10 July 2009

Katarina Thompson opened her World Youth Championships heptathlon account on the third morning of competition in Bressanone, Italy with successes in both the 100m hurdles and high jump.

The Liverpool Harriers athlete set a new personal best of 14.17 (+0.2 m/s) in the hurdles, making a great start to her championships, she finished second overall in that event. She then took charge of the high jump, entering the competition at 1.64m and clearing consistently up to 1.82m, which is a new personal best height. She tackled 1.85m unsuccessfully but took the win in her pool and overall in that event.

She ends the morning session in first place overall on 1957 and will return to competition in the afternoon for the shot and 200m. 

She said: “I aim for 7 PBs all the time, to get one in the high jump and the hurdles is great and it’s the best score I’ve got in the heptathlon so I just want to carry on this way. I really wanted another jump at 1.85m, I just want another jump, I think I would have got it! I feel optimistic going into the shot.”

Ben Williams (City of Stoke) began his triple jump competition in great form, achieving the exact qualification mark on his first attempt. His chances in the final look promising from his 15.10m (0.6 m/s) jump, which he performed with relative ease.

He said: “It was abit of a safe jump to be honest, I didn’t much put into it really. I knew I could jump 15.10m so I just wanted to get the qualifier. I was looking at the board just hoping it was enough, I was expecting 15.08m or something.

“I could have jumped 15.54m, I’ve been doing that all season, for the past two years. I just wanted an easy qualification with easy jumping. Tomorrow the emphasis is to attack the board, hopefully I’ll be able to jump over 16m. It’s got to be gold though, I want to win.”

World Youth 100m gold medallist Jodie Williams (Herts Phoenix) returned to the track, following her sprint victory in yesterday’s afternoon session, 9 July, to compete in the 200m qualification round. The World Youth 100m leader qualified comfortably for the semi-final with a win in 23.96. (0.6 m/s)

Team mate Shaunna Thompson (Sale), who just missed out on a medal in the same 100m final, finished second in her race. Conserving her energy for the next rounds she was happy to let Allison Peter (ISV) take charge, following her across the line in a season best of 24.40. (0.3 m/s

Sam Watts qualified for the semi-final of the 200m with a winning time of 21.61  (0.9 m/s) looking comfortable throughout. He will compete again tomorrow afternoon, 11 July.

The Woodford Green & Essex Ladies sprinter said: “Nerves got the better of me in that heat, I’m glad to get that race out of the way. I just want to run now. I think I’ll do more in the warm up before the next round.”

In the qualifying rounds of the javelin Izzy Jeffs (North Devon) couldn’t find her usual form, throwing a best first attempt of 41.02m followed by 37.36m and 38.77m. The qualifying distance of 48m was not in reach and therefore she will not progress.

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