BURNLEY'S Sophie Hitchon has extended her British hammer record twice in a week after throwing 71.61 metres in California yesterday.
The 20-year-old Blackburn Harrier threw the distance, an Olympic 'A' standard, twice at the OTC-Pre-Olympic Series I meeting in Chula Vista.
"I feel really good and training out here has gone really well. It's just really good to repeat it in competition," said Hitchon.
"I love competing. I don't want to be one of those who says I'm throwing this in training but can't reproduce it in competition.
"I think the A standard takes the pressure off my mind, the last few competitions I possibly tried too hard but now I can relax and compete to the best of my abilities."
Hitchon's coach Derek Evely added: "She's had a great camp out here in the States and she's been throwing 70-plus daily. We just needed to let it happen in competition, and she threw it twice today.
"I think 72 or 73m is not out of the question this year, Sophie is a really great competitor and always performs well in that scenario."
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