Athletics - Jenny Meadows ready for World Indoor Championships as she breaks Kelly Holmes' British 800m record
Last updated 22/02/2010 09:08:40
Athletics Jenny Meadows ready for World Indoor Championships as she breaks Kelly Holmes British 800m record
Jenny Meadows showed she is ready for the World Indoor Championships when she broke Kelly Holmes' seven-year-old British 800m indoor record at the UK Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham.
The World Championship bronze medallist beat her own best of 1:59.52secs to set a new mark of 1:59:11, a tenth of a second quicker than Holmes ran in 2003.
Meadows, 28, took advantage of good pace making at the National Indoor Arena, taking the lead just after halfway and powering to victory to claim a bonus of £3,200, and another £970 for the top performance of the day.
It was perfect preparation for the World Indoors in three weeks time as she continued a strong start to the season that has also featured victories in Glasgow and Sheffield.
"It's amazing," said Meadows. "I knew I was in really good shape from last week but then you look at the record, someone like Dame Kelly Holmes owns it and you think I've got no right to try to target that.
"Kelly didn't run an awful lot indoors but it's still a fantastic time so I'm very, very honoured and thrilled to get that time. "When Kelly did the double gold in Athens I was still running 400m and only decided that winter to move to the 800m. "I knew I didn't have the basic speed to be world-class at 400m and when you see a British athlete win at a global event it makes you think maybe I've got a chance. She definitely was a huge role model for me."
World triple jump champion Phillips Idowu also set a season's best of 17.25m but it was only worth fourth place as Swede Christian Olsson taking victory as he continued on the come back trail.
The former Olympic champion, back after a long spell out with injury, produced a leap of 17.32m with Cuban Yoandri Betanzos claiming second with 17.30.
"I'm not too concerned," said Idowu, who will defend his title at the World Indoor Championships in Doha next month. "Christian is another competitor to beat and I went into Valencia showing similar form two years ago."
With Dwain Chambers already assured of his place in Qatar after victory at the trials, Harry Aikines-Aryeetey started the day's action at the NIA as favourite to grab the second spot after clocking 6.55 last week in Sheffield.
But the 21-year-old was only fifth in the final, won by American Michael Rodgers in 6.57 ahead of Antiguan Daniel Bailey, posing a selection problem for UK Athletics when the selectors meet.
Nick Smith (6.60) was the leading Briton in third place with a new Scottish record, while Mark Lewis-Francis (6.61) was fourth and Aikines-Aryeetey fifth in 6.62.
Ireland's David Gillick ran a blistering 400m in 45.52 to equal the Irish record and will now be a serious contender for gold in Doha.
After winning his first indoor race since last summer, a shocked Gillick said: "I was very nervous but deep down I knew I had worked hard - I'm happy. Let's get on to Doha and see what I can do."
In the men's 800m, 22-year-old Andrew Osagie, the new UK indoor champion, produced a stunning late sprint to clock a new personal best of 1:47.71 to achieve the Doha qualifying time and grab third behind Kenyan Richard Kiplagat and Polish winner Marcin Lewandowski. Ed Aston, also achieved the qualifying standard with a personal best of 1:48.24 in fifth in a fast race.
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