Sophie Hitchon exceeded her own UK junior record with 66.01m to take an outstanding hammer gold for the Aviva Great Britain and Northern team on the penultimate day of competition at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Moncton, Canada. Meanwhile, Holly Bleasdale delivered against her world ranking with a brilliant pole vault bronze.
Hitchon, took the global hammer title with her sixth, and final throw of the day to become the first British athlete to win gold in a GB vest. Hitchon commented on her success saying, “I’m exhausted but so excited. It’s so amazing, it’s unbelievable, words cannot explain how I feel right now. My grandparents are here watching and they’re a great help to me and my mum and dad will be back at home excited, they’ll be jumping up and down!”
Ranked fourth in the world coming into the competition, Hitchon saw world leader Yirisleydi Ford from Cuba go out in qualification after three no-throws, but it was her rivalry with Slovakia’s Barbra Spiler that set the competition alight today.
……………………………………………………………………………
Related stories:
Athletics: IAAF World Juniors day one
Athletics: Team GB Youth Olympic Games squad selected
IAAF World Junior Championships
…………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………….
“I thought after qualifying that I had a really good chance of winning, but I wanted to stay calm and just focus on the day because anything can happen in a final,” Hithon said. “The fact that I was neck and neck with the Slovenian all the way through made it a really good competition and really drove me forward. I don’t think it’s going to sink in at all!”
Bleasdale, third-equal ranked in the world coming into Moncton, gave a fantastic on-field effort and cleared 4.15m for bronze while Aviva GB & NI team mate Sally Scott finished ninth with 3.80m.
Talking about her bronze, Bleasdale said, “It went really well, I’m so happy. There was a tough cross wind and I had a couple of scares, but it’s amazing, I wasn’t sure I’d get a medal.”
She eventually went out after two failures at 4.20m, passing her third for a failed attempt at 4.25m.
So on the final day of the IAAF World Junior Championships, with the medals added by the girls on day six, and after some great performances from the British male athletes as well, the Aviva Great Britain and Northern Ireland medal total finishes at 8 (two gold, two silver and four bronze) – the best result since 1994.
Team Leader, Kevin Tyler summed up, “It’s the second best ever performance by a British team at a World Junior Championships and it’s probably one of the deepest quality junior teams we’ve ever had. I think there are a number of medals left on the table in a couple of instances, but we’ve got an amazing amount of talent on this team.”
Poppy Bending Beckett, Sportsister,
The Women’s Sports Magazine
