Athletics: City of Sheffield & Dearne athlete Lee Thompson awaits selection

At the UK Indoor Athletics Championships at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham last Sunday City of Sheffield & Dearne Olympian athlete Lee Thompson survived a scare to win bronze medal in a fiercely contested 400metres final where just 14 hundreths of a second covered the three medal contenders at the finish line. After only qualifying as a fastest loser in the semi-finals on Saturday he retrieved the situation by storming through the field in the final 50metres of the race. Lee now waits to see if he is selected to run for Britain in the 4 x 400metres Relay Team at the forthcoming European Indoor Championships in Istanbul from 2nd to 5th of March.At the other end of the age spectrum the British Masters Athletics Championships, covering ages ranging from 35 years up to 90 years, took place at the EIS Arena Sheffield last weekend. City of Sheffield & Dearne athletes amongst the medal winners were Jed Turner winning Gold in the 800metres in the M60 years and over age group. Tom Grantham was Gold medallist in the M40 years Shot Putt adding to his Bronze Medal in the 400meters and Martyn Bollands took Silver medal in the M65 years Shot Putt.Meanwhile M40 category Greg Beard, Father and Coach to England U15 Shot Putt Champion Harry Beard and a former International athlete himself, chose instead to contest the UK Indoor Championships in Birmingham placing 7th in the Shot Putt with 16.10metres competing against athletes much younger than himself.The 2023 World Masters Indoor Athletics Championships take place in Torun, Poland, from 25th to 31st March and the British team will form one of the largest contingents at the Games.