Sophie Mckinna of Great Yarmouth and District Athletics Club competed in her first outdoor competition of 2017.

Following her silver medal in the shot at the British Indoor Championships in Sheffield, where Sophie had thrown a new indoor best and season’s best 16.74 metres, she was invited to the Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham, which attracted a crowd of 8,000.

The competition included Anita Marton of Hungary, current world number one and she proved to be unbeatable. Sophie finished in a credible fifth, throwing 16.73 metres, only one centimetre less than she had thrown in Sheffield.

Sophie was selected to represent Great Britain at the European Throws Cup, held in Gran Canaria mid-March. At the start of the competition Sophie was ranked 10th in a field of 16. She threw 17.03, 11cms off her best of 17.14 and a 2018 Commonwealth Games qualifying distance.