Thursday, 5th August
David's preparations for Singapore got off to a dream start with his final two races in the UK last night (Wednesday 4th August). Competing at an open sprints meeting at Lee Valley Athletics Centre, his lifetime's fastest 100 metres time of 10.39s took him to the summit of the world under-18 rankings.
In the first of two time trials, David clocked a speedy 10.42s with a wind speed right on the legal limit of 2.0 metres per second. He crossed the line second behind senior international sprinter Mark Findlay, who timed 10.25s. That too was David's fastest ever sprint, but better was to come.
In the second trial of the night, the wind dropped to a mere 0.9m/s following, and David switched into overdrive as he reeled in leader Findlay toward the line, finishing just 0.08s behind in 10.39 - the fastest time in the world this year for an under-18 athlete!
"We wanted to go to Lee Valley and execute a really good race," said coach John Powell, "we weren't too worried about time, but boy oh boy, was that a welcome bonus! It was a huge confidence booster before Singapore - and if you consider that all this was in really quite cold conditions, there is clearly potentially more to come!"
Tonight, David returns to Crystal Palace and his training regime, but will be in front of the cameras as Blue Peter begin their documentary filming that will see cameras follow him throughout his Singapore adventure.
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