GILLIAN Castka had a hand in four of the six medals won by Hong Kong at the World Veterans Athletic Championships, which ended yesterday in Miazaki, Japan. Castka, a former British international runner who has run 49 marathons, won two individual silvers, a team silver and an individual bronze. She was competing in the women's over-35s category and was one of a 30-strong Hong Kong squad at the 11-day championships which attracted 12,000 athletes from 78 countries. Castka finished second in the 10-kilometre cross country event last Sunday to win silver medals in both the individual and team sections - teammates Sheila Purves (fourth) and Cory Caplan (10th) clinching the team silver. Castka also won the silver in the 2,000 metres steeplechase, in only her second attempt at the discipline. She dropped 10 seconds behind South African Marietjie Ceronio but managed to hold off American Kim Rupert to finish second in seven minutes, 57 minutes and 96 seconds. Castka showed her versatility by winning a bronze medal in the 5,000 metres, running a three-year best time of 18:25. Teammate Purves was fourth in that event. Hong Kong also struck silver in the women's over-40s 10-kilometre cross country event, through Rebecca Lau Fung-ling, Lily Franada and Joan Stubbings. The territory's other medal came from Purves, who made a determined bid for glory in the over-35s 1,500 metres race. Purves went hard from the gun and challenged strongly with the lead runners before dropping back in the final lap to come home in third place in her five-year best time of 4:49. There were also fine performances from race walker Bill Purves who finished fifth behind strong opposition in the men's 20-kilometre race. His time of one hour and 52 minutes was the third fastest ever over the distance by a Hong Kong athlete. Hong Kong evergreen Yip Lun-ming, competing in the men's over-70s category, was out of luck. He was optimistic of a medal as his training had gone well. But on the second lap of the steeplechase he lost his footing at the water jump and was very badly spiked around his right ankle. Yip never recovered but carried on bravely to finish in fifth place in a time of 10:24.03. The Hong Kong squad acquitted themselves well and challenged some of the top veteran athletes in the world for medals. Consisting of Hong Kong Chinese, British, Australian, Filipina and Canadian athletes, the squad reflected the true cosmopolitan make-up of the territory's athletes. Many of them are ineligible to compete for the territory internationally due to the seven-year residency rule. The hosts left nothing to chance in the organisation of the championships, with almost all events held in the 100-hectare Miazaki Sports Park.
