Podium finish for Ball at first senior decathlon event

A TEENAGER from Wargrave has won a bronze medal at his first senior decathlon.

Sammy Ball, 19, won the 100m and 400m running events at the Milos Municipal Stadium international open competition in Greece. He notched up 7,551 points after the 10 disciplines and was the contest’s youngest competitor.

It is Ball’s first senior competition after he set a new record for the decathlon at the U20 level last year and scooped gold at the English championships.

The former Piggott School pupil said: “The senior decathlon definitely was more challenging. It was the first international competition I have completed.

“My two strongest events are 400m and 1,500m and the 400m is the last event on day one. I had a cold going into the competition. I found running in those events quite a bit harder.”

This year, Ball achieved personal bests in the pole vault, javelin, 100m, shotput and sprint hurdles events which took place across two-days on May 11 and 12.

He cleared 4.60m in the pole vault, threw the javelin 52.41m and ran the 100m in 10.74 seconds. He also completed the 110m hurdles in 14.81 seconds and “put” the shot 14.37m (which is heavier in the senior competitions).

Ball said the windy weather conditions in Greece contributed to a poor performance in the long jump, where he placed 11th. At the senior level, they deal with all types of conditions. The first day was really windy. Next time I am going to learn from this experience as there were a few things that did not go to plan in the last competition,” he said.

The sportsman, who coaches athletics at Palmer Park in Reading, said he is ‘excited’ to compete in the UK decathlon championships at Birmingham in July after six months of intense training.

“I am more excited than nervous. There is not too much pressure. I take it all in my stride and I am looking forward to it.”

After the event, Ball celebrated with his family at an organised party for the athletes at a cathedral in Milos. Mrs Ball said she was proud of her son and the effort he puts in to his training. She said: “He was quite excited. He was looking forward to competing on the same level as the seniors.

“From a parent’s point of view, it is brilliant to watch his progress and the way he competes is very mature and focused with each event and if one event goes wrong, he is good at putting it aside and getting back up again.”

Mrs Ball explained the key differences at a senior level. “The shotput is one kilo heavier (in the seniors) and the discus is heavier.”

“The main aim is for Sammy to do well at the senior UK championships in July and get more than 8,000 points.”