Decathlete is new golden boy

A TEENAGER from Wargrave has a set a new national record for the decathlon at under-20 level.

Sammy Ball, 18, also has the best leading score in the world after taking gold in the English championships last month.

He notched up 7,870 points after the 10 disciplines.

“I was really happy with it,” he said. “It’s a good way to start the season.”

Sammy, who competes for Reading Athletic Club, achieved a personal best with his combined score for the five events on the first day of the two-day championships n Manchester.

He also got a personal best in three individual events.

He cleared 2.03m in the high jump, “put” the shot 15.77m and ran the 400m in 48.1 seconds. He also ran the 100m in 10.86 seconds and jumped 7.02m in the long jump.

Sammy said: “I was not only on track for the UK record but also the world lead as well for the under-20s.” The existing national record was 7,691 points and the world lead, which he was aiming for, was 7,843.

Sammy, a former pupil at the Piggott School in Wargrave, described his performance on the second day as “solid”.

“It’s always hard after a day of competing,” he said. “I didn’t have any individual personal bests but it was all at a standard I set myself.”

He completed the 110m hurdles 14.5 seconds and the 1,500m in four minutes and 27.99 seconds.

He threw the discus 39.59m and the javelin 46.17 and cleared 4.40m in the pole vault. Sammy said: “Going into the 1,500m I knew I had to get under 4.32 as it was the last event but I hadn’t run under 4.30 in two years.

“For the first two laps I was five seconds too quick and I didn’t want to burn out so I did the third lap more slowly. Crossing the finish line felt really good. I was confident I’d done it.

After the event, Sammy celebrated with a meal out with his parents Sarah and Lincoln, his coach Mike Dyer and team-mates. He said: “I don’t want to eat too much in the day but afterwards I had one meal that was about 3,000 calories. After the first day we went to Pizza Hut. I had three sides and dessert and everything. You’ve got to fuel yourself.”

Sammy, who is now studying sport science at the Berkshire College of Agriculture near Maidenhead, had a short break after the championships.

He said: “I took a few days off and started doing some light recovery, like gentle jogs on the third day. No super intense training but getting some technical work done.” Sammy comfortably qualified for the under-20 European Championships, which will be held in Jerusalem on August 9 and 10.

He will fly out with the British team a few days before the competition to acclimatise.

Sammy said: “Originally I was thinking about qualifying for Jerusalem and maybe getting a medal if all went well but now I’m hoping to come away with gold.

“It’s going to be really warm in Jerusalem. That’s good for some events where you’re not in the sun for too long but some events like the pole vault are quite long so you have to keep drinking lots of water.”

Mr Ball said he was proud of his son and he and his wife were looking forward to seeing him compete in Jerusalem.

“We’re going, as is one of his coaches, so Sammy will have a little fan club,” he said.

“It’s great to see all his hard work paying off. What was even better in Manchester was I had two athletics officials come up to me to say what a nice gentleman Sammy is.”

Mrs Ball said: “Athletics is his passion. It would probably take a bulldozer to stop him from achieving his goals. His aim is to compete for Britain as a senior athlete.”