Thanet Athletics Club’s Diana Adegoke, ranked number 10 in the country before travelling to the English Schools Championships last weekend in Gateshead, created a huge upset by taking the Senior Girl’s Long Jump title in style.
In blustery conditions Diana made sure that she kept her composure whilst others couldn’t to beat some of the top long jumpers in the country. Her series of jumps were very consistent with 4 of her 6 efforts going out to 5m70 and beyond, but her best effort came in the second round which put the competition out of reach from the rest of the athletes. Diana soared out to a distance of 5m86 which was a new personal best of 8cm, but she wasn’t quite finished there as in the last round, with the competition won, she jumped out to a distance of over 6m25, but it was to be a marginal no jump.
This was Thanet AC’s first ever English School’s win and a great way for Diana to sign off as it was her last year to be able to compete in this competition.
Diana spoke of her win by saying “it was so nice to finally win a medal here, but I wasn’t expecting to win! I was very nervous that somebody would jump further than me in the last round so I had to stay focused just in case. It was a shame to not jump over 6m still, but I still have a few competitions left to do that this season and I know that I am very capable so fingers crossed.”
Club Chairman Terry Shale said “We are so proud of Diana and her achievements because this will prove to our younger athletes that with hard work and dedication these results are possible. Diana has been plagued by injuries over the last few years and this is the least that she deserves.”