Vicky Silk admits there is still room for improvement – despite an impressive showing at the BT Paralympic World Cup.

Discus specialist Silk (pictured) finished sixth in the women’s shot put at the Manchester Regional Arena with a best throw of 5.94m – just 26cm down on the personal best she set at the Middlesex County Championships earlier this month.

That distance gives Silk the UK Athletics ‘B’ standard for the World Championships in New Zealand in January next year.

And Silk, who also has the UKA ‘B’ standard in the discus, believes she can board the plane to Christchurch next year – provided she keeps up the good work.

"Even though I didn’t do a personal best, I enjoyed the crowd and the event and hopefully I can build on this for the rest of the season," said the 18-year-old from Folkestone.

"I did the shot put but the discus is my usual event – I’m looking to
do a few more of those as the season goes on.

"Although I didn’t achieve a personal best, I still have the rest of the season to improve and from what I have done in Manchester, there are signs I can get better."

Silk has also been pencilled in to attend the IWAS Junior World Championships in the Czech Republic in August after a storming start to the season in the discus.

And after giving a trial run to a new technique in the shot put in Manchester, Silk is keeping her fingers crossed she can go for glory on two counts this summer.

"I have a new technique which I have been working on in training," added Silk. "I have changed the movement across the circle, the speed and the power technique.

"It has been going well in training so I’m now just hoping I can bring that into competitions.

"Discus is my favoured event but I would love to keep improving my shot put and then we’ll just see what happens after that."

The BT Paralympic World Cup took place from 25-31 May and featured the world’s leading international Paralympic athletes in athletics, football 7-a-side, swimming and wheelchair basketball. The supporting partners were Northwest Regional Development Agency and Manchester City Council.
www.btparalympicworldcup.com