Ben East throwing from strength to strength
Javelin thrower Ben East travelled to Cali, Columbia, to compete in the under-20 World Championships at the beginning of this month.
And, despite failing to qualify for the final, the Team Kennet athlete took plenty of positives from his experiences in South America.
“Columbia was a mix of different experiences, I learned a huge amount from it,” East said.
“Some of it didn’t go as I would’ve liked, the competition was not quite what I was hoping for.
“There was a lot that went wrong that was out of my control, the warm up track wasn’t laid, there was no track, it was concrete.
“We had bus scheduling issues and the hotel got our rooms wrong, but to have dealt with that is a useful skill, I think it’ll make me more resilient.
“There’s a lot that I’ve taken from it, unfortunately a medal wasn’t one of those things, but I think what I have learned might help win a medal in future.
“I hadn’t actually experienced a qualification competition before, even at the British Championships we went straight into a final, so that’s something I’ve now experienced and can learn from.
“Being abroad was difficult, I’m used to having somebody with me to run through things, it was a big difference to anything I’ve been used to before but it was definitely positive.”
Prior to his time in Colombia, East travelled to Finland where he trained and had planned to compete.
East had the chance to rub shoulders with former world champion Tero Pitkamaki and Olympic silver medallist Anti Ruuskanen before he suffered an unfortunate ankle injury.
“Finland was quite an experience,” he said.
“I was still nursing a groin injury from the British Champs, so I was being very cautious.
“I started doing some gentle throws and I was learning a lot from all of the coaches and athletes that were there.
“Then I rolled my ankle, I was on crutches when I perhaps shouldn’t have been because I hadn’t had a scan.
“I almost missed Cali because of it, so the fact that I even went was a bit of a miracle.”
East secured a place at Loughborough University last week – now back on home soil, he’ll combine a mechanical engineering degree with training at the university’s state-of-the-art facilities.
“I can’t put it into words, I’m massively excited, winter season is coming up and the facilities are the best, I’m looking forward to training there,” he said.
East is also looking ahead to the first week of September, when he’ll pull on an England vest to compete in the England Throws Camp Throws Fest.
The thrower is part of a 20-strong team that will represent England Athletics at Moulton College, Northamptonshire, on September 3 and 4.
“It’s an international team competition within Great Britain,” East said.
“I wasn’t expecting it at all to be honest, it’ll be really, really cool.
“There’s a qualification event, it mimics elite international competition.
“It’s an excellent opportunity for me to get more experience, I’m really looking forward to it.”
Readers can keep up to date with East’s exciting progress, and learn about sponsorship opportunities, on his website – beneastjavelin.co.uk.
East’s next major target is the 2023 under-23 European Championships, which take place in Espoo, Finland – with a wealth of valuable experience and a season at Loughborough under his belt, he’s sure to be a force to be reckoned with.