Second world title for Andy

11:31am Tuesday 2nd September 2008

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ANDY Waddington is an athlete who likes to push his body to the limit - and his efforts have just been rewarded with a second world title in a double decathlon in Germany.

The Basingstoke and Mid-Hants AC veteran had to complete 20 punishing events in two days in the ultra-multievents championships.

His over-45 schedule started in Scheessel with a 100-metre sprint. The day continued with the long-jump, shot, 200m hurdles, 5,000m, 800m, the high jump, 400m, hammer and finished with a 2,000m steeplechase.

By the end of the first day, he was troubled by a sore Achilles tendon and that affected his performance in the next day's opening event, the 110m hurdles.

The 2004 over-40 world champion is no quitter, however, and he pressed on with the rest of the programme.

The discus was followed by the 200m, the pole vault, 3,000m, 400m hurdles, javelin, 1,500m, triple jump and the Sunday schedule finished with a 10,000m run.

At the end of it, Waddington was disappointed to miss the world record points score for the event.

"The world record stands at 12,500 points and I missed it by just 150," he said. I was gutted."

The AA employee needed every moment of a two-week holiday when he returned home.

"I had a couple of weeks of sitting down doing absolutely nothing, which is what I wanted," he said.

Now he is back in training to defend the over-45 title he won at the British masters decathlon championships last year.

This year, the championships are being held in Oxford.

Waddington, who is coached by Geoff Goddard at Down Grange, said: "The Achilles is okay.

"A bit of a niggle is not going to stop me trying to defend my title."