CURTIS Griffith-Parker claimed discus gold at the Aviva English Schools’ track and field championships this weekend - but remained far from satisfied, writes Tom Reynolds.

The Christ the King Sixth Form student recorded a best throw of 54.52m in Sheffield which was comfortably enough for a place on top of the podium, although over seven metres down on his personal best.

And the 18-year-old from Lewisham, who is ranked as the number one under-20 athlete for both the discus and shot, admitted he was far from best in front of the Sky Sports cameras.

Griffith-Parker also vowed to step things up a gear at the European junior championships later this month.

He said: “It was good to win the gold but I was very disappointed with my distance but that was due to a lot of different things.

“I didn’t have my own discus to maybe the first round which disrupted me because we couldn’t warm up with our own discus.

“Then there was traffic on the way here so I didn’t get chance to warm up, so I had to go straight into the competition.

“It was not idea but it worked out in the end although I am capable of throwing much bigger distances.”

After winning shot gold at the Commonwealth Youth Games in India last year, the European juniors in Serbia hold no fear.

But the teenager believes his experience of international events will stand him in good stead when the event this month.

He added: “I went to Greece for the World Schools in 2006 and then the Czech Republic in 2007 and then to Poland last year, so I know what to expect.

“I have got the qualifying distance for the European juniors at the end of this month already.

“You needed to get over 55.00m and I have got that nearly every time I have thrown this season.

“Overall, I was disappointed with the distance but pleased with the win.

“The win comes before anything and hopefully there will be more to come in Serbia.”