She may have equaled the Championship record on the way to gold in the women’s 60m but St Mary’s University sprinter Adeline Gouenon is already eyeing more next year.
Originally from the Ivory Coast but currently studying sports science psychology in London, Gouenon clocked 7.31 seconds on Friday to match the record set by Montell Douglas in 2007.
Silver went to East London’s Corinne Humphreys with Loughborough’s Rachel Johncock taking bronze.
This year’s BUCS Nationals saw more than 6,000 students descend upon the Steel City for the UK’s largest annual multi-sport event.
And Gouenon had relished the chance to show what she could do at the English Institute of Sport.
“It’s good to equal the record. It means I’m getting faster, maybe next year I can run quicker than the Championship record,” said Gouenon, who lives in Teddington.
“My heat was me getting used to the atmosphere and the semis were alright but not as fast as I was hoping. I had high expectations coming here
“The atmosphere is great at BUCS because you meet new people from different universities which I don’t get much time to do.
“It’s quite challenging as well because people come with different talents so you never know what to expect. They either push you to run quicker or you have to try and push yourself.
“For the outdoor season, hopefully I will still be the BUCS champion and maybe break a record. I’m really looking forward to that.”
Gouenon’s victory did come at a cost however with the sprinter pulling up afterwards with a groin injury.
And while still awaiting the diagnosis from the doctor, she was hopeful of being fit enough to return to the venue next weekend for the Indoor British Championships.
“I feel like I pulled my groin but I’m not really sure yet. I will have to see the doctor and see what he says,” she added.
“For now I’m in pain but hopefully it’s nothing too serious or worse.
“I was aiming for the British Indoor Championships next weekend and then the World Indoors.
“That’s the plan but you never know. I want to get to the Worlds without injuries.”
British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) is the national governing body for Higher Education (HE) sport in the UK, organising leagues and competitions for more than 150 institutions across 52 different sports. Partnered by Deloitte, BUCS supports athletes from a grass roots level through to Commonwealth and Olympic Games hopefuls www.bucs.org.uk
