IRELAND’S double European indoor champion David Gillick has been nominated for the European Athlete of the Month for June.
The 24-year-old Loughborough-based athlete achieved his nomination by replacing his training partner Martyn Rooney as the fastest European over 400m this season with 45.12secs clocking in Lille.
Gillick also recorded two other sub 45.8 runs in June and was a member of the Irish team who won the 4x400m relay at the European Cup meeting in Tallinn.
Also nominated are the Great Britain duo of Phillips Idowu - the World leader in the Triple Jumper with 17.55m set in Chania and for winning the SPAR European Cup in Annecy and is unbeaten in 7 competitions in 2008, and Tyrone Edgar - for winning the 100m and 4x100m relay in Annecy and ran 10.06secs in Geneva.
The main part of this important Olympic year kicked off in June with the various European Cups and the IAAF Golden Leagues taking pride of place and providing most of the top performances.
Following this, European Athletics is pleased to announce that athletes from 16 countries have been nominated for the European Athlete of the Month Award for June.
At the end of each month, a panel of experts produce a shortlist of the outstanding athletes and performances achieved by European Athletes during that month which is emailed to the European Athletics media and thousands of fans who have already signed up to receive news from European Athletics.
The poll is situated in the Fan Zone of the European Athletics website and both the public, the media and a group of expert statisticians will cast their votes with each category counting as 33.3% of the vote. For example, the winner of the each poll will be awarded 10 pts, second 9 pts etc and the athlete with the most points after the 3 different polls have been counted will be declared the winner. In the unlikely event of a tie, Hansjörg Wirz, the President of European Athletics, will have the casting vote.
GREAT BRITAIN’S number one ranked athlete in the Pole Vault, Commonwealth bronze medallist Steve Lewis, was in scintillating form at the Tamex Cup European Athletics Festival in Bydgoszcz, Poland as the 22-year-old Loughborough-based athlete set a new lifetime best by a hugh margin of 10 centimetres with a mark of 5.71 metres in a superb world-class competition that would grace the final at the Beijing Olympics in August.
With three members of the magical 6-meter club in attendance, the competition promised to be one of the highlights of the meeting, and so it turned out to be.
As the bar was moved up to 5.81, five men were still in competition. Steve Hooker of Australia, Alhaji Jeng of Sweden, Britain's Lewis and the German veteran Tim Lobinger all cleared 5.71, while the Russia’s 2008 Valencia World indoor champion Lukyanenko did not enter the competition until 5.61 and, after a first-time clearance, moved right up to 5.81. That height proved too much for Jeng, Lewis and Lobinger, but Hooker, the reigning Commonwealth champion competing in Europe for the first time this summer, cleared first time.
Lukyanenko started with a failure, but made amends with an impressive second-time clearance. The two men left in competition went on to attack 5.91. Both failed first time, but on his second attempt the Russian cleared to go from second to first place in the contest. The Australian, after two failures, passed his remaining attempt to 5.96, but did not manage to go clear.
Lukyanenko might have had the competition won, but he was not yet finished. After having the bar moved up to 6.01, he cleared on his first attempt with a few centimetres to spare, improving his personal best by a full 10cm and moving him to seventh place on the world all-time list. It was also the first ever six-meter clearance on Polish soil. The Russian then took three more attempts at 6.05, and was close to succeeding the second time.
In the Women’s 400m Hurdles, billed as one of the meetings highlights, Poland’s World championship medallist Anna Jesien gained a valuable victory over the reigning World and Commonwealth champion Jana Rawlinson.
The Australian operating out of her European base in Loughborough, running her first race at any distance this year following foot surgery, struggled in the home straight and finished well down in second place with 55.94secsd, as Jesien overtook her some 80 metres before the line and stretched away to win in 54.86. Britain’s Tasha Danvers finished fifth in 56.66.
In the Women’s 800m race, Britain’s Marilyn Okoro claimed a comortable victory clocking under two- minutes for the first time this season with her 1:59.91 ahead of the German Monika Gradzki and the Pole Anna Rostkowska.
The only other jumping event of the meet was Men’s Triple Jump, and that too was a high-quality contest. After two jumps, Dimitrios Tsiamis of Greece was the surprise leader with a wind-aided 17.05 ahead of Great Britain’s World indoor champion and favourite for gold in beijing, Phillips Idowu.
Idowu, however, found his rhythm eventually, reaching out to 17.36 in the third round and following it up with 17.34 and 17.24, despite his customary poor landings. Tsiamis held on for second place, with Dmitrij Valukevic of Slovakia third with 16.91.
In the sprints Loughborough graduate William Sharman was fourth in the 110m Hurdles in a time of 13.82, Russia’s Igor Pieriemota winning in 13.65.
GREAT BRITAIN'S top 400m sprinter Martyn Rooney has been handed a dream chance to face America's superstar Olympic & World Champion Jeremy Wariner on his home track, Crystal Palace.
The pair will meet ahead of Beijing at the Aviva London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace, 25th 26th July.
Loughborough-based Rooney, 21, coached by Nick Dakin and now ranked the number one in the UK, will be looking to build on his recent winning performance at the SPAR European Cup. There he ran a dominant race coming home impressively to claim victory in the 400m, ultimately helping to secure Gold for Team GB in Annecy.
Rooney, who is unbeaten in five races in 2008, will be looking to gain any advantage he can in the clash with Wariner, hopefully some coming from running on his home track in front of a noisy home crowd.
Rooney said: "I was born in Croydon, just two miles away from Crystal Palace, so the Aviva London Grand Prix is a very special event for me.
I am really pleased with the way the season is building for me. I am ultra keen to put on a great performance in front of my home crowd before I head for Beijing."
DAVID GILLICK, the two-time European indoor champion set a new Irish 400 metres record at the 14th edition of the Lille Metropole Gaz de France Région Nord/Pas-de-Calais Meeting held on Friday night (27 June), the 2nd leg of the Lagardère Athlé Tour 2008.
