NATHAN Douglas agonisingly missed out on an eighth national title when coming second in the British Indoor Athletics Championships, writes STUART WEIR.

The Oxford City AC triple jumper was beaten by just one centimetre by Michael Puplampu in Birmingham.

Douglas took the lead in the second round with a leap of 16.27 metres, but followed that with four fouls and was overtaken in the final round.

However, his second place confirmed selection for the European Championships in Glasgow next month.

“I wanted to be British champion,” a disappointed Douglas said.

“But I came here to qualify for the European Championships and I did that.”

Teammate Hannah England was seventh in the final of the 1500m in 4mins 22.68secs.

She ran an aggressive race, holding second place until the final lap before fading late on.

Four other local athletes had personal bests.

Ella Turner (Oxford City), a sixth-former at Matthew Arnold School, was third in her 400m heat in 55.30secs, 0.12 seconds from making the final.

Ben Claridge (Abingdon), missed out on the men’s 400m final by one hundredth of a second, running 47.73 in the semi-final.

Earlier in the afternoon, he ran a pb of 47.41 to win his heat Emily Thompson (Banbury Harriers) was second in her 800m heat in 2mins 7.35secs behind Lynsey Sharp.

She had the seventh fastest time with six making the final.

Alice Hopkins (Oxford City) finished seventh in the long jump with a pb of 6.15 and was also sixth in her heat of the 60m hurdles.

Former Banbury Harrier Kyle Ennis finished fourth in the semi-finals of the 200m and fifth in his heat of the 60m.