WOODFORD GREEN with Essex Ladies athlete Tara Bird will get the chance to showcase her talent on an international stage after she was selected to represent Great Britain at the European Under 23 Championships in Lithuania next month.
Bird was selected for the squad that will compete in Kaunas on July 16-19 after winning the 800m trial race at the Aviva England Under 23 Championships in Bedford at the weekend in a new personal best time.
The local athlete’s impressive performance earned her high praise from her mentor and double Olympic gold medalist Kelly Holmes, with whom she works closely as a student of the ‘On Camp with Kelly’ programme.
“I would like to congratulate Tara and her coach Ayo Falola on her excellent performances so far this season and on her selection for the European Under 23 Championships,” said Holmes.
“Tara is a very talented athlete and I have no doubt that she will perform very well in Lithuania and that it will be a valuable learning experience for her.”
Bird is ranked inside the United Kingdom’s top ten for the 800m, and Holmes has tipped her for a place at the Olympics in years to come.
The veteran athlete, who triumphed in both the 800m and 1500m in Athens back in 2004, recently told the Guardian that she has high hopes for Bird.
“Tara has the ability and the support team around her to compete at the highest level and I believe she can get there,” she said. “I certainly believe she has the potential to compete at the Olympics, if not in 2012, in 2016.”
Meanwhile, there were more strong displays by some of Woodford’s finest amateur athletes in Bedford at the national championships for the under 20s and under 23s, as they bagged 13 medals.
Mark Dry set a new championship best performance as he won gold in the hammer event. He now stands second in the UK rankings, after his throw of 69.40m. Elaine O’Neill won the U23s 100m gold in a time of 11.59s, a personal best.
Meanwhile, in the U20s section Eugene Ayanful won silver in the 100m with a time of 10.6s.
He will face a race against time to be fit for the European Championships after suffering an injury in the 200m the next day, though.
In the 200m final Junior Ejehu just missed out on gold with his time of 21.44.
Elsewhere, Callum Priest-ley took silver in the 110 hurdles, while in the women’s U23 the Sparke twins, Jess and Kat, won silver and bronze in the U23 5000m respectively.
Kim Murry took long jump silver, while Anthony Oshodi was second in the U20 shot putt. Pole vaulter Maria Seager won a bronze medal and Emma Smith took bronze in the U23 javelin.
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