JAVELIN: Blair defeats Ennis-Hill to take her place in record books

Luton AC's Jo Blair launched herself into Great Britain's history books as she defeated Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill to earn victory for England at the Loughborough International on Sunday.
Jo Blair beat Jessica Ennis-Hill at the weekendJo Blair beat Jessica Ennis-Hill at the weekend
Jo Blair beat Jessica Ennis-Hill at the weekend

The 30-year-old was under extra scrutiny during her event, as Ennis-Hill was taking part in her first competitive action of the season since recovering from an Achilles injury.

Blair began nervously, although still threw over 51m which kept her in the lead until the fourth round as Laura Whittingham, an ex-Olympic thrower with a PB of over 60m managed 52.34m to move in front.

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That only pushed the Luton athlete to greater heights though as she managed a superb distance of 54.91m, which was a PB of well over half a metre.

The distance was the second best in the year, and the 10th best throw in history by a British woman.

It was enough to easily win the competition by over two metres, as she is showing huge signs of improvement on this time last year, where she threw 49m for second spot.

Blair helped England to victory against teams from Scotland, Wales, BUCS, GB Juniors and Loughborough Students, as they finished on 178 points to beat GB Juniors with 140.

Blair’s next main event is the British Championships on June 26, where she will go head to head with Goldie Sayers, who has been the UK’s top javelin thrower for over 10 years now.