Running an inspired race from lane five, the 24-year-old Loughborough-based spinter, coached by Nick Dakin, raced to victory in a time of 45.12 seconds, smashing his own year-old mark of 45.23 which he set in Geneva. Gillick's previous best this year was 45.59.
This was the third successive year that Gillick has set new Irish figures for the distance, having run 45.67 in 2006.
Gillick's time is the fastest by a European 400m runner this year ahead of ‘Team Dakin’ training partner at Loughborough, Martyn Rooney.
The Dundrum star will now look to break the magical 45 seconds, either in the lead-up to the Olympics or in Beijing itself, where he is utterly determined to make his mark.
Loughborough graduate Jeanette Kwakye was very disappointing in the 100m. The Valencia world indoor silver medallist finished sixth in a time of 11.62secs (+1.1), behind eventual winner Laverne Jones of the USA (11.30).
Charnwood’s Mark Edwards placed fifth with a throw of 20.88m in the Shot, but already has the Olympic ‘A’ standard set in Arizona last month.
Loughborough graduate Samson Oni finished third in the High Jump with a best of 2.18m.
In other events Olympic hopeful Craig Pickering finished third behind former world champion Kim Collins over 100metres on his return from injury.
Pickering, who has been troubled with a hamstring injury which forced him to pull out of the Norwich Union GB European Cup 4x100m relay squad last weekend, clocked 10.25 seconds.
Collins won the race in 10.10secs ahead of Martial Mbandjock, who finished runner-up behind Tyrone Edgar at the Cup meeting in Annecy last Saturday.
Edgar, who narrowly defeated the Frenchman and is the fastest Briton this year, finished seventh in 10.36secs.
Over 1500m, Glasgow’s Susan Scott lowered her personal best to an Olympic 'A' qualifying standard of four minutes seven seconds when finishing second.
The Lille Metropole Gaz de France Région Nord/Pas-de-Calais meeting is one of a select group of Area meetings at which points can be acquired by athletes to qualify for the IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final, to be held on 13th-14th September in Stuttgart, Germany.
LOUGHBOROUGH University student Dani Christmas representing Crawley AC won two medals in both the Under-23 800m and 1500m events at the England Athletics U20/U23 Championships held at the Bedford International Stadium last weekend (21st-22nd June) – showing the benefits of the involvement with Dame Kelly Holmes Norwich Union sponsored ‘On Camp with Kelly’ training initiative.
In blustery conditions at Bedford, Christmas (20), completed a powerful late surge over the closing stages of the 1500m final moving through from fourth to second to collect her second medal of the weekend clocking a time of 4mins 36.65secs.
The 800m final witnessed an ‘On Camp with Kelly’ 1-2-3 as Emma Jackson (City of Stoke) led from the gun to take victory ahead of Tara Bird (Woodford Green with Essex Ladies) as Christmas passed Jessica Sparke (Woodford Green with Essex Ladies) over the last 150 metres to record 2:08.08 to take the bronze medal.
Following the 800m Christmas, currently studying Sports Science with Management at Loughborough commented: “I am quite happy with third, I have missed a significant amount of training due to university exams which are now over so I can focus on my running again.
“The time isn’t too great but I noticed the wind a lot when I was running and I was happy that I finished strongly and was able to take a medal.”
Holmes, who was in attendance at the championships to support the ‘On Camp with Kelly’ athletes said: “ Winning two medals at the championships was a great achievement by Dani, it was great to see ‘On Camp with Kelly’ athletes filling the top three places in the Under-23 800m and shows the talent of the athletes on the programme and the hard work put in by them and their coaches.”
‘On Camp with Kelly’ started in January 2004 and with support and sponsorship by UK Athletics major sponsors Norwich Union has grown from strength to strength. Over 50 athletes have been involved in the initiative to date – including from Loughborough University - Charlotte Best, Charlotte Browning, Laura Finucane, Nicola Maddick and Rachael Thompson - plus from Leicestershire, Charnwood’s Hannah Whitmore.
LOUGHBOROUGH student and British number one over 400 metres, Martyn Rooney, will race against double-amputee Oscar Pistorius over the distance at the Notturna di Milano meeting next Wednesday (2nd July).
Rooney will come up against the 'Blade Runner', who will be contesting his first race against able-bodied athletes since being cleared to do so last month by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, for the second time having raced against Pistorius at the IAAF British Grand Prix at a rain-soaked Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield last summer where the South African finished last.
Rooney, the world junior bronze medallist showed his class, running a 44.17 seconds split when elevating the Great Britain team from near the back of the field to second at the European Cup in Annecy on Sunday.
The previous day the Croydon sprinter also scored maximum points for the team in the 400m individual race as Team GB won the Bruno Zauli trophy for a fifth time.
Pistorius won his appeal against an IAAF ruling that his prosthetic legs offered a mechanical advantage. The CAS finding was immediately accepted by the IAAF who agreed he should be allowed to compete immediately in his bid to chase a qualifying time for the fast-approaching Olympic Games.
Loughborough Sports Scholar and European indoor 400m gold medallist Nicola Sanders will also be in action in Milan.
LAURA KENNEY, the reigning European Under-23 5,000m champion smashed her lifetime best by a huge margin of 19 seconds at the Reunión Internacional Ciudad de Jerez meeting in Spain.
Kenney, who celebrates her 23rd birthday later this week, part of George Gandy's squad based at Loughborough University recorded a time of 15mins 26.96secs to take fourth place in the race won by Russian Olesya Syreva (15:19.96) finishing just shy of the Olympic 'B' standard.
Fellow Loughborough graduate Jeanette Kwakye claimed victory in the 100m, the Valencia world indoor silver medallist clocked 11.36secs (wind: -0.4) to defeat compatriot Montell Douglas (11.50).
The third Loughborough athlete in action was David Hughes finishing fifth in the 110m Hurdles in 14.09secs.
DEFENDING gold medallist Daniel Greaves heads a total of five Loughborough athletes that have been selected to represent Great Britain at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics that begin on 6th September.
