University
of Nottingham student and international high jumper Isobel Pooley
won gold at the British Athletic Championships held in Birmingham on Saturday.
The third year Animal Science student beat off strong competition from Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Morgan Lake, who finished second and third respectively, to claim the British title with a jump of 1.90m — just shy of her own personal best of 1.91m.
With silver medallist Johnson-Thompson dropping out of the competition at 1.86m and having cleared every height at the first attempt, a confident Isobel looked improve her own PB. Seeking the opportunity to represent Team GB at the European Championships in Zurich this August and with the British title secured, she made three attempts at the 1.93m qualification standard.
Despite
failing to clear the height, Isobel remains upbeat and meeting the Team GB
selection standard in the coming weeks remains a target. The 22-year-old’s
latest performance follows her recent selection for Team England at the
upcoming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow where she again has hopes of taking home
a medal.
She
said “After a shaky display at the European Team Championships I knew I would
need a strong performance. I’m absolutely delighted to be crowned British
Champion and I’m thrilled with this latest positive step in my 2014 journey but
I’m keeping my sights firmly set on Glasgow.”
Throughout
her studies, Isobel has benefited from the support of the University’s sports
bursary scheme
— a scheme established to help elite student athletes balance their athletic
and academic careers.
Assistant
Director of Sport (Performance) at the University, Alex Perry said: “We’d like
to congratulate Isobel on her superb achievement this weekend. It is testimony
to her dedication and commitment to the sport and I believe it will give her
every confidence as she prepares for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Isobel
is one of a number of athletes from The University of
Nottingham competing in the Commonwealth Games who benefit from the Sports
Bursary Scheme and we aim to ensure that more athletes will follow in their
footsteps.”
As
well as financial support, recipients of the sports bursary receive access to
specialist training facilities, physiotherapy and nutritional advice as well as
a personal mentor.
Isobel
said: “Any sort of support or funding has gone far deeper
than money — it’s been a vote of confidence and that very human thing of
someone saying ‘We have belief in you. You’re going somewhere and we want to go
with you”.
Isobel
will be competing at both the Cork City Sports
International Athletics Meet and Glasgow Grand Prix where 1.93m
remains a target prior to the Commonwealth Games at the end of July.
To
find out more about The University of Nottingham’s sports bursary scheme visit:
www.nottingham.ac.uk/sport
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Notes
to editors: The
University of Nottingham has
43,000 students and is ‘the nearest Britain has to a truly global university,
with campuses in China
and Malaysia modelled on
a headquarters that is among the most attractive in Britain’ (Times Good
University Guide 2014). It is also the most popular university in the UK
among graduate
employers, one of the world’s greenest universities, and winner of the Times Higher Education Award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable Development’. It is ranked in the
World’s Top 75 universities by the QS World University Rankings.
Impact: The Nottingham
Campaign, its biggest ever fundraising campaign, will deliver the
University’s vision to change lives, tackle global issues and shape the future.
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