Tiffany Porter and Cindy Ofili take first two places in the 100 metres hurdles
Last Updated: 04/07/15 8:25pm
Tiffany Porter and Cindy Ofili secured a one-two in the 100 metres hurdles at the British Championships in Birmingham on Saturday.
The American-born sisters claimed the two automatic qualifying spots on the Great Britain team for the World Championships in Beijing in August.
Racing against each other on Independence Day, and for the first time over 100m hurdles, the pair, who hail from Michigan but have a British mother, were a cut above the rest of the field at the Alexander Stadium.
Porter, the European champion, took the title in 12.83 seconds with younger sister Ofili, in her first visit to the country, coming home in 12.96secs.
The sisters draped themselves in a Union Flag as they were presented with their medals, alongside Jessica Ennis-Hill, the Olympic heptathlon champion taking third in a season's best 13.10s.
"It was really special," said Porter. "Cindy's a great competitor. I'm just so proud of her and the way she executed. Obviously I go into every race looking to win, whether she's in it or anybody else.
"She's running so well. We spur each other on. It's a good rivalry."
Ofili, at 20 is seven years younger than her sibling, and she enjoyed her first taste of action in her adopted homeland after only being cleared to compete for Great Britain 11 days ago.
"It's been such a great experience. It's nice being in front of the GB crowd," Ofili said.
"My sister has always said good things about GB and the support and everything that comes with it. It was just nice going into it with the knowledge I'd be representing GB."
Zharnel Hughes, the Anguillan 19-year-old dubbed the new Usain Bolt, was another of the quintet cleared to race for Britain and he took the 200m title in 20.42.
Hughes, who trains alongside Bolt in Jamaica, did not look as smooth as in Friday's heat, but had the strength down the home straight to pull away from Danny Talbot and insisted afterwards he was taking it easy and only running at "85 per cent".
Elsewhere, world champion Christine Ohuruogu, after taking effectively a sabbatical last year as she cut down on training and racing commitments to save herself for the bigger challenges ahead, won her 400m heat in 53.05.
European champion James Dasaolu looked supremely at ease in qualifying for the 100m semi-finals in 10.51, although Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, in his first race of the year following a hip flexor strain, was the fastest man in the heats in 10.29.
Dina Asher-Smith underlined her status as favourite for the women's 100m by winning her heat in a comfortable 11.31. The world junior champion, 19, was the fastest qualifier and Sunday's final is set to be a head-to-head battle with Asha Philip, who won her heat in 11.48.
Dai Greene looked smooth in winning his 400m hurdles heat, his first race of the summer and only his fourth in the last two seasons.
The 29-year-old, who has been hampered by injury since winning the world title in 2011, clocked 50.62 easing down, but had to dip to edge out the fast-finishing Jacob Paul by just one hundredth of a second.
Isobel Pooley equalled the British record with a clearance of 1.97m to win the high jump title, while Andy Vernon had to settle for second behind Tom Farrell in the 5,000m final.
