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Delighted Louise dreaming of World Championships in Berlin
MARCH heptathlete Louise Hazel broke the magical 6,000 points barrier for the first time at the weekend and could now be heading for the World Championships in Berlin, Germany.
MARCH heptathlete Louise Hazel broke the magical 6,000 points barrier for the first time at the weekend and could now be heading for the World Championships in Berlin, Germany.The 23 year-old former Peterborough Athletic Club member finished fifth in the heptathlon at the Erdgas Combined Events Meeting in Ratingen, Germany and improved her 100m hurdles, long jump and 800m personal bests (PB).
As well as breaking 6,000 points, Hazel achieved the B standard for Berlin and she has already received encouraging comments from UK Athletics' head coach Charles Van Commenee which indicated she is in with a great chance of being selected.
Hazel, coached by fellow former Evening Telegraph Sportswoman of the Year Julie Hollman, said: "It was the perfect weekend, but there is still room for improvement.
"This event had been on my mind for 12 weeks and I was delighted that it went so well. Both Julie and myself lost our fathers last year and of course the second day in Ratingen was on Father's Day so it was very special to break 6,000 on that day."
Hazel began with a PB of 13.48 in the hurdles and then cleared 1.66m – just five centimetres down on her PB – in the high jump. She then sent the shot out to 11.80m before ending the opening day with a season's best of 24.36 in the 200m.
The second day also began well with a PB of 6.39m in the long jump, adding six centimetres to her three year-old best. She was also within half-a-metre of her best in the javelin, where she threw 43.73m, before taking a second-and-a-half off her 800m with an excellent 2.15.99.
That gave her a final score of 6,043 and to put her 800m run into context, the only local woman to have gone quicker over the distance this year is Orton's Ruth Watson, who ran 2.09.86.
But whereas Watson is a specialist 800m runner who has won the Cambridgeshire Championships over the distance, the two-lap event is generally hated by heptathletes whose training is not specifically geared for it and they have to tackle it after already contesting six other disciplines.
Hazel, who lies second on the UK rankings behind Jessica Ennis' 6,587 set in Italy last month, added: "Julie has been brilliant to work with. She does my sessions with me and we feed off each other.
"When I was first starting out at Peterborough Athletic Club I used to watch Julie and think 'I want to be like her'. Julie's mum, Carole, was my team manager in those days and it is great now that I'm working with Julie.
"I nearly made a mess of the javelin as the first throw was 39 metres and the second was a no throw so it was a case of all or nothing in the third round. Julie was out there with me and I spoke to her before that third throw and thankfully I then pulled out a good one.
"The 800m was all down to Julie. She is a great motivator although there was no way I was going to let the opportunity to get 6,000 pass me by.
"I've never looked forward to an 800m as much as I did on Sunday as I was so determined to break that barrier."
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Tuesday 22 May 2012
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