European U20 Champs action – p
Spitfires out of the sun ...
WHEN Seb Coe, Tom McKean and Steve Cram came off
the final bend on their way to a clean sweep of the 800m
medals at the 1986 European Championships in Stuttgart,
they were described in one newspaper as resembling
“three Spitfires out of the sun”. The moment seemed to
epitomise the golden era of British men’s middle-distance
running but are we on the threshold of a new one?
Oliver Dustin, Ben Pattison and Finley McLear romped to
a one-two-three in the European under-20 men’s 800m
in Sweden on Sunday – with Isabelle Boffey and Keely
Hodgkinson taking gold and bronze in the women’s 800m
(see p26-33) – in a scene that was reminiscent of the
famous 1986 Euro senior final.
The trio of miniature Spitfires aside, six British juniors
have run sub-1:48 this year. Whereas at senior level eight
Brits have broken the World Champs standard of 1:45.
this year (Digest, p8-9) and the quality in the 1500m is even
stronger, as we saw by the flurry of fast times in the Emsley
Carr Mile on Sunday (see p25).
Tokyo will probably come too soon for many of the British
800m talents but recent results bode well for the future.
n THE European Junior Championships in Latvia in 1999
was one of the first international events I covered for
AW and is one of my most enjoyable memories as an
athletics reporter. Many of the stars of the championships
subsequently disappeared, such as Sina Schielke, who was
dubbed the ‘new Katrin Krabbe’ after winning a 100m and
200m double. But lots of others went on to enjoy successful
careers such as Jade Johnson, Mark Lewis-Francis and
Tosin Oke, who were all part of the GB team.
Who knows what the future holds for the class of 2019, but
the British team, who topped the medals table in Borås with
six golds and 15 medals in total, will have memories to last
a lifetime (see p26-33).
Jason Henderson,
editorDIGEST
6 Miguel Francis makes mark with sub-20 for 200m in London
7 Emotional medal moment for Goldie Sayers
8 Jamie Webb goes full time – with immediate success
9 Kyle Langford recovers from dislocated knee to run PB
10 Andy Young’s middle-distance squad enjoys Euro success
ACTION
12 MÜLLER ANNIVERSARY GAMES
Jason Henderson, Steve Smythe and Jessica Whittington report
from the London Stadium as Laura Muir, Lynsey Sharp and
Jonnie Peacock are among the home winners over two days of
Diamond League action
26 EUROPEAN UNDER-20 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Sprinter Amy Hunt, Isabelle Boffey, Oliver Dustin and Josh Zeller
are among the British winners in Borås, Sweden, as the nation’s
top junior athletes take on the best talent in the continent and
emerge top of the medals table
CONTENTS
MARK SHEARMANThe three
Spitfires
in 1986GETTY IMAGES FOR EUROPEAN ATHLETICS