Dina Asher Smith: Britain’s Great New hope

On Saturday 4^th August 2012 Britain rejoiced at one of the nation’s greatest ever sporting evenings, ‘Super Saturday’ was born as the hosts secured 3 track and field gold medals within an hour. The poster girl for the Olympics was Dame Jessica Ennis. Carrying the hopes of an entire nation on her shoulders she thrived under the pressure, leaving all of her opponents in her wake to power to the gold to contribute to the historic night. A bright eyed 16 year old was left astounded by the emotion in the crowd that night, as she volunteered as a kit carrier for the event. Little did this young aspiring athlete Dina Asher Smith know, she one day would hold the hopes of a nation.

This week in Doha, British track and field’s brightest star looks to carry those same hopes that Ennis once did and to start to write her own legacy.

Back in 2012 Asher Smith was already an outstanding young athlete, going on to win junior gold at the 2014 World Championships. As she transitioned to a senior athlete, she continued to succeed becoming the fastest British woman of all time and treble European champion, this together with the 3 world level relay medals she has achieved, illustrates her journey to compete at the top level.

In the last 2 seasons as an individual athlete, Asher Smith has become a household name on the circuit at the world level. With her beautiful natural running style combined with a determination unrivalled in the sport, and illustrated by her dual onslaught on athletics and a history degree, she continues to improve every month. Just last month she won the overall Diamond League title in the 100m to display her consistency over the course of the season. The women’s 100m is littered with global stars, and there is a plethora of athletes capable of victory, this said Dina Asher Smith certainly finds herself one of the favourites.

The favourite for the 100m will be the Jamaican superstar Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce. The two time Olympic and 3 time World 100m champion is simply a legend of the sport and were in not for time off to have to have a child in the last few years, she surely would be even more decorated. A 10.73 clocking in the 100m this season has proved that she is back to her best and if she is able to repeat such a performance in the final it is unlikely many will be able to live with her.

One athlete capable of challenging Fraser Pryce is her international teammate Elaine Thompson. Reigning Olympic champion Thompson has also clocked 10.73 this season, and if the time needed to win the final approaches 10.70 Thompson is the only other athlete to have achieved such a performance in the field.

While the two Jamaican athletes have fantastic pedigree and have run times which Asher Smith has yet to achieve, the Briton has started to stamp her authority on the world stage. She achieved the fastest time in the world in 2018 and this season has beat both Thompson and more recently Fraser Pryce in high level competition. Asher Smith has been very consistent and in 100m competition has run under 11 seconds on 7 of 8 occasions this season. Her triumph in the grand final of the Diamond League in a world class field which included Fraser Pryce will have her full of confidence that she is peaking just in time for the World Championships.

The other main threats to the trio above include two talented Ivory Coast athletes, Marie-Josie Ta-Lou and Murielle Ahoure. These two athletes have been in the mix for medals at global championships for a number of years. While Ahoure is capable at her best of achieving a medal, in recent times it is Ta Lou who has been performing as a major challenger to the gold. The fast starter is certainly one to watch and together with Asher Smith will represent the main challengers to the Jamaicans.

The final line up should also include reigning American World champion Tori Bowie, the Dutch past 200m champion Daphne Schippers and a selection of other American athletes which include English Gardner, Teahna Daniels and Morolake Akinosun. While all talented athletes, none are in the kind of form which would encourage one to think they are likely challenge for medals.

All eyes will be on the young British athlete Asher Smith to begin to realise her potential in Doha this week, with the 100m final on Sunday being her first chance to do so. Since watching the young Asher Smith break the British 100m record in 2015, British athletics fans have been waiting for her moment to arrive. Come Sunday evening we will find out whether she can become the first British female 100m global champion.

 

Life after Bolt? Who will emerge to carry men’s athletics?

  

The greatest athlete ever to lace up a pair of spikes Usain Bolt, will bring down the curtain on a stunning career when he bows out at the Olympic Stadium at the World Championships this summer. His competitive farewell to his Homeland Jamaica took place recently at the Racers GP; the event awoke a sense of realisation that the great man is really retiring this year and begs the question what happens after Bolt?

The pressure to secure a fitting end and to bow out on top will be immense for the 9 time Olympic champion, but one thing the great man is used to is pressure. Bolt has carried athletics through a dark age riddled with drug scandals and has emerged as the one true global superstar athlete, ever to represent athletics.

Athletics as a sport will obviously miss the presence of it’s supreme athlete on the track, but it is off the track where it could be argued that his absence will be most sorely felt. The incredible athletic ability, the temperament that enabled Bolt to always deliver while the entire world watched, and the larger than life loveable showman that he was throughout his successes, are all acts that must be replaced or replicated for athletics to continue to draw. The biggest question is: who is able to replace this once in a generation sprinting phenomenon?
 

Coleman has ran 9.82 this year, the fastest time of any athlete

  

The Future

Christian Coleman, 21 from the USA has burst on to the scene this winter, making a mockery of his young years while running times seasoned professionals dream of, albeit on the American collegiate circuit. For a collegiate athlete to show such promise at such an age has the world taking note; it is impossible not to see the potential for the next global superstar in an athlete tearing the US collegiate records books to shreds. Coleman has run a world leading 9.82 in the 100m this year and supplemented that with an outstanding 19.85 in the 200m. Off the track Coleman is being recognised too with Nike rewarding him with a 7 digit sponsorship deal to become their Athletics poster boy. While it’s likely that this summer will be too early for him to triumph on the world level in the 100m against Bolt,  it is certainly not a ridiculous claim that the passing of the torch could happen as early as the World Championships; a scene reminiscent of the great Jamaican’s at the Beijing Olympics 2008 is not beyond the young man.

