Lucy Hadaway and Max Burgin among elite at London's Diamond League meeting
York long jumper Lucy Hadaway must put a packed-out crowd and a stellar field to the back of her mind today as she bids to leap the distance that will secure her a place at the European Championships.
The 26-year-old has earned a spot in the long jump field for Saturday’s high-profile Wanda Diamond League meeting at London’s Olympic Stadium - her last chance to hit the qualifying mark.
She is the lowest-ranked athlete in the eight-woman event by some distance, in a field headlined by six of the world’s top eight.
But it is on her own performance that she must focus as she tries to extend her personal best by two centimetres to meet the British standard for selection to the European Championships in Birmingham from Monday, August 10, to Sunday, August 16.
“The full qualifying distance is 6m77 and I’ve jumped 6m75,” confirmed Hadaway, a part-time athlete who has already secured selection for the Commonwealth Games which begin next Friday.
“So it's just two centimetres off automatic qualifying that I’m looking for.
“Qualifying for the Commonwealths was great - what a bonus it would be if I could make it to the Europeans as well.”
City of York AC member Hadaway won both the British indoor and outdoor titles this year, performances that suggest when the stakes are highest, she can deliver the jumps.
One athlete certain to be headed to both the Commonwealth Games and European Championships in a busy summer is Halifax’s 800m runner Max Burgin.
The 24-year-old Olympic finalist has had a stellar year on the Diamond League circuit, winning the two-lap race in Rabat, Morocco, in May.
Burgin’s big rival, Kenya’s Olympic and world champion Emmanuel Wantonyi, is also in the field in London, as is fellow Brit Jake Wightman.
Paris 2024 gold medallist Keely Hodgkinson leads a stellar line-up in the women’s 800m which includes her fellow British athletes Georgia Hunter-Bell and Phoebe Gill.
Zharnel Hughes headlines the men’s 100m.