ANOTHER outstanding year for Senior Men's winner Robert Tobin climaxed with selection for the Commonwealth Games later this month.
For that reason, the 22-year-old, from Old Basing, was unable to receive his trophy.
But he will know what he missed because he is a former senior champion and a three-times junior winner at The Gazette Sports Awards.
The Basingstoke and Mid-Hants track star started 2005 by retaining his Hampshire 200 metres title. Then he went on to win for England in an international 400m race at Loughborough University in May.
His winning anchor relay leg helped England to overall victory at the meeting. Later in the month, he lowered his life-time best to 45.71sec in a Spanish victory.
Next stop was a permit meeting in Geneva, where another victory and a new personal best (45.01sec) put him top of the European 400m rankings for a time.
Tobin was a gold medal-winning member of the Great Britain team at the European Cup in Florence.
Last July, he captained the British team at the European under-23 championships in Erfurt, Germany. Despite a shin injury, he became the 400m champion and won a silver medal in the relay.
At the world championships in Helsinki, Tobin was a semi-finalist while helping the British relay team finish fourth overall.
His award on Friday was collected by his mother, Jackie Tobin. She believes a place in the Games' 400m final in Melbourne, Australia, is well within her son's grasp.
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