Manchester hosted the UK Athletics event which served as a qualifying tournament for the Paris Olympics 2024. The mandatory rainy weather in Manchester had already been evident since early in the morning but after the recent 3 days of “summer”, the cooler climate no doubt helped the track participants, probably less so those in the field events.
The spirit of the occasion was highlighted by Christopher Snook in the 5k men’s walk. Occupying the same track space as the 10k walkers, Snoop moved across from the inside lane to allow Callum Wilkinson to stride towards a place in Paris.
So Snook got his gold and Wilkinson celebrated his joy at earning a shot at an Olympic title.
The near capacity crowds on both days provided bags of support for all the athletes, providing the rhythmic clapping to support javelin throwers, triple jumpers or just to cheer on people they had connections with. This was warmth was reciprocated by the competitors who willingly signed the outstretched autograph books and programmes.
There were plenty of spills, thrills and excitement over the two days at the Manchester arena, with many of the participants fancying their chances of claiming a place on a plane, train or boat to Paris.
One exciting prospect is Phoebe Gill, who at the age of 17, will be able to win the “What are you doing this summer holiday?” competition with her school mates. Unhampered with high expectations, she romped home in the 800m race to win gold and mix being an Olympian with school work.
Others set Championship records, such as Phil Norman in the 3000m steeplechase. Yet that success was tainted with disappointment as he missed out on the qualifying time by a mere fraction of a second.
There was further controversy involving Alastair Chalmers, who was initially disqualified as the 400m hurdles runners lined up, for a false start. He continued to run under protest, and stormed home with a personal best time of 48.53s. His determination was ultimately rewarded when his challenge was upheld and the gold medal awarded.
Showing that “sport is for all”, the event also included a women 400m wheelchair race, won by Samantha Kinghorn, along with 100/1500m ambulant races, for individuals who have a physical disability that affects their mobility but are still able to walk.
Over in the pole vault women’s Molly Caudery maintained her run of good form for the season with a 4.73 clearance, to win the competition and delight all her supporters.
With plenty of youngsters in the crowd, it was illuminating of this family friendly event that as soon as the athletes had finished a race, they immediately went across to help the crowd, signing autographs and have selfies taken with their medals.
Elsewhere, Amber Anning pulled set a new championship record in the 400m of 50.47s.
With the sun being a major absentee over the 2 days, One surprising person to turn up was the legendary Carl Lewis, who’s currently training Louis Hinchcliffe. Lewis looked as though he could merely strip off and put on his racing boots and compete with all the other athletes present. It seems that Lewis is succeeding as a trainer with Hinchcliffe striding the 100m distance to secure a place in the team to Paris.
@Neil_Gourley
@MollyCaudery
Words & Images Ged Noonan @gedcamera
