Athletics thread (pre and post-Olympics)

[Panda]

This starts on Wednesday but is threatening to slip under the radar with Euro 2012 and Wimbledon going on, combined with the fact we also have the Olympics this year.

The decision to have the championships every two years does seem a bit silly as most of the top athletes will be focusing on the Olympics. This is reflected in the GB squad selection, which doesn't include the majority of those who will be in London. It's also reflected in BBC's TV coverage, as it takes a firm back seat to the aforementioned events, with Red Button coverage only for the first four days, before BBC2 shows the final day on Sunday.

The main talking point surrounding the GB squad is the fact Dwain Chambers has been left out for the individual 100m, which suggests he will be selected for the Olympics, despite not having the A standard.

Andy Turner is also left out, meaning he is almost certain to be picked for the Olympics despite only finishing 3rd in the 110m hurdles at the trials yesterday.

Mo Farah goes in the 5000m, while Robbie Grabarz in the high jump is probably the only other Olympic medal contender going to the Euros.

The women's squad is maybe a little bit stronger, featuring Jenny Meadows, Shara Proctor (who broke the British long jump record yesterday) and Goldie Sayers.

So a lot of inexperience but a good chance for some of the younger athletes to get a major competition under their belts and if the other countries are leaving out their top stars, their could be some unexpected medals up for grabs.



GB Squad:

MEN:
100m: Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, Mark Lewis-Francis
200m: Chris Clarke, Danny Talbot
400m: Richard Buck, Luke Lennon Ford
800m: Mukhtar Mohammed, Gareth Warburton
1500m: James Brewer, Tom Lancashire
5000m: Mo Farah, Rory Fraser, Mitch Goose
10000m: Keith Gerrard, James Walsh
110mH: Richard Alleyne, Gianni Frankis, William Sharman
400mH: Rhys Williams, Nathan Woodward, Rick Yates
3000mSC: Luke Gunn, Rob Mullett, James Wilkinson
High Jump: Robbie Grabarz, Samson Oni, Tom Parsons
Pole Vault: Luke Cutts, Max Eaves, Andrew Sutcliffe
Long Jump: JJ Jegede, Julian Reid, Chris Tomlinson
Triple Jump: Larry Achike
Shot Put: Carl Myerscough
Discus: Abdul Buhari, Brett Morse, Lawrence Okoye
Hammer: Mark Dry
Decathlon: Ashley Bryant
4x100m relay: Harry Aikines-Aryeety, Dwain Chambers, Tyrone Edgar, James Ellington, Christian Malcolm, Danny Talbot
4x400m relay: Richard Buck, Michael Bingham, Luke Lennon Ford, Nigel Levine, Rob Tobin, Conrad Williams

WOMEN:
100m: Jeanette Kwakye, Ashleigh Nelson
200m: Abi Oyepitan
400m: Lee McConnell, Kelly Massey, Nicola Sanders
800m: Jenny Meadows, Lynsey Sharp, Jemma Simpson
1500m: Charlene Thomas
5000m: Julia Bleasdale, Helen Clitheroe, Steph Twell
10000m: Jo Pavey, Charlotte Purdue, Gemma Steel
400mH: Meghan Beesley
3000mSC: Hatti Archer
High Jump: Isobel Pooley
Pole Vault: Sally Peake
Long Jump: Abigail Irozuru, Shara Proctor
Shot Put: Eden Francis
Discus: Eden Francis, Jade Nicholls
Hammer: Sophie Hitchon, Sarah Holt
Javelin: Goldie Sayers, Laura Whittingham
4x100m relay: Montell Douglas, Hayley Jones, Jeanette Kwakye, Ashleigh Nelson, Anyika Onuora
4x400m relay: Eilidh Child, Shana Cox, Kelly Massey, Lee McConnell, Christine Ohuruogu, Nicola Sanders



I have to say the sight of the weekend at the trials was 50-year-old Roald Bradstock, who competed for GB at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, finishing 2nd in the Javelin, wearing his old Olympic vest and hand-painted Union Jack attire.