Greaves, the 25-year-old Athens champion from Anstey in Leicestershire, a Loughborough University graduate who competes for Charnwood AC, is included in the 35-strong squad chosen by the British selectors.
Javelin thrower Kenny Churchill, who will also be defending the title he won in Athens four years ago, is joined by Discus thrower Claire Williams, and Sophie Hancock and Gemma Prescott, who compete in both the Shot and Discus.
Greaves, who underwent countless operations as a child to correct talapeze feet, will be a strong favourite to collect a second Paralympic gold after setting a lifetime-best performance of 49.76 metres with the 2kg Discus in San Diego in April.
UK Athletics Director of Disability, Tim Jones said: “We are pleased to be able to nominate such a strong team for Beijing, which is a real blend of both youth and experience. Over half of the nominated team are set to make their debut at the Paralympic Games, in particular 8 of the 14 female athletes. As we look beyond Beijing, the ability to nurture athletes who will be able to perform in London is of paramount importance. Having the ability to expose some of these athletes in Beijing will provide them with a fantastic learning experience.
“UK Athletics set some tough qualifying standards to ensure a high quality team, and it is testament to the determination and talent of our athletes that these were achieved and exceeded.
“It is important that a large majority of the travelling team is capable of winning medals, and we are confident that this will be the case in Beijing. We all know that the Paralympics will be the real test, but we believe the ParalympicsGB athletics team is exceptionally well prepared for the challenge ahead.”
ParalympicsGB Chief Executive and Chef De Mission for Beijing, Phil Lane, said: “With the tough qualification standards set by UK Athletics it is fantastic to see so many talented youngsters among this nominated squad for Beijing, who will no doubt be exciting prospects in London in 2012.
“I am also delighted that there are so many Paralympic and world championship medallists among this squad, which puts us in good stead ahead of this summer’s Games.”
The Athletics squad nominated to ParalympicsGB comprises:
Men
Brian Alldis (St Edmunds Pacers) T54 800m, 1500m, 5000m, Marathon
Lives: Bury St Edmunds
Graeme Ballard (Chorley AC) T36 100m, 200m, 400m
Lives: Chorley
Mickey Bushell (Birchfield Harriers) T53 100m, 200m
Lives: Telford
Kenny Churchill (Durham AC) F37 Javelin
Lives: Loughborough
Michael Churm (Chorley AC) T37 100m, 200m
Lives: Manchester
Danny Crates (Thurrock Harriers) T46 800m
Lives: Heybridge, Essex
Martin Crutchley (Cannock & Stafford) F38 Shot
Lives: Walsall, West Midlands
Neil Fachie (Aberdeen AAC) T13 100m, 200m
Lives: Aberdeen
David Gale (British Wheelchair AA) F51 Discus
Lives: Southport
Danny Greaves (Loughborough Students) F44 Discus
Lives: Leicester
Ian Jones (East Cheshire) T44 200m, 400m
Lives: Manchester
Chris Martin (Mansfield Harriers) F33 Discus
Lives: Mansfield
John McFall (Unattached) T42 100m,
Lives: Cardiff
Stephen Miller (Gateshead Harriers) F32 Club, Discus
Lives: Cramlington
Kieron Murphy (Birchfield Harriers) F32 Club
Lives: Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands
Daniel Nobbs (British Wheelchair AA) F54 Shot
Lives: Norwich
Stephen Payton (Unattached) T38 200m, 400m
Lives: South Shields
Ben Rushgrove (City of Bath AC) T36 100m, 200m
Lives: Bath
Richard Schabel (British Wheelchair AA) F51 Club, Discus
Lives, East Grinstead, West Sussex
Nathan Stephens (FDSW) F57 Shot, Discus, Javelin
Lives: Bridgend
Dave Weir (Unattached) T54 400m, 800m 1500m, 5000m, Marathon
Lives: Wallington, Surrey
Danny West (Cambridge & Coleridge/ Notts AC) F34 Discus, Shot
Lives: Nottingham
Women
Hollie Arnold (Cleethorpes Athletics Club) F46 Javelin
Lives: Grimsby
Rebecca Chin (FDSW / Deeside AC) F44 Shot, Discus
Lives: Deganwy, North Wales
Elizabeth Clegg (Border Harriers AC/ Edinburgh Woollen Mill) T12 100m, 200m
Lives: Newcastleton
Katherine Deal (Shaftesbury Barnet) T13 400m, 800m, 1500m
Lives: St Albans
Sophie Hancock (Horwich Harriers) F40 Shot, Discus
Lives: Loughborough
Katrina Hart (Birchfield Harriers) T37 100m, 200m
Lives: Redditch
Tracey Hinton (Cardiff AAC/ British Blind Sport) T11 100m, 200m, 400m
Lives: Cardiff
Beverley Jones (Gloucester AC/ Deeside AAC) F37 Shot, Discus
Lives: Deeside
Kim Minett (City of Portsmouth) F40 Shot
Lives: Fareham
Gemma Prescott (Challenge Disability Sports) F32 Shot, Discus
Lives: Loughborough
Hazel Simpson (Jarrow & Hepburn) T36 100m, 200m
Lives: Washington
Claire Williams (Carmarthen Harriers) F12 Discus
Lives: Loughborough
Shelly Woods (Blackpool & Fylde) T54 800m, 1500m, 5000m, Marathon
Lives: Blackpool
The Paralympic classification for athletics is as follows:
F is for Field athlete
T is for Track athlete
The number refers to the functional classification:
T/F 11-13 Visual Impairment
T/F 31-38 Cerebral Palsy
T 41-46 / F 40-46 Amputees and Les Autres
T51-54 Wheelchair Racers
F51-58 Seated Field athletes
Loughborough University named in 2012 Paralympic Training Guide
Loughborough University is to be featured in the London 2012 Pre-Games Training Camp Guide for Paralympic sports.
The University is one of 170 successful sporting facilities announced this week by the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) and will be published in the Guide to be circulated to all nations in Beijing this summer.
