AS A teenager, Emily Diamond was a talented tennis player who took part in junior matches at Wimbledon, but after taking up athletics she now sits on top of the British 400m rankings for 2016, writes Jason Henderson.
The Bristol & West sprinter, who turns 25 this weekend, clocked 51.23 in Regensburg last Saturday – a time that not only leads the national rankings this year but elevates her into the UK all-time top 20 and is quicker than any Brits ran in the Diamond League in Birmingham on Sunday.
So why did Diamond ditch tennis for track and field? “I played it for about 10 years until I was aged 16 and I just lost the love for it,” she explained.