Laura leaps to gold
Wymondham athlete Laura McDonald was leaping for joy when she landed a gold medal to add to her growing collection.She won her first-ever U17 triple jump event competition at the South of England Indoor Championships at the Lee Valley Stadium.
Wymondham athlete Laura McDonald was leaping for joy when she landed a gold medal to add to her growing collection.
She won her first-ever U17 triple jump event competition at the South of England Indoor Championships at the Lee Valley Stadium.
Many well-known competitors attended the event in order to gain qualifying times and distances ready for national and international competitions later in the season.
Athletes who won their events included Olympian and World Championship gold medallist Phillips Idowu who won the senior men's triple jump.
The Wymondham High School athlete was last year's top U15 girl in the UK for both javelin and triple jump.
She added nearly half a metre to her triple jump personal best to win the event with 11.4m - a distance that would have placed her second in the U20 Ladies' event.
Most Read
- 1 Man assaults delivery driver and runs off with sack of parcels
- 2 Lotus reopens Norfolk test-track driving experiences and factory tour
- 3 Serious road crash hotspots in Norfolk revealed as fatalities fall
- 4 Motorcyclist suffers serious leg injury and person cut from car after crash
- 5 Norfolk garden centre wins 27th gold medal at Chelsea Flower Show
- 6 'A posy fit for a Queen' - Winners crowned in school Jubilee competition
- 7 Where you can see the Red Arrows over Norfolk this weekend
- 8 Education bursary worth £1,000 launched to mark Queen's Jubilee
- 9 9 major jubilee events taking place across Norfolk
- 10 Norwich man in court over £3.5m whiskey theft
Laura succeeded in exceeding qualifying standards for the Aviva England athletics open indoor championships to be held in the National indoor arena in Birmingham at the end of February.
Her success last season and at this event was highlighted in highly-respected national magazine Athletics Weekly recently with an in-depth article.
It explains how Laura benefits from the close co-operation of Wymondham High School and her coach working closely together.
The article even suggests that this is a model that could even be adopted on a national level, to benefit other young athletes trying to juggle a sporting talent with academic demands.
Laura receives support from the Norfolk Sporting and Cultural Foundation Fund, and is sponsored by the Norse Group based in Norwich.