Eilish McColgan bounced back to top form taking the 3,000m steeplechase title at the Sainsbury’s British Track and Field Championships at Birmingham.
Scottish internationalist colleague Lennie Waite (Aldershot Farnham & District) pushed the early pace, passing through 2km in 6 minutes 31 seconds with McColgan content to bide her time for a final lap effort, which saw her take the title in a season’s best 9:50.06, Waite following home in 9:53.03.
“I have never been so happy to win a British Championships in my life,” McColgan said.
“To come away with a 9:50, to run a season’s best and to win my third consecutive title at the British Championships you could not find a happier person in this stadium.”
Britain’s top two 400m hurdlers, Eilidh Child (Pitreavie AC) and Meghan Beesley (Birchfield Harriers), booked their places in the GB & NI team for the European championships, with Child taking the title in 55.58 after a dominant performance.
The Kinross athlete never looked in doubt as she drove to the line to secure her first British title.
European champion Lynsey Sharp (Edinburgh AC) will head to Zurich to defend her title after storming home to victory in the women’s 800m.
Alison Leonard (Blackburn) came through to take silver ahead of Jenny Meadows (Wigan) as early leader Jess Judd (Chelmsford) could only manage fourth.
Sharp clocked 2:01.40, with Leonard in on 2:01.83. Fife AC’s Jenny Tan finished 8th (2:06.21).
“I’m enjoying being back racing, especially after the last 12 months having had surgery twice and I was in hospital on an IV drip in April,” said Sharp.
Dwain Chambers (Belgrave) made it a remarkable five 100m titles in a row.
The 36-year-old made his experience count as he got the better of a field bursting with talent, including the fastest man on paper, 20-year-old Chijindu Ujah (Enfield & Haringey), who ran his first sub-10 second race earlier this month, to become the third fastest Briton ever.
Chambers clocked a season’s best 10.12 to dip under the qualifying time required to join the GB & NI team for the European Championships in August.
Harry Aikines-Aryeetey (Sutton & District) finished second and also heads to Zurich, while Ujah clinched bronze. London 2012 Olympian Laura Weightman (Morpeth) sprinted to victory in the 1,500m.
Stretching the field from the front during a 59-second last lap, Weightman held off Laura Muir (Dundee Hawkhill) in 4:09.77 with Hannah England (Oxford City) third. Milnathort athlete Muir followed home in 4:10.01 with England (Oxford City) timed at 4:12.37.
Jo Moultrie (VP Glasgow) in sixth headed Morag MacLarty (Central) seventh on the finish line in 4:17.01 with MacLarty another three 10ths of a second back.
Edinburgh’s Laura Dunn finished 11th with a personal best of 4:21.46. European U23 silver medallist Danny Talbot (Birchfield) powered home in the closing stages of the men’s 200m to clinch gold.
The 23-year-old underlined his place at the top of the British rankings, tearing round the bend overhauling Adam Gemili (Blackheath & Bromley) and James Ellington (Newham & Essex Beagles) to cross the line in 20.42.
Gemili took silver with a season’s best 20.61, with Ellington clinching bronze.
Michael Rimmer (Liverpool Pembroke) won his seventh national 800m title after having qualified as a fast loser from Friday night’s heats.
After a 53.73 first lap, Olympic finalist Andrew Osagie (Harlow) eased into the lead down the back straight and led into the home straight with Mukhtar Mohammed (Sheffield) on his right shoulder and Rimmer on his left.
It was Rimmer who had the most powerful finish, though, as he burst into the lead with 50m to go to take the gold in 1:48.00. Lasswade’s Guy Learmonth placed fifth (1:49.09).
In the field events, Katarina Johnson-Thompson (Liverpool Harriers) set a new lifetime best in the long jump, bettering her previous outdoor mark by 11cm as she reached 6.81m with her second jump.
There was a season’s best for Britain’s number one javelin thrower Goldie Sayers (Belgrave), who managed a world class 62.75m in her penultimate attempt to take a remarkable 11th national title.
Birchfield’s Eden Francis sealed a shot and discus double during a glorious three-hour spell.
It means the 25-year old has now won seven national titles, coming after more than a year on the sidelines due to two prolapsed discs in her back.
Francis won the shot putt with a best effort of 16.66m, then a couple of hours later she took the discus crown at the opposite end of the arena with 55.93m.
Lee Doran (Sheffield) won his fourth consecutive national javelin title (77.71m), with Scottish record holder James Campbell (Cheltenham) in third with 68.12m.