Wales’ Ben Gregory On GB Duty In Thrilling Multi-Event Competition In Cardiff

By Owen Morgan

Wales’ top multi-eventer Ben Gregory was part of a high-class international field competing in Cardiff.

The three-time Commonwealth Games competitor was part of Great Britain senior men’s heptathlon team at the National Indoor Athletics Centre.

The international match ran parallel with the first day of the Welsh Indoor Championships.

Gregory started his day by clocking 7.32 in the 60m before jumping out to 6.84m in the long jump to claim his highest ranking of the day in 13th place.

Ben Gregory competing in the long jump.

The shot put saw the Birchfield Harrier register a distance of 12.76m before he rounded off his day by clearing 1.90m in the high jump.

Gregory ended the day in 14th place overall with 2,915 points after four of the seven events. The competition was led overnight by Jorge Urena, of Spain, with 3,363 points.

A thrilling day’s action at the combined events international saw Great Britain’s Holly Mills tie with Spain’s Maria Vicente in the under-20s pentathlon.

Birchfield Harrier Ben Gregory with an attempt in the shot put.

After five events nothing could separate the pair as they finished on 4,216 points each during the international match featuring senior and junior teams from Great Britain, Czech Republic, France, Spain and Poland.

Mills’ personal best performance saw her move into third on the UK all-time under-20 list behind Morgan Lake (4527) and Katerina Johnson Thompson (4526).

The highlight was Mills’ tussle with her Spanish counterpart which climaxed with a thrilling 800m win in the final event of the under-20 women’s pentathlon.

Great Britain’s Holly Mills finished ahead of Spain’s Maria Vicente to claim a tie in the women’s Under-20s heptathlon.

Mills clocked 2:19.75 to win the race, which remarkably left her level on points with Vicente, seeing the two women share first place.

The Andover athlete’s success helped the Great Britain team win the women’s under-20 team event ahead of Spain and the Czech Republic in third place.

Spain also lead the senior men’s team competition going into the second day of competition, which sees the athletes negotiate the 60m hurdles, pole vault and 1000m. Great Britain are currently in fifth place.

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However, in the men’s under-20 event, Great Britain lead the field going into the second day, with Jack Turner, of Exeter, ahead in the overall standings after four events.

As well as completing the men’s competitions and the Welsh Indoor Athletics Championships, Sunday sees the senior women’s heptathlon which will feature Great Britain’s World Junior heptathlon gold medallist Niamh Emerson.

A full list of Saturday’s results and Sunday’s timetable can be found on the Welsh Athletics website.