Hughes and Hunt win British 100m titles
Zharnel Hughes and Amy Hunt claimed the 100m titles at the UK Athletics Championships as pole vaulter Molly Caudery also starred on day one in Birmingham.World bronze medallist Hughes clocked a wind-assisted 9.94 seconds to cross the line ahead of Jeremiah Azu (9.97) and Louie Hinchliffe (10.01) and secure his place on the Great Britain team at September's World Championships in Tokyo.Rising star Hunt, 23, also secured qualification by dominating the women's final in a personal best 11.02 after defending champion Daryll Neita was disqualified for a false start.Athletes must achieve a top-two finish in their events and have met the World Athletics entry standard to be assured of a place in the squad, which will be announced on 27 August.Distance runner Hannah Nuttall and discus thrower Lawrence Okoye were among those to also triumph on Saturday and earn selection.There are 26 gold medals to be won on the final day of action at Alexander Stadium.
Olympic 1500m medallist Georgia Hunter-Bell and Max Burgin qualified fastest for Sunday's 800m finals, while 400m favourites Amber Anning and Charlie Dobson also secured comfortable victories before their finals.
A relaxed and confident Hughes turned his head and stared down his closest rivals as he cruised over the line in the final event of the day.The 30-year-old came into the championships as the fastest Briton this year after his 9.91 run in Eugene in July, holding off world indoor 60m champion Azu and the fast-finishing Hinchliffe.Hinchliffe, who won last year's title to secure a fairytale rise from obscurity to Olympic qualification, and Azu have not achieved the sub-10 standard needed for the Worlds.In a dramatic start to the women's final, Neita, who had run a season's best 11.00 in a strong semi-final showing, was denied the chance to compete after making a slight movement in her starting block.In her absence, former training partner Hunt finished well clear of Desiree Henry (11.32) and Faith Akinbileje (11.34).Hunt and Neita are doubling up in 200m, where they will have competition from former world champion Dina Asher-Smith.
Caudery won the pole vault with a first-time clearance of 4.45m, before pushing herself to equal her best performance of the year by going over at 4.85m.The 25-year-old won world indoor gold in a breakout 2024 season, during which she broke the British record with a 4.92m jump, but failed to qualify for the Olympic final."I've just been finding my flow again and figuring a few things out, so I didn't push it today, but it is really exciting to jump back over the 80s again and I'm hoping to attempt [the British record] soon," Caudery said.Nuttall sealed her place on the team by winning the women's 5,000m in 15 minutes 46.90 seconds, having achieved the qualifying time before the championships.But 19-year-old Innes FitzGerald, who achieved the qualifying standard in breaking the European Under-20 record in London last month, must wait to see if she is selected after finishing third behind India Weir.Okoye confirmed his place in Tokyo by winning the men's discus with a 65.93m throw, while Anna Purchase threw a championship record 72.96m to win the women's hammer title - a distance within UK Athletics' (UKA) consideration standard.
Elise Thorner, who also has the UKA standard and will go to Tokyo if she qualifies by world ranking - ran a championship record 9:22.05 to win the women's 3,000m steeplechase.Alicia Barrett clocked 13.06 to win a chaotic women's 100m hurdles final in which several athletes fell.Divine Duruaku and Charlie Husbands agreed to share the men's high jump title after both cleared 2.14m, while Alessandro Schenini won the men's long jump with 7.85m in the first round.Scott Lincoln, who has the UKA standard, won an 11th consecutive men's shot put title with 20.77m, and Adelaide Omitowoju claimed women's triple jump gold with a personal-best 13.62m.Michael Alisson won the men's javelin title with a personal best of 78.48m, as did two-time Paralympic champion Daniel Pembroke with 63.62m to take the para men's title, while Daniel Greaves won the para men's discus with 55.63m.Thomas Young won the men's 100m ambulant final in 11.19, and the women's 800m wheelchair event was won by Kare Adenegan in 2:12.87.
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