Lawrence Okoye breaks British discus record in Germany

Lawrence Okoye

Lawrence Okoye broke his own British discus record with a throw of 68.24 metres at the Halle Throws International in Germany.

The 20-year-old finished third overall behind Germany's two-time world champion Robert Harting (70.31m) and Poland's Olympic silver medallist Piotr Malachowski (68.94m).

Britain's Abdul Buhari and Brett Morse finished ninth and 11th respectively.

In the hammer, Briton Sophie Hitchon finished fourth with a throw of 70.09m.

In the men's event, Scotland's Mark Dry - who has already achieved the Olympic B qualification standard - felt just short of his personal best. He finished fifth with a best of 73.88m, while Alex Smith was 10th with 71.68m.

However, it was Okoye who impressed most and BBC Sport athletics statistician Mark Butler believes the Croydon-based youngster is a genuine medal prospect at this summer's London Olympics.

"We should start to get very excited about Okoye," he said. "Not only has he improved his British record in the discus to 68.24 - a distance of world class - but he did it by finishing close behind the world's top two men, Harting and Małachowski.

"He also defeated World Championship bronze medallist Ehsan Hadadi."