Athletics: Katie on a painful path to pleasure
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Unlike David Beckham, who jogged a mere 100 metres with the Queen's Jubilee Baton in the City of Man-chester Stadium on Thursday night, another Manchester United player got to run a complete lap in Manchester City's future home yesterday.
Strictly speaking, Katie Jones is a former United player. She gave up her place in the Manchester United volleyball team to concentrate on a sporting career in athletics that led her on to Manchester's Commonwealth Games stage yesterday.
A member of Trafford Athletics, the 25-year-old Salford woman got the biggest cheer of the morning session when she stepped on to the track for the first semi-final of the women's 400m hurdles. She acknowledged the cheers with a beaming face and a wave of gratitude before proceeding to run the race of her life.
As she rounded the bend into the home straight it was clear that Jones was out of contention for a place in tonight's final, which features her England team-mate Natasha Danvers and Sinead Dudgeon of Scotland. She crossed the line fifth, though when the result appeared on the stadium's electronic scoreboard it flashed confirmation of a new personal best, 57.69sec.
"I'm in pain now," Jones said, as she leaned on a barrier on the way to the changing area, "but it was an incredible experience, the best thing I've ever done. The atmosphere out there was just unbelievable. People were shouting for me all the way round.
"At first when you make your first major championship team and it's in your home town, you think, 'No! Why couldn't it be Jamaica?' But now, well, you just couldn't beat it. It couldn't have been better anywhere else in the world."
It could hardly have been better for Jones's coach, either. Paula Thomas – or Paula Dunn, as she was known for the majority of her competitive athletics career – is a Mancunian too. She was one of Britain's leading female sprinters in the post-Kathy Cook era, winning Commonwealth gold in the 4 x 100m relay and silver in the individual 100m in Edinburgh in 1986, and relay silver in Auckland in 1990.
"I used to train with Paula when she was still competing," Jones said. "I owe a lot to her. She was a remarkable athlete and she's a remarkable coach."
Jones herself happens to be a pretty remarkable Mancunian, having played for Manchester United and worked for Manchester City. "I used to hand out pies at Maine Road," she revealed.
So on which side of town, then, does her football allegiance happen to lie ? "Oh, I'm a Red," she said emphatically. "My old coach, Jim Harris, instilled that in me."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments