Big leap forward but Claire falls short in quest for trial

A YEAR after being crowned English Schools triple jump champion, Claire O'Reilly has come within touching distance of making the leap up to the UK Olympic Trials.

The 19-year-old landed a new personal best of 12.43m at the England Athletics Under-23 Championships in Bedford – but unfortunately it was 2cm too short and two weeks too late for an invite to the Beijing Trials, held in two weeks time.

“It would have been amazing,” she said.

“But I'm happy with the personal best. It's been a while since my last one – probably this time last year – but I just want to push on now.

“My new coach has taken apart my technique. Basically, I was leaning forward while I was running and he's tried to sort it out for me.

“It's completely changed the way I run and jump, and it's taken time to adapt, but I think it's starting to pay off now. My coach wasn't actually there at the weekend but his mentor was, so I just concentrated on everything he'd told me.

“I wasn't even thinking about the distance and then it turned out to be 12.43. I was really pleased and he looked quite impressed as well.”

O'Reilly was up against some of the country's finest triple jumpers at the weekend's championships and just missed out on a medal on countback.

She won gold at the North of England Championships in Manchester the previous week and is adapting to life on the senior circuit well.

“I was talking to my coach and we don't want to set a definite target in terms of how far I want to jump this summer but, if I get between 12.50m and 13m, I'll be happy,” she added.

The Derby University student now competes for Rugby and Northampton AC in the British Athletics League Premier Division but has not forgotten her roots.

Earlier this month, she handed out medals at the Derbyshire Schools Track and Field Championships.

“They asked me to present medals which was a real privilege,” she said. “It makes you feel special when you get asked to do something like that.

“Unfortunately, I could only do a few because I had a competition to get to.”

And O'Reilly praised her employers at JJB Sports at Pride Park for their support.

“They've been really great at JJB,” she said.

“I haven't worked the last few weekends because that's when my competitions take place and they all seem to be in Bedford. I've got the Scottish Championships coming up and they've been great about giving me time off.”