A TWELVE-YEAR-OLD Peeblesshire athlete stormed to victory in his first ever hurdles race at the Scottish Athletics Indoor U13 Championships in Glasgow.
Having started some elementary hurdles training with coach Linda Nicholson last autumn, Robert Horton was so enthused that a few hurdles came top of his Christmas list.
And two months later the Innerleithen star tore the field apart in the 60m hurdles race, his winning time of 9.72 seconds placing him fourth in the Scottish all-time list for this event and second in the UK rankings this year.
Not content with one sensational victory, Horton returned to the Emirates Arena later in the day to produce a personal best in long jump, his effort of 4m 84 securing another gold over Sean Fenton, of Ireland, in second with 4m 60 and Helensburgh AC’s Ethan Fullerton in bronze with 4m 47.
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Horton's performance takes him to top of the UK rankings for U13 boys’ long jump.
Other local success came from Peebles jumper Louis Whyte, who has already had a busy indoor season with much medal success at his U17 age group.
Stepping up to get more competition at U20 group last weekend, the 16-year-old punched above his age to take the silver in the men’s U20 triple jump, unlucky to lose only to a visiting guest jumper from Qatar, and bronze in the men’s long jump, in a tight competition which included competitors from Qatar and Ireland.
Fourteen-year-old Amy Chapman, a newcomer to the local jumps and sprints group, came up trumps in her first Scottish U15 championship 60m, producing personal bests in both her heat and semi-final.
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