European Junior Championships

Holly Croxford (Winchester AC) was in tears after she finished seventh in her heat in 54.80 seconds – not so much because she had missed a place in the final but because: “I wanted to do well for George.”

Her first coach at Andover AC, George Williamson, looked after her from the age of 12 until she was a first-year Under 17 but died a couple of years ago. In only her fourth-ever 400m race, she did pretty well time-wise, getting within 0.52sec of her best on a humid evening.

The 17-year-old added: “I went off hard and tried to relax round the bend. In tried my best but I’m still learning.” The reigning World and European Junior Champion, Daniela Grgic (Croatia) won her race in 53.68.