Tom Bosworth smashed his 5000m walk race national record, while Lorraine Ugen won the women's long jump title on day two of the British Athletics Indoor Team Trials in Sheffield.
Sixteen national titles were decided on day two of the trials as athletes looked to claim a prestigious national title and secure a place on the British Athletics team for the European Indoor Championships in Belgrade next month.
Tom Bosworth smashes walking record, while there was drama in the women's walk race
After the drama of day one and the hotly contested women's long jump competition, not many would have picked the men's 5000m walk race to be one of the highlights of the weekend. But race walking has become a must-see event at recent British Championships, mainly because of Tom Bosworth's ability to take the sport to a different level.
This year was no different as he followed up last year's 3000m British record by smashing his own national record over 5000m. Bosworth quickly strode into the lead as he set off in search of a new record and the strain on the 27-year-old's face was clear as he put all his effort into beating his record of 18:54.18. There were jubilant celebrations from both him and the Sheffield crowd as he crossed the line in a new national record time of 18:39.47.
"It is great to win a national title but it is about performing on the international stage," Bosworth said. "I love this atmosphere though – I always enjoy competing at this event." This is the start of a big year for Bosworth, who will compete in the 20km at the World Championships in London this summer.
There was huge drama in the women's 3000m walk race when Heather Lewis, who was leading and was on course for a personal best, was disqualified with just over one lap to go. Gemma Bridge capitalised on Lewis' disqualification to claim her first indoor title in a personal best time of 13:23.59, while there were season best performances for Emma Achurch and Erika Kelly to claim silver and bronze respectively.
Lorraine Ugen wins hotly contested long jump final
The women’s long jump saw the 2014 world indoor long jump silver medallist Katarina Johnson-Thompson, 2016 world indoor bronze medallist Lorraine Ugen and 2016 European silver medallist Jazmin Sawyers all go head-to-head.
Johnson-Thompson’s jump of 6.69m in round four looked like it would be enough for the heptathlete to secure the British title, until Lorraine Ugen jumped three centimetres further with her last jump of the competition. Johnson-Thompson had one last jump – the very last jump of the final – to reclaim the title she won in 2014, but she could not improve on her round four jump. Ugen won with her final jump of 6.72m, with Johnson-Thompson finishing second and 2016 champion Jazmin Sawyers winning bronze.
Johnson-Thompson had also qualified for the women's 60m hurdles final after winning her heat, but with the long jump competition finishing just minutes before the hurdles final, the heptathlete chose not to contest the final. Mollie Courtney claimed her maiden British title after winning the final in 8.32 as she edged out Emma Nwofor and Sophie Yorke finished second and third respectively.
Doyle and Chalmers win 400m titles, while Agyapong and Wood win in the 200m
The final event of last year's championships produced a shock as Adelle Tracey won the 800m, but this year there was no shock as the women’s 400m race concluded this year’s trials. Pre-race favourite Eilidh Doyle continued her good form to win the 400m final, but she was pushed all the way to the line by the Nielsen twins. Laviai Nielsen finished second to guarantee her spot on the British team for next month's European Chamionships alongside Doyle,and, although no one likes losing to their siblings, Lina Nielsen was ecstatic after she finished just three-hundredths behind her twin sister after setting a personal best time.
All three of the women's 200m podium recorded personal bests as Finette Agyapong clocked 23.79 to become the new indoor champion, while Amy Allcock and Maya Bruney finished in 23.89 and 24.00 to win silver and bronze respectively. In the men’s final, the British title was won by 18-year-old Connor Wood, with Chris Stone and Grant Plenderleith finishing on the other steps of the podium.
Cameron Chalmers finished second for the second year in a row in the men's 400m after Jarryd Dunn won his first national indoor title in 46.97. Sheffield athlete Lee Thompson won the bronze medal with a personal best of 47.87 after Jamie Bowie was disqualified. Guy Learmonth won the men's 800m final in 1.48.19, while Markhim Lonsdale beat Spencer Thomas to a surprise second place finish.
Elliot Giles won the men's 1500m title after edging out Tom Lancashire in the final to with a personal best of 3:45.59, while Lee Emanuel successfully defended his 3000m title finishing ahead of Andrew Heyes and Nick Goolab.
Cutts, Smith, Russell and Lincoln all win field titles
Lee Cutts ensured the men's pole vault title will stay in Sheffield for at least another year as the Sheffield athlete won the competition for the fourth successive year. Cutts and Max Eaves both cleared 5.43m, but Cutts won the title on count back, with Eaves having to settle for silver, while Harry Coppell won bronze. There was also drama in the men's high jump as Allan Smith, Robbie Grabarz and Chris Kandu battled it out for the medals after being the only athletes to clear 2.21m.
All three athletes went on to clear 2.25m, but with no athlete being able to clear 2.28m, Smith repeated his victory from 2015 after being the only jumper to clear 2.25m at the first attempt. 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Grabarz won the silver medal just four weeks after having to undergo an emergency operation to remove his appendix, while Kandu won bronze.
Alexandra Russell arrived in Sheffield as the favourite to claim the British triple jump title based on her recent form and she continued her strong start to 2017 by setting a new indoor personal best to become British indoor champion. In the shot put, Scott Lincoln was a class apart of the rest of the field as he successfully defended his national indoor title with a distance of 18.76m. A personal best from Youcef Zatat wasn't enough to stop Lincoln from retaining his title, but his throw of 18.22m was enough to secure the silver medal ahead of Joey Watson (17.16m).