After being left disappointed with a silver medal in his more favoured shot putt earlier in the day, the Island star recovered well to secure his first senior British title and top spot on the podium with a season’s best performance of 60.38m, beating 2013 champion Brett Morse by 12 centimetres.
The fact that he failed to grab the initiative in the shot putt may well be hard to swallow, particularly with his furthest attempt of 18.00m being well below his lifetime best of 19.42, but there is no denying that Duquemin has the potential to mix it with the Commonwealth’s greatest; and the weekend’s results will surely only serve to motivate the 22-year-old as he prepares for his second Games appearance.
Zane through the years…
Sister Shadine, who will also be stepping into the discus circle in Glasgow at the end of July, may too be wishing luck had been on her side after she finished fifth in the women’s discus with a best throw of 49.79m.
At the age of 19 the former Beaulieu student currently possesses the fourth best throw in the country for 2014 following a personal best 53.44m in May, but even that distance would not have provided silverware on Saturday, with bronze medal athlete Kirsty Law reaching 54m. That said, fourth could well have been hers for the taking had a 50 metre-plus attempt not been re-measured by competition officials.
Middle distance runner Elliot Dorey was also present in Birmingham, but, despite finishing just 1.9 seconds behind the winner, the Island Games gold medallist was unlucky not to reach the 1500m final, crossing the line eighth in his heat.
This month’s Commonwealth Games
* This will be the 20th Commonwealth Games
* The first was hosted by Hamilton, Canada, in 1930 and known as the British Empire Games
* Scotland has previously hosted the event twice, in 1970 and 1986, both in Edinburgh
* Australia has hosted the Commonwealth Games on a record four occasions, and will make it five when Gold Coast hosts the event in 2018
* There will be 6,500 athletes from 71 nations competing in 17 sports over 11 days
* In the original Commonwealth Games, only 400 athletes from 11 countries took part
* Greg Yelavich, a shooter from New Zealand, could compete in a record eighth Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. He has won 12 medals and first competed in Edinburgh in 1986
* Scotland sit seventh on the all-time medals table with 92 gold, 104 silver and 160 bronze medals
Listen to the Games’ anthem – Flame
