McMullen and O’Connor look in fine fettle ahead of bid for glory at the Games

LONG jumper Adam McMullen and heptathlete Kate O’Connor were pleased with their opening performances in an international warm-up meeting on the Gold Coast in preparation for the Commonwealth Games, which kick off in under two weeks.

Windy, erratic weather conditions were not conducive to good performances.

However, Magherafelt ace McMullen managed to secure a solid fifth place in a wind-assisted long jump with 7.78 metres behind winner Tajay Gayle (7.95 metres).

McMullen ( below), who recently set new PB figures of 7.99 metres, commented: “It was my biggest ever season opener.

“There are still a few technical issues that can be adjusted, but things are looking good for the Games.”

Schoolgirl

O’Connor

(17 ) continued her good form with an impressive personal best of 14.82 s e c onds i n the 100m hurdles.

She also finished sixth in the 200m in 25.64 seconds. O’Connor has already broken the Irish indoor pentathlon record twice this year.

Northern Ireland sprint record holder Leon Reid said before the meeting that his priority was the 200m.

He showed he means business with an opening 100m race time of 10.75 seconds for third place behind Great Britain’s Adam Gemili (10.51 seconds).

And in the 200m, he took the runner-up position in 20.90 seconds which was impressive considering the strong headwind of 1.6m.

The race was won by Zharnel Hughes in 20.23 seconds.

Lisburn AC’s Amy Foster, meanwhile, was fourth in the 100m in 11.81 seconds behind Great Britain star Dina Asher-Smith, who was victorious in 11.31 seconds.