Records for Pembroke sprinters
Gilford second behind Lewis-Francis in 60m
Pembroke Athleta Kyocera sprinter Darren Gilford yesterday provided further proof of his promising qualities on the track when finishing a creditable second in the 60m dash in the Bir-mingham Games, twice establishing a new record for the distance on his way to the final.
Club team-mate Celine Pace was also in outstanding form at the same indoor meet. She set new records for the 60m and 200m distances, placing third in the shorter sprint.
In an interview to The Times last week, coach Jivko Jetchev sounded confident Gilford will improve his PBs at the National Indoor Arena despite the season being at such an early stage.
Before, Gilford had a wind-assisted 60m best result of 6.78 seconds but the official record belonged to Raschid Chouhal's 6.85.
Gilford first beat that mark in the opening heat, winning it in 6.82 seconds. He was again first in the semi-final in another best national mark of 6.76 and repeated that same timing in the final where he finished second to the more-quoted Mark Lewis-Francis of Britain.
Pace top U-20 200m sprinter
Pace was first overall in the U-20 age-group in the 200m race. Yesterday, she ran the distance in 25.66. Her old record, also established in Birmingham last year, was 25.85.
GSSE medallist Pace was third in the 60m race in 7.98, remarkably better than her old personal best of 8.01.
The Birmingham Games are considered as an ideal build-up for the World Indoor Championships, next month in Hungary. Gilford will be in Budapest next week for another indoor meet at the same venue where the worlds will be staged.
Meanwhile, at the Marsa athletics ground yesterday, Pembroke's Charlene Attard established a new 60m outdoor record. During the third MAAA pre-season meeting, she crossed the line in 7.88.
The previous best outdoor mark belonged to Attard's club colleague Pace - 7.90.