Segal equals PB at English Schools event
ATHLETICS OR Segal, who had never entered a high jump competition until this season, found himself only just outside the medals at the English Schools championships in Birmingham with a PB-equalling 1.78m.
The 14-year-old JFS pupil is now ranked UK no. 9 in his U15 age group. “I was very close with my final attempt at the next height, 1.81m,” said Segal, of Shaftesbury Harriers. “If I’d cleared it, I would have won silver. But competing at that level was a new experience for me, so I was happy with my performance overall.”
Also at the English Schools, Brighton & Hove’s Tomer Tarragano came seventh in the U20 3,000m in 8:39.21, while Shaftesbury Harrier Maayan Radus finished 12th in her U17 race with 10:32.45. Her sister, Lia, was forced to withdraw been selected from the championships through injury.
U15 Jayden Klein of Maccabi London Harriers did not let nerves affect him when he competed at the Watford Open, under the watchful eye of Olympic gold medallist Denise Lewis. The former heptathlon champion, there to support her son and Klein’s fellow high jump competitor, Ryan O’Connor, saw Klein improve his PB to 1.47m.
Biny Bloom, 15, won the U17 A-string 1,500m race at the Eastern Young Athletes League meeting in Stevenage in a time of 4:18.0, an improvement of nearly 20 seconds over the distance since April. He also has a new 800m PB after crossing the line in 2:06.85 in Watford.
In Belgium, distance runner Selamawit Beyulin-Teferi set an Israeli national record with an Olympic qualifying time of 15:08.39 for the women’s 5,000m. If Beyulin-Teferi goes to Olympics in Tokyo next summer, she will join her husband, Maru Teferi, who has already qualified for the marathon. Additional reporting by Danny Felsenstein (Israel)