Loughborough is one of 12 East Midlands centres named and is the largest in the region, being listed to host training for up to 15 Paralympic disciplines: athletics, boccia, cycling, football five-a-side, football seven-a-side, goalball, judo, powerlifting, swimming, table tennis, volleyball (sitting), wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair tennis.
All facilities listed in the Guide meet the technical criteria of national and international sports bodies and also accessibility and support service requirements to be a suitable venue to host Paralympic teams.
The review process has been conducted by LOCOG’s sport department with input from the National Governing Bodies of Sport and a Steering Group with representatives from LOCOG, the British Paralympic Association (BPA) and with input from the Sports Councils for England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Guidance has also been provided by local London 2012 contacts and regional experts specialising in disability sport. It has been a comprehensive analysis of high quality elite Paralympic sporting facilities in the UK and follows on from the publication of Olympic training camp facilities last March.
The facilities have been assessed with a strong focus on standards of accessibility and accommodation, plus the commitment of the facilities to co-operate with National Paralympic Committees (NPCs). Those facilities selected are either capable of hosting a wide variety of sports or have been chosen as a Centre of Excellence with a specialism in hosting a particular a specific sport such as Paralympic Athletics.
LOCOG has a training camp financial award scheme which can offer up to £25,000, subject to certain criteria, to help attract National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) to base themselves in the UK.
Extensive details of the facilities will appear on a dedicated website showcasing the quality and variety of options throughout the UK which will help NPCs and NOCs decide where to train. The national tourism agency, Visit Britain, is developing this new website in partnership with LOCOG and will bring its experience of marketing destinations and tourism products to an international audience.
Loughborough graduate Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the London Organising Committee, said: “The facilities listed in this Guide will really help overseas athletes and teams prepare well for London 2012. The assessment process we have conducted shows that there is a good spread of high quality sporting facilities for athletes across the board. I hope that as many teams and athletes as possible take advantage of these facilities.
“Our vision is to use the Games to inspire change and change attitudes towards people with a disability. We look forward to welcoming Paralympic athletes to the UK in 2012.”
STEPHANIE PYWELL completed a fine victory in the High Jump competition at the second leg of the Folksam Grand Prix Series in Karlskrona, Sweden, on Monday (June 16th).
The Loughborough University student celebrated her 21st birthday in the week leading up to the event produced a best of 1.76 metres with a third round jump in the difficult windy cool conditions to take the win on countback ahead of Sweden’s Angelica Johansson.
Pywell, a British Under-23 international who made here senior Team GB debut indoors at the Norwich Union International in Glasgow back in January has a personal best of 1.90 metres set at the Loughborough International in 2007 and produced a season’s best of 1.85 outdoors when winning the Bedford International Games last month. The Olympic ‘A’ standard for Beijing is a tough world-class mark of 1.95.
Fellow club mate from Sale Harriers Manchester and Loughborough graduate David Hughes also completed a GB victory in Karlskrona winning the 110m Hurdles in a time of 13.96secs (wind+0.5) to defeat Swede Joakim Blaschke (14.39).
Highlight of the meeting for the home fans was the appearance of local heroes Magnus Arvidsson and global superstar Carolina Klüft who as expected completed decisive wins in the Men's Javelin Throw and the Women's Long Jump respectively.
LISA DOBRISKEY clocked the Olympic 'A' standard with a time of 4mins 06.25secs in the 1500m at the Janus Kusocinski Memorial meeting in Warsaw, Poland – just four 100ths of a second outside her lifetime best set in 2004.
The 24-year-old Loughborough-based Commonwealth gold medallist coached by George Gandy finished in fourth place behind home favourite Sylwia Ejdys who improved her PB by more than two seconds winning with a mark of 4:05.40, ahead of Russian Anna Alminova (4:06.16) and Polish Steeplechase specialist Wioletta Frankiewicz (4:06.21).
A SELECTION of top Loughborough based British international athletes were in action at the high quality Memorial Josefa Odlozila meeting in Prague on Monday night that was held in cool conditions watched by a crowd of over 5,000 at the Juliska Stadium in the Czech capital.
Chris Warburton in the Men's 1500m, the 2007 AAA indoor champion coached by George Gandy finished in sixth place in a time of 3mins 40.30secs with Morpeth Harrier Nick McCormick, part of John Nuttall's squad at the university, taking eighth in 3:41.75, this following his strong performance in Huelva, Spain, on Friday night. Tom Carter completed the line-up in 13th place with 3:48.51. Kenyan Cornelius Ndiwa won the race in 3:39.90.
In the Men’s 100m Loughborough-based Leon Baptiste secured sixth place in 10.49secs, this after he went close to his lifetime best of 10.26 with a 10.33 clocking in the semi-final heat.
American Ernest Wiggins won to equal his best from 2004 with a 10.20 time (+0.4) ahead of Africans Deji Aliu (Nigeria, 10.28), and Stephane Buckland (Mauritius, 10.33).
World University Games bronze medallist Charlotte Best, an impressive winner at the BMC elite race meeting in Watford on Saturday, was third over the same 800m distance in 2:02.61.
France’s Elodie Guegan was the clear in 2:01.55.
In the field events British number one Steve Lewis and Welshman Scott Simpson, both part of coach Steve Rippon's impressive squad at Loughborough, finished ninth and tenth in the Pole Vault with heights of 5.42m and 5.22m respectively. Scott recording a season's best.
Louise Butterworth was third in the Women's Pole Vault on countback with a 4.15m efort.
Stuart Stokes produced the best performance of the night for British athletes as the 31-year-old produced a remarkable run to finish fourth in the 3,000m Steeplechase, breaking his lifetime best of 8mins 26.45secs set back in 2002 with a new mark of 8:23.66 inside the Beijing Olympic 'A' standard in the race won by Ethiopia’s Roba Gari in 8:22.07.
The Josef Odlozil Memorial is one of a select group of Area meetings at which points can be acquired by athletes to qualify for the IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final, to be held on 13th-14th September in Stuttgart, Germany.
