AVIVA INDOOR UK TRIALS AND CHAMOIONSHIPS

Good-natured and professionally testing start to the season
Encouraging performers from athletes expected to feature well

The Aviva Indoor UK Trials and Championships provided a welcome, good-natured and professionally testing start to the “serious business” of the season. The compact IES Stadium inspires a sense of intimacy in which athletes, media and public are in close contact with each other. Home city favourite Jessica Ennis delighted her fans and there were encouraging performances from several athletes who are expected to feature well in the forthcoming season. Seasoned performers Dwain Chambers, Jeanette Kwakye and Marilyn Okoro shared the honours with (comparative) newcomers J.J. Jegede, Nigel Levine, Shana Cox and Shara Proctor.

Flash quotes from selected winners:

Men’s high-jump: Samson Oni
“I’m very happy to get the win. I was only feeling about 80 or 90% this week so jumping 2.26m is about what I’d expect under those circumstances. I’m looking forward to hopefully doing well in Istanbul now. My aim is to make it to the final there and then put in some good jumps against the best in the world and shake things up a bit”.

Women’s 60 metres: Jeanette Kwakye
“It was nice to come out here and win. I hadn’t won a 60m here for a while so it was nice to come here and pick up a title. I’ll hopefully get a few more good races in before the World Indoors and hopefully then the Olympics. Istanbul is something that I’ve discussed with my coach, I’m looking forward to it and technically I’ve got a few things that I need to sort out there.  I’ll take that kind of run going into Birmingham next week and hopefully I’ll be able to step up my game when I run against some of the international girls there”.

Men’s 60 metres: Dwain Chambers
“I was confident as all athletes should be; I just wanted to make sure I executed my job as well as possible. I’m pleased just to be given the opportunity to race and I’m still enjoying it. I’ve got a race in Belgium on the 18^th so I need to make sure I stay fit and healthy for that and then it’s just a case of tapering and getting myself ready for Istanbul. I’m going to be confident that I can retain my title. I’m going to have strong competition, I believe Asafa Powell may be there, you never know who may turn up and put out a good performance on the day. I’m just going to go there and try and defend.”

Men’s long-jump: J.J Jegede
“It was a good performance, I'm really happy with it. It’s a big year this year, obviously. I'm a Hackney boy, so 2012 is literally on my doorstep, so I’m desperate to be there. I'm determined to work hard in training to make it happen. I've had a really good winter. It’s the first winter when I haven’t been injured and everything seems to be coming together. My coach is great and we work really hard together. I would love to go to the Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham next weekend, so I'm just hoping they invite me. I know I can get to that 8.15m qualifying mark for the World Indoor Championships, so I just hope I can get another chance. Istanbul is something I’d really like to do. It’s going to be a lot harder making the qualifying distance indoors, but that’s what I’ve got to do”.

Women’s 800 metres: Marilyn Okoro
“I’m really happy to have three out of three wins in 2012. That’s what it’s all about. I missed a lot of racing over the last couple of years with injury, so it’s nice to be back out there dominating the races I’ve been involved in. I  think I’ve been eased back into the indoors now and it’s the time for me to start running fast. I'm going to have to if I want to go to the World Indoor Championships, which I do. Before the race I felt so tired, I was yawning and was really struggling, but once that gun went, the adrenaline took over and the rest was history. I'm in great shape physically after my warm weather training and I’m really looking forward to the Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham next weekend. It’s going to be a great event and I really think I can get faster”.

Women’s 400 metres: Shana Cox
“That felt great. I’m finding my rhythm and it’s really exciting. I’m kind of learning my race all over again which is great and I’m pleased with the result. I always try to be in control of my race as much as I can. It’s always nice to feel like you’re in control. The plan is to go to Istanbul now. I’m looking forward to continuing to do better and continuing to improve my times”.

Men’s 400 metres: Nigel Levine
“I don’t always get the recognition but it makes me more determined. This is what I train for; this is what I'm all about. I’m working with Linford Christie now and I’ve got great support from my training partners Luke Lennon-Ford, Richard Strachan, Conrad Williams…they’re all good quality guys that push me on”.

Women’s long-jump: Shara Proctor
“It was very important to get the crowd behind me (today) – that’s what I’m looking forward to this season, getting the crowd behind me so I’ve know I’ve got that support and I’m looking forward to competing in front of a home crowd again this summer. It was good out there today and congratulations to Abigail, she was a great competitor. I’m looking forward to the World Indoors, it’s my first indoor World Championships so I’m very excited; I have high hopes now I’ve qualified so I expect to go there and do well”.

Women’s Shot Putt:
Eden Francis
“I think I’ve just been working really hard this winter. The last two seasons have been interrupted by injury after injury, so having no injuries this winter has meant that I’ve been able to train solidly throughout and I think that’s showing in my performances. I’ve not come out of winter training for any of these indoor events and throw like I did today, I didn’t PB, but I’m so happy and it was a pretty good performance. Confidence is also a big thing for me. Last year I was lacking greatly in confidence, I think that’s what injuries do to everyone, but I’ve got over it this year and hopefully that’ll show outdoors”.

Women’s Triple Jump: Yamile Aldama
“I’m happy because a win is a win. I just need to work on my speed and try to move better through the jump. It was a good competition but you always want more and I’m really waiting on that big one. I’m used to jumping really high but we’re working on a lot of things and I’m concentrating on my speed through the jump, I need to keep working”.

Women’s 800 metres: Margaret Adeoye
“It feels really good to be national champion and I’m really happy with the time. I can’t take all the credit, my coaches have been amazing. They’ve just made me mentally believe in myself and given me great confidence; I just came here and ran”.

Men’s triple-jump: Kola Adedoyin
“I’m happy I won; winter training’s been great this year. I hit a bit of a wall in January so it was up and down as to whether I was going to compete today. I’m happy I did, coming here and winning my first national title. I’m not quite happy about the distance but it’s work in progress for the summer. It’s inspiring competing in a field with experienced athlete’s like Julian Golley. He’s 40 and he’s jumping close to what I’m jumping so it pushes me to go a little bit further and achieve what he’s done and a little bit more”

Women’s high jump:
Jessica Ennis
“I’m really pleased; it’s my second competition of the indoor season so it’s nice to start of jumping in the 90s because that’s what I need to do in the Pentathlon or Heptathlon so I’m always happy if I can come out and jump like that, it’s promising for the rest of the year. It’s always good to have a battle because when I’m in a Heptathlon and Pentathlon there are some really good high jump girls there and we push one another so it’s good to have that kind of competition at home. I think you do worry a bit (when you have two no-jumps at a lower height) because you don’t want to go out at that height and I really wanted to jump in the 1.90s, so there’s a bit of worry, but you have to get yourself together and refocus”
and
Women’s 60 metres hurdles: Jessica Ennis
“We’ve been doing a lot of work on my starts, so just trying to work on getting out the blocks quicker than I have done in the past and it seems to be working so I’m really pleased. I think last year I had a bit of an issue – I had a lot of speed to contend work with but I was getting too close to the hurdles and I didn’t have the confidence to attack them. This year I’ve just practiced and practiced and it’s coming together now. I’m really, really happy with the weekend, it’s promising and it shows that training has gone well over the winter”.