MARTIN SIXTH AT AAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

Britannia International Melbourne Squad member, Martin Aram, was at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham last Saturday (26^th July) to compete at the AAA Senior British track and field championships.  This was the first time the teenager had competed at this televised event, which also doubled as the European championship trials.  The entry list for the men’s high jump consisted of nearly all the nationally ranked Under 23 and Senior British athletes.  Ben Challenger and Dalton Grant would start as favourites for two of the medal positions but with many of the competitors enjoying mixed form, virtually anything could happen.

The surprise package was Ian Holliday of Sale Harriers who, at the age of 29 – quite old for a high jumper, cleared a personal best height of 2.17 metres to claim the silver medal, behind Ben Challenger’s 2.24.  Nearly everyone else performed significantly below his best.  Dalton Grant struggled even to get over his opening height of 2.12 metres, needing all three attempts, but that was sufficient for the bronze medal, as, surprisingly, nobody else cleared more than 2.07.

The majority of the competitors came in at the starting height of 2.02 metres but Martin chose to open at 2.07 to save energy for the later stages.  The gamble was not entirely successful, as he needed two attempts to clear it.  Then, struggling to achieve good positioning over the bar, the NatWest Island Games record breaker had three failures at the next height of 2.12.  The result was sixth place, the first failure at 2.07 losing him two places on count-back.

With double points in the UK Athletics Domestic series allocated from the results, that failure proved quite costly for the AON Under 21 Sportsman of the Year.  After leading the series high jump rankings through most of the rounds, he drops back into third place on 28 points, with Ian Holliday moving up dramatically to share the lead with Mark Crowley on 30.  However, Martin now has sufficient points to be guaranteed a place in the Grand Prix final in Cwmbran, South Wales, on 9^th August, irrespective of the results in the last round at Loughborough on 31^st July, which he will not now contest.

“I was pretty gutted after the competition”, said the Manx Sports Aid recipient.  “The bronze medal was there for the taking; all I had to do was to clear 2.12 on my first or second attempt, which should have been within my capability, but I couldn’t do it on the day.  On reflection, I realised that most of the other competitors could have said the same, and probably did!  The good thing was that I was comfortable opening at 2.07, compared with my usual 2.00 metres, which will be useful for me in the future.  I’ve got a busy week ahead of me.  I’ve been invited to take part as a guest and reserve for the GB team in the Under 23 international against France on Saturday (2^nd August) in Ashford, Kent.  Then, I’m in Cwmbran the following Saturday and the next day in Derby representing the North of England in the Under 23 home international.”

The flight to Birmingham was provided by British Airways CitiExpress under his Sports Scholarship.

Martin watches as the surprise package, Ian Holliday, scoops the silver medal.

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