Incredibly, it sliced nearly half a second off his previous lifetime best performance of 20.92, and soared under the World Championship qualifying standard of 20.59. No other Briton has run as fast this year to date. The almost irrelevant following wind was +0.4m/s.
It blows the competition for world championship places wide open now, with initial thoughts that his wind-assisted 10.12s over 100m earlier this year may have indicated his destiny when the year's showpiece comes round in Daegu, South Korea, late in August. That now, however, appears about to change!
To make his performance even more impressive, James had run 10.23s over the 100m barely an hour earlier, equalling his lifetime best, and again with virtually no wind reading at +0.3m/s.
Ellington, who has been coached by Trackspeed1 coach John Powell since the age of 13 for all but 2 years, has been threatening to run a fast 200m for a while, but as Powell underlined, he just hasn't had the right opportunity.
"James has always had a strong 200m in him - ever since he was a junior - but it's either been injury or weather conditions that have frustrated his attempts to prove it.
"I was actually surprised at his 100m time as I reckoned he was ready to run faster than that, but the 200m is outstanding, and we really do now have to think about what we are going to aim for with respect to Daegu. I', delighted for him though - it's high time the world sees just what a stellar talent James Ellington is."
James's run wrapped up a long and spectacularly successful weekend for Trackspeed1 athletes as the blogs on this site reflect. David Bolarinwa sealed his ticket to the European Junior Championships in Estonia over the weekend with a double win in the england Championships in Bedford.
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| James Ellington takes the baton from training colleague David Bolarinwa in a relay earlier this season in the USA. |
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