Dubai-based Andrew Clements heads to Spain for World Athletics Championships

Nick Watkins - Writer 10:57 10/07/2018
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  • High hopes: Andrew Clements is going for gold

    While Gareth Southgate’s England team is making all the headlines in Russia, there’s another Brit looking to win a title on overseas soil.

    Dubai-based athlete Andrew Clements will travel to Spain in September to compete over the 400m hurdles as part of the Great British team at the World Masters Athletics Championship in Malaga.

    After missing the 2016-17 season Clements is currently in training six days a week and looking forward to competing on the Canadian and British circuits over the summer break, before heading to Spain in the first week of September for the World Championships. Talking exclusively to Sport360 he said, “I’m looking forward to competing and I think I’ve got a good chance of getting a medal. I’ll be running in Canada before heading back to the UK for a few races and then going to Malaga. I’m optimistic for a podium finish, with my 2013, 2014 and 2015 best times all quick enough to win every Masters World final ever run at the age 35-39 category.”

    The Brit moved to Dubai in 2016 after a successful track and field career in the UK, which saw him compete in World and Olympic trails. “I ran for the British university team a few times and had Olympic trials. Competition in the UK is very strong and so I made the finals and got some medals on the domestic scene, as well as the Olympic trails but didn’t get any further,” he added.

    The 35-year-old got involved in Ultimate Athletics at Dubai’s Sports City track thanks to his training partner and the DXBPE programme, a teacher’s initiative with workshops aimed at sharing sporting knowledge. “When I came out to Dubai a training partner was working with Ultimate Athletics and the track over at Sports City is where he trained and so I ended up going down to the race nights to get back into the swing of things.”

    Clements has seen track and field in the region increase with competition from neighbouring emirates, “I’ve been in Dubai since 2016 I know for a fact that athletics is getting a lot better,” he said. “The race nights are well attended, especially when you combine the Abu Dhabi schools and the Dubai schools is great for improving the competition. Things are moving forward for sure. There isn’t much opportunity to so track and field running in the region, which is why Ultimate Athletics is getting more people interested.”

    Both Andrew Clements and Ultimate Athletics are supported by New Balance. You can find out more at www.ultimateathleticsuae.com. Photography by Melissa Lear.

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