[ligerdog7]

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[Panda]

As a comparison of where GB's top athletes are compared to the best in the world, this is a list of 2012's world leaders, and UK #1 athletes:

MEN

100m
World: Usain Bolt (Jamaica) 9.76
UK: Adam Gemimi 10.08 (32 in the world)

200m
World: Yohan Blake (Jamaica) 19.91
UK: James Alaka 20.47 (37)

400m
World: LaShawn Merritt (USA) 44.12
UK: Martyn Rooney 44.92 (13)

800m
World: David Rudisha (Kenya) 1:41.74
UK: Andrew Osagie 1:44.61 (14)

1500m
World: Silas Kiplagat (Kenya) 3:29.63
UK: Mo Farah 3:34.66 (25)

5000m
World & UK: Mo Farah 12:56.98

10000m
World: Wilson Kiprop (Kenya) 27:01.98
UK: Andrew Vernon 27:53.65 (55)

110mH
World: Liu Xiang (China) 12.97
UK: Lawrence Clarke 13.33 (19)

400mH
World: Javier Culson (Puerto Rico) 47.92
UK: Dai Greene 48.96 (14)

3000mSC
World: Paul Kipsiele Koech (Kenya) 7:54.31
UK: Luke Gunn 8:29.22 (65)

High Jump
World: Ivan Ukhov (Russia) 2.37
UK: Robbie Grabarz 2.36 (3)

Pole Vault
World: Malte Mohr (Germany) 5.91
UK: Steve Lewis 5.72 (7)

Long Jump
World: Greg Rutherford (GB) and Sergey Morgunov (Russia) 8.35

Triple Jump
World: Christian Taylor (USA) 17.62
UK: Philips Idowu 17.31 (9)

Shot Put
World: Reese Hoffa (USA) 22.00
UK: Carl Myerscough 20.10 (45)

Discus
World: Robert Harting (Germany) 70.66
UK: Lawrence Okoye 68.24 (4)

Hammer
World: Ivan Tsikhan (Belarus) 82.81
UK: Alexander Smith 75.63 (48)

Javelin
World: Vitezslav Vesely (Czech Rep) 88.11
UK: Mervyn Luckwell 82.15 (26)

Decathlon
World: Ashton Eaton (USA) 9039 (WR)
UK: Daniel Awde 8102 (15)




WOMEN

100m
World: Carmelita Jeter (USA) 10.81
UK: Abi Oyepitan 11.21 (38)

200m
World: Sanya Richards-Ross (USA) 22.09
UK: Abi Oyepitan 22.71 (20)

400m
World: Sanya Richards-Ross (USA) 49.28
UK: Christine Ohuruogu 50.69 (10)

800m
World: Pamela Jelimo (Kenya) 1:56.94
UK: Marilyn Okoro 1:59.33 (21)

1500m
World: Abeba Arigawe (Ethiopia) 3:56.54
UK: Hannah England 4:04.05 (18)

5000m
World: Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot (Kenya) 14:35.62
UK: Jo Pavey 15:09.53 (20)

10000m
World: Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopia) 30:24.39
UK: Julia Bleasdale 31:29.57 (13)

100mH
World: Sally Pearson (Australia) 12.49
UK: Tiffany Porter 12.65 (6)

400mH
World: Irina Davydova (Russia) 53.87
UK: Eilidh Child 54.96 (11)

3000mSC
World: Milcah Chemos Cheywa (Kenya) 9:07.14
UK: Barbara Parker 9:24.24 (7)

High Jump
World: Anna Chicherova (Russia) 2.02
UK: Isobel Pooley 1.90 (33)

Pole Vault
World: Fabiana Murer (Brazil) 4.77
UK: Holly Bleasdale 4.71 (5)

Long Jump
World: Brittney Reese (USA) 7.12
UK: Shara Proctor 6.95 (6)

Triple Jump
World: Caterine Ibarquen (Colombia) 14.95
UK: Yamile Aldama 14.65 (7)

Shot Put
World: Nadzeya Ostapchuk (Belarus) 21.13
UK: Eden Francis 17.24 (60)

Discus
World: Nadine Muller (Germany) 68.89
UK: Jade Nicholls 60.51 (40)

Hammer
World: Aksana Miankova (Belarus) 78.19
UK: Sophie Hitchon 71.61 (29)

Javelin
World: Sunette Viljoen (South Africa) 69.35
UK: Goldie Sayers 64.73 (9)

Heptathlon
World & UK: Jessica Ennis 6906

[ligerdog7]

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[Panda]

Jun 25, 2012 22:17:34 GMT 1 ligerdog7 said:

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The IAAF's web site has lists of the leadings times/distances/heights in each event.

