Heartbreak for Trafford Olympians

4:56pm Wednesday 20th August 2008

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IT was Olympic heartbreak for Trafford’s athletes as none of them managed to reach their respective finals in Beijing.

Sale Harriers sprinter Alex Nelson suffered more than most, being denied the chance to even take to the track in the 200m.

The 20-year-old pulled his hamstring in the warm-up and did not even turn up for his heat in the first round of competition, where a time somewhere near his personal best would have seen him comfortably qualify.

There was major disappointment for fellow Sale Harrier Andy Turner, who couldn’t progress past the second round in the 110m hurdles.

Turner put in a strong performance in the first round, finishing second behind world record holder Dayron Robles of Cuba with a time of 13.56 seconds.

But he was able to improve sufficiently in his second round race, where two athletes achieved season best times, pushing him down to fifth in a time of 13.53, well over his personal best.

Another sprinter, Trafford AC 400m runner Andrew Steele, also fell at the second hurdle.

The 23-year-old had looked in good shape after comfortably winning his heat with a new personal best of 44.94.

But Steele, whose preparations for the Games were disrupted by a hamstring injury, could not sustain his level of performance in the semi-finals and finished eighth in a time of 45.59.

Pole vaulter Kate Dennison always faced a tough task to reach the final but gave it a real go.

The 24-year-old Sale Harrier set a new personal best of 4.40 metres but just couldn’t manage to meet the qualification requirement of 4.50m, failing her three attempts.