Hurdler Andrew Pozzi continued his strong start to the season as he equalled the world lead and broke the stadium record on the way to retaining his title at the British Indoor Team Trials in Sheffield.
Pozzi was one of a number of Rio Olympians in action at Sheffield’s English Institute of Sport and he delivered when it mattered most.
The 24-year-old, who made the semi-finals in Rio, clocked a time of 7.44 in the heats to break the stadium record before coming home a clear winner in the final in a time of 7.51.
Second fastest qualifier David Omoregie and Edirin Okoro were both disqualified for false starts at the first time of asking, with David King eventually taking silver in 7.76 and Jake Porter bronze in 7.86.
And with the European Athletics Indoor Championships taking place in Belgrade next month, Pozzi was happy with how his preparations were coming along.
“I was slow to get going in that final; I didn’t get into my stride until hurdle three – maybe that was down to being sat in the blocks for what seemed a little while after the DQ,” he said.
“I‘m really happy with the times I’ve put together today, now the main aim is to try and win the championships in Belgrade. I’ve got the quick times under my belt, so it’s about reproducing that type of form come the championships.”
Elsewhere there was a surprise winner in the men’s 60m final as Andrew Robertson stormed to his first British title in 6.57 seconds.
There had been drama at the start of the race when Richard Kilty was disqualified for a false start, with Theo Etienne bagging silver inside the European qualifying mark of 6.59 while Dwain Chambers picked up bronze.
In the women’s final, Asha Philip secured her fourth British title in a time of 7.19 seconds, leaving her looking towards the European Indoor Championships with confidence.
“I want a medal – I say I don’t care what colour I want but obviously I’d love the gold. No one wants to be second best. I’m good enough to do it so that will be my target,” she said.
“I am really pleased with my times today – I’ve hit everything that I wanted to do. Me and my coach discussed times which we wanted for each round and I hit every single one, so I am pleased with how I have raced throughout the day.”
There were also wins for Shelayna Oskan-Clark who took her first British Indoor 800m title having finished second on two previous occasions, while Eilish McColgan passed her fellow Scot Steph Twell just metres before the line to take the 3000m title.
The high jump competition ended with joint gold medallists after Morgan Lake and Bethan Partridge couldn’t be separated on 1.89m.
Lake said: “It is nice to share the podium with my training partner and I am fairly pleased with my series. I’m happy I got the qualifying standard last week, it took the pressure off today’s competition so I knew what I had to achieve on the day.”
Jade Ive celebrated her first British title in the pole vault after clearing a lifetime best 4.35m to go sixth on the UK all-time list, while Nathan Fox needed just one effort to win the men’s triple jump in 16.53m although Dan Bramble left it to his sixth and final jump to secure his third British title in the high jump – 7.80m earning him the win ahead of decathlete Ashley Bryant.
And finally, Rachel Wallader won the women’s shot put ahead of Sophie McKinna after throwing a penultimate round 17.43m.
Sportsbeat 2017