BORÅS, SWEDEN, JULY 18-21 @ATHLETICSWEEKLY
Dustin leads
dominant display
REMINISCENT of the GB 800m one-
two-three at the 1986 European
Championships, this time it was
Oliver Dustin, Ben Pattison and
Finley McLear who stormed off the
final bend and into battle.
In Stuttgart 33 years ago, Seb
Coe, Tom McKean and Steve Cram
were memorably described as
“three Spitfires coming out of the
sun” by one newspaper as they
swept into the home straight, with
Coe claiming the victory.
On the final day of competition
in Borås, Dustin edged ahead to
pip Pattison as McLear managed
to stay on his feet to bag bronze.
The winning time was 1:50.56 as
Pattison, who had led through 400m
in 57.90, clocked 1:50.68 and McLear
ran 1:51.19, almost staggering over
the line, as the trio finished more
than a second ahead of the rest of
the field.
Hungary’s Lorinc Varga was fourth
in 1:52.26.
Demonstrating the nation’s great
current depth, Britain managed the
clean sweep even with European
under-20 leader and British record-
holder Max Burgin out injured.“What a race, what a battle,”
said 18-year-old Dustin, last year’s
English Schools champion. “It was a
scrappy race. It was a slow-ish first
lap and it took a bit to wind it up. I
just wanted to sit in a good position,
track whoever was leading and
then give it everything in the home
straight.
“I can’t wait to get to the victory
ceremony with the guys. We all
came into this wanting a one-two-
three and we all performed to the
best of our ability. We just showed
Europe how to run an 800m.”The day before, Isabelle Boffey
had taken the women’s title over
two laps and she was a convincing
winner in a PB by nearly a second
of 2:02.92. After Switzerland’s Delia
Sclabas took them through the bell
in 60.93 and held a decent lead
at 500m, Boffey reeled her in and
went away to add to her European
under-18 title in 2016.
Boffey’s team-mate, Keely
Hodgkinson, also came back at
Sclabas but, after a tense battle,
was unable to pass her in the home
straight.Sclabas was just four hundredths
of a second in front as Hodgkinson
could nevertheless be happy with
a PB of 2:03.40 and bronze. The
European youth champion is still an
under-18 and has two years in the
junior age group remaining.
Britain’s Sarah Calvert was
seventh in a PB of 2:05.68.
Reacting to her win, Boffey said:
“I am buzzing. It was such a good
race and I am so happy with myself
that I went for it in the last 250m
because it paid off. I knew someone
was going to go for it and she
(Sclabas) did but I knew if I ran my
own race I could challenge with my
kick.”
Sclabas would go on to sign
off on a superb under-20 career
with further success as she took
the 1500m title for a seventh
major medal from under-18 and
under-20 competition over the last
three years.
The Swiss runner clocked a sub-
60-second final lap as Ireland’s
Sarah Healy secured silver, 4:25.95
to 4:27.14. GB’s Erin Wallace
finished seventh in 4:30.08, while
her team-mate Molly Canham
missed out on a place in the final
by one spot, running 4:26.65 in her
heat.1500m: Ireland’s Sarah Healey leads from eventual winner Delia Sclabas of Switzerland
Double medal delight: 800m
bronze for Keely Hodgkinson as
Isabelle Boffey takes the title