Of course the future is certainly not only about Coleman, many recent breakthrough athletes have impressed early only to never quite reach their potential. Terrance Bromell burst on to the scene two years ago much like Coleman and enjoyed early success running 9.84. He followed this up with a world championship bronze and was highly fancied to push on from there as a major threat to Bolt. An indifferent year followed in which while cementing his place as an elite world sprinter, Brommell fell further away from the front pack in the Rio Olympics 2016 to finish 8th and has continued to fall short of his peak this year. He certainly could have a bright future and at just 22 years of age has plenty of potential.

Two further young athletes Christopher Belcher and Cameron Burrell have also tossed their hats into the mix tho be Bolt’s long term successor this year, both running sub 10 seconds in the 100m and are worth keeping an eye on in the years to come.

It is not only America who have emerging young sprinters ready to take over from the great Usain Bolt though. The production line of champions from Jamaica looks to have no plans on slowing as emerging athletes such as Lemar Bailey Cole, Odean Skeen and Julian Forte continue to show promise in the race to fill their hero’s size 13 shoes!

A sprinter who was sure to challenge for medals in London was the exciting young challenger Adrian De Grasse of Canada. Though for the purpose of the piece he is labelled part of sprintings future, De Grasse has already enjoyed success powering to a bronze medal last year at the Rio Olympics. Of the upcoming sprinters the Canadian is sure to be near the top of the sport in the near future, quite whether he’s capable of world record times or has the charisma to be the face of the sport is doubtful but he’s certainly a fantastic talent. Unfortunately any chance De Grasse had this year were ended as he has failed to recover from injury in time for the World championships in London.

The fact that Bolt has decided to retire doesnt necessarily mean that the other dominant sprinters of his era are finished however, far from it in fact.

  

Blake and Gatlin complete the podium at the London Olympics

 

The Present

Justin Gatlin is a name which divides opinion, most are unforgiving of his drug cheat laden past. He has for the past few years been Bolt’s greatest threat and has consistently proved the best sprinter on the circuit throughout the season. When arriving on the worlds largest stage he has always come up short when trying to topple the great Jamaican. Gatlin proved his credentials once more this summer storming to victory in the US trials and now shifts his focus to finally overcoming his nemesis in London in their last competitive showdown. At the age of 35 this should prove to be Gatlin’s last hurrah, he certainly wont be the man to carry the sport moving forwards but would love to finally triumph over Bolt.

Since 2011 most followers of thesport believed that a ready made heir to Usain Bolt’s throne was already racing, this being his great friend and training partner Yohan Blake. Blake is the second fastest man of all time in both the 100m and 200m disciplines. In the years since Usain Bolt exploded onto the scene at the Beijing Olympics 2008, Blake is the only man other than Bolt to win a global championship in either the 100m or 200m. Bolt was disqualified at the 2011 World Championships for a fault start allowing Blake to power to his first global championship. In the build up to the 2012 London Olympic Games Blake was widely fancied having beaten Bolt at the Jamaican trials in both the 100m and 200m disciplines, only for the great champion to once again rise to the occasion consigning Blake to two Silver medals.

Blake is likeable and charismatic and definitely has the pedigree to follow Bolt. He has  shown in the times that he has run that he is a sprinter of the very highest caliber, however injuries have plagued the young Jamaican in recent years leading to him being a shadow of his former self on the track. In an encouraging return to form Blake won the sprint double at the Jamaican trials (Bolt was absent), doing so by running the fastest time in the 100m that he has managed in two years. If Blake has finally managed to put his injury nightmare behind him look to him to begin to rediscover his form and be a force for years to come.

While the above are great on track athletes there is one great young sprinter who has the ability to match Bolt’s achievements and take over the mantle of  carrying athletics forward.

Van Niekerk stuns Kirani James and Leshawn Merritt to smash the world record in 43.03

The Superstar and the South African revolution

The great South African hope Wade Van Niekerk has already cemented his legacy as a great of the sport regardless of his young years. He shocked the world to smash the great Michael Johnson’s 17 year old 400m record running 43.03 at the Rio Olympics from lane 8! What makes this man even more special however is that he is superb at the shorter distances too; he is of an elite group having run sub 10 Seconds in the 100m and sub 20 seconds in 200m, also having broke 44 seconds (and almost breaking 43!!) in the 400m.

It is difficult not to get excited about Van Neikerk’s achievements thus far, though I suspect these will be far surpassed with the raw talent and rate of progression that he continues to show. There will never be another Usain Bolt but the young South African has all the tools needed to create his own legacy that matches that of the great man. In fact if conditions were perfect and he was not too tired from also running the 400m in London, I suspect he could challenge Bolt’s 200m World record. What he may lack in top speed in comparison to Bolt, he makes up with superior speed endurance and it is a crying shame that the two athletes era’s did not coincide in a rivalry which could have pushed sprinting boundaries into a different stratosphere. Van Niekerk has chiselled good looks and a humble, likeable persona personified by his attachment to his 74 year old coach Ana Botha to which he dedicates much of his success. He would be a great face of Athletics as the sport tries to escape the dark cloud that emanates from the drug scandals of the past.

