Tonbridge Athletic Club will be well represented at this coming weekend’s British Championships and Olympic Trials, being held at Sports City Manchester. The athletic track stands in the shadows of the Manchester City football stadium, but will be the centre of attention over the three days, from Friday to Sunday.
Athletes were invited based on their performances from last year and this, with guaranteed British Olympic team selection available should anyone finish in the top two and have the necessary qualifying standard. After that one more athlete, per event, can be chosen, so long as they have the standard or have a suitable world ranking status.
From the Tonbridge contingent, 1500 metres runner James West is the only one with a personal best inside the Olympic Qualifying standard, although unfortunately for him, it was achieved last September, when the qualification window for such performances was closed. To have any chance of selection he would probably have to finish in the top three at these trials and also run inside the 3.35.00 time once again. Due to join West in the 1500 metres heats are Miles Weatherseed, Simon Coppard, Kieran Reilly and Sean Molloy, although he has been suffering with a hamstring injury. The 1500 metres heats take place on Friday evening, with the final the following day.
The Tonbridge decathletes, Lewis Church and Harry Kendall return to action, less than a month after placing first and second at the England Championships. They are currently ranked second and fourth in the UK this season, but someway short of the Olympic qualifying points total. The Decathlon starts on Friday and finishes on Saturday evening.
Chris Olley has flown back from San Francisco, where he currently lives and works, to contest the men’s 5000 metres. Olley last competed in the British Championships three years ago, finishing fifth on that occasion. The 5000 metres will be a straight final on Saturday afternoon.
The final Tonbridge athlete due to compete is Ben Murphy, who will start in the 800 metres, where he has improved his personal best to 1.48.84 this season. The heats of the men’s 800 metres take place on Saturday.
The championships are being shown live on the British Athletics YouTube Channel, across the three days.
The England under 20 and 23 championships took place at Bedford over the weekend, with Asha Root being the only Tonbridge athlete to qualify for a final. Root ran an impressive heat on Saturday, recording 56.80 and then came back for the final later in the day. She improved her time to 56.45 to finish an excellent fifth, just 0.06s away from her best-ever time.