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Olympic hopefuls: 'Come and support us at Costello' - 13/04/2012

Those training for Hull's major athletics meet at Costello on Sunday 22 April are hoping residents will support the event and that more people will be inspired to get involved with Athletics.

Hull's premier team - Kingston Upon Hull Athletics Club including - including Olympics hopefuls Hammer thrower Alex Smith and sprinter Annabel Lewis have been warming up for the event at Costello Stadium.

The event will see athletes from Hull's premier team - Kingston Upon Hull Athletics Club - compete against visiting teams from the South Humber and East Midlands, a UK Guest Team and Klub Sportowy AGROS Zamosc from Poland.

Admission is free of charge and viewing will be from the embankment around the stadium so it's the perfect opportunity to bring your chairs and picnics and make a day of it. Field events will commence at 11.30am with the track programme running from 12noon until 5.40pm

Extra excitement will also be created as visitors could witness a new British record being set in the Women's 3000m Steeplechase.

Warming up ahead of the event, London 2012 Olympic hopeful Alex Smith who is ranked the UKs number one hammer thrower and won silver at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, said:

"The Athletics event at Costello is important for athletes in the area to experience this level of competition to prepare them for further national and world events. We hope people turn out to support us.

"It will be a good warm up for me ahead of trying to qualify for the London 2012 Olympics."

Alex's dad Dave Smith also represented England in the Commonwealth Games in 1984.

Alex is hopeful of representing Great Britain at the Olympics after throwing 75.63m in 2012. He has to throw 74m at two separate qualifying events to be available for selection and has until the end of June to qualify.

Also training at Costello for the event is Alex's mother and coach Diane Smith, she said:

"A few decades ago we had 5,000 people watch athletics at Costello when a visiting American university team competed with us. It would be fantastic to get a good crowd for this high profile event competing against the visiting Poland team.

"Costello is an excellent facility for training world class athletes and this is the first time people in the city will have the chance to see this level of track and field event on their doorsteps."

Kingston Upon Hull Athletics Club, which has been promoted into the Northern First Division, has many athletes competing nationally and internationally.

At their latest training event rising star hammer thrower Abbie Carter, who will be competing World Under 20s championship in Barcelona this year, was helping her fellow club member Kate Pattison who is competing in the UK school games with two other athletes from the area to test out the Olympic Stadium ahead of the games.

Dean Lewis, Chairman of Kingston Upon Hull Athletics Club, said:

"This event is important for inspiring young people to try sport and we hope that seeing people from the area compete, who are competing nationally and internationally, could encourage them to get involved in athletics.

"This is the first event at this level for a while and on the back of this the city has attracted Under 20s Northern championships to the city later this year for the first time in 50 years, which hopefully will see interest in track and field events and people being involved with this type of sport in the city increase."

Dean's daughter, Great Britain Under 23 European Sprint Champion Annabelle Lewis, will be competing in the Women's 100 meters sprint at the event.

Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture, Councillor Terry Geraghty, said:

"The Hull Gold year has got off to a brilliant start with events such as Precious Cargo at Hull Museums, Platform 2012 games event at the University, Sports Relief Mile and lots of other sporting and cultural events.

"April's offer has also got off to a great start with the successful Women's World Ice Hockey Championships at Hull Arena, with international teams complimenting their time spent at Hull Arena, and we will see more never-before-seen in the city sporting events and activities of international, national and local significance that people can attend or get involved with at low or no cost.

"And now the athletics event at Costello will give people the chance to see world class track and field competition in the city for free and hopefully inspire people in the city to get involved in sport. We hope people grab a picnic and join others to support the event on Sunday 22nd."

Alex, and the other competing UK athletes, will be up against stiff competition from the Polish team which will include the following athletes:

Anita Jakubczak - Four time Olympian in the Women's 1500 Meters.
Anita Wlodarczyk - Ex World record holder in Women's Hammer Throwing
Pawel Fajdek - World University Champion - Hammer Throwing
Karolina Kita - World University Champion - Hammer Throwing
Dorota Gruca - Four time Olympian
Konrad Partyka - European u/20 Championships silver medalist
Tomas Buczak - World Junior 400m medalist

One of the competitors has thrown 78m in the hammer so could give Alex a run for his money on the day.

Related Links.
Hull Gold (link opens in new window)

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