20 July 2009

British athletes overseas …

Belgium

KBC Night of Athletics, Heusden, Belgium

18 July

TEN British athletes contested this meeting in Heusden, Belgium. Christian Malcolm (Cardiff) finished in eighth place 21.11 (1.4). In the 800m Darren St. Clair (Enfield & Haringey) clocked 1:47.94 for sixth place while Jermaine Mays (Kent) was a tantalising 0.04 seconds short of his pb with 3:39.92 in fourth place. Scott Overall (Blackheath & Bromley) finished in 13th place in the 5000m 13:36.17 which was only two seconds off his season’s best. Steven Lewis (Newham & Essex Beagles) finished in a disappointing fifth place with 5.41m in the pole vault and Chris Hughff (Newham & Essex Beagles) threw the javelin 71.89m for fourth place. Anyika Onuora (Liverpool) was fifth in Race 1 of the 100m with 11.51 (4.7). Laura Turner (Harrow) finished in third place in Race 2 with another wind-aided performance of 11.26 (3.4) with Emma Ania (Shaftesbury Barnet) in fifth place with 11.27. Turner returned for the 200m and finished in fifth place with 23.43 (2.4) while Hannah England (Oxford City) won the 1500m in 4:08.96.

Spain

Aragón Grand Prix, Zaragoza, Spain

18 July

A SMALL British contingent were competing in Zaragoza, Spain and Craig Pickering (Marshall Milton Keynes) finished in seventh place in the 100m 10.21 (3.0) while Rhys Williams (Cardiff) claimed fourth place in the 400mH with 50.39. Montell Douglas (Blackheath & Bromley) finished in fifth place in the 100m 11.54 (2.5) after a 11.45 (3.9) semi-final and in the 800m B race Suzanne Hasler (Puerto de Alicante) also finished in fifth place 2:06.03.

France

Meeting Areva IAAF Golden League, Paris, France

17 July

SEVEN British athletes were competing in the latest round of the prestigious Golden League held in Paris in cool and blustery conditions with heavy rain later in the meeting. In the 100m held in pouring rain, Simeon Williamson (Highgate) finished in sixth place with 10.14 (-0.2) behind the incredible Usain Bolt (Jamaica) who ran 9.79 after being last out of the blocks once again. Tim Benjamin (Belgrave) finished in seventh place in the 400m with 46.32 in a race won by Jeremy Wariner (USA) 45.28. Michael Rimmer (Liverpool Pembroke Sefton) finished in fourth place in the 800m 1:46.73 with Ismail Ahmed Ismail (Sudan) winning in 1:48.85. Andrew Turner (Sale Harriers Manchester) ran 13.44 for fifth place in the 110mH (-0.2) which was won by Dexter Faulk (USA) 13.14. Phillips Idowu (Belgrave) won the triple jump with a leap of 17.17m (0.9) from Jadel Gregório (Brazil) 17.12m (1.3). Marilyn Okoro (Shaftesbury Barnet) finished in fourth place in the 800m 1:59.56 after following the pacemaker through a fast first lap in under 57 seconds, she battled well to record a season’s best behind winner Anne Willard (USA) 1:58.80. Paralympic gold medallist David Weir also tasted victory, winning the T54 1500m in 3:19.41 ahead of racing the same distance at this week’s Aviva London Grand Prix.

Belgium

Meeting International de la Provence de Liège, Naimette-Xhovémont, Belgium

15 July

THERE was also six British athletes contested this meeting in Belgium. In the 100m Christian Malcolm (Cardiff) finished a disappointing sixth in 10.60 (-0.5) and also finished in third place in the 200m in 21.14 (0.1). Chris Baillie (Victoria Park City of Glasgow) finished in seventh place in the 110mH with 14.05 (0.2). In the women’s 100m Emma Ania (Shaftesbury Barnet) claimed the victory with a 11.41 (0.2) performance and Anyika Onuora (Liverpool) finished in fourth place in the 200m with 23.73 (0.0). In the field events, Germaine Mason (Birchfield) finished in third place in the high jump with 2.24m and Steven Lewis (Newham & Essex Beagles) finished in second place in the pole vault with 5.50m.

Switzerland

Spitzen, Lucerne, Switzerland

15 July

IN windless conditions Marlon Devonish (Coventry) finished in fifth place in the 100m with 10.34 (0.0) and in second place in the 200m with 20.79 (0.0) with Leon Baptiste (Enfield & Haringey) one place behind in third with 21.06. Mark Lewis-Francis (Birchfield) finished in second place in the B 100m in 10.40 (0.0). David Greene (Swansea) continued his recent good form with a third place in the 400mH with 48.78 behind the winner from Jamaica, Isa Phillips (48.66). Lisa Dobriskey (Ashford) continued her return to fitness from injury with a victory in the 1500m in 4:08.35.

Italy

Meeting de la ville de Reims, Reims France

14 July

CRAIG PICKERING (Marshall Milton Keynes) 10.29 (-0.7) won the 100m two days after competing at the Aviva World Trials and National Championships in Birmingham.

Germany

German Disability Championships, Sindelfingen, Germany

11 July

GEMMA PRESCOTT (Challenge Disability Sports Club) became the world-record-holder for the F32 discus last weekend following an outstanding performance at the German Disability Championships in Sindelfingen. The 25 year old Paralympic finalist moved onto a new level when she sent the discus out to 12.11m to set a new global best. She was eighth in the F32 discus in Beijing last year and also seventh in the F32 shot. However, Gemma had thrown the discus 12.45m in Stoke earlier this year, but the IPC only recognise world records from certain sanctioned competitions, so her throw of 12.11m is the record that will be ratified.