Van Niekerk heads a new revolution of South African sprinters including World under 18 champions Retshidisitswe Mlenga and Tshenolo Lemao in addition to Thando Roto and Akani Simbine who have run sub 10 seconds this season. Simbine in particular has been impressive clocking multiple sub 10 clockings, however when outside his home country he has failed to really deliver in the bigger races thus far. Look for South Africa to be a major sprinting powerhouse for years to come both individually and in the relay events.

It will truly be the end of an era when one of the greatest sportsmen ever to compete , Usain Bolt, pulls down the curtain on his mesmerising career next week. In terms of a global superstar Wade Van Niekerk will hope to fulfil his potential to become the star that transcends the sport as Bolt has. On the track the South African will likely be challenged in the 200m by Coleman, De Grasse and Blake, leaving them to fight for supremacy in the 100m and in doing so, creating new rivalries to ignite a new cycle in athletics history. There is most certainly life after Bolt and his records will one day be broken of that there is no doubt. Time will tell if we will ever see a superstar on the scale of Usain Bolt in athletics again  and while those he leaves behind have the talent to keep athletics moving forwards, the man, the athlete, the entertainer… the Legend .. will be sorely missed.

 

 

Mo Farah- The Scapegoat

Mo Farah has found himself in recent weeks fighting to maintain his reputation after the British media used his association with coach Salazar to manipulate attention, and in doing so Drag Farah into the scandal.

Alberto Salazar, USA distance hero from the 1980s has been in charge of the Nike Oregon program since its inception. In 2010 the addition to the team of Mo Farah, who arrived as an athlete full of potential and now finds himself as a global superstar, has elevated this training group as one of the top stables in world athletics. The allegations levelled at Salazar predate Farah’s arrival and are based upon his methods training a young Galen Rupp in 2002 (16 years old at the time). These claims were heightened in the media after an investigatory BBC program discussed the fears, based purely around the account of a single written training log.  It is thought that the supplement log insinuates that Rupp was using the anabolic steroid testosterone as a supplement; Testosterone in this form is a banned performance enhancing substance and to give it to someone of such a young age is also thought highly dangerous. Salazar strongly denies giving the substance to Rupp; he does claim that Rupp was on a natural testosterone booster used to combat his Asthma and Hashimotos disease, a natural testosterone booster which is legal.

The USA lacks any real interest in track and field in current times, due mainly to a series of their athletes having shamed the nation, being found guilty of using performance enhancing drugs. While those in question, Salazar and Rupp, are from the USA it is the British media that are the main interested party. With such a high-profile British athlete in Mo Farah belonging to this training stable his reputation is being brought into disrepute purely by association. Farah has in no way been accused by any of these investigations nor is their any evidence of him being involved in any illegal activity. Unfortunately with such little evidence there is no real story without the association of global superstar Farah, therefore he is being dragged into the scandal by the media to add British interest and used as a scapegoat.

Farah has been understandably shaken by the allegations while all of the media interest has visibly disrupted his focus, illustrated by his withdrawal from the British Diamond league event at late notice. When an athlete is being accused or associated to a scandal it is the norm that past stories have a tendency to reemerge in the media. New allegations, used to support the malicious attack on Farah, have been used in accordance to missing of random drug tests. There is a clear difference between missing a random drug test, and failing a test of any sort. It is legal in the IAAF regulations to miss up to 3 random drugs tests in a 12-month period, performed at a pre chosen set hour in the athletes residence. These can occur at any time in the year with no warning and it is not uncommon for athletes to miss the occasional test. In fact more than 35 missed tests have occurred by British athletes in each of the last 5 years (UK anti-doping).

Due to his impressive performances Farah is one of the most tested athletes in the world, be that at competition meets, or random out of competition drug tests; there really is no story in the fact he missed two random tests back in 2010- 2011. He has not broken any rules and has no case to answer.

“Over the course of my career I have taken hundreds of drugs tests and every single one has been negative,” said Farah in a statement on his Facebook page. 

Farah is being targeted around his credibility as an athlete. In some quarters people are now saying he is a cheat. The casual newsreader and those uneducated in the sport of athletics will have had their opinions of Mo Farah affected by the recent media coverage. Rather than see Farah as one of Britain’s most successful and decorated athletes of all time, some will choose to hold lingering doubts over his coach and any part Farah could have in drug allegations. Even though the British athlete has performed no wrongdoing his reputation will be forever tainted after the media witch hunt, and could affect future sponsorship just as importantly his training. Merely by mentioning Mo Farah’s name in association with the allegations, a snowball effect has occurred to drag him into the row.

No positive can possibly come out of this whole ordeal and whether Salazar is proven guilty or not, Farah has as he remarked, “had his name unfairly dragged through the mud”. His trust in Salazar may be recovered to a certain degree after the coach produced a 12000 word report allegedly explaining any actions taken, however a seed of doubt will now always be left in Farah’s mind. Damage in trust in what has been such a successful partnership can only damage Farah’s training. While Nike have conducted their own internal enquiry and is satisfied there has been no wrongdoing; The fact that the Oregon project is sponsored by Nike and Farah has been made their athletics poster boy, means any future doubt can only pressure this partnership and any future deals.

Time will tell whether as seems likely, the allegations are unfounded and an unnecessary negativity has been attributed to Mo Farah and the Nike Oregon Project. Illegal performance enhancing drug allegations are always going to create waves in the media due to a recent past littered with shame and guilty athletes, however there needs to be some restrain made when victimizing athletes who may not be guilty. By creating negativity around “clean” athletes performing at the top of the sport, fans will lose trust and respect in athletics to an even larger degree than already exists.

