Hannah England (Bud Baldaro) ensured the Aviva GB & NI team had a double celebration on the night with a superb performance in the women’s 1500m final to secure the silver medal.
England, who won the Aviva UK trials in a sprint finish against 2009 World silver medallist Lisa Dobriskey, went one better than her friend and domestic rival in making tonight’s final, and then equalled her achievement with a superb run that surprised many of the world’s top metric milers.
England who has promised so much since competing in the world juniors in Beijng back in 2006 has learned her trade throughout the years, but in 2011 appears to have gained the belief that she can indeed compete with the world’s best.
Hugging the kerb for much of the race she bided her time before moving out over the final 200m and unleashing her trademark kick as much of the rest of the field faded.
The Aviva On Camp with Kelly supported athlete – who has benefitted from the mentoring and guidance of Kelly Holmes in recent years – crossed the line in 4:05.68, behind USA’s Jennifer Barringer Simpson, after her superior sprint finish on the final run in.
“It sounds great - being World silver medallist! I’m so, so excited. I just wanted to do as well as I could and I told myself that every position counted and tried to stay calm. I’m really chuffed the way that I managed to execute the last 200m. I didn’t panic I just wanted to run as fast as I could,” she said “I’ve raced these girls a lot of times in different grands prix and I knew that if the race played into my hands I knew I could do something like this. I kept that belief alive and didn’t put any pressure on myself. “Kelly (Holmes) has been great. She set her alarm for 2.30am for the first round. She has been texting me every round and given me nice little snippets to keep my confidence up!” Earlier in the evening, in the women’s triple jump final, Yamile Aldama (Frank Attoh) began strongly setting a season’s best of 14.50m in her opening round, a mark that saw her safely ensconced in the upper echelons of the leader board for the competition and easily making the cut for the final three jumps.
But frustratingly for the 39-year-old, she could not control her run up over the next four attempts to improve on that mark and her 14.33m final round effort did not improve her position. Still, finishing her debut competition for the Aviva GB & NI team in fifth place ensured Aldama had a memorable experience in Daegu, and she spoke positively after her competition:
“I tried my best and after the first round I thought I could get a medal but it was not to be,” she conceded
“I have been out of shape for two or three years and maybe it caught up with me. I am not 100% satisfied, but happy and it was amazing to compete in a British vest!”
Finally, following her superb lifetime best ran in this morning’s heats, Anyika Onuora (Lloyd Cowan) was seventh in a highly competitive 200m semi final heat won in 22.46 by American Shalonda Solomon. Onuora, running from lane two however still put in a solid performance with 23.08 – her third fastest time ever over the half-lap sprint, and for her a real confidence boost in the build up to 2012:
“I've used this as a platform, a huge stepping stone into next year. It’s fantastic to be out there competing in the stadium - I imagine it to be like that in 2012. I definitely want to produce more in the next 12 months.
“I only came out here on a B standard, so to come and run 22 in the Championship means I'm in good shape and I think there is a lot more to come.”
World Championship action featuring Aviva GB & NI team members continues on Friday morning and includes, amongst others, Sophie Hitchon (Derek Evely) in the women’s hammer qualifying, Tiffany Porter in the women’s 100m hurdles heats
