Lightning Lee wins another national title

The middle distance athlete from St Leonards sped to a brilliant victory in the men’s 3,000m at the British Championships & Trials in Sheffield on Sunday.

Emanuel, who spends most of his time in North America, produced another excellent run to triumph in 7:55.91, finishing more than a second clear of his nearest rival.

He said: “I am really happy to win another national title. This year has been an interesting one due to training in Canada. I have had to get creative with training and I was not sure how it was going to go.

“I have been coaching myself, running on my own and training indoors most of the time due to the freezing temperatures so I am really proud I managed to run as well (as I did).

“This is going to be my last season so I am delighted to be able to walk away from the sport on my own terms still performing at a high level.”

Emanuel, who flew back to Canada on Monday, has won the British indoor 3,000m title every year since 2015 and previously clinched the 1,500m version in 2014.

He also won a superb silver medal at the European Indoor Championships two years ago and came sixth at the World Indoor Championships in the United States last year.

The 32-year-old finished sixth in the men’s 1,500m at the outdoor European Championships in Amsterdam last summer.

Hastings AC talent Elise Lovell achieved a pair of personal best performances in the two events she contested at the British Championships.

Lovell leaped 5.96m to take fifth place in the long jump (her furthest distance indoors, although she became the first Sussex woman to break the six-metre barrier outdoors last summer).

The 24-year-old multi-eventer - competing against specialists in their own events - also narrowly missed out on the 60m hurdles final after clocking 8.56 seconds in her heat.

Last month Lovell helped the GB senior women’s team finish runners-up in the Combined Events International Indoor Match in Prague having previously achieved a superb second place at the England Athletics Senior Indoor Combined Events Championships.

This weekend she will be in action at the BUCS Nationals in Sheffield, again competing in the 60m hurdles and long jump. She will be targeting a medal in the latter event.

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