Diamond League back with a bang as Gatlin strikes first in the 100m battle for supremacy

Formerly disgraced USA sprinter Gatlin has been in sparkling form since his return last year from a doping ban. This win cements his place as Bolt’s number one rival for gold at the World Championships

The outdoor athletics season began with a sparkling curtain raiser in the diamond league in Doha. Justin Gatlin was in ominous form running an outstanding personal best 9.74! He has been extremely confident while hyping his pursuit of dethroning Usain Bolt in the world championships later this summer, and tonight certainly lived up to the hype becoming the fourth fastest man in history. On this form people will have to start believing he may well achieve the unthinkable regardless of their views on his doping past; while looking so strong and in the best shape of his life surely there is more to come. The rest of the field including Briton James Dasaulou were almost left in a different race as they managed only to chase Gatlin’s shadow with just fellow USA athlete Rodgers also managing to break 10 seconds.

In an incredible triple jump competition containing USA’s Olympic champion Taylor and the talented Frenchman Tamgho, two men broke the magic 18 meter barrier for the first time in history. It was unfancied Cuban Pichardo who took the victory by just two centimetres from Taylor jumping a fantastic 18.06. This is the 3rd longest jump in history and indicates that Jonathan Edwards’ 20 year old world record may finally come under threat by the end of the summer.

Jasmine Stowers looked to continue her astonishing early season form in the 100 m hurdles alongside Olympic champion Sally Pearson, who along with Dawn Harper-Nelson and Queen Harrison gave the field a major final feel . It was the USA prodigy Stowers who destroyed the field to achieve the fastest diamond league race ever in 12.35, she has burst onto the scene since graduating in 2014 improving at a rapid rate. Britain’s Tiffany Porter ran extremely well to take third place ahead of Olympic champion Pearson in her season’s opener.

Olympic champion Alyson Felix won the 200 m in a field containing in form Ahoure from Ivory Coast along with Anthonique Strachan from the Bahamas. Young British athlete Bianca Williams ran in a world-class Field from lane one hoping to make a mark but struggled in such strong company. Ahoure attacked the bend well but as they came into the home straight Felix managed to pull away from her dipping under the line in a strong time of 21.98 seconds.

Beshawn Jackson rolled back the years once again in the 400 m hurdles running the fastest time of the year by more than one whole second. Jackson who was last world champion as long as 10 years ago, has been in sparkling form this season and looks a real threat for gold at the world Championships later this year in Beijing. He dismantled a world-class field including Olympic champion Sanchez as well as second placed Javier Culson; fast finishing Briton Jack Green made a great comeback to world-class athletics by coming fourth from lane 1. This was a great performance after his recent absence from the sport with a stress related illness and signals his return to the world stage.

It was a night of shocks in Doha beginning in the 1500 m women’s race when youngster Seyaum ran a great race and won in a surprise result with a world leading 4.00.96. The men’s 800 m race followed suit as favourite and world champion Aman started much too slowly and was made to pay as he was beat by Souleiman. Aman left himself far much too much to do resulting in him finding himself boxed at the back of the field, ending up in eighth. It was a great race between Kenyan pair Cheruiyot and Kipketer for second with an impressive winning time of 1.43.78, just outside of the meeting record. The shocks continued in the women’s 400m as McCrory shocked the field winning in 50.21. The favourite Sanya Richards Ross ran a poorly constructed race after initially looking comfortable coming into the last hundred meters; Richards Ross obviously went off too fast as she tied up terribly and McCorory powered to a statement making victory.

In the final race of the night Mo Farah suffered a rare defeat running the 3000m in a stellar field. Gebrhiwet from Ethiopia took the surprise win when Farah’s tactics backfired  when a breakaway group managed to escape his grasp with a lap to go. Farah responded very well but it was too late and he came up two meters short finishing second.

Asher Smith back with a bang

Dina Asher-Smith tore out of the blocks into the new indoor season running a hugely impressive 7.12 world lead time, both in the heat and the final of the event in winning the 60m in Karlsruhe, Germany. Her only disappointment from the event was to have been robbed of the opportunity to race against world class athlete and European sprint queen Schippers who was disqualified for a fault start in the final. In such red-hot form there is no doubt she would’ve had a chance of taking the huge scalp of the champion athlete even had she been able to compete.

If this performance is to be measured as an illustration of her successful winter training, it seems Asher-Smith may start to realise her potential earlier than many would have ever dreamed. She is such a raw talent, compact and explosive; if she can avoid injury in the future looks incredibly bright for the young athlete.

For Asher Smith this was a continuation of her rapid progress illustrated in her remarkable first year as a senior athlete. Still only 19 years old she is already World youth champion from Oregon last summer and a European championship finalist, while also achieving a world bronze medal from the sprint relay in 2013. Had it not been for a hamstring injury suffered in the 200m final it is extremely likely that she would have also added an individual medal and sprint relay gold at the European championships.

She is a key contributor to an upcoming contingent of young female British sprinters putting British sprinting back on the map at world level. The group also containing Jodie Williams, Bianca Williams, Ashleigh Nelson, and Asa Philip among others are pushing each other to outstanding performances regularly. Such healthy competition can only be positive for the futures of these young athletes who will be hoping to spur each other to success at world level.

While there are other British athletes who have run quicker, Asher-Smith definitely will be the one thought to have the most potential given her young age and proven pedigree in world event finals. At such a tender age this performance has put the rest of the world on notice that this young lady has no plans on slowing down her momentum any time soon.

New Season: Same Old Face

Following a sensational year in which James Dasaolu realised one of his dreams and became European champion, he made a strong start to the indoor season finishing second credited with the same time as winner Kim Collins in 6.52. In what is a monumental year in athletics with the Rio Olympics now just one year away, and the world Championships taking place this summer, it is important that the athletes plan their seasons correctly in order to peak at the prime-time. James Dasaolu seems to enjoy competing in the indoor season but has a tendency to pick up muscular injuries, so any indoor season in which he stays clean from injury should be seen as a success with bigger prizes up for grabs later in the summer. Dasaolu is certainly improving year-on-year and may be ready to finally challenge on the world stage in 2015. After now being sub 10 numerous times, he will be hoping to enter the elite group of sprinters vying for medals at these world Championships. However while he has steadily improved, he will need a big upturn in performance in order to challenge the very top with the Jamaicans and Americans likely to have been in training cycles based on peaking this year after a year off of major championships for them. In appearance terms Dasaolu looked notably more muscular and seems to have hit the gym quite hard this summer. He is at the age now whereas he will have developed to start achieving his peak performance and body composition at the age of 27. While he didn’t win the race, 6.52 is a very good time by anyone’s standards especially this early in the season so he will be very impressed with his own performance while he still lacks sharpness at this early stage.

Dasaolu was victorious at the 2014 European Championships, Facing the Jamaican and United States athletes will be a huge step up at the World Championships

While Dasaolu begins to reach his peak age, the standout story of the event in world terms is the incredible Kim Collins who defies the ageing process and ran 6.52 with his dip edging the race from James Dasaoulu on the line. While approaching the age of 40 years Kim Collins is a phenomenon in the athletic terms and seems to maintain his form with every year. His rangy fluent style in which he seems to float up the track doesn’t rely on power like many of the other athletes at the very top of the sport, therefore he seems to be able to maintain a level of performance that many dream of even at the age of 38. In 11 years since winning world championship gold in Paris, Kim Collins has continued to add to his catalogue of medals and while he no longer can compete on the world stage in 100 m to quite the ability that he used to, he is still a force indoors as shown by this result. Needless to say that the two athletes achieved a world leading time with this being such an early season meet, but their performances at Düsseldorf can be seen as a massive positive for both men, setting up an intriguing battle progressing forward into the indoor season. While the field wasn’t stacked with world class quality Mike Rogers of the USA who is very much an indoor specialist and was beaten down to 3rd in 6.58; he is a very strong scalp to have taken so early in the season.

There was British interest elsewhere in the event with a great start to the year for the forgotten great hurdling hope Lawrence Clarke. After showing so much potential early in his career in the 110 m hurdles by achieving fourth place at the 2012 London Olympics, Lawrence Clark has flattered as the deceive ever since and has been plagued by injuries meaning that he has never reached anywhere near his full potential. He took a big scalp in Robles from Cuba, a former Olympic champion, and ran a personal-best in 7.63. He will hope that this year is the year that he finally stays injury free and makes a strong impression at the major championships alongside other British hope William Sharman. The 110 m hurdles is always an open event in which surprises happen quite regularly due to the technical nature of the event; if you’re in the final and you manage to get in the mix there’s always an outside chance of a medal and that’s what the British guys will be hoping for this year. Clarke, who is coached by Malcolm Arnold, the ex coach to former world, Olympic and world record holder Colin Jackson, clearly has the talent to succeed and at only 24 years old has plenty of time left. He will try to use this personal best season opener as a catalyst to jump start his career.

Clarke finished fourth at his home Olympics 2012, but has failed to push on since.

British Long Jump War of Words: Who is to blame?

While British athletes continue to perform well at the World Athletics Championships in the track events, their counterparts in the field events have come up woefully short so far. This trend unfortunately continued with the rather embarrassing event of Greg Rutherford, Olympic champion from just 12 months ago, failing to even qualify for the final of the long jump. However, there is more to this failure than merely individual disappointment for Rutherford. This is due to the controversial circumstances in which he secured qualification for the team ahead of the athlete who actually won the British title, Chris Tomlinson.

Tomlinson was livid at being overlooked due to what he perceived as reputation alone

Tomlinson was angered at the decision by UK athletics to overlook him in favour of the Olympic champion, at the time of the team’s announcement. Directly following the world championship qualifying session for the final of event in which Rutherford finished in 14^th position, Tomlinson reached boiling point and took to social media to express his disgust.

 

“Words can’t describe my anger,” the rejected Tomlinson tweeted. “Season ruined on media profile & not current athletic form. Thanks for the support from the athletics community.”

 

Greg Rutherford had a rather blunt response to this when told of the twitter outburst by exclaiming:

“I’m still British number one and still jumped further multiple times than him this year.”

He said: “No matter what, if you’re looking at somebody who failed the distance but won more head-to-heads and still has a major title behind them, it’s a no brainer.”

“Surely, you’d pick that person in the same scenario?

Rutherford played a key part in Super Saturday at the London Olympics shocking the world to become Olympic champion, on a night that the British public remembered fondly as British Athletics’ greatest ever.

