Dobbin takes silver to book Oregon ticket

Fifer Beth Dobbin booked her ticket to next month’s World Athletics Championships in Oregon with a speedy silver in the women’s 200 metres at the UK Championships in Manchester yesterday.

The Olympic semifinalist, 27, clocked a season’s best of 22.49 secs as Darryl Neita completed a sprint double.

Mission accomplished, said Dobbin, who shrugged off the wind to deliver her quickest time of 2022 under significant pressure to capitalise on her ranking with a top-two finish.

“I think my confidence was quite low coming into this race,” she revealed.

“I’ve not broken 23 seconds yet this year. So I kind of really had to believe in myself.

“I know I’m a championship performer and my coach and I have taken things a bit different this year with having three champs to get to and I was doubting myself a bit.

“These girls were faster than me going into the race. But actually, I rose to the occasion. I did it. I qualified for my second world champs.”

Dundee Hawkhill Harrier Laura Muir will fly to Colorado tomorrow with her fitness and form reaffirmed after claiming a British title for the first time since 2016.

The Olympic silver medallist scarpered away to win the women’s 1,500m by almost five seconds in another reaffirmation of her rude health following a hip injury at the start of 2022.

“If you’d asked me how I was feeling a couple of weeks ago, I would have been a little bit uneasy because training had been going well but it hadn’t been translating into races,” she said.

“It was nice last week to do some 800m and go ‘OK, we’re fine, the training is translating into races’. I’ve still got a couple of weeks to go and I feel in a very good, strong, position.”

Nicole Yeargin is also Eugene-bound after her second place in the women’s 400m was enough to seal her selection.

“It’s just crazy this moment,” she said.

“I’m on my way. The hardest part, it’s done. It’s all fun for me.”

However, fellow Fifer Jenny Selman missed out by coming fourth in the women’s 800m as fellow Scot Jemma Reekie took the title in 2:06.03.

Nick Percy earned his fifth UK title in the men’s discus by extending his own Scottish record to exactly 65 metres.

The 27-year-old is short of the qualifying mark but inside the top 30 in the world rankings and all but certain to get an invite to his second worlds.

“This year, I’m competitive,” he said.

“And if I do a throw like this in the qualifying, I could make a final but we’re still getting ahead of ourselves. I’ve still got to get that call.”

Daryll Neita, meanwhile, insists she can be Britain’s sprint queen after winning the 200 metres title in Manchester.

The 25-year-old added the 200m crown to her 100m gold for the first women’s sprint double at the UK Championships since 2010.

Neita ran 22.34 seconds to finish ahead of Dobbin and Imani Lansiquot in Manchester and believes she deserves recognition having beaten Dina AsherSmith in the 100m on Saturday.

“There are two of us now and I have worked very hard for this, we all do. I’ve always been here, I’m here now and here to stay,” she said.

“We’ve been racing since we were seven years old. She’s done her thing and now it’s my time to do my thing. We’re great friends, we’re looking at the bigger picture.

“I know you want rivalry, we ran yesterday and I won. You can just put ‘Daryll is the British champion’ and you don’t need to see anyone else’s name in the title.

“We train very hard and we both want to win. I won this British Championships.

“I put my ambition as high as can be because I believe in affirmation and if you don’t believe it you won’t achieve it.”

Despite reaching the World Championships in Eugene next month in the 100m, Neita does not have the qualifying time, missing out by 100th of a second, for the 200m and will not double up next month.

“I ran the same time last year and same time this year. It is what it is but it’s still great,” she said.

“Me and my coach will adjust our plans and double up where it matters.

“It’s sad because I really believe I could make the final and challenge for medals but there are three champs this year, it is what it is.”

FAST WORK: Fife athlete Beth Dobbin claimed the silver medal in the women’s 200m final at the UK Championships.