Holt hammers rivals to book GB trip (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Holt hammers rivals to book GB trip

10:55am Thursday 2nd July 2009 in

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Cleckheaton hammer thrower Sarah Holt smashed the competition record at the English Under-23 Championships as she secured her place in the Great Britain squad for this summer’s main event.

The 22-year-old athlete, who is the current British No 3, claimed the English title with a throw of 63.60 metres to book her plane ticket to Lithuania in July for the European Under-23 Championships.

Holt was streets ahead of her nearest rival in Bedford as New Zealand’s Jessica Charlesworth took silver with a throw of 55.14m, while the West Yorkshire ace twice broke Laura Douglas’ previous championship best of 61.39m set in 2005.

But despite the impressive display, Holt refused to get carried away and insists reaching the final in Lithuania is her main objective as she continues her progression from talented junior to competitive senior.

She said: “I was pleased with how things went. I will have to wait until the team is announced but now I have won here and have the qualifying time, I should be going to the Europeans.

“At the Europeans I want to qualify for the final and after that, I don’t know.

“Everyone’s always after medals in their head but I’m not going to say I’m going to get a medal or do this or that. I’m just going to go out there and do my best and hopefully that will be enough to bring back a medal.”

Holt knew victory in Bedford would all but seal her place in the British squad this summer following her personal-best throw of 65.33m in Germany last May, which ensured she had the required qualification distance in the bank.

And while Holt was delighted to claim gold, she was left with a bitter taste after being denied a potential new personal best when being wrongly red flagged by competition officials.

“I’m quite disappointed because they gave one of my throws as a no throw when it definitely wasn’t,” said Holt, who has benefited this season from her selection for the UK Athletics Heroes Project, supported by Original Source.

“My feet were right up against the board but they said my feet went over it. The lady told me that was 66.51m and that would have been a metre PB.

“My training has been going very well technically but the distances have dropped off a bit, so a new PB would have been nice. But my coach has said don’t worry because my technique is looking good.

“I didn’t expect to get a 66-metre throw because I’ve never done that in training or anything, so that gives me confidence knowing that I can do it.”

The UKA Heroes project, sponsored by Original Source, is a successful initiative which offers financial support to talented young athletes who are working towards the 2012 and 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.