Tomlinson clearly feels that selection was based on reputation rather than current form, and to a certain extent he has a point. Rutherford has been struggling for form this year after a disruptive 12months in which he split with his American coach Dan Pfaff and surprisingly lost sponsorship following the high of his Olympic success. To compound his misery he suffered a ruptured hamstring recently and hadn’t actually competed competitively since July. By all accounts Rutherford couldn’t have been in much worse shape to enter a global event, recovering from injury only weeks before the event, with no competitions left to sharpen up.

Both Tomlinson and Rutherford had failed to reach the A qualifying standard for the Championships albeit by only a few cm; both failing to reach the 8.25m required for an automatic place in the team. Over the season Rutherford held the slightest of advantages in terms of his seasons best as his 8.22m slightly outweighs Tomlinson’s 8.21m. Tomlinson’s disappointment at missing out on selection for the championships was compounded by the fact that his rival had been picked despite having not been able to compete since he suffered his hamstring injury at the Diamond League meeting in Paris on 6 July, one week before the trials. At the event in question Tomlinson finished second and Rutherford fourth, Tomlinson followed this up by winning the trials in Rutherford’s absence.

British selectors have their own policy in which if there is no automatic qualifier reaching the A standard, they choose only one athlete to represent them at the event. In most cases this makes perfect sense so not to bloat the team with athletes who clearly are not up to the task of competing on the world stage, however in the case of the long jump this is actually a mistake that need not have been committed. This is due to the reality that the qualifying standard in the long jump is abnormally high as illustrated by the fact that it took a jump of 8.31m, just 6cm over the A standard, to win Olympic Gold last year. In addition to this, only one athlete achieved this distance in the qualifying session on Wednesday, from which Rutherford was eliminated. It would seem that this war of words between Rutherford and Tomlinson could have been avoided by allowing both to compete, especially baring in mind both are established athletes who have performed well in global events in the past.Though Tomlinson’s point that Rutherford has been struggling with injury and so was in poor current form is valid and adds fuel to his argument, it would have been equally as bizarre to have left out an athlete who won the Olympics just a year ago after showing solid early season form which was superior to that of Tomlinson.

 

British jumping legend Jonathan Edwards believes that the selectors made a mistake in how they came to a decision on who would don the British jersey at the championships.

The world record holder and two-time world champion in the triple-jump said: “Chris Tomlinson is an athlete who could easily finish in the top six with his season’s best.” This seasons best of course being one which wasn’t good enough to reach the qualifying standard. He went on to explain:

“I know they’re trying to look to reduce numbers but they should  be doing that across the board, not just in field events. It doesn’t really encourage athletes to take up the field events. He has been to a lot of major championships and been talked about as pulling a big jump out of the bag to win a medal but it’s not quite happened. But Greg has done that, he’s the Olympic champion and you had to take him too, no question.”

Edwards clearly feels that by denying an athlete of Tomlinson’s quality a place at the championships, British athletics are reducing their chances of success and as a result are also making the event less attractive to future athletes.

 

Together with comments made by Edwards, fellow British field event legend Steve Backley was quick to ensure that though many saw the decision as one that was questionable, its important to place no blame at the feet of Rutherford.

“After all, Greg doesn’t pick the team, so it’s not his fault Chris didn’t get the nod from team boss Neil Black. Chris could have earned his place by going out and jumping the ‘A’ standard and making the situation about Greg’s fitness academic.”

 

It is clear that the situation could have been handled much better by the selectors and seems ludicrous that they would give up a chance of achieving a better result by choosing just one of the two world class athletes at their disposal, regardless of whether or not they had reached the qualifying standard. Greg Rutherford is an Olympic champion and shares the British record with Chris Tomlinson after all (8.35m); a record which isn’t far above the A qualifying standard itself. When two athletes are of such a similar level, they are able to push each other to greater performances as in-team rivalry is added to that of the competition from other nations. Neither athlete is wrong with their views on the conflict , with both athletes making a compelling argument that supports their inclusion. A change of policy perhaps must be the result of such a conflict.

 

Asafa Powell (before testing positive for a banned substance) was dejected as he struggled with injury at the Jamaican trials. He failed to achieve a place in the top 3 in the final and therefore, regardless of the fact he is one of the best sprinters of all time, failed to make the team.

With the new competitive attitude that has been implemented by new performance director Neil Black, athletes such as William Sharman have been vocal in their disappointment so far in this championships when achieving results that are respectable, but are in turn not attaining the very top levels that they deemed achievable. This is the attitude which is ingrained into athletes performing in the nations at the very top of the sport such as Jamaica and the USA. While it is clear that these nations have far deeper reserves of talent in comparison to that of their British counterparts, a move towards the tougher trials structure implemented in these nations may be best when looking to progress to a winning mentality in the squad. The best possible example of the harsh nature of such trials is that even the great Usain Bolt, holder of every global championship and world record in the events that he has competed, had to qualify in the top 3 places for the 100m in the Jamaican trials due to the depth of athletes attaining the 'A' standard in the event. This structure leaves no option of injury or failure and it is very clear cut, the best performers in the trials go to the event alongside any existing champions from the championships themselves. With Britain's lack of world class talent in some events I would not be so foolish as to exclude those injured athletes that miss the trials, or those clearly of the level to compete at the very top. It is however very important that in events of depth we allow for the trials to possess meaning and therefore be used to mirror the pressurised nature of a championships, in order to best prepare athletes to perform in such environments and separate the able from those who freeze on the top level of competition.

