Crook & District

veteran athlete Kevin Archer crossed the Atlantic to gain a magnificent silver medal at the World Masters Athletics Championships in the blue riband 1500 metres event.

The championships, which came to Gateshead in 1999, are held every two years and this year took place in the Central American Republic of Puerto Rico. Competing against the very best track runners in his age group in the capital San Juan, Archer's tough conditioning programme paid off as he first gained an unexpected fourth place in the mens 50-54 years 800m final before taking silver in the 1500m.

Archer qualified for the 800 final with a season's best time of 2 min 7.86 sec, making his first world 800 final in three attempts. The final was run in very hot and humid conditions, Archer finishing fourth in 2 min 8.61 sec.

He had no difficulty qualifying for the final of the 1500 metres, despite having the two pre-race favourites in his semi-final. They were previous World silver medallist and 2001 World Masters silver medallist Carlos Loaiza of Colombia, and former Olympic competitor and reigning European Masters outdoor champion Carlos Cabral of Portugal.

Loaiza and Cabral had both just beaten Archer in the 800m final, taking the gold and bronze medals respectively. The 12-man 1500 final at the Sixto Escobar Stadium, San Juan, was again run in humidity. It turned into a two man race between Archer and Cabral. Archer forced the pace to take the lead with two laps to go, but failed to hold off Cabral who won in 4 min 21.94 sec. Archer took silver in 4 min 24.23 sec. Loaiza was a distant third.

This was a great achievement for Archer, who had twice finished seventh in the 1500 final in the previous two World Masters championships held at Gateshead and Brisbane, Australia.

Before going to Puerto Rico, Archer had the unenviable record of finishing fourth and missing out on the medals in his last four major 1500 finals, in both the British and European indoor and outdoor championships.

Archer's next target is the first World Masters indoor championships in Stuttgart, Germany, in March 2004.