Great Britain’s athletes return from Toran Poland with a further medal to add to the list of successes in Major championships. After several days of competition in the 5th European Deaf Indoor Athletics Championships, the team of three athletes return with a one medal and a string of personal best performances.
Jonathan Wilkinson, despite feeling unwell, battled hard to take bronze in the 3000m in a time of 9.48.91 just 1.06 second of catching the Polish athlete for Silver. After the event he was clearly exhausted but proud of the achievement
John Ruddy continues to improve with a seasons best in the 60 meters, qualifying with the second fastest time in the heat. John ran even faster in the final clocking a 7.20s but was just beaten to the medal by 9 hundredths of a second to come 4th. Such a small margin but still a fantastic improvement in time and a real confidence booster going into future events to know that the speed is there and getter faster all the time.
Christopher Kay was making his debut at the competition in the Shot Put. Consistently throwing over 10.5 meter, Chris came a respectable 5th with his best throw of 10.98 meter and can now use this experience to drive him forward.
Rod Wilkinson, the Team Manager from UK Deaf Athletics said ‘I am very proud of the Team’s performance – they competed hard throughout the whole competition”
Further information about deaf athletics can be found by visiting their website www.ukdeafathletics.org.uk
