A gold medal for Adam Gemili in the men’s 200m brought the curtain down on yet another British Athletics Championships in Birmingham as the Olympic dream moved ever-closer for a number of athletes.
Athletes finishing in the top two at the Alexander Stadium, who have also achieved the qualification standard on two occasions this season, will be heading to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games later this summer – subject to selection and ratification by the British Olympic Association.
Gemili, who reached the 100m semi-finals at London 2012, crossed the line in 22.44 seconds, pipping Danny Talbot to the post by the width of his vest and just 0.2 seconds.
And after injury saw him ruled out of last year’s World Championships, Commonwealth Games silver medallist Gemili insists he couldn’t be happier to have moved one step closer to his Brazilian dream.
“I’m over the moon, it’s the best feeling in the world,” said the 22-year-old.
“There have been a lot of guys running very quick this year. I’m still not where I quite want to be in training so I’ve been using my races as training. I still hopefully have a lot more to show and get it right when it matters.
“There have been a lot of guys running very quick this year. I’m still not where I quite want to be in training so I’ve been using my races as training. I still hopefully have a lot more to show and get it right when it matters.
“You have to aim to be the best. If I don’t medal I’ll be quite disappointed and I think that’s the attitude you need to have.”
Meanwhile in the women’s equivalent, Dina Asher-Smith clocked a time of 23.11 to secure her first 200m British Championship title, finishing just two hundredths of a second ahead of Desiree Henry, while Matthew Hudson-Smith produced a scintillating run on his home track to win the 400m.
The 2014 European Champion set a season best of 44.88 seconds ahead of Rabah Yousef and Martyn Rooney, and insists he is thrilled to add a British title to his repertoire.
“It feels amazing,” he said. “It was a really strong field and we have some fantastic athletes which is great for our relay team.
“I knew what I was up against but I just wanted to go out there and execute my race. I’ve been watching this race since I was 12 so to become British Champion is crazy.”
European champion Eilidh Doyle stormed to her third British 400m hurdles title in an impressive 54.93 seconds, while Andrew Pozzi ran the race of his life in the 110m hurdles with a personal best time of 13.31 to secure his first British gold since 2012.
Laura Muir streaked away from the strong 1500m field over the remaining lap to defend her title with Laura Weightman finishing in second, and the men’s high jump was decided on countback as London 2012 bronze medallist Robbie Grabarz was awarded gold.
Elsewhere, Jazmin Sawyers produced a fine jump to secure gold with a distance of 6.72m in the final round, with defending champion Shara Proctor settling for silver.
Shelayna Oskan-Clarke passed Lynsey Sharp just metres from the line to bag her first British title in the 800m, while Emily Diamond won the 400m title in 51.94 seconds, just ahead of Seren Bundy-Davies.
The 400m hurdles was a close affair but Sebastian Rodger just edged the win ahead of Jack Green, while defending champion Charlie Grice secured 1500m gold and Steph Twell finished first in the women’s 5000m.
On the field, Chris Bennett prevailed in the men’s hammer, Rachel Wallader, Jo Blair and Jade Lally won the women’s shot put, javelin and discus respectively and Luke Cutts did just enough to win the men’s pole vault title.
Sportsbeat 2016