Coach and athlete reunite to grab magical gold

A coach said seeing one of her athletes win gold at the UK Athletics Championships was magic.

Joel Clarke-Khan cleared 2.19m to win the men's high jump at the Birmingham competition after an injury-plagued couple of years which saw him miss out on taking part in the Paris Olympics.

During that time he reunited with coach Deidre Elmhurst after they took a break a few years ago. The Worcester-based pair first started working together when Clarke-Khan was just 13.

"It's magic and it's the reward for all the hard work, the planning and the training," Elmhurst said of his victory.

The high jumper had previously broken his metatarsal three times, the last time being so bad he required screws to repair it.

"It's hugely difficult [coming back from injury], Elmhurst said.

"Joel had a major knee injury when he was with me and we worked through that together and I think that cemented a trust in each other.

"You have to keep the athlete incredibly positive but not looking too far ahead."

Speaking at the UK Athletics Championships Clarke-Khan said it had been a rough few years but he felt like he was getting back to where he'd been before.

"For me, that's the most important thing now and to cement that feeling with a British Championship win, it just means the world to me."

He added: "I've working with my new-old coach Deidre from Worcester and I think we've just clicked.

"Everything we knew about each other before, the chemistry, it's just working so well."

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