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Post by Panda on Aug 24, 2011 17:19:15 GMT 1
The World Athletics Championships get under way in Daegu, South Korea, on Saturday.
This year will be something of a change for UK fans as Channel 4 are showing the event live for the first time after almost 30 years on the BBC.
Ortis Deley will be the main studio anchor with expert opinion from Michael Johnson.
John Rawling and Rob Walker will be the main commentators, joined by Iwan Thomas, Katharine Merry and Dean Macey, among others.
Great Britain is sending a 67-strong squad and will hope to improve on their 2009 tally of 2 golds, 2 silvers and 2 bronze medals.
World champions Jessica Ennis and Philips Idowu have good chances of defending their titles, especially Idowu with Teddy Tamgho out injured.
Eyes will also be on Mo Farah who is the world leader this year over 5000 and 10000m. He goes for gold in the latter and may double up later in the week.
Jenny Meadows will be hoping for another medal in the 800m. European champions Dai Greene and Andy Turner both have chances over the hurdles. Goldie Sayers in the javelin and long jump boys Tomlinson and Rutherford are capable of doing well if they can get their act together on the day.
Upcoming stars like Perri Shakes-Drayton will be hoping to set PBs and make finals.
Sadly Christine Ohuruogu is well out of form and Lisa Dobriskey has struggled, though she has shown signs of improvement in the build-up.
Some interesting additions to the GB line-up are hurdler Tiffany Porter, formerly of the USA, who broke Angie Thorp's 15-year-old British record in May, much to Thorp's disgust. Also in are long jumper Shara Proctor, who reached the final for Anguilla in 2009, and former triple jump silver medalist Yamile Aldama, though at 39, her best days seem well behind her.
Elsewhere, eyes will obviously be on Usain Bolt, though he comes into the championships ranked only 6th over 100m this year. Also getting plenty of attention will be South Africa's Oscar Pistorius, who competes in an able-bodied World Championship for the first time in the 400m.
GB squad: (world rankings in brackets)
MEN 100m: Dwain Chambers (22), Harry Aikines-Aryeety (41), Marlon Devonish (47) 200m: James Ellington (53), Christian Malcolm (62) 400m: Martyn Rooney (41) 800m: Michael Rimmer (31), Andrew Osaigie (37) 1500m: James Shane (61) 5000m: Mo Farah (1) 10000m: Mo Farah (1) Marathon: Lee Merrien (305), Andrew Lemoncello (356), David Webb (505) 110mH: Andy Turner (9), William Sharman (39), Lawrence Clarke (68) 400mH: Dai Greene (6), Nathan Woodward (11), Jack Green (15) Long Jump: Chris Tomlinson (5), Greg Rutherford (9) Triple Jump: Philips Idowu (5) High Jump: Martyn Bernard (25), Tom Parsons (25) Pole Vault: Steve Lewis (29) Discus: Brett Morse (17), Abdul Buhari (25), Carl Myerscough (28) 4x100m relay: Harry Aikines-Aryeety, Marlon Devonish, James Ellington, Mark Lewis-Francis, Christian Malcolm, Craig Pickering, James Talbot (3) 4x400m relay: Richard Buck, Chris Clarke, Jack Green, Dai Greene, Luke Lennon-Ford, Nigel Levine, Martyn Rooney, Richard Talbot (9)
