Ala earns Paris place despite a false start
ALASTAIR CHALMERS has officially secured the Olympic standard after enduring an emotional rollercoaster at the UK Athletics Championships this afternoon.
After winning a fifth straight British 400m hurdles title in Manchester, posting a championship record and big personal best of 48.53sec., he is fully expected to be named in the Olympic team for Paris 2024.
But the 24-year-old's ambitions had so nearly crumpled when he received a red card after false-starting in the final, which was his last qualifying opportunity.
An understandably vocal Chalmers was allowed to run under protest and battled until the end, falling over the finish line in first place and well inside the Olympic time of 48.70.
Yet his run remained invalid until nearly two hours later, when he was reinstated following appeal and claimed the title instead of Alex Knibbs, who had run 49.37.
The Guernsey great had underlined his fantastic form with an easy heat win on Saturday.
After working up a huge lead, he eased dramatically in the late stages en route to a 50.51 finish.
Abi Galpin ran in the 100m heats and qualified for the semi-final with a swift season’s best of 11.83 – just 0.06sec. off her own Island record.
But she withdrew from all subsequent races due to a calf injury.
