Trackspeed1 sprinter James Ellington completed one of the most spectacular comebacks ever in athletics this weekend (12th Feb), as he soared to a lifetime's fastest 60 metres, in the UK Championships, in Sheffield.
Barely seven months ago his whole athletics career hung by a thread, after a horrendous hamstring injury in Geneva threatened to end an illustrious track record spanning 12 years.
Ellington, now 25, clocked 6.69s in the semi-final at the English Institute of Sport - the second time he has improved his lifetime best this winter. Although his sixth placing in the final was a disappointment compared with what he promised, he won many plaudits by the fact he was there at all.
Coach John Powell was upset with the final, but not because the athlete under-performed: "James deserved far better than that after the work he has put in this last few months," he said, "and both he and I know he is capable of running far faster. But the perspective is that he has gone from being unable to walk 7 months ago, to one of the country's top 60m sprinters again, and that is nothing short of totally phenomenal."
National coach Tony Hadley commented: "The boy did well - I remember the injury in Geneva - it's amazing he's back at this sort of level so quickly. Incredible"
Mentor coach Clarence Calendar said: "He's going to fly over 100m. It's great he's back so quickly - many athletes in the past have had serious injuries like that and have taken more than a year to get back to even vaguely good form."
Ellington clocked a cool 6.76s in the heat, cruising most of the way, and taking second behind Mark Lewis-Francis, and was sixth in the final with 6.72 after his best ever run in the semi. He now looks toward the Grand Prix next Saturday as a likely final curtain on his indoor season, and that could be impressive too as he takes to the fastest track in the country in Birmingham!
Day two (Sunday 13th) will see Trackspeed1's Jason Hussain and Lawrence Wooldridge take to the indoor boards over 200 metres. The squad's indoor season will close in 2 weeks with the England age-group championships. Powell will be enthused for the summer though. With indoor pb's in abundance, and four of his top sprinters abstaining due to injury niggles, this summer could develop into one of the most successful yet!
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