Asafa impressed with Academy Aces
Brother and sister sprinting stars Richard and Heidi Kilty had a memorable day at the Norwich Union British Grand Prix at Gateshead International Stadium on Sunday as they were both invited to compete in the Spar Sprint series. Richard competing in the Under 17 boys 100m and Heidi in the Under 17 girls 100 m races.
Heidi is hoping to join her brother in the Tees Active Sports Academy later this month and was the youngest girl in the race at only 14 years of age and finished a respectable 5th in a time of 12.99 secs slightly slower than her season best of 12.80 secs
Richard was involved in a false start was disappointed with his time of 11.06 which is below his season best of an exceptional 10.78 secs.
Heidi is Under 15 North East Champion at 60m, 100m and 200m and Richard is the only North East male athlete to be selected as a Spar Star will both be competing at the English Schools Athletics Championships at Gateshead Stadium in July
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One of the highlights of the day for these talented youngsters was meeting current 100m World Record Holder Asafa Powell who later that day equalled his world record time of 9.77 sec.
Richard said “Meeting Asafa was tremendous and Asafa was impressed with my time of 10.78 for a 16 year old. He passed on some useful tips on focus and preparation and encouraged me to continue working hard”.
Both youngsters have ambitions to compete at the Olympic Games and if they continue to progress the Kilty family and Tees Active Sports Academy may have 2 sprinting stars at the 2012 and 2016 games.