AHEAD of finalising the team for the European Championships should the GB selectors need any further confirmation of Ben Pattison’s talent and form then they need look no further than his superb record-breaking performance in the Saucony Trafford Grand Prix.
The 20-year-old Basingstoke & Mid Hants athlete produced a remarkable performance – certainly a contender for one of the best moments of the Grand Prix season – to shave 0.15 seconds off Max Burgin’s two-year-old BMC record as he exploded clear of the field to win the A race in a personal best time of 1mins 44.60secs.
The win was memorable in so many ways. There was an audible collective gasp from the crowd as the time flashed up on the electronic clock as Pattison broke 1:45 for the first time, lifting him to second on the UK Rankings behind Burgin and 18th on the UK All Time list, in a race that he totally controlled.
Furthermore, within minutes he seemed fully recovered, happy to chat and was collecting his £1,500 cheque from the BMC for his exploits.
“To be honest I didn’t think we would be seeing anyone break Max’s record (set on the same track at the BMC Gold Standard meeting in August 2020) any time soon but Ben was superb tonight,” said BMC CEO Tim Brennan.
“It is great to see how he and Max have come up through the ranks together and who knows how far they may push each other on in the years to come.”
One suspects Burgin, who is still with the GB team at the World Championships in America as he recovers from the deep vein thrombosis that forced him to pull out of the 800m at Oregon, will have been on the phone as soon as he saw the news flash through.
“We are good mates and I have talked to Max since the news came out and he is totally gutted,” said Pattison.
“Hopefully he will be okay to race at the Commonwealth Games (the pair will represent England in the 800m) but I guess we’ll have to wait and see how his calf is.
“I was so disappointed for him.”
But for Pattison the time and manner of his win is the perfect boost ahead of the Commonwealths when he will tackle his first senior championships.
“It is going to be tough and if all goes to plan I will face three hard races,” said Pattison.
“My aim is first to reach the final and to do that I’ll need to treat every round as if they are a final. Once you get into the final anything can happen in the 800m; everyone is good enough to win. But you have to get to…
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