Hercules Wimbledon round-up: Conor Kelly wins bronze at European U18 Championships

Hercules Wimbledon have a European U18 Championships medallist thanks to an incredible three rounds of 400m action from Conor Kelly in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia last weekend.

Hopes rose when Kelly won both his heat and semi-final in comfortable fashion on Thursday and Friday before returning 36 hours later for his final, writes George Mallett.

Competing in the emerald green of his native Ireland, Kelly – who has competed for his local club Hercules since U15 level – ran a phenomenal final to take a fantastic bronze in 46.97.

Not only is it his first time under 47 seconds but it is an Irish U18 best, with winner Stanislaw Strzelecki of Poland breaking the former Championship best.

It moves Kelly second on the Hercules’ all-time senior list, only behind World Championship 4x400m medallist Dwayne Cowan.

That was just one piece in a jam-packed series of top-level races for Hercules athletes.

Hercules U17 4x100m team raced at the London Diamond League on Saturday in front of a sold-out crowd of almost 60,000 spectators, duly rising to the occasion to run 42.89 for second out of the eight best teams in the south of England.

The quartet of Chezray Cammock, Adam Ofeimun, Javon Blake and Joshua Sarkodee broke their own U17 club record in the process.

Chad Miller fell 0.02 seconds short of English Championships 200m bronze after three rounds of competitive sprinting at the Birmingham Alexander Stadium. Miller, a European U20 bronze medalist over 100m from 2019, was an agonizing fourth in 21.19, having run a season’s best to finish second behind eventual English champion Luke Dorrell in his semi-final, running 20.99.

Benjy Street was the best of the Hercules representation at the English Schools Athletics Association Track and Field Championships.

Street, who has enjoyed a breakout summer over a number of distances was representing Middlesex. He finished fifth in the senior boys 2,000m steeplechase.

Street will be keenly aware it could have been even better as he pushed on with 700m to go and found himself in a clear third heading into the final barrier.

A nasty fall saw him denied a medal but he gamely continued to clock 6:16.13, collapsing in pain as he crossed the finish line.

Naomi Igbintade was unfortunate to find herself in the fastest heat by far of the junior girls 100m.

Representing London, her time of 12.46 was the fastest time by a Hercules U15 since 2017, but saw her finish fourth in her heat. In the three heats before her only five girls ran faster times. With three qualifying from each heat she can count herself extremely unlucky.

Theo Creed finished eighth in  heat one of the junior boys 1,500m -Isabella Harrison producing the same result in the junior girls’ equivalent.

Harrison was ninth in her heat, also representing London.

Olivia Ifeanyi-Nwobodo, competing in the same age group, was seventh in her 200m heat, running 26.92.

In the inter boys, Joshua Sarkodee ran 22.65 for fourth in heat three.