LONDON, (Reuters) – Simeon Williamson secured his place in Britain’s team for the world athletics championships in Berlin next month when he left Dwain Chambers trailing to win the 100 metres final at the British championships yesterday.
Williamson clocked 10.05 seconds running into a strong headwind in Birmingham with Chambers second in 10.22 ahead of Tyrone Edgar, who finished third in 10.28.
Only the winner of each final qualifies directly for the world championships.
“You can’t win them all and the best man won on the day,” said Chambers, reinstated after his ban for testing positive for doping.
Williamson told BBC TV: “It’s great just to win a national title, my first after being the bridesmaid so many times. I’m happy with the run.
“I was hoping to go sub-10 seconds but now we can go back on the circuit with the big boys. We need to start running sub-10, it’s standard now. You have to run sub-10 to make finals.”
Earlier, Olympic and world champion Christine Ohuruogu won the 400m title in 51.26 secs, but said she would have liked a faster run after her main world championship rival Sanya Richards clocked 49.46 secs in Rome on Friday.
“I didn’t watch Sanya’s run but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t take notice,” Ohuruogu said. “But you can’t affect what other people do.
“All I can do is make sure I’m in the best shape when the world championships come. I hope there’s a faster time there but I’m working hard so there’s nothing to stop me running faster than today.
“Today was not bad but it’s not great. It’s not what I would have liked to run but a win’s a win,” she told the BBC.
