National title and big PB for Curtis
GUERNSEY’S two top 400m hurdlers have faced very mixed fortunes on quite different stages over the last 48 hours.
Peter Curtis stunned by capturing an England U23 title in Bedford on Sunday – in a big personal best of 51.35sec.
But across the Atlantic at the Oregon 2022 World Championships, fellow Commonwealths pick Alastair Chalmers continued to suffer the after-effects of a vexing heat draw that left athletics development officer Tom Druce scratching his head.
Having battled hard simply to qualify after being thrown in the toughest heat at lane one, the 22-year-old again ended up on the inside and never found his top gear in the semi-final, where he placed sixth in 50.54. Rai Benjamin won the semi over 2sec. ahead.
Druce is struggling to see how Chalmers – whose 48.88 best from Belgium is very competitive at this level – ended up in that situation.
‘Ala talked very professionally after his heat,’ he said in reference to a televised interview where Chalmers seemed remarkably unfazed.
‘As an athlete, I would have been spitting feathers about the situation with the seeding.
‘He seems to have taken it in his stride, which says a lot about his professionalism.’
Druce added: ‘He could have achieved so much more and run so much faster if he’d not had that heat draw – that dictates the semi-final too.’
It was much rosier for 21-year-old Curtis at the England U23/U20 Championships weekend.
Entering with a PB of 52.00 from the 2020 senior British Championships, he came close to that in winning his heat – without crossing the line first.
Competition favourite Josh Faulds of Shaftesbury Barnet had seemingly dominated the heat, unsurprisingly for the 50sec. man, but suffered disqualification due to a hurdling technical rule violation.
That put Curtis in a terrific position for the final, where he successfully picked off Cambridge’s Samuel Clarke to win by just 0.02sec. His rival also ran a huge PB.
‘It’s one thing to go and come sixth at the UK Championships during Covid and have a massive step up there,’ Druce said.
‘But to go and put your best performance out there on the day on a national stage is another step up for him.
‘Confidence-wise, he is at a very good level going into Birmingham.’
Abi Galpin opted out of the 200m final after struggling in the heats, impacted by niggles, while Josh Duke could not find his best form in the U20 men’s equivalent.
800m specialist Kate Bain did not progress, either, after running 2-16.48 for fourth in her heat.
But the 17-year-old scalped two athletes with significantly faster PBs, including the Manchester-based Indienne King, who shares a coach with Olympic silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson.
• Cam Chalmers returned from injury to run 46.43 for fourth over 400m at Olympic Park. Up-and-coming great Charlie Dobson took the win.
