TROWBRIDGE'S Tom Gale set a new personal best in the final of the men's high jump at the World Junior Championships in Poland this evening.

Gale, 17, scaled 2.16m - just a centimetre shy of his personal best - to finish second in his qualifying group in Bydgoszcz last night and get into a 13-strong final competition.

The John of Gaunt School pupil cleared heights of 2.05m, 2.10 and 2.14 at the first time of asking and required three attempts to clear 2.18 to set his new PB.

However, Gale was unable to clear 2.21 as he claimed a ninth place finish in the 13-strong final which was won by Luis Enrique Zayas from Cuba.

It has been a meteoric rise for the youngster who only took up the high jump three years ago as he clinched the senior boys’ high jump title at the English Schools’ Track & Field Championships in Gateshead earlier this month and jumped his personal best of 2.17m at the U20 British Championships last month in Bedford.

An impressive season has also seen Gale break his personal best several times, finish runner-up in the England U20 Championships, ninth in the Olympic trials and earn his first international championship vest.