Great Britain’s sprinters

[Jimmy Chitwood]

we all know about Craig Pickering, but it seems like there are numerous young sprinters in the UK.


in the Euro Cup's second day (Sunday the 25th of June), Martyn Rooney, 20, clocked 44.80sec in the third leg of the 4x400m relay. He took the team from fourth to first and handed on to Daniel Caines who led for almost the whole way before being passed in the home straight as Britain finished third in 3:01.92 and Poland won in 3:01.70. Rooney as the anchorman could have made a difference.

Martyn Rooney


on the same day of the meet, hurdler Andy Turner finished second in the 110m hurdles in 13.48 behind France's world champion, Ladji Doucouré, who won in 13.35.

Andy Turner


not to mention the ladies who have made a splash this year. Nicola Sanders ran the fifth fastest indoor 400 ever.

Nicola Sanders


and Laura Turner made some noise in the indoor season in the 60 meters, as well. i'm sure there are more white Sprinters from the UK, including Paul Hession, but congratulations are certainly due.

 

[white lightning]

Great post Jimmy.I agree that England has been far ahead of most countries in producing elite white athletes in track.Don't forget about Greg Rutherford who is an excellent long jumper and a close friend of Craigs.He has potential in the long jump similar to Pickering in the 100.

Sanders is a joy to watch and very easy on the eyes I might add.I've always loved the uniforms of the sprinters with the flag on them.They look really cool.

 

[devans]

It is unusual for Britain or England to have a top white 100 meter sprinter. Probably not since Alan Wells has this hapenned. But we have always been strong in 400 Meters, from Roger Black and David Grindley through to Iwan Thomas (PB 44.36) and now Tim Benjamin, and IMHO it has not been seen in the UK as a "black" event or distance.
Also don't write off current British long jump record holder Chris Tomlinson.

Tomlinson

 

[devans]

From the BBC web site

Tomlinson breaks long jump record

Tomlinson is back in action after suffering a heel injury last month
Chris Tomlinson has broken his own British long jump record at a meeting in Bad Langensalza, Germany.
The 25-year-old set a mark of 8.29m with his fourth-round effort, beating the previous best of 8.27m he set in Florida five years ago.

Tomlinson feels he has even more to come, saying: "I followed up the record with a marginal foul of 8.50m. I only just twitched the plasticine.

"I know I am ready to make the real step up once I get my run-up sorted."

Tomlinson first broke the record in 2002, beating Lynn "the leap" Davies's record of 8.23m that had stood for 34 years.

Despite setting a new mark, the Newham and Essex Beagles athlete did not win the competition, which was claimed by Gable Garenamotse of Botswana.

Tomlinson's coach, Peter Stanley, who worked with triple jump world record-holder Jonathan Edwards, is equally positive, claiming: "I'm certain Chris has more to come."

Only two men have jumped further than 8.40m this year.
Louis Tsatoumas of Greece has jumps of 8.66m and 8.54m at domestic meetings while Panama's Irving Saladino recorded 8.53m in Brazil.

Tomlinson's 8.29m places him equal seventh in the current world rankings.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

on the opening day, and obviously the early rounds of the Norwich Union World Trials and UK Championships, our white sprinters have looked impressive...


400 meter super star Nicola Sanders looks to be rounding into form coming off an injury as she cruised to the fastest time in the opening round heats with a 52.47.


in the men's 400 meters, Martyn Rooney continued his dominance, running the fastest time in the opening heats with a 46.74. Richard Buck ran the second fastest time with a 46.81, and Robert Tobin had the fourth fastest time with a season's best 47.16.


Dale Garland paced the field in the 400 hurdles with a 51.01. Steven Green ran the second fastest time with a 51.64.

Nicola Sanders

Martyn Rooney

Dale Garland


all the heats and the finals of the 100 meters will run on Saturday, as will the conclusion of the 400. best of luck to our guys and gals!Edited by: Jimmy Chitwood

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

i just read that despite her easy opening round run, Nicola Sanders had to immediately seek treatment on her knee. let's hope it isn't serious.


also, i hadn't realized that Martyn Rooney is only 20! wow!

the conditions for the first day were very cold and windy...

 

[white lightning]

Craig Pickering is through to the final winning his semi final heat in a time of 10.29! The weather has been very bad so the times have been slow from everyone.They are running into a very strong headwind.The finals are coming up within the next hour.He has his work cut out for him as all of the favorites made the final.Good luck to Craig on punches his ticket to Osaka,Japan for the World Championships.

 

[jacknyc]

Damn!
Laura Turner got 2nd in the 100m with the exact same time as the winner. Must have lost just by a hair.
Pickering also got 2nd losing just by 1/100th of a second!!
Nicola Sanders won the women's 400m.
Dale Garland won the 400m hurdles.Edited by: jacknyc

 

[white lightning]

This is really a bummer but they both will be heading to Osaka. To lost by an eye lash has to be so frustrating!Devonish has already run a 10.06 this season so for him to barely win by a finger nail again shows Craig being in fine form.They were running into a negative 2.0 wind.The weather again was just terrible.Craigs 10.3 would probably convert to around a 10.18 or so and that was his 3rd race in one day in bad conditions.I swear this kid cannot get any help from Mother Nature.Anyways,he did great and should not hold his head down.He races next in the London GP.I belive that will be his last tuneup until the World Champs.

Congrats to Andy Turner winning the mens 110 hurdles to defend his title.He will also contest the 200 tommorow.

Congrats also goes out to N.Sanders and L.Turner on excellent performances.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

Craig's 10.32 was edged by Marlon Devonish's 10.31. the times were slow due to the horrid conditions.


it's nice to see Laura Turner make another splash.

she's been quiet since the indoor season. she ran an identical 11.59 time but as Jack said, she placed second.


despite the conditions and the fact that her two closest competitors ran either a season or lifetime best, Nicola Sanders won by almost a second and a half!

she ran a 51.33. second place ran a distant 52.65.


as usual, in the 400 hurdles it was a two-man race. Dale Garland and Steve Green were the only two horses ready to run.


Andy Turner won the 110 hurdles with a 13.54, with Allan Turner coming in second at 13.78.


in the long jump, with Greg Rutherford out due to injury, Christopher Tomlinson leapt 7.99 meters to prevail.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

Tim Benjamin didn't run due to injury, but there was still a white-out in the 400 meters.

Andrew Steele won with a time of 45.70, young Martyn Rooney placed second with a 45.93, and in third was Richard Buck 46.28. Robert Tobin finished a disappointing fifth...


This result shows the top four male 400 runners in Great Britain are white.

Edited by: Jimmy Chitwood

 

[devans]

The mens 400 can be seen at the following...
BBC Highlights

Mens 400 is 4:30 in. The womens 200 at 02:30 is also a good race.

 

[jacknyc]

And the guys above aren't Britain's only white 400m men.
Here's a photo of their gold medal 4 x 400m team at the European Indoor Championships.
They are Robert Tobin, Dale Garland, Steve Green and Philip Taylor.
Four completely different guys than the ones we are talking about above.
Rule Britannia!

Edited by: jacknyc

 

[devans]

As I said in another thread, the 400M is realy not seen as a "black" event in this country. Our top 400M runners have always been white - people like Roger Black, Ewan Thomas and Tim Benjamin.

 

[mastermulti]

David Grindlay was another great WHITE 400 man for a SHORT TIME

throw in some Afro-Englishmen like Mark Richardson , Duane Ladejo,
Derek Redmond and Kris Akabusi and it looks like your best 400m men
can be surprisingly unpredictable regarding ancestry....good to see I
think!