We had to wait until the last day of athletics at the Commonwealth Games at Birmingham before a Sussex athlete made an appearance and even then, she was not in an England vest.
On Sunday, Beth Kidger lined up for the 5,000m but was not expected to challenge EiIish McColgan, who had already won the 10,000m title. The Brighton Phoenix runner, whose elder brother Joel, reached the semi-final of the 800 metres, the last time the Games were held in England, at Manchester twenty years ago. Joel (Crawley) was running in an England vest and now coaches his sister. His time of 1:48.12 in the semi-final in 2002 would have taken him through to this year’s final.
Beth settled down in the bulk of the field from the start but kept a steady pace throughout the race eventually chopping twelve seconds off her previous best to finish in 13th place in 15:37.47s, to move up to fourth fastest ever by a Sussex runner.
Early in the Games former Sussex domiciled discus thrower Jade Lally, who formerly lived at Broadbridge Heat, led the competition but eventually had to settle for second place with a throw of 58.42m. Although Jade now lives in Australia, she was still throwing for England.
