Moira West looking to bring the bling back from European Championships (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Moira West looking to bring the bling back from European Championships

10:00am Sunday 17th March 2013 in Sport

WHITCHURCH sprinter Moria West says she wants to return from next week’s European Masters Indoor Championships in Spain with “some bling” in her luggage.

The 63-year-old, who lives in Lynch Hill Park, flies out to San Sebastian on Monday to compete against the best runners Europe has to offer in the 60-64 age group.

She will compete in the 60m and 200m – and is looking to win medals.

“I am looking forward to the European Championships and if I could come home with some bling, that would be nice,” she said. “It will be tough because the level of competition is high and I am creeping up the age-group – but I want a medal.”

West goes into the European Championships in fine form, having picked up two golds and one silver medal at the British Masters Championships, which were held at Lee Valley earlier this month.

The Overton Harrier held off five other runners to win the 60m, clocking a season’s best time of 9.42sec – and was even more impressive in winning the 200m. West stopped the clock at 31.59sec, her best time since 2004, to finish more than two seconds clear of the athlete finishing second.

She said: “I am 64 next month and have just run my best time in nine years, which is not too bad. It just shows what you can do if you keep going. I have also been using some new training methods and they have made a real difference.”

West also competed in the 400m, an event she had not been specifically training for due to the cold and wet weather. She was unable to make it a hat-trick of gold medals but claimed silver, finishing in 77.72sec.