Hastings ace breaks 29-year-old county record

A high class athlete from Hastings smashed one of the county's longest standing records at a prestigious international competition in Italy.
By The Newsroom
Published 7th May 2018, 23:43 BST
Updated 8th Jun 2018, 00:30 BST
Elise Lovell has broken the Sussex women's heptathlon record.Elise Lovell has broken the Sussex women's heptathlon record.
Elise Lovell has broken the Sussex women's heptathlon record.

Elise Lovell broke the 29-year-old Sussex heptathlon record at the IAAF Combined Events Multistars Challenge in Florence, Italy, last weekend.

Lovell produced a heptathlon PB of 5,400 points, eclipsing the 5,380 set by Worthing’s Debbie Wolgar in 1989 - before Lovell was even born.

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On day one she ran 14.24secs (945 points) for the 100m hurdles, set a high jump PB of 1.66m (806pts), put the shot 10.09m (535pts) and ran the 200m in 24.99s (888pts).

The following day Lovell leaped 6.00m (850pts) in the long jump, threw the javelin 34.58m (563pts) and finished with an 800m run of 2:20.81 (813pts).

She finished 15th overall in the world class competition, which was won by Erica Bougard (USA) with a world-leading score.

Lovell would like to thank St Leonards Academy, where she teaches, for its support in allowing her leave to compete.

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Her focus is now on coaching the school athletics teams in their English Schools’ Athletic Association Track and Field Cup competition.

Her next heptathlon will be the England Championships at Bedford on May 26-27.

Related topics:ItalyHastingsSussexWorthing