National records and UK titles for Gillespie

The Wragby athlete was competing at the UK Heavyweight Hammer Pentathlon and One-Handed Hammer Championships at Derby Athletics Stadium.

The 10 Kilo hammer is the first event in the pentathlon, and it couldn’t have been a better start for Jim as he set a new Irish national record, throwing 12.14m.

Next up was the 12.5 Kilo implement and a solid 9.28m kept him in contention.

A presonal best 7.04m in the 15.88 Kilo hammer edged Jim in front before he backed that throw up with 5.60m in the 19.05 Kilo, his second best throw ever.

The final event, the 25.4 Kilo hammer, was another PB, this time 4.10m.

Jim’s cumulative score of 38.16m earned the title, his final distance also an Irish record.

After a lunch break Jim took on the One-Handed Hammer, a 14.22m effort in the second round saw him secure his second title.

“The competitions will now come thick and fast, but my main focus still remains the World Hammer Decathlon Championships in October,” Jim said.

Fellow Wragby athlete Callum Dean claimed a 200m victory - despite not having a warm-up.

He competed at Cleckheaton in the final Youth Development League fixture of the season.

Representing Grimsby, he finished a close third in the 100m, clocking 11.9 secs, despite a strong headwind.

His next event, the 200m, was subject to a timetable change, bringing the race forward by 30 minutes.

However, the team manager did not tell Callum or his coach Jim Gillespie, who spotted the athletes getting ready to race.

Callum was sent across without a warm-up to run but, unbelievably, he stormed round the bend in the lead and was not caught down the home straight, winning in 23.8 secs.

Once again into a wind that was a real hindrance.

“The main objective now is to get Callum into as many high-quality races as possible to drag the even faster times out of him that I know he is capable of,” Jim added.