Athletics digest: Gold for Brown ... Haven't we met somewhere? ..

At the South of England Championships at Watford, Izzie Brown struck gold in the under-20 high jump with another 1.70m in a consistent season and was rewarded with her first England vest.
Izzie Brown with her medal at WatfordIzzie Brown with her medal at Watford
Izzie Brown with her medal at Watford

Together with the winners of the other two main areas, midlands and north, she has been invited to compete at Cardiff on July 31 against Wales and other international guest athletes, a fitting send-off for the Chichester athlete, who leaves to start a college course in the United States in August.

* Two of Great Britain’s newest athletics stars - part of the team which finished second to Russia and Germany in the European team competition at Gateshead over the weekend - are well-known to Chichester Runners.

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The winner of last November’s Hampshire League cross-country race over the club’s Goodwood course, Emilia Gorecka, was in sparkling form in the 5,000m and gained a fantastic second place behind the strong Olympic Russian athlete.

Charlie Grice from Brighton Phoenix was also a brave runner-up at Gateshead in the men’s 1,500m. Both have run frequently over the undulating Downs next to Goodwood racecourse.

There were two further connections with club athletes as Chichester’s middle-distance runners have competed against Jessica Judd, who took the women’s 800m by storm while Izzie Brown has often come up against Isabel Pooley, who was GB’s representative in the high jump.

All four athletes with an average age of just 20 years are set to be part of the new post-Olympic look of the Great Britain squad looking forward to Rio in 2016.

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* Chichester’s crop of younger juniors gained another impressive second place behind host club Portsmouth at the Mountbatten Centre.

The team of under-15s and under-13s showed great determination and cemented their runners-up spot with one fixture left at Worthing on July 13. Details of the match and the latest league table will be in this week’s Observer.