Derham hammers her English rivals

ZOE Derham can now start her preparations to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games in India in October,

That is the verdict of her coach Lorraine Shaw after seeing the Quedgeley athlete win the hammer at the England Athletics Championships in Gateshead.

British number one Derham won with some ease, and a best throw of 64.26m was the eighth time that the 29-year-old has surpassed the qualifying standard of 62m this season.

While the England team will not be confirmed until next month, Shaw is sure that Derham will be in the squad.

Shaw said: “Zoe has done the qualifying several times and at the moment she is the only one of the top three who is fit and ready to go.

“She is also ranked third in the Commonwealth and I think she will be going, so now Zoe can get back into training to make sure she is in peak condition for the Commonwealth Games which are still a long way off.”

Shaw, who lifted the Commonwealth title in memorable circumstances in Manchester eight years ago, is well aware that Derham cannot maintain her form into the autumn and needs to step back from competition and focus on serious training for a spell.

Other athletes hoping for the call will not have that luxury yet, as the team is not due to be officially announced until August 18.

Derham’s gold was one of four medals won by county athletes at Gateshead.

There were two silvers for Gloucester AC’s Gemma Turtle in the 1500m and Forest of Dean athlete Richard Davenport in the 400m hurdles, and also a bronze for Stroud and District AC’s Emily Pidgeon in the 1500m.

Turtle’s silver was particularly impressive as she was in hospital in the days leading up to the event after suffering a bad eye infection from wearing contact lenses.

“I was astonished Gemma did so well as she is on antibiotics for the eye infection and only decided to run as she had already booked the train, hotel and time off work,” said coach David Farrow.

Davenport’s silver was also a landmark as it was not only his first senior national medal but also his first significant podium finish since he won the AAA Under 20s 400m hurdles title in 2004 to qualify for the World Junior Championships in Italy, in which he finished seventh.

Still only 24, the former King’s School student from Littledean also has a chance of making the England squad for India if he can achieve the qualifying standard of 50 seconds.

Davenport’s season’s best stands at 50.09, set in Switzerland last week.

England Athletics Championships, senior women: 1500 - 1 Stevie Stockton (Vale) 4:20.93, 2 Gemma Turtle (Gloucs) 4:21.68, 3 Emily Pidgeon (Stroud) 4:22.86; Hammer Throw - 1 Zoe Derham (Birch) 64.26.

Senior men 110H - 8 Joe Hylton (Birch) 14.9 (hts 14.84 -2.8w; 400H - 1 David Hughes (Sale) 49.73, 2 Richard Davenport (NEB) 50.22.