1st September 2020
BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND UPDATE - 01/09/20
4J Studios Open Series 5, Meadowmill, 29-30 August
Kayleigh Haggo (club: Ayr Seaforth) opened up her 2020 season by setting the RR2 200m world record, clocking 37.75s (0.9) as she took third place in the mixed race.
Over two laps of the track, defending British 1500m champion Neil Gourley (Ben Thomas; Giffnock North) stepped up his speed work with a comfortable 800m success in 1:53.24, more than a second-and-a-half clear of Michael Ferguson (Mark Pollard; Aberdeen) in second, clocking 1:55.00.
In the field, Commonwealth Games finalist Holly McArthur (Allan Scott; Edinburgh AC) added 45cm onto her previous shot put best as she threw the implement out to 12.38m, adding to her 12.08s (0.0) 100m PB from the previous day.
❕NEW WORLD RECORD❕200m 37.75 😆😆😆
Great start to a short but exciting 2020 season.
Thanks @scotathletics for a fun, inclusive and safe competition this weekend. pic.twitter.com/T6Nk7r58uH
— Kayleigh Haggo (@kayleigh_haggo) August 30, 2020
Irish Life Health Senior & U23 Championships, Dublin, Ireland, 29-30 August
Callum Wilkinson (Rob Heffernan; Enfield & Haringey) was in record-breaking form as he smashed the British 10,000m race walk record at the Irish Championships, breaking Ian McCombie’s 31-year record with a 39:52.05 clocking.
Wilkinson dominated from start to finish and shattered his own personal best, taking more than 30-seconds off his previous 10,000m track best and shaving more than 14 seconds off the previous record as he moved to the top of the all-time British rankings.
Unreal to take the British record on a savage blustery day in Dublin. Can’t even start to describe how great it is to be able to be racing https://t.co/Gb7mL4ZyeR
— Callum Wilkinson (@CWilko97) August 29, 2020
Newquay & Par AC HJ/PV Series, Par, 30 August
Molly Caudery (Stuart Caudery; Thames Valley) recorded a season’s best 4.15m as she took second position in the mixed pole vault competition in the South West of England. The effort adds three centimetres onto her previous best achieved in Loughborough a fortnight ago. Ollie Thorner (Toby Stevenson; Yeovil) took the competition win with a 4.55m clearance.
Bournemouth Throws Invitational, Bournemouth, 30 August
European Under-20 Championship hammer finalist Charlotte Payne (Paul Dickenson; Reading AC) climbed to third on the all-time British Under-20 rankings courtesy of a 62.53m effort as she took victory in Bournemouth.
Her winning distance adds 70cm onto her previous best, set at the Loughborough International last year and moves her within three-and-a-half metres of Sophie Hitchon’s British U20 record of 66.01m.
Payne also put nearly five metres on her discus personal best with a 48.32m effort that saw her finish second behind Phoebe Dowson (Mark Chapman; Bournemouth), who won with 51.27m. In the men’s equivalent, defending British champion Nic Percy (Vesteinn Hafsteinsson; Shaftesbury Barnet) claimed victory with a 61.57m effort.
Charnwood AC August Open, Loughborough, 30 August
Dan Greaves (John Godina; Charnwood), throwing the 1.75kg discus, recorded a 55.99m effort.
Victory in the women’s equivalent went the way of Jade Lally (Zane Duquemin; Shaftesbury Barnet) with a 58.39m throw, with Kirsty Law (Zane Duquemin; Sale Harriers Manchester) second with a 55.71m best effort.
On the track, World Para Athletics T38 100m finalist Ali Smith (Chris Zah; Guildford & Godalming) was a shade outside her season’s best with a 13.66s (-0.3) clocking, while World T38 100m silver medallist & European T38 100m & 200m champion Thomas Young (Joe McDonnell; Charnwood) clocked 11.46s (-0.2).
Folksam Grand Prix, Gothenburg, Sweden, 29 August
Daniel Rowden (Matt Yates; Woodford Green & Essex Ladies) notched the fastest men’s 800m time in the country this year and the fifth fastest globally with a measured run to win the Folksam Grand Prix in a personal best 1:44.74.
Rowden attacked the race hard and at the bell was perfectly poised, before kicking away off the final bend to break the arena record, and lower his own personal best by 0.23s. European Under-23 Championship 1500m silver medallist Piers Copeland (Bob Smith; Wimborne) knocked almost a second off his 800m PB as he took third in 1:46.24, with Guy Learmonth (Henry Gray; Lasswade) sixth in 1:46.32
Reigning British Indoor 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson (Trevor Painter; Leigh) lowered her personal best once again to 2:01.78 as she went toe-to-toe with world silver medallist Raevyn Rodgers.
