WHAT a delight it as to see former Easy Runner/Bristol Post athlete of the month Emily Diamond reach the semi finals of the 400m at the Olympics in Rio.
The Bristol & West AC
sprinter from Clifton (pictured left) should feel deeply proud of her achievement as she finished sixth in the second semi final in a time of 51.49secs – her second fastest time ever – improving upon her 51.76secs in the heats.
As Emily said on the eve f the Games in an idea world she would have beaten her persona best of 51.23secs, which she ran in Germany at the start of June and even broken 51 seconds for the first time.
But as a measure of the enormity of that challenge it is worth noting again that only 14 British women in history have broken 51 seconds and only five under 50 seconds.
That will surely be her goal for next year but before then she still has the 4x400m relay to concentrate on and the British squad, who won the event at the European Championships in Amsterdam last month, are more than capable of not just making the final but also challenging for a medal.