Friedrich runs 800m record to win another national title
Emil Friedrich has secured a second national U15 title – barely a month after his first.
The aspiring decathlete chased up last month’s 300m success by winning the England U15 Combined Events Indoor Championships in Sheffield at the weekend, setting four personal bests within a pentathlon performance exceeding 3,000 points.
The cherry on top was a record-shattering 800m. His massive PB of 2min. 0.51sec. slashed over 4sec. from Gian-Luca Robilliard’s Guernsey U15 mark.
The 14-year-old told his social media following that he was ‘lost for words’ after his success.
‘My goal has always been to become a successful decathlete, mostly due to the challenge it brings, but also due to the title of “world’s greatest athlete”, which the Olympic decathlon champion is crowned with,’ he said.
‘This victory provides me with a great stepping stone towards achieving this.’
Friedrich started his campaign over the 60m hurdles, where he narrowly missed his PB with a 9.05 for third.
His 5.66m long jump started off his PB streak and was good for second place, though he remained in third overall.
He got a taste of what was to come after opening his shot put with 11.45m. Although only worth third, it elevated him to a small lead.
A temporary setback followed as he settled for fifth in the high jump with 1.59m, which dropped him back to third overall.
If leader Jack Ruby’s advantage was to be overturned, the Sarnian would need a huge 7.5sec. head-to-head victory in the 800m – an event he has little specific training for. An undeterred Friedrich instead finished over 14sec. ahead.
A near-5sec. PB gave him a gaping victory margin, with Jay Husain (2-10.25) also beating Ruby (2-14.81).
The Guernsey youngster finished on a total score of 3,039 – up 450 from his previous effort outdoors last summer. Ruby followed on 2,926 as Frederick Strong took bronze with 2,815.
‘I would once again like to thank Dale Garland for getting me to this second milestone – a brilliant decathlete himself,’ he added.
‘He’s showing me the path to professional athletics as if he’s got a map to it.
‘There’s a lot more to go from here.’
