Newyddion
Sam Gordon scorched the track in the summer sun last night, running 10.08 seconds to take the Welsh National 100m title
15/07/2019 00:00, I Mewn
Sam Gordon (Matt Elias) scorched the track in the summer sun last night, running 10.08 seconds to take the Welsh National 100m title. The wind assisted time is the fastest any Welshman has ever been recorded running, and although won’t stand as an official record, shows that Sam, and his coach Matt Elias’s bid to be the first Welshman under 10 seconds is on track.
Sam commented: “I’m so happy, I’m a bit speechless. We’ve put in a lot hard work since the indoor season and its really starting to show, running this time with all the boys running well too is what it’s all about.”
In what is a long season, Sam’s attention will now turn to preparations for the British Championships in August and a potential 4x100m relay spot for the World Champs in Doha in October.
The crowds came out in the sun to support Wales’ top athletes at the Welsh Track and Field Championships at Cardiff International Sports Stadium, Cardiff, in the presence of Olympic legend Lynn Davies, the athletes didn’t disappoint. With over half of last year’s champions returning to reclaim their titles and new talent rising through the ranks, the events were both excited and thrilling to watch.
In the Men’s Hammer we saw Cardiff Athletics’ Jac Palmer (Adrian Palmer) go over 70m for the first time to take the win just ahead of Commonwealth Thrower, Osian Jones (Carys Parry). The throw of 70.01m puts Jac second in the all-time Welsh rankings, behind Osian and ahead of the great Shaun Pickering, who was on hand to hand out the medals.
Commonwealth athletes Bethan Davies (Andi Drake) and Heather Lewis (Martin Bell) went head to head in the 5km Race Walk with Heather taking the title with a new personal best of 21:41. Both ladies are looking towards qualifying for Doha later in the year and are looking in strong form to book their place. Their commonwealth teammate Ieuan Thomas (James Thie), stepping away from his preferred 3000m steeplechase event in these champs, took the gold in 1500m after a close-run race all the way around with fellow Gold Coast athlete, Rowan Axe (Craig Winrow). Not far behind them was youngster Benjamin Reynolds (Arwyn Davies), who just last week broke the Welsh School Championship Record.
In the women’s 1500m, parkrun record holder Charlotte Arter went up against reigning Welsh Champion Jade Williams (Vicente Modhal). In a strong field, they battled it out with Jade coming through in the final 100m to retain her title in 4:26.51.
In the men’s high jump, John Bailey took the welsh win in 1.99m but the overall win went to Chris Baker (Graham Ravenscroft) who jumped a fantastic 2.27m, only just shy of the World Championships qualifying standard of 2.30m. In a strong field, they battled it out with Jade coming through in the final 100m to retain her title in 4:26.51.
In the women’s long jump, T38 Paralympic medallist, Olivia Breen (Aston Moore) jumped a new personal best of 4.88m , eclipsing her own Commonwealth Record set in the Gold Coast final last April, and showing that she is in strong form ahead of the Para World Athletics Championships in November.
The day closed with the most anticipated event of the weekend. The crowds were drawn from their seats to the edge of the stadium as they watched the men and women’s 100m finalists be introduced on the big screen. In the Women’s race both Hannah Williams (Darrell Maynard) and Mica Moore (Lawrence Moore) got great starts, but it was Hannah that dipped first and recorded the win in 11.78.
In the men’s race all eyes were on the former fastest man in Wales, Sam Gordon, who duly delivered , but so did the second and third placed athletes, with Makoye Kampengele (Joseph McDonnell) running 10.32 and Under 20 rising star Owain Lloyd-Hughes (Kevin Williams) clocking an impressive 10.40 – the following field taking advantage of the following wind to lay down quick times.
An excellent end to a weekend full of strong performances. It was not all about the athletes this weekend with Welsh Athletics running coaching workshops, ‘Meet and greet’ sessions, and Little Lions Athletics providing ‘give it a go activities’ for the next generation. This year’s championship really had something for everyone.
Full results can be found here