Gillespies make winning starts to outdoor athletics season

Wragby father and son Jim and Kieran Gillespie started their outdoor athletics season on the same weekend.

Dad Jim was down in Swindon and Kieran travelled to Leicester.

"I made the long journey to Swindon on Friday evening to compete on Saturday in the hammer, shot putt and heavyweight hammer," Jim said.

He opened in the hammer with a throw of 23.13m for the win, which he labelled 'a good early season performance'.

Next up was the shot putt, where he threw 8.34m, further than I threw in the UK Championships, and enough for another win.

Finally, Jim was back in the hammer circle for the heavyweight version.

A throw of 9.40m was not only his best for a few years, but secured a third win of the day and also won the Heavyweight Triathlon event.

Kieran represented Leeds Beckett University at Leicester, opening his season in the 400m hurdles, winning convincingly in very windy conditions with a time of 61.88 seconds.

"We really couldn't have asked for a better start to the outdoor season, let's hope it continues," Jim added.