RICHARD KILTY stepped up his outdoor season with two outings in the space of 24 hours at the weekend – and helped underline the strength of Britain’s 4x100m relay squad with the start of the Rio Olympics now just two-and-a-half months away.

Kilty began his weekend programme with an appearance in the 100m at the Great City Games in Manchester, clocking a time of 10.20secs in a race won by veteran Kim Collins.

The Teessider then returned to the track on Saturday afternoon as part of the British sprint relay squad that competed in the Loughborough International.

Running with James Dasaolu, Harry Aikines-Aryeetey and Chijindu Ujah, Kilty helped post a winning time of 38.64secs that thrust the British quartet into the top ten in the world this year.

The four sprinters are set to compete together on a regular basis this summer as they look to give themselves the best possible chance of challenging for a medal in Rio.


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KAT DRISCOLL posted another strong showing as she continued to prepare for the Rio Games with an outing at the Trampoline World Cup event in Shanghai.

Driscoll, who is from West Rainton and a member of the Apollo Trampoline Club in Washington, continued in the rich vein of form that saw her win a team gold and individual bronze at the recent European Championships as she successfully qualified for the final in China.

Another impressive display in the final saw her finish in fifth position, with her performance all but guaranteeing her selection for one of the two female places Britain have secured at the Olympics.


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HAVING finished fourth in the women’s 400m Individual Medley at the European Swimming Championships, Aimee Willmott narrowly missed out on a place in the 200m butterfly final on the penultimate night of competition in London.

Willmott, who has already been confirmed as part of the British swimming squad for the Rio Games, finished fifth in her 200m fly final in a time of 2:10.22.

That made the Middlesbrough-born swimmer the ninth-fastest competitor in the semi-finals, and meant she missed out on a place in the final by 11 hundredths of a second.