Trials but not Tribulations
A number of FVO athletes starred in the GB trial races for the summer's major internationals, with four holding qualification places at the halfway stage of a six event process.
Places were up for grabs in the European Youth Championship in Slovenia and the Junior World Championship in Sweden, while the student athletes were seeking to qualify for the World University Championships in Portugal, and there was a first qualification opportunity for the Junior European Cup, which is to be held in Switzerland.
Fraser Cheyne forced his way into the EYOC M16 reckoning with a string of consistent performances, as he was 6th (14.04) in the Sprint trial in Ingleton, and followed this up with 5th in both the Middle (31.15) and Long (65.53) races. There were also cameo performances from Lucas Baikie, who was 3rd (13.47) in the Sprint, and James Edward, who claimed 4th (31.13) in the Middle race, and both will look to cement their challenge in the second set of trial races next week in Perthshire at the Jan Kjellstrom International Festival.
There was drama across the M20 races, as James Hammond led the entire Men's Open field home in the Sprint, finishing in 13.46 while Tommy Rollins was 2nd (14.36) in the M20 standings. Both though had races to forget in the Middle trial, where Tommy suffered the misfortune of a compass breaking, and had to navigate much of the course on dead reckoning. He came back in 19th (41.11) place, while James was beaten by two GB junior for the first time since 2019, as he was 9th (33.44).
The sign of a real champion is how they recover from adversity, and Tommy was back on the horse for the Long race, where he claimed an excellent 2nd place finish in 71.24), and James was 4th (72.25) in the same race to all but seal his World Universities place.
Scarlett Kelly's challenge almost came unstuck at the first hurdle, as she returned a decent time in the Sprint trial, only to find that one of her punches hadn't registered, and she was immediately bottom of the W18 standings. However, she thrived in her natural forest environment, and posted good times in both terrain races of 37.30 and 87.49, to hold qualified places in both EYOC and JWOC at the halfway stage. It's unlikely she would get the nod for two events in eight days, but she may have the luxury of being able to choose.