The women’s 60m, one of the most highly anticipated events of the day, didn’t disappoint as Jodie Williams raced to victory and her first senior national title at the Aviva Indoor UK Trials and Championships.
In a stacked final which starred the UK’s top ranked trio - all of whom had clocked the qualifying standard for next month’s European Indoor Championships in Paris prior to this weekend’s competition - Williams clocked a lifetime best mark of 7.24 to take gold, the fastest time by a British athlete this year, but was pushed all the way by eventual runner-up Bernice Wilson who also recorded a PB.
“I’m feeling brilliant, it was amazing,” said the World junior 100m champion who was also presented with the £1000 award for “Aviva Outstanding Performance” of the day. “I couldn’t ask for more in my first senior race, I’m just so happy with how it turned out, especially with such a strong field today. I definitely think I can do something at the Europeans. I’m really excited.”
In the only endurance final of the day, in-form Helen Clitheroe, World Indoor Championships 1500m finalist 12 months ago, booked her place on to the Aviva GB & NI team for the European Indoor Championships with victory in the 3000m .
In maintaining her 100% record since returning for the UKA/London Marathon altitude training camp in Kenya, Clitheroe led from the gun but was tracked closely by Gemma Turtle who moved into pole position at the bell.
“I felt a real surge from the crowd as Gemma went passed me with 200m to go and it helped me go past her with 150m left,” she said, referencing her final attack on the back straight.
“I’m really pleased with that especially as I kept the training at a reasonable level this week knowing that I’ve got Birmingham next week – that’s a real opportunity to run in a faster paced race. It was a little bit of a risk and I didn’t run as fast as I did in Glasgow, but there wasn’t too much of a difference in terms of time and it was great to have a good race with Gemma. She was clipping my heels all the way round so I was really happy with the way I fought back.”
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Athletics: IPC World Championships – Day seven
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World and European heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis, in her first event of four over the course of the weekend, took victory in the women’s high jump with a best height of 1.88m.
In front of a sell-out home crowd in Sheffield, Ennis – who was pushed all the way by junior Isobel Pooley who exceeded her indoor best on two occasions en route to finishing second with 1.85m - bowed out of the competition after two no-jumps at 1.91m.
“I got a little bit of tightness in my ankle so I stopped at 1.88m,” she explained. “I was alright jumping on it, it wasn’t my take off leg, but I could just feel it towards the end and it was getting a bit tighter so I thought that there was no point pushing on and injuring myself.
“I’ll go and get some physio now and see how it is, and if it loosens off and it’s alright tomorrow, I’ll jump. At this stage I’m happy with the way everything is going; I’ve covered all the events going into the Europeans bar the 800m and I just want to stay injury free.”
She went on to finish seventh in the shot putt, an event won by current UK number one and Aviva UK outdoor champion Eden Francis with 15.85m.
Of those who progressed safely through the qualifying rounds on day one, the performances of Jenny Meadows and Kelly Sotherton – both safely through to the final of the women’s 400m – were among the most notable.
800m specialist Meadows, the World indoor champion, cruised through the rounds and was fastest in the semi finals with 53.50, while former Olympic heptathlon bronze medallist Sotherton, in her first competitive outing over 400m since 2008, qualified as second quickest with 54.28.
The first two eligible athletes in the Aviva Indoor UK Trials and Championships will be automatically selected for the European Indoor Championships provided they hold a UKA Qualification Standard within the UKA Qualification Period; the full selection policy - alongside day one results - are available on the UKA website: www.uka.org.uk
Kim Mogg, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
