Emily Williams continued her magnificent start to the season with a scintillating run at the prestigious Loughborough International where she secured her 2nd European Qualification mark in the space of 8 days with an opening season’s 800m of 2:06.22 and new PB by half a second and almost three seconds inside of the qualification standard set by UK athletics (2:09).
Competing in the Women’s match race as a guest the 16 year old was the youngest in a field packed with Senior women & U20 GB athletes who have competed and won medals on the World & European stage, but she was un-phased putting in a superb performance which saw her finish in 5th place in the 9 strong field.
Sharing a lane with U20 Isabelle Boffey, a European Youth Gold medallist, Williams got a great start and quickly established herself in the mid pack sitting a little off the pace maker who split in 59 seconds, she produced a fast opening lap and looked comfortable splitting in 62 seconds. Williams continued to work hard on the back straight and positioned herself for her finish, surging past European U20 Gold Medallist Kha Mhlanga in the final 150m to set a superb new PB in her opening 800m race of the season. On this evidence she will have a lot more to offer when she hits peak form in 5-6 weeks’ time.
Emily Williams Secured European U18 800m Qualification mark in opening race with 2:06.22
The time ranks her 2nd in the UK over the distance for U17’s (3rd in Europe), to complement her UK No1 ranking for 1500m (2nd in Europe), and she now boasts both European U18 Qualification marks. A delighted Williams was literally left speechless after the performance “The race went very well but I suffered with a very dry through and lost my voice for a while after the race. I am ecstatic that I produced a PB in my opening 800m race in such a good quality field and it’s fantastic to have secured both the 800m & 1500m U18 European Qualification marks so early in the season”
Williams now heads off to the 2nd BMC GP meeting at Watford next weekend, looking to put in another strong performance over 800m to build on a magnificent opener.
Fantastic running Emily!