COMMONWEALTH bronze medallist Steve Lewis produced an encouraging performance to take victory in the Pole Vault competition at the Sparkassen Gala held in the picturesque Bavaria town of Regensburg in Germany on Saturday (7th June).
Lewis, the 22-year-old Loughborough student who has already achieved the Olympic ‘A’ qualifying standard of 5.70m indoors at a meeting in Limoges back in February, recorded a height of 5.60 metres to take victory in Regensburg ahead of France’s Jerome Clavier on countback and the German duo of Alexander Straub (5.50) and the highly experienced Tim Lobinger (5.40).
Welsh international Scott Simpson, part of Steve Rippon’s superb training squad at Loughborough that includes Lewis and Britain’s top female exponent Kate Dennison, finished in 7th place with a best of 5.20m.
GOLDIE SAYERS secured an excellent victory in the Javelin competition at the 2008 Askina Meeting in Kassel, Germany on Friday night (6th June).
The 25-year-old Loughborough University graduate and current United Kingdom record-holder gained an early lead with a throw of 63.92m, before extending the advantage in the fourth round by a margin of four centimetres, to finish ahead of the reigning European record-holder, Christina Obergfoll (63.65m) and 2006 Gothenburg European champion Steffi Nerius (62.33m).
On the track German Carolin Nytra improved her personal best to 12.84secs in the heat of the 100m hurdles before claiming the final in 12.90 ahead of Britain's Sarah Claxton (12.92) and Ireland's world indoor champion Derval O'Rourke (12.99).
Sara McGreavy finished in third place in heat 2 clocking 13.45.
BRITAIN’S Martyn Rooney and Andy Turner have both been nominated for the European Athlete of the Month for May.
Martyn Rooney, the 21-year-old Loughborough student achieved his nomination by recording the fastest 400m by a European this season with a new lifetime best of 45.19secs set in Geneva. He also claimed victory at the prestigious Accenture Loughborough International in 45.46.
European and Commonwealth bronze medallist Andy Turner helped spearhead Sale Harriers Manchester promotion winning victory at the European Champions Clubs Cup in Spain and also ran the fastest 110m Hurdles so far this year by a European athlete in Doha with 13.41 clocking to take third place.
The outdoor track & field season kicked off with a bang in May with a number of European Athletics Permit & Premium meetings along with some IAAF Grand Prix meetings taking place throughout the month.
Following this, European Athletics is pleased to announce that athletes from 16 countries have been nominated for the European Athlete of the Month Award for May.
At the end of each month, a panel of experts produce a shortlist of the outstanding athletes and performances achieved by European Athletes during that month which is emailed to the European Athletics media and thousands of fans who have already signed up to receive news from European Athletics.
The poll is situated in the Fan Zone of the European Athletics website and both the public, the media and a group of expert statisticians will cast their votes with each category counting as 33.3% of the vote. For example, the winner of the each poll will be awarded 10 pts, second 9 pts etc and the athlete with the most points after the 3 different polls have been counted will be declared the winner. In the unlikely event of a tie, Hansjörg Wirz, the President of European Athletics, will have the casting vote.
OF all athletics events, the Men’s 100metres is undoubtedly the highest profile - hence the impact of Usain ‘Lightning’ Bolt’s world record-breaking 9.72 seconds in New York last weekend, outclassing top American Tyson Gay in the process.
Latest in a line of Jamaican superstar sprinters, Bolt won the World Under 20’s title when only 15 years old, but has since been better known at 400 metres, his 100 metres best being before this year being ‘only’ 10.03secs. Suddenly he is clear favourite for Olympic gold in Beijing, possibly rendering irrelevant the saga of whether Britain’s Dwain Chambers will or will not ultimately compete there.
Stirring performances are now occurring almost everywhere, with Loughborough athletes as ever to the fore – recently among them a new UK Steeplechase record by ex-College student Barbara Parker (9mins 37.08s) in Indianapolis, personal bests in Geneva at 100 metres by James Desaoilu (10.20s) and Leon Baptiste (10.26s), and at 400 metres by Martyn Rooney (1st in 45.18s from training partner David Gillick 45.36s), and a 23.16s 200m from Lee McConnell, which she followed with a UK 2008 fastest 51.64s for 400m.
Then last Sunday at the BIG Bedford Games came Olympic ‘B’ qualifying marks at High Jump for Robbie Grabarz and Samson Oni, both clearing 2.27m and narrowly failing the ‘A’ standard 2.30m. Also at Bedford were 5 further field victories by Loughborough athletes: Emeka Udechuku (60.48m Discus), Mike Allen (74.75m Javelin), Stephanie Pywell (1,85m High Jump), Becky Peake 16.13pb Shot), and Rosie Sementysh (49.04pb Javelin), plus 2nd and 3rd for Udechuku (18.42m) and Kieran Kelly (17.89pb Shot), 2nd places for Jamie Stevenson (Junior Shot) and Emma Bailey (100m), and 3rd for Dominic Girdler (110m Hurdles), Steve Small (Long Jump), Gemma Werrett (100m Hurdles), and Sarah Holt (Hammer).
On the middle-distances scene, Loughborough’s Lisa Dobriskey (2nd at 1500m in 4:10.86) and Charlotte Best (6th 800m in 2:04.03) were foiled in bids for Olympic qualifying times by strong winds in Belgrade. But just 2 days later in perfect conditions at the Manchester BMC Grand Prix, there were impressive 2nd placings for Chris Warburton (3:42.34s 1500m) and Emily Pidgeon (16:13.49s 5000m), along with notable personal bests from Oliver Blake (1:49.60s 800m), Frank Baddick (3:46.56) and Joe MacDonald (3:46.59) both at 1500m, Abby McGhee (2:11.25 at 800m), and Lucy O’Gorman (4:24.07 at 1500m).
Manchester also produced the season’s first major domestic when Liverpool’s Vicky Griffiths (ranked only 6th last year) defeated Olympic-qualified Jenny Meadows at 800m (2:00.40) with Loughborough’s Charlotte Best’ 3rd (2:02.16), half a second outside her bronze medal time at last year’s World University Games.
