Bateman wins a silver on her England debut
AMELIA Bateman raised the bar big time when she made her international debut for England, writes TONY HODGSON.
The 18-year-old Gateshead Harrier is leaping for joy after claiming a high jump silver medal at an international event in the Czech Republic.
In doing so, the Emmanuel College student also set a new indoor personal best height of 1.72 metres.
Bateman, from Springwell Village, has been with Gateshead Harriers since she was 11.
Last year she won bronze at the English Schools Championships and also took bronze at an International Match in Manchester (pictured right).
Her coach of six months Denis Doyle said: “I was very pleased to see Amelia do so well, especially on her first international outing.
“It was difficult to know beforehand whether she had a chance of a medal because some of the people she was up against were phenomenal talents. However, she acquitted herself very well.
“There was a really good vibe about the meeting and she seemed to respond well to that.”
He added: “It is very early days in Amelia’s career to be saying how far she can go in the sport or how good she can be.
“What I will say is she has a fantastic attitude to training and a great work ethic and those are decent starting points.
“It is my job to make her self-reliant and to develop the attributes she has over the coming months and years. “She is still very young but she has made good progress in the time I have been working with her.
“Now it is a case of her continuing that progress in the future.”