An athlete from Brighton narrowly missed out on a place in the final of the mile at the Commonwealth Games.
Archie Davis, 27, a former Varndean School and BHASVIC pupil, finished eighth in his heat today (Wednesday 29 July), with the first six qualifying for the final on Saturday (1 August).
The Phoenix Athletcs Club runner finished in 3.57.98 as the mile was restored to the Games for the first time since 1966.
Earlier this month, on Saturday 18 July, when Josh Kerr ran a record-breaking 3:42:66 at the London Stadium, Davis finished 10th, clocking a personal best of 3:51:09.
Today, he said: “I’m disappointed on the day. It was just (my) body didn’t quite feel bang on.
“I put myself in some all right positions and, just when I got rolling, it was a bit of a shock to the system.
“But it was an amazing experience. I’m super happy to be here.”
Asked how he felt about representing England, he said: “Amazing! Not quite a home crowd but you could tell we were getting a bigger cheer than some of the nations – so that got behind me and some of the boys.
“It’s rare to put on an England vest so (it was) great to represent England.
“I run for Brighton Phoenix. It was founded by Steve Ovett. I’ve been a member of the club since I was 12 or 13 years old – so a long time – probably 15 years or so.
“They’ve supported me along the way massively … so many messages of support yesterday and they’ve helped me when I was working a full-time job to fund training camps away and thinks like that which wouldn’t have been possible without them so I’m forever grateful for Phoenix and everything they’ve done for me.”