The battle for Olympic places is now hotting up, and nowhere more than at Women’s 800m, with Meadows (above) already qualified along with Marilyn Okoro and Jemma Simpson, but big challenges mounting from Griffiths, Best (above), and Welsh star Amanda Pritchard who clocked 2:00.82 in Zarragoza last weekend – not forgetting Loughborough graduate Becky Lyne who was 2006 European Championships silver medallist and has recently recovered from injury.
WORLD junior bronze medallist Martyn Rooney continued his impressive run of form by winning the 400m in a new lifetime best of 45.19secs at the European Athletics Permit meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.
The 21-year-old Loughborough student finished ahead of his Irish training partner and reigning double European indoor gold medallist David Gillick who recorded 45.65.
In other events Tyrone Edgar flew to a massive personal best over 100 metres in the altitude of the Swiss Alps - clocking 10.65secs to move him to sixth place on the United Kingdom all-time list level with Marlon Devonish.
There were also new personal bests set by Loughborough-based Leon Baptiste (10.26) and James Dasaolu (10.30).
Former European silver medallist and Loughborough University Sports scholar Lee McConnell won her second international victory of the outdoor season with a time of 51.64secs over the 400m.
The 29-year-old Scot fresh from her victory at THALES FBK-Games in Hengelo the previous week followed this by winning the 200m with a new lifetime best of 23.16 - the fastest time by a British athlete this year. Victoria Barr also set a PB in the 400m with 52.44.
Former Commonwealth champion Larry Achike won the Triple Jump competition as the 33-year-old produced a winning leap of 17.20m - well within the Olympic 'A' qualifying standard.
Loughborough graduate Sara McGreavy clocked a season's best of 13.28secs to finish second over the 100m Hurdles.
FORMER Loughborough student Andy Baker representing the Indianapolis based Butler University placed 11th in the Men's 5,000 metre run at the 2008 NCAA Division I Outdoor Mideast Regional on Friday (May 30th) at the University of Arkansas at John McDonnell Field.
Baker produced Butler's top finish at the regional meeting, which featured the top Division I competitors in the Mideast. The British Under-23 international crossed the finish line in a time of 14mins 30.82secs, narrowly missing a "Top 10" finish by just under seven-tenths of a second. Jacob Korir of Eastern Kentucky won the event in 14:03.43.
Fellow British athletes at Butler, Junior Rachel Gibbs (Bedford) came in 15th in the Women’s 5,000m with a time of 17:30.17, whilst, Senior Claire Holme (Ipswich) failed to finish the race.
THE full results of the LSAC v Army v British Police Challenge Match that was held on Wednesday 28th May at the Loughborough University track are listed below:
Full Results:
Men
Mens 400m Hurdles Match
--Draper-Mark-Loughborough Students--1--56.69
--Climpson-John-Army--2--60.53
--Shaw-Chris-Army Guest--3--61.02
--Dunn-George-British Police--4--62.53
--Flavell-Paul-Army--5--64.57
--MAWDESLEY-Ian-British Police--6--65.92
Mens 800m Match
--Warburton-Chris-Loughborough Students--1--1:51.85
--Coltherd-Mike-Loughborough Students--2--1:53.30
--CLARKE-Paul-British Police--3--1:58.89
--REED-Simon-British Police--4--2:02.76
--Osadutey-Cfn-Army--5--2:16.11
--Pieterse-Vlriche-Army--6--2:18.96
Mens 800m Guest Race A
--Macdonald-Joe-LSAC--1--1:53.81
--Frey-Warren-Guest--2--1:54.63
--Warley-Matt-LSAC--3--1:55.13
--Burkhart-Phil-LSAC--4--1:55.19
--Whittle-Rob-LSAC--5--1:55.37
--Samuels-Nick-LSAC--6--1:55.92
--Ryan-Dan-LSAC--7--1:56.64
--Coombes-Sam-LSAC--8--1:58.62
--Lumley-Ed-LSAC--9--1:58.90
Mens 800m Guest Race B
--Mariani-Andrew-LSAC--1--1:59.19
--Street-Peter-LSAC--2--2:01.59
--Wall-Clarke-Alex-LSAC--3--2:02.21
--Braybrook-Darren-LSAC--4--2:03.20
--Marron-Daniel-Leeds Uni--5--2:03.72
--Hall-David-Guest--6--2:05.06
--Foy-Seb-LSAC--7--2:17.80
--Frith-Ian-LSAC--8--2:18.82
--Hilless-Adam-LSAC--9--2.19.83
Mens 100m Match-0.8 m/s
--Mbriu-Gilbert-Army--1--10.74
--ELLIS-Ben-British Police--2--10.79
--Judson-Paul-Loughborough Students--3--11.07
--Green-Will-Loughborough Students--4--11.18
--McSween-David-Army--5--11.50
--WEBSTER-Paul-British Police--6--11.65
Mens 100m Guest Race A-0.7 m/s
--Swan-Pat-LSAC--1--11.03
--Scott-Luke-LSAC--2--11.21
--Ogun-Sanya-Martin-LSAC--3--11.23
--Wombell-Simon-LSAC--4--11.72
--Akinmolaise-Denis-LSAC--5--11.91
--Dwain-Leurent-Guest--6--12.56
Mens 400m Match
--Martin-Dave-Loughborough Students--1--49.53
