Athletics News

World Masters 800m golds for Paul Forbes, Virginia Mitchell and Iris Hornsey

World Masters 800m golds for Paul Forbes, Virginia Mitchell and Iris Hornsey

Mitchell sets ground-breaking world record that incredibly only lasts seven minutes as Britain also win two titles in the field in Toruń

Britain won three gold medals in Thursday night’s 800m finals which is down on normal medal hauls at these World Masters Indoor Championships but there were also wins for thrower James Taylor and vaulter Andy Ashurst in Poland.

Virginia Mitchell reached 60 in January and judging by her 2:24.26 in last year’s European Masters Indoors W55 at Braga when she was second and a 2:25.46 in finishing third in the World Masters outdoors W55 at Tampere, there seemed little doubt at the start of the winter that she would break Yvonne Crilly’s 2:35.91 indoor and 2:31.51 outdoor records.

A 2:32.81 in the British Masters Indoor Championships gave her the world indoor mark and then here in Toruń a 64.55 world W60 record at 400m showed she was in good shape.

In the 400m she was pushed hard by Ireland’s Edel Maguire but in the 800m it was clear it would be a simple race against the clock if she wanted to improve her record.

Her first lap of 36.39 was a little too quick as she built up a clear lead but she drastically slowed on the second lap (38.38) to pass halfway in 74.77. The third lap was slightly quicker (38.39) and she passed 600m in 1:52.90 but knowing while the record was on, an acceleration would be required to break 2:30.

She was able to achieve that with a final circuit of 37.06 and she was delighted to run 2:29.96 as she won gold by almost 10 seconds from Spain’s Esther Pedrosa (2:39.56) and USA’s Lorraine Jasper (2:39.72).

Yet whereas Mitchell became the oldest woman to ever break 2:30, indoors or out, her status as world record-holder did not last more than seven minutes.

In the next race, the W55 final, was USA Sue McDonald, who had turned 60 after the championships started on the day before the race. She had been specifically training for this event and had finished third in the W55 800m in a US record in 2019 where Mitchell had set a world W55 record.

Michelle Rohl leads from W60 record setter Sue McDonald with winner Eva Trost on inside in third

McDonald had a big advantage over Mitchell in that she just had to follow. Her fellow American Michelle Rohl, who had won the 3000m here, set a fast pace and while the 200m time was similar to Mitchell’s, by 400m the pace was much quicker.

Germany’s Eva Trost, who still holds the world outdoor W50 record at 800m, and won the W50 title four years ago in…

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