… and at home                 

BMC Nike Grand Prix 4, Solihull

18 July

THE pick of the results from Solihull where 141pb’s were recorded were as follows. Steve Fennel (Tonbridge) 1:47.99 just 2/100ths outside his pb. Bethwell Birhen (Kenya U20) 3:38.01 1500m winning from his compatriot Bernard Kiplagat 3:39.25 and their fellow countrymen Linus Chumba 7:53.52 and Titus Mbishei U20 7:53.88 in the 3000m with Jonathan Mellor (Liverpool) 7:58.33 recording a fine pb. In the women’s 800m a closely contested race was won by Alysia Johnson (USA) in 2:02.63 from Vicky Griffiths (Liverpool) 2:02.66 with Steph Twell (Aldershot, Farnham & District U23) finishing in fifth place In a confidence boosting pb. The 1500m saw Nicole Edwards (Canada) win comfortably 4:12.05) from Kerry Harty (Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow) 4:14.18 and pb from Lennie Waite (rice University) 4:15.88. In the 3000m Juliet Doyle (Charnwood) 9:11.78 won an exciting race with a strong finish to relegate Tina Brown (Coventry) to the runners-up spot.

McCain Birmingham Games, Alexander Stadium, Birmingham

18 July

THERE were many good performances and the selected results were: Tamsyn Lewis (Australia) 57.06 in the 400mH, Helen Pryer (Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow) 23.55 (1.6) 200m and also a 11.75 (0.9) 100m, Helen Asher (Liverpool) 13.80 (1.1) 100mH, Donna Fraser (Croydon) 53.32 400m, Zoe Derham (Birchfield) 66.26m hammer, Vicky Hubbard (Birchfield) 1.82m high jump. In the men’s events Nicholas Gayle (Sale Harriers Manchester) 13.94 (1.9) and Edirin Okoro (Birchfield) 13.94 110mH, Tom Parsons (Birchfield) and Germaine Mason (Birchfield) 2.25m high jump.

Aviva Schools International, Antrim, Northern Ireland

18 July

THE best intermediate age group school athletes from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland competed against each other in Antrim and the following are some of the best selected performances: Girls – 100m Sarah Lavin (Emerald) 12.03 and 24.82m 200m, Amy Allcock (Aldershot, Farnham & District) 39.08 300m, Katie Snowden (Herne Hill) 2:08.18 800m, Georgia Peel (Aldershot, Farnham & District) 4:26,96 1500m (8½ second victory), Emelia Gorecka (Aldershot, Farnham & District) 9:34.17 3000m (20 second victory), Grace Christopher (Leeds Carnegie) 11.46 80mH, Charlotte Bowling (Corby) 44.30 300mH, Kate Veale (West Waterford) 13:09.02 3000m walk (79 second victory), Ellie Besford (Chelmsford) 3.45m pole vault, Sophie McKinna (Great Yarmouth) 12.17m shot, Kathryn Rothwell (Jersey) 40.67m discus, Freya Jones (Team Southampton) 46.61m javelin, Toni Wells (Swansea) 51.53m hammer, Andrea Gaffney (Kirkintilloch) 5.66m long jump, Hannah Frith (Bedford & County) 1.70m high jump, Andrea Gaffney (Kirkintilloch) 11.45m. Boys – David Bolarinwa (Cambridge) 10.78 100m, Jordan Arthur (Enfield & Haringey) 22.40 200m, Greg Louden (Lasswade) 48.59 400m, Mark English (Letterkenney) 1:58.90 800m, Luke Carroll (Cheltenham) 3:56.81 1500m, Tom Curr (Stroud) 8:50.77 3000m (six second victory), Daniel Needham (Wigan & District) 13.56 100mH, Ben Parkin (Blackheath & Bromley) 54.40 400mH, Jamie Crompton (Horwich) 4:16.65 1500m SC, James Treanor (Monaghan Phoenix) 14:00.61 3000m walk, Jax Thoirs (Victoria Park City of Glasgow) 4.40m pole vault, Matthew Halton (Newquay & Par) 17.09m shot, Liam Biddlecome (Yeovil) 52.41m discus, Jon Llewelyn (Carmathen) 62.32m javelin, Matthew Lasis (Crawley) 62.23m hammer, Kyle Henderson (Central) 6.79m long jump and 1.94m high jump, Julien Allwood (Herne Hill) 14.45m triple jump.

Hexham International Combined Events, Hexham, Northumberland

17-18 July

THE annual combined events meeting was held at Hexham in conditions not conducive to good performances. In the men’s decathlon Claston Bernard (Jamaica) won with 7702 from Britain’s Ed Dunford (Birchfield) 7256 points and Pavel Baar (Czech Republic) 7230 points. Michael Sweeney (Liverpool U20) finished in ninth place with 5819 points. In the women’s heptathlon Rebecca Wordell (New Zealand) took first place with 5678 points from Jana Koresova (Czech Republic) 5657 points and her compatriot, Katerina Konvalinkova 5387 points. Jess Taylor (Sale Harriers Manchester) finished in ninth place with 4425 points.