KENT athlete Andy Graffin staked his claim for a place in the Great Britain team for the World Athletics Championships in Paris next month with victory in the 5,000m at the Norwich Union AAA Championships and World Trials.

Graffin, from Tonbridge, won in a time of 13:56.59, at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, on Sunday, but has not yet achieved the qualifying standard of 13:21.50.

The 25-year-old Belgrave Harrier will attempt to achieve the mark in Belgium on Saturday and at the London Grand Prix on Friday, August 8, ahead of the British team being announced two days later.

Anthony Whiteman, from Bearsted, claimed bronze in the 1,500m in 3:43.22. Having finished outside the top two, the Shaftesbury Barnet athlete now faces an anxious wait to see if he is chosen by the British selectors.

Sevenoaks middle distance runner Kelly Holmes missed the trials through injury, but is expected to be handed a discretionary place for the 1,500m in Paris.

Julie Dunkley claimed Kent’s first medal of the championships by taking bronze in the shot with a throw of 15.19m on Saturday. Dunkley, the 23-year-old Shaftesbury Barnet athlete from Dartford, produced her best throw in the opening round and led early-on.

But she saw Joanna Duncan (16.19) and Eva Massey (15.35) produce better throws in the latter rounds and had to settle for bronze.

James Chatt took the scalp of Olympic relay silver medallist Jamie Baulch during a dramatic 400m semi-finals.

The Dartford Harriers sprinter pulled off one of the shocks of the day by pipping Baulch on the line.

With the first four going through from each semi-final, Chatt was fortunate to find himself in the slower race and avoiding the three fastest men on paper Daniel Caines, Ian Mackie and Iwan Thomas.

The 23-year-old seemed of contention with 10 metres to go but Baulch eased up in the final few yards allowing Chatt to edge in front of him into fourth place by two hundredths of a second in a personal best 46.82. He went on to finish seventh in the final in 47.08, beating former European and Commonwealth champion Thomas.

Gary Carr faced the daunting prospect of running between two of the world’s

fastest men Dwain Chambers and Mark Lewis Francis during the 100m semi-finals.

The 20-year-old Ashford AC member, the youngest runner in the race, finished

sixth and clocked a respectable time of 10.8 in difficult conditions.

Greg Beard, the Belgrave Harrier from Wouldham near Chatham, threw a season’s best 16.59 to finish fourth in the shot.