CAHERAGH teenager Katie Kingston (17) finished a fantastic fourth in the javelin at the French U18 Championships held at the Stadium Municipal in Albi near Toulouse.
After Katie, who lines out with Leevale AC, achieved the qualifying standard, a request to enter the French championships was given the green light and she took her place amongst 30 athletes divided into two qualifying groups on Saturday.
Katie produced a best throw of 40.45m in round one to qualify her for day two, as the field was whittled down down to 12 athletes, with the West Cork teenager lying in third place.
Sunday presented the athletes with different throwing conditions, as it was 15 degrees lower than the heat they faced on Saturday, while there were thunder downpours too. Katie threw consistently well with four throws just short of 42 metres, including a top throw of 41.83m, and was still in third going into the last round. Then French athlete Camille Visier had one big throw to overtake Katie by 40 centimetres and take third place. Still, fourth place in the French championships is very encouraging for Skibbereen Community School student Katie who won a bronze medal at the recent national juvenile championships. Also, the thrower who finished fifth in France, Leana Monzie, had won in Halle, Germany, back in May.
