The 24-year-old Belgrave Harrier timed the fastest half-lap sprint of his illustrious career of 20.86 seconds, but it was frustratingly assisted by a 3.1m/s following wind and so won't impact on existing rankings. It nevertheless placed the former World Junior finalist among the top performers over both sprints in the UK this year.
"James is on fire this summer," said a delighted coach John Powell who has worked with Catford-born Ellington since the age of 13 bar two seasons. "He has wintered really well, and touch wood, all the niggles of last year seem to have cleared up. Although the winds have been just over the permitted limit for his early outings, it's obvious he's in great shape and only a matter of time before he puts down a serious - and legal - performance."
The weekend hadn't begun quite so positively for Ellington, as he false started in the 100m heats, and was given a straight red card under the new zero tolerance rules, a repeat of the scenario in last year's Crystal palace grand prix.
"We've looked at the film John took of the start, and the guy on my right twitched which is what set me off," said James.
Ellington now looks toward next weekend when he travels to Germany with the British team for an international meeting, contesting the 100 metres and 4 x 100m relay.
Also in action over the weekend for Trackspeed1 was 27-year-old Blackheath Harrier Dwayne Grant, who was competing in a European invitation meeting in Greece.
Grant clocked a season's best 100m of 10.42s, finishing third in the A-race, and went on to time another season's fastest 21.13s over 200m, also finishing third, and with legal wind speeds in both events.
"It's really coming together well this season," said John Powell, and there are other athletes in pretty good shape who haven't really got going yet, so 2010 is looking very positive right now."
James Ellington (left) and Dwayne Grant in training before
a productive weekend's sprinting at home and abroad.
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