Ace Laura’s primed for US challenge

LAURA WEIGHTMAN will have her first race on Friday since claiming a 5,000m bronze medal in the Commonwealth Games in Australia last month.

After returning to her home in Northumberland from her exploits in the Gold Coast, Weightman set off for America for a spell of altitude training in preparation for her first 1,500m race before bidding for a place in the UK team for the European Championships.

“I’ve been in the States for a few weeks training in Boulder, Colorado, which is where Steve (Cram, her coach) used to come to train,’’ said Weightman.

“It’s a great place to train and it has set me up nicely for my race in Eugene (Oregon) later this week.

“While out here my training has been going really well, and while I expect it to be a tough race it will be good to get the season going. I’m really looking forward to it.’’

This will be the third time Weightman has contested the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League fixture, although last year she finished in a disappointing 13th place in 4min 10.50sec.

However, in 2016 before heading to Brazil for the Olympic Games, she posted a much more impressive performance by finishing in sixth place in 4:03.04.

A time close to that would give the Morpeth athlete a solid base for another fine season culminating with selection for August’s European Championships in Berlin.