Tom Gale takes high jump victory as Jason Gardener rolls back the years at Manchester International

16 August 2017

Team Bath Athletics Club’s Tom Gale claimed high-jump victory at the Manchester International on a night when Jason Gardener and his Olympic-winning relay team-mates made a triumphant return to the track for charity.

Gale, supported by the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) at the University of Bath, was the only high jumper to clear 2.17m at the first time of asking to secure the win for England at the Manchester Regional Arena.

One of 32 athletes to be supported by British Athletics’ Futures Programme, the victory and a senior England vest tops off a magnificent year for Gale. Having started 2017 with an outdoor personal best of 2.18m the junior has gone from strength to strength under the tutelage of coach Denis Doyle, with his current best of 2.30m – cleared just one week after winning bronze at the European Junior Championships in Grosseto with 2.28m – the second best ever by a Briton at junior level after Steve Smith.

He will have chance to take on the world’s best this weekend after being invited to compete at the Birmingham Diamond League on Sunday, an event also featuring University of Bath-based World 4x400m relay silver-medallist Eilidh Doyle and Sports Performance graduate Danny Talbot, a newly-crowned World 4x100m relay champion.

The Manchester International saw teams representing England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland & Ulster, British Athletics (in this case, junior athletes), Denmark and a combined British Athletics League/UK Women’s League team go head to head, with the victor in each discipline scoring maximum points for their team.

It concluded with a golden relay, raising money for the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund, which saw the Athens 2004 men’s 4x100m Olympic Champions roll back the years to claim victory.

Gardener, who was coached by Malcolm Arnold at the University of Bath during his illustrious career, once again teamed up with Darren Campbell, Marlon Devonish and Mark Lewis-Francis, who is now part of the British Bobsleigh squad based at the Sports Training Village.

To make a donation to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund, visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/goldenrelay.

Click here to find out more about the athletics programme at the University of Bath.

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