HUSSAIN DRIVEN ROUND THE BEND!

Day two of the UK Championships saw both 200m sprinters reach finals, although Jason Hussain's first ever national final quite literally drove him around the bend!

A vastly improved 21.64s heat time compared with earlier season form was three hundredths of a second off the race winner, but that fraction of time meant that he was drawn in the dreaded lane one for the main final.

"I really would have loved to have been one place slower," he said, "because then I would have been relegated to the B final and got lane 6.  As it was though, I did get to my first ever individual national championship final, so I guess that's a line for the CV!"

Hussain battled well with the tight bends, but was never going to impact on the leaders who enjoyed the benefits of a far wider turn, and finished sixth in 22.29s.

Jason Hussain prepares to battle with the dreaded inside bend in the final
of the UK Trials and Championships, in Sheffield

The second Trackspeed1 athlete in action was Lawrence Wooldridge, who impressed with an indoor lifetime's fastest time indoors of 21.74s in the heat, earning himself a berth in the B final.  Both runs were from lane 4 with the final seeing him clock 21.85s.

"Both lads did themselves proud," commented coach John Powell afterwards, "and they should be giving themselves a pat on the back for producing top performances when it matters - at a national championship."

The indoor season is all but over now for Trackspeed1, with James Ellington the last senior to be in action - he will go in the Birmingham Grand Prix on Saturday (19th) over 60m where he will hope to take advantage of a notoriously fast track to further improve his lifetime best mark of 6.69s.  The younger athletes in the squad context their national championships at the same venue a week later.