SOUTHAMPTON AC 100 metres ace Oli Bromby is celebrating individual selection for the World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz , Poland later this month.

After a tense wait, the Shirley-based sprinter – already a banker for Great Britain’s 4x100m relay team – was today named in the second wave of selections for the July 19-24 event.

The 18-year-old, who ran a personal best 10.40 seconds at Lee Valley in May, sits second in the British under-20 rankings behind Hercules Wimbledon’s Rechmial Miller (pb 10.34), who had already booked his ticket to Poland by winning the trials.

Gary MacDonald-Gray, who coaches Bromby with wife Sara, said: “Although Oli’s selection for the 4x100m was something Sara and I were reasonably confident about, the 100m spot presents an excellent opportunity to step up into world class competition as an individual.

“The world of junior sprinting has taken off this year, so the prospects of even reaching the semi-finals are daunting compared to the World Youth Championships in Cali, Colombia, where Oli finished a desperately close fourth.

“This year Oli is outside the top-20 in the world rankings, but he is improving in every area and does raise his game for big races.

“We’ll both be going out to Poland to support him and we know he is raring to go against the best juniors in the world.”

Jo Summers, British Athletics’ development manager and team leader for GB Juniors, added: “We have taken the opportunity to select a team of athletes who can challenge for medals as well as top-eight finishes in Poland and I am confident the 40 athletes selected will be keen to grasp this chance to compete on a world stage.

“The stadium at Bydgoszcz is fantastic and the organisers are well used to hosting age-group competitions, so this talented crop of young athletes will get a taste of what is hopefully on the agenda for them at global championships in years to come.”