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Sophie Hitchon wins the hammer at the World Junior Championships with a UK junior record
SOPHIE HITCHON was pinpointed as a medal candidate in the build-up to the World Junior Championships but the finalist from 2008 exceeded expectations as the 19-year-old claimed the gold medal in the hammer with a national junior record of 66.01m.
Hitchon produced a fantastic competitive effort as the David Smith-coached athlete supplanted Slovenia’s Barbara Spiler’s leading throw of 65.28m in the final round.
After the competition, the European junior bronze medallist commented: “Words cannot explain how I feel right now. My grandparents are here watching and they’re a great help to me and my mum and dad will be back at home excited, they’ll be jumping up and down!
“I got a bit tired between the middle two rounds but I knew it was my last chance and I just had to go for it on my last throw.
“I thought after qualifying that I had a really good chance of winning, but I wanted to stay calm and just focus on the day because anything can happen in a final.”
Holly Bleasdale added to the British medal tally with bronze in the pole vault. The UK junior record-holder cleared 4.15m to finish third behind the pre-competition favourite Angelica Bengtsson from Sweden, who won the title with 4.25m and Germany’s Victoria von Eynatten with 4.20m.
Bleasdale said: “There was a tough cross-wind and I had a couple of scares but it’s amazing, I wasn’t sure I’d get a medal.”
Sally Scott finished ninth in the final with 3.80m.
Lawrence Okoye finished sixth in the discus final with 59.77m but despite making the final of his first major international competition, the Croydon athlete was disappointed with his showing.
Okoye, who broke through with 63.92m earlier this year, said: “I’m really upset. My last throw felt good but I smashed the cage. I didn’t connect with any of my throws which is appalling. You can’t come to a major championships and not connect.”
Another medal possibility for the British team could present itself in the 110m hurdles as world youth silver medallist Jack Meredith was the fastest in the semi-finals with 13.52.
Kola Adedoyin and world youth champion Ben Williams both qualified for the triple jump final with 15.85m and 15.50m respectively.
The men’s 4x400m team safely qualified for the final but there was great disappointment as batons were dropped in both of the 4x100m finals.
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