WOMEN 100m: Jeanette Kwakye (28), Anyika Onuora (36), Laura Turner (56) 200m: Anyika Onuora (55) 400m: Lee McConnell (21), Christine Ohuruogu (35), Nicola Sanders (55) 800m: Jenny Meadows (13), Marilyn Okoro (30), Emma Jackson (40) 1500m: Hannah England (10), Lisa Dobriskey (29) 5000m: Helen Clitheroe (26) Marathon: Susan Partridge (159) 20k Walk: Johanna Jackson (39) 100mH: Tiffany Porter (5) 400mH: Perri Shakes-Drayton (8), Eilidh Child (22) 3000mSC: Barbara Parker (18) Long Jump: Shara Proctor (21) Triple Jump: Yamile Aldama (44) Pole Vault: Holly Bleasdale (9), Kate Dennison (14) Hammer: Sophie Hitchon (33) Javelin: Goldie Sayers (7) Heptathlon: Jessica Ennis (1), Louise Hazel (18) 4x100m relay: Montell Douglas, Jeanette Kwakye, Anyika Onuora, Abi Oyepitan, Asha Philip, Tiffany Porter, Laura Turner (10) 4x400m relay: Eilidh Child, Lee McConnell, Jenny Meadows, Christine Ohuruogu, Marilyn Okoro, Nadine Okyere, Nicola Sanders, Perri Shakes-Drayton (5)
WORLD LEADERS
MEN 100m: Asafa Powell (Jamaica) 9.78 200m: Usain Bolt (Jamaica) 19.86 400m: Kirani James (Grenada) 44.61 800m: David Rudisha (Kenya) 1:42.61 1500m: Silas Kiplagat (Kenya) 3:30.47 5000m: Mo Farah (GB) 12:53.11 10000m: Mo Farah (GB) 26:46.57 Marathon: Emmanuel Kipchirchir Mutai (Kenya) 2:04:40 20k Walk: Zhen Wang (China) 1:18:30 50k Walk: Sergey Bakulin (Russia) 3:38:46 110mH: David Oliver (USA) 12.94 400mH: LJ van Zyl (South Africa) 47.66 3000mSC: Brimin Kiprop Kipruto (Kenya) 7:53.64 Long Jump: Mitchell Watt (Australia) 8.54 Triple Jump: Teddy Tamgho (France) 17.91 High Jump: Jesse Williams (USA) 2.37 Pole Vault: Renaud Lavillenie (France) 5.90 Shot Put: Dylan Armstrong (Canada) 22.21 Discus: Zoltan Kuvago (Hungary) 69.50 Hammer: Aleksey Zagornyi (Russia) 81.73 Javelin: Andreas Thorkildsen (Norway) 90.61 Decathlon: Ashton Eaton (USA) 8729 4x100m relay: USA 37.90 4x400m relay: Texas A&M University (multi-national) 3:00.45
WOMEN 100m: Carmelita Jeter (USA) 10.70 200m: Shalonda Solomon (USA) 22.15 400m: Anastasia Kapachinskaya (Russia) 49.35 800m: Maria Savinova (Russia) 1:56.95 1500m: Maryam Yusuf Jamal (Bahrain) 4:00.33 5000m: Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot (Kenya) 14:20.87 10000m: Sally Kipyego (Kenya) 30:38.35 Marathon: Mary Jepkosgei Keitany (Kenya) 2:19:19 20k Walk: Vera Sokolova (Russia) 1:25:08 100mH: Sally Pearson (Australia) 12.48 400mH: Kaliese Spencer (Jamaica) 52.79 3000mSC: Milcah Chemos Cheywa (Kenya) 9:12.89 Long Jump: Brittney Reese (USA) 7.19 Triple Jump: Yargeris Savigne (Cuba) 14.99 High Jump: Anna Chicherova (Russia) 2.07 Pole Vault: Jennifer Suhr (USA) 4.91 Shot Put: Nadzeya Ostapchuk (Belarus) 20.94 Discus: Yanfeng Li (China) 67.98 Hammer: Betty Heidler (Germany) 79.42 Javelin: Barbora Spotakova (Czech Rep) 69.45 Heptathlon: Jessica Ennis (GB) 6790 4x100m relay: USA 42.28 4x400m relay: USA 3:22.92
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Post by rubcale on Aug 24, 2011 18:26:44 GMT 1
Will be interesting to see how Channel 4 present this.
Didn't realise John Rawling would be commentating and I'm glad Michael Johnson has been signed up.
Let's hope Jessica Ennis can hold her form together until after next year - she should be our best chance.
I agree that chances in the field will depend on just how our athletes perform on the day.
Pity about Lisa Dobriskey but she always seems to make a tactical hash of it.
Not sure about Mo Farah - when it comes to the actual race each African nation may run as a team and squeeze him out.
I don't expect any GB athlete to automatically win a medal but as long as they are near their best performance that is all you can ask.
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Post by Panda on Aug 24, 2011 18:46:17 GMT 1
Didn't realise John Rawling would be commentating and I'm glad Michael Johnson has been signed up. Rawling should do a solid job. He's probably the best boxing commentator around today and has shown his versatility doing other sports. Rob Walker always has plenty of enthusiasm whatever he's doing and I've seen him covering a number of minority sports for BBC and Channel 4. However, I'm still slightly surprised they didn't decide to get Stuart Storey, who hasn't been on the BBC for about 3 years. As for medal chances - Ennis is the most likely gold medal if she doesn't make any mistakes. Idowu has shown himself to be a big-time competitor. I just hope the row with Charles van Commenee hasn't affected him too much. The thing with Mo Farah is he now has the raw speed and endurance to do well, regardless of how the others decide to run and his best chance of victory might be to go out hard and try to destroy them over the first three-quarters of the race. The same used to apply for Paula Radcliffe and she could never quite do it at world level. And I'd love to see Dai Greene's break Kriss Akabusi's 19-year-old British record and get a medal in the process.
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Post by Panda on Aug 25, 2011 13:18:12 GMT 1
Asafa Powell has apparently pulled out of the 100m with a groin injury. His withdrawal means the three fastest men in the 100m this year will all miss the event.
Tyson Gay is also injured, while Steve Mullings failed a drugs test and is suspended.
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Post by Panda on Aug 26, 2011 14:01:06 GMT 1
Infostrada Sports have a 'virtual medal table' on the 2012 site www.27july.com. They are predicting 2 golds and 2 silvers for GB in Daegu. They also have a regularly updated virtual medal table for London 2012, which is used by several newspapers around the world. It currently predicts 15 gold medals for GB next year.
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Post by Shireblogger on Aug 26, 2011 18:23:56 GMT 1
What a shame that drug cheat Dwain Chambers remains our best sprinter.
Perri Shakes-Drayton is a genuine prospect. She might just sneak a bronze medal, which would find her leaping up the pre-Olympic publicity league. Poor Jessica Ennis must be completely fed up with being the poster girl.
I'm also keeping an eye open for Lee McConnell and Nicola Sanders, both of whom are much better than their world rankings suggest.
It isn't beyond the realms of possibility that we'll have three finalists in the men's 400m hurdles.
Great preview misterhamster.
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Post by Panda on Aug 27, 2011 8:28:42 GMT 1
What a shame that drug cheat Dwain Chambers remains our best sprinter. Perri Shakes-Drayton is a genuine prospect. She might just sneak a bronze medal, which would find her leaping up the pre-Olympic publicity league. Poor Jessica Ennis must be completely fed up with being the poster girl. I'm also keeping an eye open for Lee McConnell and Nicola Sanders, both of whom are much better than their world rankings suggest. It isn't beyond the realms of possibility that we'll have three finalists in the men's 400m hurdles. Great preview misterhamster. Thank you, Shireblogger. It is sad that Chambers is still British #1 but Harry AA is starting to realise the potential he has. Nicola Sanders was world class a few years ago when she nearly won gold ahead of Ohuruogu but injuries have taken their toll and this year she's even slower than Ohuruogu (and Perri Shakes-Drayton has gone faster than both of them on the flat). I saw some of the women's marathon in the early hours. Edna Kiplagat won despite a nasty looking fall at a drinks station. She led a Kenyan 1-2-3. Susan Partridge came in 24th for GB. Last to finish was Aruba's Shariska Winterdal in a time of 3hrs 49mins. Steve Lewis scraped through to the pole vault final in equal 12th place but defending champion Steve Hooker of Australia is out. Andrew Osagie is safely through to the next round of the 800m but Michael Rimmer is out after only finishing 5th in his heat. I'm going to do a points table for the championships like the Olympics one I did. Standings after 1 of 47 events: 1. Kenya 8 2. Ethiopia 7 3. Japan 6 4. China 5 5. Sweden 4 6. Portugal 3 7. Ukraine 2 8. USA 1
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Post by Panda on Aug 27, 2011 8:42:51 GMT 1
Scheduled times for finals: (UK time)
Sat 27 Aug: 13:00 - 10,000m (W)
Sun 28 Aug: 01:00 - 20k Walk (M) 10:15 - Long Jump (W) 11:15 - Discus (W) 11:30 - 10,000m (M) 12:15 - Decathlon 1500m (M) 12:45 - 100m (M)
Mon 29 Aug: 11:15 - Hammer (M) 11:25 - Pole Vault (M) 12:40 - Shot Put (W) 13:05 - 400m (W) 13:25 - 110m Hurdles (M) 13:45 - 100m (W)
Tue 30 Aug: 11:05 - Pole Vault (W) 11:55 - Discus (M) 12:00 - Heptathlon 800m (W) 13:00 - 800m (M) 13:20 - 3000m Steeplechase (W) 13:45 - 400m (M)
Wed 31 Aug: 01:00 - 20k Walk (W)
Thu 1 Sep: 11:10 - High Jump (M) 11:20 - Triple Jump (W) 12:25 - 3000m Steeplechase (M) 12:55 - 1500m (W) 13:15 - 400m Hurdles (W) 13:30 - 400m Hurdles (M)
Fri 2 Sep: 11:00 - Shot Put (M) 11:10 - Javelin (W) 11:20 - Long Jump (M) 12:25 - 5000m (W) 12:55 - 200m (W) 13:15 - 4x400m Relay (M)
Sat 3 Sep: 00:00 - 50k Walk (M) 11:00 - High Jump (W) 11:10 - Javelin (M) 11:45 - 800m T54 (W) 11:55 - 400m T53 (M) 12:15 - 1500m (M) 12:40 - 4x400m Relay (W) 13:00 - 100m Hurdles (W) 13:20 - 200m (M)
Sun 4 Sep: 01:00 - Marathon (M) 10:15 - Hammer (W) 11:05 - Triple Jump (M) 11:40 - 5000m (M) 12:15 - 800m (W) 12:35 - 4x100m Relay (W) 13:00 - 4x100m Relay (M)
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Post by rubcale on Aug 27, 2011 10:50:03 GMT 1
What a shame that drug cheat Dwain Chambers remains our best sprinter. Perri Shakes-Drayton is a genuine prospect. She might just sneak a bronze medal, which would find her leaping up the pre-Olympic publicity league. Poor Jessica Ennis must be completely fed up with being the poster girl. I'm also keeping an eye open for Lee McConnell and Nicola Sanders, both of whom are much better than their world rankings suggest. It isn't beyond the realms of possibility that we'll have three finalists in the men's 400m hurdles. Great preview misterhamster. 100% behind you on Chambers. I only hope his appeal on the Olympic Ban doesn't overshadow the whole event next year. Not sure I agree with you on Nicola Sanders and Lee McConnell. It seems a long time ago now that Lee first appeared and looked to have potential but (injuries) she sort of flat-lined and hasn't really made much progress. Nicola looked the real deal when taking the Silver medal inn the Worlds a few years ago but (injuries again) has never looked the same since. With Christine Ohuruogu way out of form I would honestly be surprised if any of the British Women weer to make the 400m final. A few years ago we were always contenders for a bronze in the 4x400m womens but we're were off the pace there too now. Perri Shakes-Drayton could very well be a surprise medalist a-la Natasha Danvers. Bummer for Michael Rimmer but I see Barbara Parker has made the 3000mSC final. I've never heard of her before so don't know whether this is an above par performance or not.
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Post by raliverpool on Aug 27, 2011 11:00:48 GMT 1
Can I just say host Ortis Deley (pauses), presenter of The (looks at script nervously) Gadget Show, presenting skills on Channel 4's coverage are so woefully out of depth he would risk drowning in a kids paddling pool.
Couldn't they have got somebody who actually knows something about sports and athletics to host this?; as he is coming across with all the gravitas of a failed kids TV presenter.
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Post by Panda on Aug 27, 2011 11:15:28 GMT 1
Can I just say host Ortis Deley (pauses), presenter of The (looks at script nervously) Gadget Show, presenting skills on Channel 4's coverage are so woefully out of depth he would risk drowning in a kids paddling pool. Couldn't they have got somebody who actually knows something about sports and athletics to host this?; as he is coming across with all the gravitas of a failed kids TV presenter. I'm waiting a couple of days before passing judgement but he seems very nervous so far and this is a very big event for someone with no live sport experience. He does seem an unusual choice, though. Very impressed with Iwan Thomas as a pundit. Katharine Merry's a good choice, too - plenty of experience and knows what she's talking about.
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Post by raliverpool on Aug 27, 2011 11:37:31 GMT 1
Very impressed with Iwan Thomas as a pundit. Katharine Merry's a good choice, too - plenty of experience and knows what she's talking about. I completely agree about the pundits being excellent, but surely Channel 4 could of found a Jake (BBC F1) Humphreys (i.e. someone who was known for presenting something else, but loved athletics as a hobbie/armchair viewer as well, and was clearly knowledgeable and enthusiastic on the subject) amongst their presenting staff, to quickly win over TV critics.
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Post by rubcale on Aug 27, 2011 18:29:46 GMT 1
Horror show from Christine Ohuruogu.
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Post by raliverpool on Aug 27, 2011 21:18:18 GMT 1
Horror show from Christine Ohuruogu. Indeed. But better to screw up spectacularly this year, instead of next year.
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Tom
Member
*Of Royal Blood*
Posts: 15,419
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Post by Tom on Aug 28, 2011 11:23:37 GMT 1
I'm watching this on Eurosport, preferred the Beeb's coverage in the past, no breaks and enjoy the chats with the pundits, but have enjoyed their coverage in the past while abroad so am sticking with the tried and tested if you like. Plus from what i've seen of today's coverage they have more. Just a shame that with the time difference its unlikely i'll see much of the champs after tomorrow (will likely watch the US Open tennis in the evenings so prob won't see much of the highlights).
Looking forward to the 100m and 10000 finals later. Didn't see them but shame about the false/full starts for Ohoruogu and Chambers, although i doubt either would have reached the finals anyway, Ohorogu especially.
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Post by Panda on Aug 28, 2011 12:02:19 GMT 1
Great effort by Mo but he probably went 100m too soon...
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Post by raliverpool on Aug 28, 2011 12:04:37 GMT 1
Gutted for Mo, to run a 53 second last lap and lose ... unlucky.
Still he's proved he is a World Class athlete, and the conditions should suit him more next year.
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Post by Panda on Aug 28, 2011 12:07:53 GMT 1
I was a bit concerned when there were still 7 in the lead group with a lap to go.
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Tom
Member
*Of Royal Blood*
Posts: 15,419
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Post by Tom on Aug 28, 2011 12:08:27 GMT 1
Forgot to mention above that the biggest problem with Eurosport is that they show too much of the field events. They missed some of the 10k earlier and even the British commentators were getting frustrated.
2nd place for Mo Farah after leading going into the back straight. Glad he got a medal at least but with his sprint finish a bit disappointing. One has to wonder if he went too early, maybe pushing on the bell would have been the better time as he just didn't have the legs at the end unfortunately.
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Post by rubcale on Aug 28, 2011 12:48:26 GMT 1
Great effort by Mo but he probably went 100m too soon... Let's look at it positively! If he'd won here intense pressure would have been heaped on him for the Olympics - this should relieve some of it!!!
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