 800m),David Weir (T54 1500m & Marathon)

Bronze (8): Kare Adenegan (T34 800m), Shaun Burrows (T38 400m), Jo Butterfield (F52 Discus), Kyron Duke (F41 Javelin), Toby Gold (T33 100m), Abbie Hunnisett (F32 club throw), Mo Jomni (T53 200m), Sammi Kinghorn (T53 200m) 

Over two hours of live coverage each day will also be available to watch on More4 and a live stream will be available on the Channel 4 website: http://paralympics.channel4.com/competitions/athletics-world-championships-2015/video/index.html