Dina Asher-Smith warms the crowd on a chilly day in Manchester
Dina Asher-Smith showed her class ahead of the Olympics while 17-year-old Phoebe Gill produced a stunning performance to book a trip to Paris on Sunday.
Asher-Smith won her head-to-head with Daryll Neita as she powered to victory in the women’s 200 metres at the Microplus UK Athletics Championships in Manchester.
A-Level student Gill, meanwhile, held off Jemma Reekie in a remarkable finish to the 800m that earned her a place on Team GB.
Teenager Phoebe Gill was a superb winner of the 800m in Manchester (David Davies/PA) (PA Wire)
Laura Muir, Georgia Bell, Amber Anning, Charlie Dobson and Neil Gourley were among the others to secure Games spots on an unseasonably chilly final day at the British Olympic trials event.
Asher-Smith’s clash with rival Neita, who won the 100m on Saturday, was billed as one of the highlights of the weekend and the Londoner did not disappoint as she triumphed in a championship record 22.18 seconds.
Neita came second in a season’s best of 22.46 and the pair will link up again in the French capital.
Asher-Smith said: “I was really happy with that – a really strong run in northern conditions.
“Now I’m going to my third Olympics. I’m still having fun and learning things and I’m really excited going to Paris.”
With Olympic 800m medal prospect Keely Hodgkinson opting to run the 400m, the way appeared to be clear for Reekie to take the national title over the two-lap distance.
It means the world to me. It is a dream come true.
Phoebe Gill
But it was rising star Gill who prevailed in a time of one minute 58.66sec, edging a tight battle with Reekie in the home straight. Both athletes will join Hodgkinson in the Paris line-up.
Gill said: “It means the world to me. It is a dream come true. I can’t believe it. I was not expecting that at all.
“Having Jemma on my shoulder, someone I’ve looked up to so much, was such an amazing thing and we just used each other to get to the line.”
Hodgkinson could only manage seventh in the 400m but the stories were at the front as Anning won in a championship record of 50.47 to book an Olympic spot along with second-placed Laviai Nielsen.
In a good day for the Nielsen family, twin sister Lina qualified for Paris, along with Jessie Knight, by winning the 400m hurdles.
Dobson booked his spot by winning the men’s 400m but there was drama before men’s 400m hurdles winner Alastair Chalmers was confirmed as an Olympian.
Chalmers was allowed to run under protest after being disqualified for a false start and his victory was later ratified (David Davies/PA) (PA Wire)
The favourite and defending champion was initially disqualified for a false start but was allowed to run under protest and won in a time 17 hundredths of a second inside the Olympic standard. After an appeal was heard, the result was allowed to stand.
Muir had to settle for second in the women’s 1,500m behind Georgia Bell but it was still enough for both to make the British squad. Gourley cemented his place following his recovery from injury by winning the men’s 1,500m and George Mills joined him.
Josh Kerr, who will also race the 1,500m in France, was involved in a collision with Elliot Giles after stepping down to the 800m. That left Ben Pattison and Max Burgin to take the Olympic spots.
Patrick Dever took silver in the men’s 5,000m but, having previously achieved the Olympic qualifying standard, it was still enough to secure his place.
Morgan Lake secured a third successive Olympics trip with long jump victory and Mark Hudson-Smith was a comfortable winner in the 200m after stepping down from his usual 400m distance.
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