Latest news from Loughborough University
| 2 August 2007 | PR 07/104 |
World Championships athletes to use Loughborough meeting for final preparations
Commonwealth Games bronze medallist pole vaulter Steve Lewis will complete his World Championships preparation against some top opposition at the Loughborough European Athletics Promotion (LEAP) meeting on August 11.
Lewis, who trains at Loughborough University with Steve Rippon, will face his closest domestic rivals Luke Cutts and Joe Ive as well as world class opposition in Daniel Ryland of the United States, who has cleared 5.85 metres, before heading to Osaka for the August 25 to September 2 championships.
Commonwealth Games javelin champion Nick Nieland will use the LEAP meeting to try to post a qualifying standard for Osaka, and could be pushed to the mark from fellow 80-metre throwers Felix Loretz (Switzerland) and Vitolio Tipotio (France).
British sprinter Laura Turner, who finished second to Loughborough graduate Jeanette Kwakye at the U.K. Nationals in Manchester last month, is also seeking a qualifying time for the women’s 100m. Turner and Kwakye have both been named in the 4x100 relay squad.
LEAP has attracted a host of top-quality international athletes in the past with the likes of Czech Olympic decathlon champion Roman Sebrle, New Zealand’s former world discus champion Beatrice Faumuina and Britain’s former European Junior champion Craig Pickering, who was named Athlete of the European Cup in Munich in June, all attending previously.
The LEAP meeting, which has grown out of the Loughborough International Development meeting, is now affiliated to the European Athletics Promotion circuit, which encompasses 16 meetings (one indoor and 15 outdoor) across Europe.
The first field event begins at 1200 with the first track event starting at 1230. Further information is available from Loughborough University’s sports reception on 01509 226250.
Ends
- For all media enquiries contact:
Greg Stutchbury, Sports PR Officer, Loughborough University,
T: 01509 228686, E: G.M.Stutchbury@lboro.ac.uk
Notes for editors:
Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities,
with an international reputation for excellence teaching and research,
strong links with industry and unrivalled sporting achievement.
It is a member of the esteemed 1994 Group – a set of internationally
recognised, research-intensive universities – and has a reputation
for the relevance of its work. Its degree programmes are highly regarded
by professional institutions and businesses, and its graduates are consistently
targeted by the UK’s top recruiters.
Loughborough is also the UK’s premier university for sport. It has
perhaps the best integrated sports development environment in the world
and is home to some of the country’s leading coaches, sports scientists
and support staff. It also has the country’s largest concentration
of world-class training facilities across a wide range of sports.
In the 2006 National Student Survey, the University gained a top five
place, with nine out of Loughborough’s 23 departments topping their
subject tables. Loughborough was also placed 6th in the 2007 Times Good
University Guide and was named winner of the 2006 THES award for the UK’s
Best Student Experience. In recognition of its contribution to the sector,
the University has been awarded five Queen's Anniversary Prizes –
an achievement bettered by no other university.