Chorley's Alison Leonard denied by photo finish agony

9:04pm Monday 14th July 2008

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CHORLEY athlete Alison Leonard had to settle for a hug from Dame Kelly Holmes after her bid for a World Junior Championship medal ended in heartbreak yesterday.

The 18-year-old Blackburn Harrier was bidding to become only the second British female, following Ashlee Nelson’s 100m silver earlier in the week, to land a World Junior medal with the previous best fourth place set by Jemma Simpson in 2002 and Lynne Robinson in 1988.

But it wasn’t to be as, despite lowering her personal best to 2.02.15 minutes, Leonard finished an agonising fourth as Holland’s Machteld Anna Mulder pipped her to third in a photo finish.

Romanian Elena Mirela Lavric topped the podium in a new championship record time of 2.00.06 minutes, while Turkey’s Merve Aydin was second.

“I can’t see the positives just yet,” said a devastated Leonard. “It’s just a PB and at the end of the day that counts for nothing. I’m not happy with it, maybe tomorrow I will be.”

“I thought I had it in me, but with 50 metres to go my legs just couldn’t move and that cost me at the finish.”

But there was a consolation for Leonard as her mentor Dame Kelly made her way to the mixed zone to console the Chorley ace.

Dame Kelly knows Leonard through her educational programme ‘On Camp with Kelly’ and after watching the race from the stands in Bydgoszcz she quickly made her way down the stairs to comfort her.

“You have to look at the positives first – and they are big. She has set a new PB on the world stage,” said the double Olympic champion. “Alison’s also had a fantastic season, there were some great athletes out there and it was a very, very fast race.

“When you run at that pace early on, you’re going to feel the effects in that last 50 metres or so and unfortunately that is what happened.

“But she was gutsy to go out and do it and of course she’ll be disappointed because I know she wanted to come back with a medal.

“To get pipped on the line in any circumstances is unfortunate, but she will keep progressing and I’ve already seen that progression. She looked really confident and focused and can go a long way.”

The Lloyds TSB Local Heroes initiative supports Britain’s young sporting hopefuls on their journey to London 2012. For more information please visit www.lloydstsblondon2012.co.uk/Local_Heroes