Following successful qualification at the UK Trials in Birmingham this weekend, Britain’s Olympic silver medallists, Phillips Idowu (Triple Jump) and Germaine Mason (High Jump) were celebrating at Silverstone today with a day’s circuit training, organised by Alfa Romeo, the Official Car Supplier of UK Athletics (UKA). The track day was a pre-cursor to next week’s London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace and next month’s World Championships in Berlin.
Idowu and Mason were joined by another Beijing medallist, Tasha Danvers (400m Hurdles), currently sidelined by injury, and UKA Performance Advisors, Steve Backley and Katharine Merry, at the home of the British F1 Grand Prix for a day of auto-testing, circuit driving and high speed laps, in top-spec Alfa Romeo MiTos.
Steve Backley, three times Olympic medallist emerged victorious over the three disciplines, closely followed by Katharine Merry.
Idowu, who took only one jump yesterday to win the UK Championships and confirm his position as Britain’s pre-eminent triple jumper, commented, ‘After competing yesterday, it is great fun to be able to do something completely different for a few hours. Whilst none of us are expert drivers, the competition was pretty intense, and well done to Steve for coming out on top.
‘Tomorrow it’s back to training. I’m looking forward to putting in a good performance at Crystal Palace next weekend, but for the next month it’s all about preparation for the Worlds, so all our training is now focused upon peaking for Berlin.’
Steve Backley OBE, former javelin world record holder, who now acts as a Performance Advisor to the GB & NI athletics team, enthused about the day, ‘We are now at a very intensive time of the season, where events come thick and fast. After the weekend’s competition in Birmingham, it’s great for the guys to have a day off and enjoy a different kind of sporting challenge. Those MiTos are really impressive – I’m 6ft 5 and I was amazed how spacious they are – it was a lot of fun!’
Damien Dally, Brand Communications Manager of Alfa Romeo, was similarly thrilled by the day’s events: ‘Passion, performance and pride are at the ‘cuore sportivo’ (sporting heart) of Alfa Romeo.
Today’s activities have been very enjoyable, but each of the athletes has demonstrated a keen competitive side and no shortage of speed on track. As a partner of UK Athletics we look forward to seeing Phillips, Germaine and all the team perform with passion and pride in both Crystal Palace and Berlin.’
The Aviva London Grand Prix, which takes place at Crystal Palace is Britain’s showpiece athletics event, starting on the 24th July. The field will feature a number of reigning Olympic Champions, including triple Beijing Gold Medal Winner, Usain Bolt.
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