 

World Championships 2013: British Team Preview

Just a year on from the ecstasy of the London Olympics the eyes of the world once again fall upon athletics to entertain with the show-piece that is the World athletics championships in Moscow. Athletics like many other sports has been swallowed into a mire of drugs and cheats with many of the worlds top athletes being found guilty in just the last 6 months alone. The extortionate level of athletes who have been found guilty, after seemingly improved testing from WADA, is no better illustrated than by the fact that host nation Russia have had over 40 athletes found guilty prior to the upcoming championships. While the sport has been tarnished, and it’s credibility is at an all time low, it is refreshing to find that none of the aforementioned cheats were found from British shores. It is important that clean athletes and their success are not overshadowed by those who have shamed themselves.

Spirits in the British camp are high which according to UKA performance director Neil Black, is based on the fact they are hugely confident ahead of the championships. In an incredibly upbeat manner he told reporters.

“We are without question, genuinely, in a better position going into the world championships than we were before London 2012”. “We are better prepared. We are more focused. And we are even more excited in the potential that will come from this competition.”

This may seem a very optimistic claim by Black, who unlike his predecessor Van Commenee, does not want to heap pressure on athletes by setting targets. He does however believe that the potential in the group can match Britain’s best ever haul of 3 Gold medals in a World Championships in 1993. When you take into account the fact that Mo Farah looks to be in irresistible form, and if anything has become even better than the athlete that won double gold last year in the Olympics, the haul of 3 golds may not be out of the question. Farah competes in both the 10,000 and 5,000m and is a big favourite to emulate his success from the London Olympics before moving on to marathon distance next year. If you take into account that in terms of gold medals Farah could put us 2/3 of the way to the record haul, it becomes evident that Black may well have a point.

Just where are the other medals expected to come from? The British squad has lost what was it’s other best chance of winning gold as Jessica Ennis-Hill has unfortunately failed to fully recover from injury in time to do herself justice in the Heptathlon. In addition to this fellow Olympic champion Greg Rutherford has been hampered by injury all season and is at best an outside hope for a medal. Another that has tasted success on a global level, defending World champion in the 400m hurdles Dai Green has had what could be described as a disastrous season so far. Green has been hampered by illness but lacks any sort of form in the build up to the championships. He is staying positive and hoping that he can peak ready for the championships, using the rounds to sharpen up his race, however it would be a surprise to see Green medal in what is perhaps the strongest field of any event at the championships. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Green outperformed by fellow Brit Rhys Williams who himself is in encouraging form and a place in the final for the two would be looked at as a success.

One athlete who has shown her class in major championships throughout her career is Christine Ohoruogu. The former Olympic and world champion in the 400m is in outstanding form; In fact she has never before been in better form in the lead up to a major championships running fast times and performing at a very high level. The rounds structure at a major championships suits Ohurougu who has always been successful in peaking at the right time for the championships and gets stronger throughout the rounds. Expect Ohurougu to medal and so long as she is in contention at the 300m mark do not be surprised to see her standing atop the podium once again.

The other main medal hopeful on current form would have to be Perri Shakes Drayton in the 400m hurdles. Bursting with talent Shakes Drayton let the occasion of the home Olympics get the better of her last year and was hugely disappointed not to reach the final. Only two women have run faster times than Shakes Drayton this year, and she is improving all of the time. Unfortunately competitor Zuzana Hejnova looks to be a class above the rest of the field and is a truly exceptional athlete, however if Shakes Drayton manages to run to her potential a medal is very much a possibility.

As has always been the case, Britain’s other main chances to medal lie in the relays. In particular the women’s 4x400m have a hugely impressive team with hungry youngsters who are improving all of the time in the shape of Shakes Drayton, Child, Onoura and Cox in addition to the experience of Ohuruogu. This team has already earlier this year broken the British 4x400m record and has a real chance of silver or gold. Minimum expectation should be to win the bronze medal, but with the USA team lacking Olympic champion Richards Ross and the usually strong teams of Jamaica and Russia struggling for form, expect Britain to be closer to the front than ever before. In fact if by some way Britain can give Ohuruogu the baton in contention going into the last leg it isn’t beyond the realms of possibility to see them bring home gold. The other relay with a realistic medal chance is the mens 4x100m relay, providing they manage to get the baton round as this has been Britain’s nemesis for years in the event. A team boasting new British sprint sensation Jason Dasaoulu in addition to championship veteran Dwain Chambers and young pretender Adam Gemili will be a threat regardless of who manages to secure the 4^th spot in the team. With the great Jamaica and USA teams ahead of them, bronze is the best Britain can hope for on talent alone. However in what is the most unpredictable of events in terms of baton changes and disqualifications anything can happen; any type of medal will be a success in what is a very strong field. The mens 4x400m is a little weaker than in the past and has some athletes who have not been in the best of form this year. If they manage to peak for the championships and rediscover past form, they are most certainly an outside chance for the bronze medal.

There are those athletes in the team who are very capable of a shock and will be looking to firstly secure a place in the final before hoping to sneak a medal. The most likely candidates in Britain’s case are Jason Dasauolu in the mens 100m, Shara Proctor in the long jump and Tiffany Porter in the women’s 110m hurdles. Dasauolu ran an incredible 9.91 at the British championships for a PB and an introduction to the worlds elite. He has failed to appear since though so quite what shape he goes into the competition in is unknown outside the camp. If Dasaoulu manages to match or better his PB in the final he will most certainly be in contention for a bronze medal in an event expected to be dominated by Bolt and Gatlin, however there is an incredible strength in depth of sub 10 seconds runners in the field and any medal would be a huge surprise Proctor and Porter will expect to reach the final of their events and if they manage to perform to their best they cannot be dismissed as medal chances however top 5 finishes should be looked at as a success for either athlete.

