Child’s play for Eilidh, the new European champion

18 August 2014

University of Bath-based athlete Eilidh Child is celebrating winning gold and bronze medals at the European Championships in Switzerland.

Child, who is coached by Malcolm Arnold, British Athletics’ Lead Hurdles Coach, won gold in the 400m hurdles in Zurich on Saturday (16 August).

She followed that up by helping the British women’s 4x400m relay team to bronze yesterday (Sunday) on the final day of the championships. That race saw produced a thrilling finish with the medallists separated by just 0.07 seconds.

After becoming the new European 400m hurdles champion, Child said: “I’m delighted to have won. I knew if I just executed my race well I should be close to the medals. I came off the 10th hurdle and knew I was in the lead and I tried to just get to the line.

“My legs were dying coming off the last hurdle and then at about five metres out everybody came alongside me so I didn’t know what had happened when I crossed the line,” she added.

“I did feel a little bit of pressure. All year I’ve been trying to focus on what I can control,” said Child. “There were some nerves on the start line, but I managed to calm myself down and focus on what I needed to do.”

Child’s European successes came just weeks after she won 400m hurdles silver for Scotland in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

University of Bath Sports Performance graduate Danny Talbot, who is coached by Dan Cossins, also gets a gold medal.

He ran a leg for Great Britain in the 4x100m relay qualifiers, helping them to progress to the final. He didn’t feature in the quartet that won the final, but collects a gold medal for his contribution.

Talbot is also a Glasgow 2014 medallist, running the anchor leg for the England 4x100m team that won silver at the Commonwealth Games.

For further information on Team Bath please contact the Team Bath press office at Matchtight Ltd on 01225 383518 or press@matchtight.co.uk

Photo: Petr David Josek/AP/Press Association Images

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