Stratford's Pozzi qualifies for Rio Olympics after storming to British title

ANDREW Pozzi booked his place at this summer’s Rio Olympics after storming to the British title in Birmingham on Sunday.

The Stratford AC athlete ran the race of his life in the 110m hurdles with a personal best time of 13.31 seconds to secure his first British gold since 2012.

Pozzi, a former Alcester Grammar School student, took one hundredth of a second off his previous best, despite going into a headwind of 1.3m/sec.

The 24-year-old was challenged early on by Lawrence Clarke, who held on for second in 13.44 seconds to join Pozzi in Rio.

“I’m over the moon to have qualified,” said Stratford-born Pozzi, whose time at the London 2012 Games was hampered by injury.

“I couldn’t be happier. It’s the first race of the season where I’ve really had it all together.

“That’s what you need to do in the final. I knew I had to get out and focus on myself.

“The body feels great and it’s the best I’ve felt this season.”

Pozzi's Stratford AC team-mate Rory Dwyer arrived at the UK trials full of confidence following his qualification for the forthcoming World Junior Championships.

After struggling for form in his first few competitions of the season and with his A-Level exams behind him, the high jumper from Alcester has worked even harder in training and paid off with another fine series of jumps.

He comfortably moved through the heights and finally went out of the competition at 2.12m, his second best performance of the season.

Meanwhile, Issy Cain-Daley was left disappointed in her first UK trials after jumping well in her warm-up. Cain-Daley bowed out of the high jump with three failures at her opening height of 1.64m.

Pozzi and Dwyer are supported by Stratford-based FPS Distribution Ltd.

Full story and more reaction in this week's Herald