--Judson-Paul-Loughborough Students--2--49.72
--Olusile-David-Army--3--50.58
--Ansenso-Rubin-Army--4--54.63
Mens 400m Guest Race A
--Burkhart-Phil-Loughborough Students--1--51.85
--Warren-Frey-Guest--2--51.97
--Garside-Mike-Loughborough Students--3--53.07
--Ryan-Dan-Loughborough Students--4--53.09
--Boskovic-Simon-Loughborough Students--5--58.41
Mens 110m Hurdles Match-0.9 m/s
--Okorafo-Lee-Army--1--15.64
--Hood-Nick-Army--2--17.42
--MAWDESLEY-Ian-British Police--3--19.20
Mens 200m Match-0.3 m/s
--ELLIS-Ben-British Police--1--21.5
--Swan-Pat-Loughborough Students--2--22.2
--Little-Nick-Loughborough Students--3--22.6
--Hardy-Lee-Army--4--23.8
--Cadrie-Cargill-Army--5--23.9
--WEBSTER-Paul-British Police--6--23.9
Mens 200m Guest Race A-0.4 m/s
--Stott-Luke-LSAC--1--22.27
--Cash-Dan-LSAC--2--22.35
--Hawkes-Glyn-LSAC--3--22.60
--Boskovic-Simon-LSAC--4--23.13
--Okoraf-Lee-Army Guest--5--23.74
Mens 200m Guest Race B-0.4 m/s
--Musa-Adu-Army Guest--1--22.58
--Ogun-Sanya-Martin-LSAC--2--23.03
--Wright -Chester-Army Guest--3--23.80
--Nazarus-Joseph-Army Guest--4--23.86
--Frey-Warren-Guest--5--24.14
Mens 1500m Guest
--Kerr-Shane-LSAC--1--4:07.60
--Fairbourn-James-LSAC--2--4:07.94
--Rigby-David-LSAC--3--4:08.12
--Worthington-Peter-LSAC--4--4:08.50
--Wall-Clarke-Alex-LSAC--5--4:11.15
--Smale-Peter-LSAC--6--4:11.82
--Braybrook-Darren-LSAC--7--4:31.66
--Grace-Matt-Bourne Town Harriers--8--4:38.27
Mens 1500m Match
--Coltherd-Mike-Loughborough Students--1--3.56.08
--Doe-Tom-Lincoln Wellington AC--2--3.56.22
--Barrett-Myles-Loughborough Students--3--3.57.57
--WILLIAMS-Martin-British Police--4--3.58.02
--MILLER-James-British Police--5--4.02.00
--Harper-Richard-LSAC--6--4.06.21
--Silvera-Kevin-Army--7--4.42.10
--Pieterse-Vlriche-Army--8--4.51.36
Mens 4 x 100m Relay Match
--0-0-Loughborough Students--1--42.77
--0-0-Army--2--43.54
3,000m Combined Match
--TUCKER-Pete-British Police--1--9.00.65
--McCormack-Aidan-Loughborough Students--2--9.10.95
--Lewis-Martin-Charnwood AC--3--9.39.44
--Hall-Tim-Loughborough Students--4--9.46.46
Mens 4 x 400m Relay Match
--0-0-Army--1--3:56.8
--0-0-Army Guests--2--34:04.2
High Jump
--Thomas-Jaime-Lboro Students--1--1.95m
--Ringel-Peter-Lboro Students--2--1.90m
--Winthrop-Headley-LSAC--3--1.90m
--Lashly-Andrew-Army--4--1.90m
--Field-Ekachai-LSAC--5--1.85m
--Hazarius-Joseph-Army--6--1.80m
--Hood-Nick-Army Guest--7--1.80m
Long Jump
--Field-Ekachi-LSAC--1--6.60m
--Pickup-Bradley-Lboro Students--2--6.45m
--Okorafo-Lee-Army--3--6.18m
--Hood-Nick-Army--4--5.14m
Triple Jump
--Field-Ekachai-Lboro Students--1--13.60m
--Blackeett-Daniel-Lboro Students--2--13.08m
--Silvera-Kevin-Army--3--11.44m
--Shaw-Chris-Army--4--10.94m
Pole Vault
--Gent-Luke-Lboro Students--1--3.30m
--Pierpoint-Michael-Lboro Students----NH
Shot Putt
--Udechuku-Emeka-Lboro Students--1--17.26m
--Wiseman-Mark-Army--2--14.60m
--Leitch-Mark-Army--3--14.05m
--Hemery-Adrian-Lboro Students--4--11.94m
--Stevenson (Junior 6Kg)-Jamie-LSAC----17.82m
Discus
--Udechuku-Emeka-Lboro Students--1--60.40m
--Gouldbourne-Marcus-Guest--2--55.45m
--Wiseman-Mark-Army--3--53.57m
--Scott-Chris-Lboro Students--4--49.45m
--Greaves-Dan-LSAC--5--45.46m
--Wearing-Mark-Army--6--36.87m
--Cameron-Claire-Police--7--34.46m
--Hemery-Adrian-LSAC--8--32.46m
Javelin
--Hemery-Adrian-Lboro Students--1--54.85m
--Wearing-Mark-Army--2--50.80m
--Okoroafo-Lee-Army--3--49.41m
Hammer
--Pearson-John-LSAC--1--59.00m
--CARELESS-Rob-British Police--2--55.62m
--Hyland-Luke-Lboro Students--3--44.94m
--Wiseman-Mark-Army Guest--4--42.13m
--Windley-Andy-Lboro Students--5--39.77m
Match Result:
1 Loughborough Students 170pts, 2 Army 111pts, 3 British Police 56pts
Women
Womens 400m Hurdles Match
--Davies-Kathryn-Loughborough Students--1--66.40
--Cartwright-Julia-Army--2--67.50
--Holmes-Emma-Loughborough Students--3--68.27
--Barter-Hannah-Army--4--70.40
Womens 800m Match
--Snook-Alex-Loughborough Students--1--2:15.9
--Heighway-Emma-Leigh-Loughborough Students--2--2:16.6
--McGhee-Aisling-LSAC--3--2:18.7
--Lavender-Ali-LSAC--4--2:22.0
--Francis-Natalie-Army--5--2:36.6
Womens 100m Match-0.5 m/s
--Adams-Sarah-Loughborough Students--1--12.18
--ARCHER-Rachel-British Police--2--13.33
--Walker-Paula-Army--3--13.84
--Edwards-Darci-Army--4--14.12
--Kiff-Michelle-Loughborough Students--5--14.28
Womens 400m Match Race A
--Furlong-Brona-Dublin Uni--1--55.17
--Syrocki-Bec-Loughborough Students--2--57.36
--YOUDEN-Nicky-British Police--3--58.42
--StHelen-Charles-Silvren-Army--4--64.13
Womens 400m Match Race B
--Kirkham-Kaye-LSAC--1--61.41
--McGhee-Abbey-Lboro Students--2--61.64
--Hutchins-Naomi-LSAC--3--61.82
