Friday, 28 February 2014

Katarina Johnson-Thompson breaks British high jump record

Katarina Johnson-Thompson
Heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson set a new British high jump record at the British Indoor Championships.
The 21-year-old cleared 1.96m in Sheffield to beat a record which had been held by Debbie Marti since 1997.
James Dasaolu defended his men's 60m title, crossing the line in 6.50 seconds to finish three hundredths of a second ahead of Dwain Chambers.
European indoor champion Holly Bleasdale won her fourth British indoor pole vault gold with a 4.73m jump.
There was a personal best - and a stadium record - for Asha Philip as the 23-year-old retained her 60m title with a 7.09-second finish.
William Sharman and Andrew Pozzi could not be separated in the men's 60m hurdles and, after a lengthy review, the race was declared a dead heat.

British all-time indoor high jumpers (women)

Katarina Johnson-Thompson
  • Katarina Johnson-Thompson - 1.96m (2014)
  • Debbie Marti - 1.95m (1997)
  • Diana Davies - 1.94m (1982)
  • Jo Jennings - 1.94m (1993)
  • Jessica Ennis-Hill - 1.94m (2010)
  • Susan Jones - 1.93m (2003)
  • Julia Bennett - 1.92m (1990)
  • Vikki Hubbard - 1.92m (2010)
The two athletes dipped home in 7.64 seconds, with Sharman - fifth in the 110m hurdles at last year's outdoor World Championships in Moscow - achieving a personal best.
Both Sharman and Pozzi are expected to be selected for next month's World Indoor Championships in Poland after British Athletics announced that gold medallists in Sheffield who also achieve the qualifying standard would be chosen for Sopot.
Dasaolu secured his place in the British team for Poland, recovering from a bad start to clock the second fastest time in the world this year.
He will be one of the favourites for gold as only Cuba's Yunier Perez has run quicker over the distance this year, and by only 0.01 seconds.
"All today was about was doing three rounds in one day, coming through unscathed, booking my place on the plane, and defending my British title so I'm happy," said Dasaolu, who was by far the slowest out of the blocks of all the finalists.
"It's not the greatest start, but Poland is 30-odd days away. Everything else I will get right come Sopot and hopefully pick up a medal. I know there is more in the tank."
Liverpool Harrier Johnson-Thompson is expected to compete in the pentathlon in Poland and will compete at the Dutch Championships next week in a bid to qualify for the event.
But in Sheffield, Johnson-Thompson - whose previous best in the high jump was 1.89m - eclipsed Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill's high jump best by two centimetres.
"It's a proud moment. I can't believe it," she said.
"I knew I was in good form because I had a good session in Loughborough last week and had a really good high jump session."
Elsewhere, 2011 European Indoor champion Jenny Meadows, competing for the first time in 12 months after injury, qualified for Sunday's 800m final by winning her heat.
Julian Reid won the men's triple jump, recording a personal best 16.87m on his fifth attempt to push Nathan Fox (16.37m) into second.

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