British triumphs and disappointments in Stockholm

British triumphs and disappointments in Stockholm

There were 13  British athletes in action in the Bauhaus Stockholm Grand Prix.  The performance of the night was Georgia Hunter-Bell who won the 800 in 1:57.66.  I am sure it was mere coincidence that your correspondent saw on the same table as she did at lunch on race-day. Georgia’s post-race comment was: “I ran that all wrong, making some bad decisions but the whole time I felt good so I knew I had something left. I was stuck at the back for a bit long and then ran on the outside longer than I should have but I did feel really strong and very good. I tried to find space on the inside that wasn´t there and I ran wide but 800 is all about positioning so I need to work on that”.

Jemma Reekie (1:58.66) was fifth – just one second but 4 places back. Jemma said afterwards: “I got out well but then lost my position. I was hoping to be a bit quicker but it is a long season”.

George Mills, who had set a new GB record at 5000 in Oslo 3 days ago  was fifth in a 1500.  He commented: “Obviously I was looking for the win but I came here on the back of a very good 5000m in Oslo so I did what I came to do which was to run fast with only a short recovery. It worked pretty well until the last lap or so when the legs started to get heavy. I now have just a few days to get recovered for Paris on Friday. Bit this is all part of the plan of getting races in in a short period of time”.

Dina Asher-Smith was second in the 100m behind Olympic champion (and Dina’s training partner), Julien Alfred.  After finishing in 10.93, Dina said: “I felt like I had a good start and held my form well but I prefer to win, obviously. To run a 10.9-low is really great, and it’s very exciting to be getting so close to my PB. I train with Julien so we like to race each other and bring the best out of each other”.

Darryl Neita was fifth in 11.17,  She was disappointed but explained that having moved to USA to work with Lance Brauman earlier this year, she was adjusting to a new training and a lot of new things and was not really ready to race yet.

Amber Anning was third in 50.17, running her second Diamond League 400m race in 3 days.  She said: “Of course I wanted to win but I am moving in the right direction…