INSIDE TRACK Lonsdale makes Mark with storming victory
YOUNG STAR ON COURSE FOR EUROS
LAST weekend the region was celebrating after two Gateshead athletes shot to the top of the UK rankings and in doing so dipped under the qualifying standard for the European Junior Championships which take place in Grosseto, Italy in July.
Triple jumper Emily Gargan and sprint hurdler Jason Nicholson put themselves in pole position before the championship Trials with superb performances in Loughborough and Gateshead respectively.
Now, the North East can proudly boast another athlete who could well be on the plane for Italy in seven weeks’ time.
Competing in the British Milers’ Club Grand Prix meeting at Sportcity in Manchester, Crook AC’s Markhim Lonsdale relegated older and more experienced athletes to minor roles as he swept to victory in the 800m.
Just 17, Lonsdale, showed his talent for the two-lap event by posting a time of 1min 46.97secs, a time which sees him top the UK’s under20 rankings – and also the quickest in Europe – but more importantly, it is well inside the figures set down for the European Junior Championships.
It was the teenager’s first two-lap outdoor outing this year, and he showed no signs of rustiness as he stormed home to win by 10 metres in a time over two seconds quicker than he had run before.
Lonsdale had warmed up for the event by lining up in the North Eastern Counties Championships at Gateshead International Stadium seven days earlier where, in one of the most exciting races of the championships, he was beaten into second place in the under-20 400m, in which he ran another lifetime best of 47.77secs.
A delighted Lonsdale, who has just left Durham Sixth Form College, said: “I had weighed up the opposition beforehand.
“Scottish international Guy Learmonth was the big danger as he had beaten me in the British Indoor Championships in Sheffield earlier in the year. “After I ran 48.77 in the North Easterns I noticed that Guy had opened his season with an 800 outing in France (1:48.12) and then ran a 48.73s 400m at the Loughborough International so, despite it being early-season, he had already shown some decent form. “So, he was undoubtedly the favourite and I was the underdog, but I knew I was in good shape so if I was up close going into the final 200m then I was in with kMarkhim Lonsdale a good chance, and that’s the way it worked out.
“The pacemaking was spot on despite it being extremely windy, and after going through the bell in 51.5s I was in third place with Guy tracking the pacemaker followed by an Irish athlete.
“When the pacemaker dropped out after 500m I made a move up into second place around the 200 mark and then, rounding the final bend, got up onto Guy’s shoulder before managing to pull away down the home straight.
“It was a wonderful feeling crossing the line and glancing across at the time on the clock.
“Now I have to do it all again at the Trials in Bedford next month to make sure I get selected for the Europeans.”