CITY of Plymouth’s David King is through to the 60m hurdles semi-finals at the European Indoor Athletics Championships in Istanbul.
The British champion and world indoor finalist did not get the best of starts in his heat on Saturday morning and then he stumbled off the final hurdle, but he still achieved automatic qualification with a 7.75 second run.
King, who has a best of 7.57, is now hoping for a better run in Sunday’s semi-final.
“It was a little bit shaky,” said King after his heat. “I hit the last hurdle pretty hard because I felt like I was behind everyone, so I was just running to get back in the race.
“I stumbled to the line, but luckily I was still able to get a good dip.
“The next round will be a lot better for me. It’s an early start for the semis but in the past, an early start has really suited me, so I know how to turn it on during the morning rounds.
“The indoor season started a bit rocky for me, I wasn’t going as fast as I wanted to in the early races but it has been building nicely for this.
“I made the world indoor final last year, so I see no reason why I shouldn’t be in the final here.”
Meanwhile, fellow City of Plymouth athlete Ethan Glyde equalled his personal best to win the French U18 Indoor Championship title.
Glyde leaped 2.08m to beat big rival Elijah Pasquier by two centimetres. The pair were ranked one and two in the world at under-17 level.
Plymouth-born Glyde had previously jumped 2.08m when making his England debut at the Hustopece World Athletics Tour event in the Czech Republic at the start of February.
Elsewhere, there were some strong performances from Armada athletes at the BUCS Indoor Championships in Sheffield.
Tavistock’s Josh Tyler came seventh in the shot with a throw of 14.78m, while club team-mate Emma Ryder and City of Plymouth’s Dan Newman and Jacob Lamboll all made semi-finals.
Lamboll, now at university in Cardiff, was a bit unlucky not to reach the 400m final after finishing second in his semi in a season’s best time of 48.85 seconds.
Ryder eased through the heats of the women’s 800m with a 2:17.21 run before clocking 2:14.27 in the semis.
Newman, meanwhile, ran a season best’s 1:56.35 in his 800m heat, but unfortunately had to drop-out of the semi.