--Heighway-Emma-Leigh-LSAC--4--63.46
--Barter-Hannah-Army--5--64.01
--Archer-Rachel-British Police--6--67.58
Womens 100m Hurdles Match-1.3 m/s
--Vinet-Andrea-Loughborough Students--1--14.35
--Jacobs-Cusack-Tanya-Army--2--18.98
--Barter-Hannah-Army--3--20.89
Womens 200m Match-1.2 m/s
--Youden-Nicky-British Police--1--26.70
--Vinet-Andrea-Loughborough Students--2--27.23
--Walker-Paula-Army--3--28.52
--Edwards-Darci-Army--4--29.47
Womens 1500m Match
--Gibson-Ashley-LSAC--1--4.29.08
--O'Gorman-Lucy-Loughborough Students--2--4.29.30
--Maude-Sarah-Loughborough Students--3--4.32.73
--Mensley-Claire-Charnwood AC--4--4.37.69
--Milner-Kirsty-LSAC--5--4.41.75
--Parkinson-Sara-LSAC--6--4.43.42
--Lomas-Katie-LSAC--7--4.44.83
--Ledger-Jodie-LSAC--8--4.54.91
--Demant-Estelle-LSAC--9--4.59.71
Womens 4 x 100m Relay Match
--0-0-Army--1--55.46
3,000m Match
--Gray-Natalie-Loughborough Students--1--9.42.53
--Clark-Tamsin-Army--2--10:28.34
--Morgan-Shan-Army--3--10:29.16
Womens 4 x 400m Relay Match
--0-0-Loughborough Students--1--4:07.20
--0-0-Army--2--4:24.70
Womens High Jump
--Breaks-Nicola-Lboro Students--1--1.55m
--Cartwright-Julia-Army--2--1.50m
--Jacobs-Cusack-Tanya-Army--3--1.35m
Womens Long Jump
--Cartwright-Julia-Army--1--4.78m
--Breaks-Nicola-Lboro Students--2--4.65m
--Henderson-Lisa-LSAC--3--4.55m
--Walker-Paula-Army--4--4.54m
--Amoss-Caroline-LSAC--5--4.49m
--Brown-Emma-Lboro Students--6--4.20m
Womens Pole Vault
--Chase-Ncole-Lboro Students--1--2.85m
Womens Shot
--Peake-Rebecca-Lboro Students--1--15.70m
--Wallader-Rachel-Rugby & Northampton--2--13.69m
--Walker-Paula-Army--3--10.43m
--Breaks-Nicola-Lboro Students--4--9.96m
--CAMERON-Claire-British Police--5--9.29m
--Beardmore-Gina-Army--6--7.83m
Womens Discus
--Cameron -Claire-Police Guest----34.46m
Womens Hammer
--Cameron-Claire-Police Guest----29.38m
Match Result:
1 Loughborough Students 131pts, 2 Army 93pts, 3 British Police 30pts
Overall Match Result:
1 Loughborough Students 301pts, 2 Army 204pts, 3 British Police 86pts
LOUGHBOROUGH student Robbie Grabarz set a new personal best of 2.26 metres to win the Men's High Jump competition at the EAP 17è Míting Internacional d’Atletisme Meeting in Palafrugal, Spain, on Saturday (24th May).
The 20-year-old junior British international athlete from the Bedford club, winner of the High Jump at the recent Accenture Loughborough International with a leap of 2.19m in windy conditions, finished ahead on count back to the Ukraine's Viktor Shapoval to surpass his previous best of 2.22m set almost three-years ago at a Southern Area Premier League fixture.
ANDY TURNER with victory in the 110m Hurdles helped guide the United Kingdom’s national men's champions, the City of Manchester AC, to promotion to the elite group ‘A’ of the European Champion Clubs Cup in Villa Real St Antonio, Spain.
Turner, the 27-year-old former Loughborough student and 2006 Gothenburg European bronze medallist, clocked a time of 13.72secs in a –3.6 wind to finish ahead of Maccabi Tel-Aviv’s Michael Illin (14.53) and third placed Serbian Nenad Loncar of AC Crvena Beograd (14.87) to gain the 8 maximum individual points, he then followed this by victory in the 200m in 21.18secs, as Manchester finish top of the team standings to regain promotion to the top tier of European athletics.
Turner’s time was outside of his season's best of 13.41 set at the recent Qatar IAAF Super Grand Prix in Doha. The Manchester team with a combined total of 126.5 points return to Group ‘A’ next year along with Israel's Maccabi Tel-Aviv (117).
Team Results:
1 City of Manchester (GBR) 126.5pts, 2 Maccabi Tel-Aviv (ISR) 117pts, 3 Sparta Copenhagen (DEN) 108pts, 4 AC Crvena Beograd (SRB) 85pts, 5 GG Bern (SUI) 74pts, 6 Jyväskylän Kenttäurheilijat (FIN) 70pts, 7 Phanos Amsterdam (NED) 69pts, 8 North Down (IRL) 58.5
Abby Westley
1500m Gold medallist
Laura Kenney
5,000m Gold Medallist
Chris Rawlinson pictured with his wife Jana - Australia's World and Commonwealth 400m Hurdles champion
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4 July 2008 – Stockholm, Sweden – A clash between Usain Bolt, Jamaica’s World record holder in the 100 metres and his fellow countryman, the former World record holder Asafa Powell, is set for the DN Galan - IAAF World Athletics Tour - on 22 July at Stockholm’s Olympic Stadium.
4 July 2008 - Nairobi, Kenya - Commonwealth Games Champion Lucy Wangui Kabuu won the 10,000 metres final on a cool sunny morning during the first day of the Kenyan trials for the Beijing Olympics today at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi.