Athletics: Morgan launches into the future

It will be another five weeks before the chunks of precious metal are handed out at the City of Manchester Stadium. Yesterday, though, on the stage being readied for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, British athletics unearthed a new gem. Kelly Morgan, an army clerk from Salisbury, made such a mark in the women's javelin it took the event in Britain back to the golden days of Tessa Sanderson and Fatima Whitbread.

With her opening throw in the Aqua-Pura English Commonwealth Trials, the 21-year-old eclipsed the British record for the new-specification javelin introduced three years ago. More significantly, she catapulted herself into fourth place in the world rankings. It was a mighty effort: 63.03m – a distance only exceeded by two British women with the lighter implement in use until 1999. That was by Sanderson and Whitbread in days so distant an athlete as youthful as Morgan could be excused for having no memory of them.

"Of course I do," she countered. "They're icons of the javelin world. Now it's time for myself and Goldie Sayers to bring the javelin into the future." For the time being Sayers remains one for the future. A silver medallist at the European junior championships last summer, the 19-year-old was third yesterday with 54.59m (Karen Martin, whose record was consigned to the history books, finished second with 55.02m). For Morgan, the future began yesterday.

Dogged since her junior days by a shoulder problem that is still not fully cured, her fortunes have been transformed since she linked up in January with John Trower, the coach who has guided Steve Backley to a hat-trick of Olympic javelin medals.

"I've been wanting to make a breakthrough," Morgan said. "I came here expecting to throw 60m. To throw three metres farther is brilliant. This is where it all begins."

It's certainly a new beginning for the women's javelin in Britain. As well as standing fourth in the world, Morgan finds herself leading the Commonwealth rankings and lying third in the European order of merit. No female British javelin thrower has won a major championship since Sanderson struck Commonwealth gold in Auckland 12 years ago. Morgan will carry the expectation of ending that barren spell when she returns to Manchester for the Games next month. She should also be a British medal hope at the European championships in Munich in August.

Morgan might have been going for gold in Manchester as a netball player. Last year she played for the England development team against the world champion Australians. "My netball has taken a little bit of a back seat, but I still play," she said. "I'm a goal-shooter... Yeah, you could say I'm a bit of a Michael Owen."

You could also say that Michael Owen and his team-mates had a bit to do with the huge swathes of empty seats in the stadium yesterday. It might have had something to do with the gaps among the competitors too. The absentees included Jonathan Edwards, Paula Radcliffe and Dean Macey, who are already selected for England's Commonwealth Games team, Steve Backley and Kelly Holmes, who are assured of the third discretionary places in their events, Katharine Merry and Mark Richardson, who are injured and out for the season, and Denise Lewis, who resumed training only last week following the pregnant pause in her career.

Chris Rawlinson was one of those who did turn up, but he will have to rely on the third-man slot in the 400m hurdles, having been disqualified for failing to clear the seventh flight with his trailing leg en route to victory in his heat. Jason Gardener has also been left at the mercy of the selectors, after placing fourth in the 100m final in 10.31sec.

As Dwain Chambers surged to victory in 10.03sec and Mark Lewis-Francis finished runner-up in 10.07sec (a personal best), Gardener was beaten to third place by the 20-year-old Belgrave Harrier Chris Lambert. Not that the European indoor 60m champion has reason to lose too much sleep about his place in the England team. Lambert, a bronze medallist in the 100m at last year's World Student Games, has a best time of 10.24sec and the English selectors have set a qualifying standard of 10.20sec.

In any case, Lambert, a politics student at Harvard University, has his sights set on the 200m, which he contests today. Darren Campbell is also aiming for the longer sprint event, the reigning European 100m champion having finished one place behind Gardener in 10.43 sec. "It's just one of those things," the native Mancunian said. "I've been ill with flu all week."

As a lifelong Manchester United fan, running in the future home of Manchester City probably didn't help.