Scottish
records fall as another British sprint sensation emerges in Birmingham
Chris Turner
27 January 2001 – Birmingham, GBR - Recently British athletics has developed a habit of throwing up a stream of new sprinting talents and in the men's 60 metres at the first day of the Norwich Union World Trials and AAA's Championships another sprinter came of age, when 22 year old John Skeete dashed to a new Scottish record of 6.60 seconds in the semi final round beating Elliott Buny's 6.62 sec record which was set in 1987.
"I felt as if I had a good a good start and I felt easy" said a shocked Skeete.
However, if his preliminary round run was a surprise his further Scottish record of 6.59 seconds in the final was even more spectacular, as he comprehensively defeated European Indoor 200 metre champion Christian Malcolm who was second in 6.72sec.
"My talent has always been there but I have been plagued by injuries since my days at the English Schools championships" commented Skeete after the final. He continued "I begged and begged everyone for help but no athletics authority would listen and so my father has had to work very hard to support me through these injuries".
Skeete is a 6ft 3 inches tall and weighs 14 stone and was English Schools champion in 1995 when he was 17 years of age. He has been coached throughout his career by his father - a former club sprinter - but last October began to be guided by a new coach, Tony Hadley in Birmingham.
Skeete is based in East London and makes the two hour trip to Birmingham to receive advise from Hadley twice a week. Skeete believes he has the talent to reach the top in sprinting and when asked today to be more specific, he firmly answered "world class and I really mean world class!"
There was also some fine running in the women's 60 metres final, when hurdler Diane Allahgreen - who had run 7.27 seconds in her semi-final - just failed to hold off local girl Marcia Richardson who won the championship in 7.28 seconds, with Allahgreen second in 7.32 secs.
Skeete's record was not the only Scottish record to be set today with Sinead Dudgeon running 52.47 secs in the women's 400 metres. However, her Scottish record was still not good enough to defeat Catherine Murphy who won in 52.31 seconds which was itself a new Welsh record.
The preliminary rounds of the men's 400 metres produced a series of sparkling performances from among others Olympic semi-finalist Daniel Caines, former double European Indoor champion Du'aine Ladejo-Thorne and Wolverhampton's Mark Hylton.
Caines (1st round 47.41sec and semi 46.28 sec), who won this title for the first time last year was a picture of confidence - "Yes, it all felt very easy. Normally the last lap of the 400 metres hurts like hell but I am feeling fine and my legs feel like I haven't run!...As to the World Championships in Lisbon I'm just seeing how it goes and taking it one race at a time." Caines 46.29 second win in the semi final was the fastest run by a British athlete this year and despite his caution, it confirmed his world championship credentials as his was a brilliant front run victory.
Ladejo who has toyed with multi events and has had his fair share of injury since the heady days of the mid 1990's when he dominated European 400 metres running winning continental titles outdoors in 1994 and indoors in 1994 and 1996, made a high level return to the boards today with an impressive 46.89 second first round win. Ladejo was also back to his confident verbal best - "My agenda was just to go out there and perform well and gain an individual place for the World Indoor championships in Lisbon but everything is geared for the outdoor season....I really don't want to play about with this year, it's all about high performance these days." However, tomorrow's final was robbed of a potentially classic confrontation when surprisingly Ladejo subsequently decided not to compete further at these championships. He gave no reason for his withdrawal from the semi final but presumably hopes he has done enough to convince the British selectors too at least include him in a relay spot when they decide the world championship team for Lisbon.
However, even without Ladejo, Caines will not have it all his own way in tomorrow's 400m final, as in the second semi final (Caines won the first) Mark Hylton won in an impressive 46.63 seconds to signal he will also be in the hunt for the title.
In other qualification rounds, Olympic 800 metres bronze medallist Kelly Holmes made a successful return to indoor tracks for the first time in 15 years(!), front running her 800 metres heat from gun to tape to win in 2:05.17 minutes. She was chased home hard by the surprising 26 year old Jo Fenn who was second in 2:05.63 mins.
There were also a number of field event finals but overall the performances in this part of the programme did not match the standard of the victories on the track. The men's triple jump title was won by Julian Golley (16.22m), and the women's event by Michelle Griffith with 13.25 metres. The womens' high jump was decided on count back at 1.85 metres with Susan Jones taking the win from Wanita May. The men's shot was taken by Loughborough's Emeka Udechuku (18.19 metres), and the Pole Vault was won with a 5.35m vault by Tim Thomas.
The first championship record was broken even before competition began here at the Norwich Union World Indoor Trials and AAA Championship with a record entry of 626 athletes competing at the National Indoor Stadium, Birmingham, which will be the venue for the 2003 World Indoor championships.
