Daley’s boy does dad proud in decathlon

OLYMPIC legend Daley Thompson has told how he nearly burst with pride after watching son Elliot follow in his footsteps.

Forty-six years after the UK’s greatest all-round athlete won the first of his British decathlon titles, Elliot picked up the crown in Manchester.

Daley said: “It’s fantastic, I honestly couldn’t be more proud of him.

“It was never going to be easy for him because it never is for the kids of people who have been good at something.”

Elliot, 29, is ranked 82nd in the British all-time list but would have cared little about that after finishing like a train in the final 1500metres to jump from third to first with 7197 points. Asked whether dad helped him, Elliot joked: “No, he’s an awful coach.”

Elsewhere, Jemma Reekie booked her ticket to next month’s world champs by bagging her first outdoor British 800m title in Manchester.

The Ayrshire ace, 24, was pushed to the limit before striking gold in 2:06.03.

Beth Dobbin secured her spot with silver in the 200m. The Olympic semi-finalist, 27, clocked a season’s best of 22.49 seconds.

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