Newham & Essex Beagles Asha Philip was relieved to secure her second Olympic appearance at the Müller British Championships at Sportcity, Manchester at the weekend.
The 30-year old sprint specialist and cousin of England netball duo and fellow Beagles athletes javelin throwers Sasha and Kadeen Corbin, was second in a season's best 11.16secs to the four-time women's national 100m champion and fellow Tokyo-bound Dina Asher-Smith (10.97), while South East Londoner Daryll Neita, who is also heading to the 2020 Games, was third in 11.21.
Philip, who was part of the bronze medal-winning British 4x100m sprint squad in Rio 2016, went into Manchester knowing she had to better her current best from this season of 11.37, which she achieved in Dagenham in May, by over two-hundredths of a second to stand any chance of representing Team GB at the Olympics once again.
And the mission was accomplished, with Philip saying: "I'm so chuffed after such a tough season. I knew I could pull it back. I'm mentally tough and I knew I could do it but an Olympic trial is so stressful. Running with Dina is amazing. She is such a great asset to the team."
Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake is set to feature in the men's sprint relay squad after finishing second (20.77) to fellow Rio-bound and former Dagenham & Redbridge and Thurrock footballer Adam Gemili who clinched his third British 200m mantle in 20.63, while Sale Harriers Jona Efoloko was third in 20.79.
Other Beagles performances at the British Championships and Olympic Trials in Manchester over the weekend saw Freya Jones claiming silver with her 49.42m effort in the women's javelin, George Armstrong placed fourth in the men's discus with 56.21m, Paralympian Jonathan Broom-Edwards managing 2.03m to finish 12th in the men's high jump and Jack Roach finishing fifth in the men's long jump with 7.42m.
Michael Puplampu claimed fifth spot with a 15.94m effort in the triple jump, while Emma Nwofor clocked 13.34 to end fifth in women's 100m hurdles final and Samantha Callaway threw 50.29m to finish sixth in the women's discus.
Ben Snaith went out in the opening heats of the men's 200m after clocking 21.49, as did the popular James Ellington in the men's 100m (11.00).
There were also first-round exits for Susanna Banjo in the women's 400m (55.04), Rabah Yousif (48.62) and Lewis Davey (47.65) in the men's one-lap event and Mayowa Osunsami (14.44) in the men's 100m hurdles.
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