Discus thrower Ed Gardiner had a big result at the weekend, throwing a big new personal best and in the process achieving the demanding qualification standard for the English Schools Championships in two weeks time.
Having won the Northumberland Schools County Championships already, action moved this weekend to the Northern Schools Inter Counties Championships at Gateshead Stadium. Difficulties caused by delays to the start and a rising headwind were further added to by all throwers being told they would only get a maximum of three and not the usual four attempts. Despite this, practice throws by Ed still looked good, and after two promising early efforts, the first of which saw him go straight into the lead, his final throw really flew, with the small but knowledgeable crowd already applauding. Ed achieved a distance of 41.30 metres, his first over 40m throw and a pb by nearly three metres. The throw also saw him reach the qualification standard for the English Schools Championships at Birmingham’s Commonwealth Games stadium on 29 June, where he will be ranked 11th. The late qualification meant some further anxiety for Ed and father Alan until his selection was confirmed, but this finally arrived at the start of the week. The achievement comes after a very difficult winter, badly disrupted due to injuries which all meant little if any training could be done, as well as Ed moving up to the heavier 1.75 kg weight for the first time. A real tribute to Ed and all the team around him and a lesson in the importance of persistence and hard work to us all. Comments are closed.
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January 2025
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