DALEY CALMS POWELL FURY

The youngest sprinter in Trackspeed1's ranks this year had the last say at the South of England AA indoor Championships at the weekend as the squad underlined their massive potential this year.

Anton groups together with fellow medalists
 after his 60m victory

The 16-year-old Blackheath and Bromley Harrier shattered his previous lifetime best over 60 metres of 7.37 with a golden 7.12s performance, which saw him on top of the rostrum as under-17 Champion, at Lee Valley Athletics Centre.  But it was not without controversy.

Coach John Powell let rip at the starting team after a fifth false start was ignored, and all but cost Daley his title.  And that was after they had wrongly disqualified James Ellington in the senior semi finals as it was seen on film afterwards that the athlete next to him was the first to move!

"Either there was an eyesight problem in the senior race, or there was at the very least doubt," said Powell, "and they red carded the wrong athlete.  Unless they are convinced, they should not red card anyone.  I thought it was James, I must admit, but I was miles away, and the film afterwards was conclusive.  In the under-17 final even other officials agreed it was a false start, meaning rank incompetence almost destroyed a 16-year-old's dreams."

Anton proudly displays his gold medal after becoming the
fastest under-17 60m sprinter in the UK this year.

Daley's elder brother Kieron (18) also dismissed his lifetime best over 60m of 7.23, with a fine 7.15 in the semi-final of the under-20's event.

Also in the under-20's Omardo Anson celebrated his first ever competition in the sport with a 7.05s best time over the three rounds, with fifth place in the final at the close.  Having been recruited through his coach's Met-Track scheme, he immediately placed himself as yet another real future prospect to watch as he develops as an athlete.

The senior races looked as if they could see three Trackspeed1 representatives in the final after three first places in the first round.  It wasn't to be, although there was some pretty nifty running anyway.  Danny Doyley raced for the first time in almost two years clocking a modest 7.01s narrowly missing out on a semi-final place, while Dwayne Grant made the final, but unfortunately failed to make an impression with a mysteriously sudden loss of form.

James Ellington was recognised as the in-form athlete though, and his 6.82s second round performance was one of the fastest times of the day.

"James is in form and he knows it," said Powell, "and he was running with a streaming cold anyway, but he will take alot of beating this year under normal circumstances.  He is a class act and is bang on target for a really good year.  Dwayne has been training like a man possessed, and I'm really not sure what went wrong in the final, but he and I and everyone knows he is worth far far better than his final suggested."

Ellington reduced his 100m time to 10.23s last summer but tore a hamstring in the process, which terminated his season before it had really begun.   Since that travesty, the 25-year-old who has just switched clubs from Belgrave to Newham, and who became a father for the first time in November, has been on a mission to prove himself - and on this showing, will do just that this year.

The other TS1 athlete in action in the 60m was Samuel Adeyemi, normally seen contesting the 400m, who ran a best ever 7.20s in the heats for the the third consecutive race!

Jason Hussain (left) and Lawrence Wooldridge grabbed two of the three
 medals in the 200m at Lee Valley on day 1.

In the 200m competitions, Lawrence Wooldridge impressed again after a superb lifetime best 400 a week earlier.  He took silver in the senior final ahead of training partner Jason Hussain in third.  He clocked his fastest ever indoor time of 21.82 with a classy performance that lines him up for further lifetime bests outdoors later this year.

Hussain was hugely impressive as he switched on the afterburners on the back straight in both heat and semi, but easing down in first place in the semi-final cost him a sub-22s time and a decent lane in the final.  He will be consoled, however, in the knowledge that he can run alot faster, and could end up with one of his fastest ever marks when he gets onto a faster track.

Overall it was a hugely positive weekend for Trackspeed1, topping off a great week for John Powell.  On Thursday he was confirmed as being in charge of the England team travelling to the indoor international in Linz, Austria, next month.

Additionally, there was terrific news on the injury front, with both David Bolarinwa and Tunde Judun recovering quickly from hamstring problems.

"David is back in training and is a really lucky boy having suffered the most minor of strains," said John, "and Tunde is now responding well to treatment.  We are indebted to Tim Allardyce and his Croydon Physiotherapy practice for doing a great job on both lads."

Bolarinwa, the fastest under-18 in the world last year, hopes to open his indoor account at the London Indoor Games at Lee Valley on January 30th.

Powell heads Stateside now for a week with Omardo Anson and Omari Carr-Miller to revive his Harvard University contacts and friends in Boston, but will be back in good time for the Lee Valley events on 29th and 30th January.