WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: SOUTH KOREA UPDATE

James with coach John Powell leaving the training track at the British
holding camp in Ulsan, after a session with fellow Brit's Craig Pickering
and Harry Akinies Areetey

It's been a long time coming, but James Ellington's entry onto the world stage of sprinting now lies barely ten days away!


Meanwhile it's more of the same, with training sessions at the holding camp's local stadium in Ulsan, some 70 miles south of Daegu where the championships will be held.

"I'm feeling great," said James, "and the way my speed is going right now, it's a pity I didn't get a chance to run more 100's this year, because I reckon I would have run really fast."

It was a view echoed by his coach: "James's basic speed is awesome now, and he's really getting things together.  He was at least a match for his training partners today (Monday 22nd), and he finished the session with a fantastic run round the bend out of blocks.

"It's looking terrific for both 200m and the relay - it will take a truly world class opponent to keep up with him the way he is executing the bend right now.  I truly believe he is one of the most outstanding exponents of bend running our country has ever seen."

James is with the rest of the British team at their location slightly remote from daegu until the championships begin, when the team will move the short distance north west.  John is already in Daegu and is commuting by bus to and from the holding camp.

Meanwhile, a little closer to home, Trackspeed1's Omari Carr-Miller struck silver in the under-17 national championships, in Bedford, with a lifetime's fastest performance over 400 metres!


The sixteen-year-old Croydon Harrier clocked 48.66s - half a second faster than ever before - as he made sure another summer ravaged by injury did not peter out without a fight.


"Omari texted me at 3 in the morning in Korea," said coach John Powell, "but it was the best wake-up call anyone could ask for.  Omari is a huge talent, and this proves just that.  If he can winter well this next 8 months, he could be a candidate for the World Junior Championships, in Barcelona - at least as a member of the relay squad, if not as an individual in his own right.


It's been a very frustrating time for him with niggles that have kept him out of competition for so long, but I am delighted he is getting at least something out of his season, and a silver at nationals is a brilliant way to top off an albeit short season."

Check out this blog for regular updates from Korea as one of the best seasons ever for Trackspeed1 reaches its dramatic climax on the world stage!