Hodgkinson sat at the head of the chasing pack as the field took the bell, moving up to third position with just over 200m remaining before kicking to the front. In a sprint finish, it was Rodgers who took the spoils in 2:01.24, with the Leigh athlete second in the fifth-fastest outdoor time by a British Under-20 athlete. European indoor 800m finalist Mari Smith (Luke Gunn; Birchfield) took seventh in 2:05.65.
Fellow British Athletics Futures Programme star Amy Hunt (Joe McDonnell; Charnwood) recorded the third-fastest 100m time of her career as she took victory in 11.39 (1.8), with Melissa Courtney-Bryant (Rob Denmark; Poole AC) winning the women’s 1500m in 4:05.07, with Katie Snowden (Dan Stepney; Herne Hill) third in 4:09.63, with Rosie Clarke (Rob Denmark; Epsom & Ewell) seventh in 4:11.42.
A quartet of second-place finishes was led by Jazmin Sawyers (Lance Brauman; City of Stoke) with a third-round best of 6.59m (3.3) in the women’s long jump, with Holly Bradshaw (Scott Simpson; Blackburn) clearing 4.48m in the women’s pole vault ahead of Sophie Cook (Simpson; Birchfield) in third with 4.13m, Rabah Yousif (Carol Williams; Newham & Essex Beagles) running 46.56s over 400m and Lina Nielsen (Ryan Freckleton; Shaftesbury Barnet) running 57.61s over 400m hurdles.
Jonathan Davies (Luke Gunn; Reading AC) completed the Brits in action with season opener of 13:31.24 for ninth place in the 5000m final.
We're still buzzing from a brilliant night of athletics at last night's #FolksamGP 😁😍
Was Daniel Rowden's 800m PB the performance of the night?🔥
You can watch that race all over again here👇https://t.co/J5fg0ouI36
— Vinco (@VincoSport) August 30, 2020
Nottwil Race Days, 29-30 August, Switzerland
In wet conditions in Nottwil, Sammi Kinghorn (Red Star) and Richard Chiassaro (Jenni Banks; Harlow) were both in action.
Kinghorn, at her first competition of 2020, was a double-winner in the T53 100m and 400m races. The 2017 world champion over the shorter sprint opened with 18.03 (-2.3) and also clocked 57.82 over the 400m, a distance she will race over at the Muller British Athletics Championships on Friday evening.
For Chiassaro, the world bronze medallist was second in the T54 400m behind France’s Julien Casoli, clocking 49.04. He was third over 800m posting a time of 1:38.52 behind Marcel Hug and Casoli.
BMC Gold Standard, Lee Valley, London, 29 August
Elliot Giles (Jon Bigg; Birchfield) showcased his potential over 1500m with a season’s best 3:41.29 for victory. Giles and reigning indoor 1500m champion George Mills (Jon Bigg; Brighton Phoenix) went toe-to-toe for much of the race, but Giles held on to pip Mills by 0.21s.
In the women’s equivalent, Adelle Tracey (Craig Winrow; Guildford & Godalming) was just outside her personal bet with an effectively solo 1500m run, securing victory in 4:12.62, winning by almost five seconds from Beth Kidger (Joel Kidger; Brighton Phoenix).
Drake Blue Oval Showcase, Des Moines, Iowa, United States of America, 29 August
Matthew Hudson-Smith (Launce Brauman; Birchfield) stepped up his speed work with a 20.95s (1.8) 200m clocking in Iowa, good enough for third place in his heat and the fourth fastest time of the day.
Tiffany Porter (Jeff Porter; Woodford Green & Essex Ladies) continued her return to competitive 100m hurdles action following the birth of her daughter last July with her fastest legal time of the season, winning in 12.90s (0.9), the fastest time of the day. Sister Cindy Ofili (Jeff Porter; Woodford Green & Essex Ladies) took fourth place in her race in 13.22s (0.9).
Meeting National à thème de l’Est Lyonnais, Decines Charpieu, France, 29 August
In her first 3000m steeplechase of the year, Aimee Pratt (Vicente Modahl; Sale Harriers Manchester) clocked a personal best and world lead of 9:35.11 to take a 10-second victory. Pratt’s performance moves her up to sixth on the British all-time list as she took 3.8s off her previous best.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEfGHGvj_XW/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Night of the 800m PBs, Nuneaton, 28 August
World Para Athletics Under-20 T34 100m & 200m champion Zien Zhou (Job King; Coventry) took to the track for his first 800m race in almost exactly a year and showed little sign of rustiness as he romped to victory in 2:16.49.
Velká cena města Chebu, Cheb, Czech Republic, 27 August
Richard Kilty (Benke Blomkvist; Gateshead) took back-to-back second-places in the Czech Republic as he took to the track over 60m and 150m. Over 60m, Kilty clocked 6.76s (0.0), finishing just behind world 4x100m champion Mike Rodgers (USA), who clocked 6.70s.
It was an identical story over 150m as Kilty, racing in his first 150m in almost exactly a year, clocked 15.60s (-1.0), with Rodgers dipping to victory in 15.53s (-1.0).