Congratulations to Thomas W who travelled to the Sheffield indoor 200m track to compete in the U17 800m event last weekend.

Saturday’s race was the first of two heats, with all three automatic qualifiers running under 1:59. Thomas won his heat in style, setting a new personal best of 1:58.09.

The second heat was equally competitive, with three athletes also qualifying in under two minutes. The winner of that heat was just two tenths of a second faster than Thomas’s time.

In the final, Thomas was drawn in one of the more favourable lanes, the outside lane 6, while the winner of the second heat had lane 5. Lane 5 can offer a slight advantage, allowing the athlete to better judge the break from lanes and avoid getting boxed in on the tight inner bends.

Undeterred, Thomas positioned himself perfectly, latching onto the fastest ranked athlete and staying on his shoulder for the next two laps. Pushing himself to see just how fast he could go, he powered through the final half lap in a lung bursting, lactate filled sprint to the line.

The result was a superb silver medal and another personal best of 1:56.39 to cap off an outstanding performance.