[Elmer]

Cheers for starting this thread MrH. I'm a big athletics fan too so will help contribute throughout the champs !

Some of those British performances reflect that some are nowhere near their peak yet ! For example Dai Greene has a PB of 47.88 so I'm sure he'll be closing in on that come London.

Interestingly on the women's side Proctor, Aldama and Porter getting British passports in the last year and are all now British record holders.

[Panda]

Jun 25, 2012 22:28:21 GMT 1 Elmer said:

Interestingly on the women's side Proctor, Aldama and Porter getting British passports in the last year and are all now British record holders.

Yes, it's been a controversial issue but I don't see a problem with it - it's just a sign of the world in which we live today. They all have legitimate claims to be British, unlike some of those representing Middle Eastern countries, who've effectively had their nationality bought.

We've been denied medals in a number of sports in the past by British sportspeople switching nationalities so it might even things up a little bit...

[Elmer]

Proctor comes from a British dependency who don't have an Olympic team so she'd be a legitimate holder of the passport anyway !

[Panda]

It does seem strange that some dependencies are in the Olympics and others aren't, but I suspect that like FIFA, the IOC has shifted the goalposts in recent years to make it much more difficult to join but they can't retrospectively boot out existing members.

[Elmer]

The IOC are probably a very similar corrupt bunch of old port swilling suits as FIFA are !

[Elmer]

Very uneventful first day really. Only one gold medal given out in amongst the preliminary rounds and qualifiers. Not even many stand out perfomances to shout about.

The one gold medal was awarded to our own Mo Farah who would so convincingly in the mens 5000m. He could win European Champs for ever and a day as long as he keeps motivation.

He kicked slowly from 600m out then turned on the afterburners with 200m to go to win in a very modest 13min 29s.

[Panda]

Easy win for Farah. Ran well within himself. I thought he might have a crack at the championship record but maybe he'll save that for 2014 (still think it's an absolutely stupid decision to have these championships every 2 years).

Mixed fortunes for GB today. Goldie Sayers qualified 2nd in the javelin and Harry A-A set a season's best on his way to the 100m final and Robbie Grabarz made it through in the high jump, but not so good for MLF, Jeanette Kwakye, Carl Myserscough and Luke Gunn, who fell in the steeplechase. Nicola Sanders had to withdraw from her 400m heat due to illness.

[Panda]

Julia Bleasdale just missed out on a medal in the 5000m. She was 2nd at the bell and looked good for a medal coming into the straight but faded in the final 50m and finished 4th.

Today's red button coverage on Freeview looks to have been bumped for James Ward's Wimbledon match...

[Panda]

And another 4th place for Harry AA in a 100m final where only five finished.

[rubcale]

Normally I'd be watching any major Athletics Championship but this is really badly timed for athletes who will want to peak for the Olympics. Surely they could have found a better date for this.

With the tennis i'm hardly watching any of it - an awful lot of our top stars aren't competing.

Sad news for Jenny Meadows who had to pull out of the 800m and will now miss the Olympics.

More bad news for Nicola Walker - out sick. When she finished to 2nd to Christine at the Worlds a couple of years ago I thought she was agreat prospect but her career is one long list of injuries.

[Panda]

One positive note for Julia Bleasdale - she beat her personal best by 13 seconds and achieved the Olympic A standard in the process...

[Panda]

Looks like the athletics is being bumped for tennis again...

Some medal chances for GB tonight with Robbie Grabarz in the high jump, Goldie Sayers in the javelin and Rhys Williams and Nathan Woodward in the 400m hurdles.

Richard Buck is in the 400m tonight but will be out in lane 8. Jemma Simpson and Lynsey Sharp are in the 800m final.

Chris Tomlinson failed to qualify for the long jump final this morning but JJ Jegede made it through with a season's best.

Abi Oyepitan achieved an Olympic qualifying time in the 200m heats.

Sophie Hitchon is through to the final of the hammer.

Lawrence Okoye is through to the discus final.

[Panda]

A second gold for GB as Robbie Grabarz wins the high jump!

Goldie Sayers was 4th in the javelin.

[Panda]

Silver for Lynsey Sharp in the 800m after an amazing late burst! She was nearly 10m down with 50m to go.

She ran a PB but it's still outside the Olympic qualifying time.

[Panda]

And gold for Rhys Williams in the 400m hurdles!