Finally there are a group of young athletes who will be looking to make a name for themselves and start fulfilling their potential. In Ennis Hill’s absence the stage is set For Johnson Thompson to take centre stage. She is the future of British athletics and has such a huge potential that even at this early stage in her career it wouldn’t surprise me to see her in the mix at the top of the leaderboard in the Heptathlon. Though a medal is probably a step too far this time round, expect the seeds to be sown for a successful career her in Moscow. In addition to Johnson Thompson Sophie Hitchon (hammer), Jess Judd (800m), and William Sharman (110m h) will be hoping to reach the finals and announce themselves at world level in these championships.

Even baring in mind injuries and lack of form, this is a very string British team and should be successful enough to achieve at least 5 medals. It is a team full of young promise and signals the start of the path for the new generation of British athletes. Black has every right to be excited and while 3 golds will be hard to replicate, it is by no means out of the question. It will be very interesting to see just how much his confidence has rubbed off on the athletes throughout the championships.

European Team Championships 20013 Erikssons final tournament: In depth look at how his team fared

Since London 2012 the head of UK athletics has already changed twice since the resignation of Van Commenee, who stuck to his principles and stepped down after not reaching his targets in Olympic year. The European team championship took place this weekend at Gateshead in what provided departing boss Peter Eriksson’s last international competitive competition in charge due to family commitments,  before Neil Black takes the reigns. He would hope that new boss Neil Black can learn much about his athletes 3 weeks before the world championship trials. This tournament was used as a stepping stone for the athletes in their journey to peak at the optimum time for both the trials and the championships themselves. The team that was selected was one that possessed a large mixture between those experienced seasoned professionals and Olympic medallists along with some young athletes looking to make a smooth transition into the senior ranks.

Just 8 months into a 5 year contract, Eriksson chose to quit in order to return to his family in Canada

There were certain athletes who came into this competition as proven competitors that were expected to put in winning performances in order to gain points for the team . With only three weeks left till the trials, Britain’s top athletes would have been hoping to show some form, unfortunately some such athletes disappointed.

A major disappointment came in the shape of Dai Green in the 400m hurdles. As reigning world champion, and with the disappointment of failing to medal in the London Olympics last year, this is a huge year in his career. He claims to be training very well after an injury free winter and would have hoped to set a performance marker for the worlds top athletes to pay attention to. Unfortunately he disappointed. While running a time of 49.39, in a mediocre field, he only managed second place. He made many hurdling mistakes and tactical errors and will have disappointed Eriksson who would have hoped that his world class athletes would have shown the youngsters the way and set an example of a winning mentality.

In addition to Green, Olympic finalist Holly Bleasedale also had a disaster in the Pole vault in failing to clear a single height, and in turn getting the team zero points. In what was a terrible performance, she will hope to learn and rediscover some form in order to peak for Moscow. Another finalist from London 2012, in fact a gold medallist Greg Rutherford, struggled in the field for the British team. Rutherford failed to win the competition; he only managed third and looked very short of rhythm jumping just 8.02m. In terms of world level performance this is far below what Rutherford will have to jump in order to challenge for medals. However in the past he has shown himself to be a big championship performer and he won’t be too worried about results at this stage of the season providing he peaks for Moscow.

More encouraging for Eriksson was that not all of the established athletes fared so badly. Eilidh Child ran the 400m hurdles In what is fast becoming one of the British women’s strongest track events in terms of strength in depth. Perry Shakes-Drayton, who is recognised as the British number one, chose instead to run the 400m flat in order to make sure that Britain received maximum points possible from both events and also to sharpen up her flat speed. Child was the fastest in the field by a few hundredths of a second coming into the event, and did not disappoint. She ran a storming race and led from the front from the outset. Her flat speed is noticeably quicker this season, and it seems that the hard work put in over the winter has had a great effect on her whole race. Her time was 54.42 which was a personal best, and is a time that has put her right up there in terms of the worlds best times this year. If she continues to improve for the rest of the season, she may well reach the final and challenge in Moscow.

Shakes-Drayton ran the 400m which is an event she has been running a few times this season, even though the hurdles is her number one priority. She’s mixing up the season which will bode well for her flat speed when doing her preferred event. She won comfortably in 50.50 in a race that she dominated from the start. It was a strong and confident performance in which she ran a European leading time and set a new personal best. She is currently showing great signs of beginning to realise her potential after coming up short at the Olympics in 2012, and her speed endurance has improved remarkably this season. She must certainly be considered one of Britain’s big hopes at making an impact on the world stage this season.

Another established athlete who very rarely disappoints in a British vest is Mo Farah. Farah, double Olympic champion is no stranger to impacting the world stage; he ran in the 5000m here after struggling in his last outing recently in Eugene where he was suffering from illness. In a field which was well below the standard he is used to, he used the event to show off how his training has been progressing. In bizarre circumstances upon hearing the Bell for the final lap, Farah Seemed to imitate the starting blocks before exploding into a full sprint for the final 400m that he had left. He ran a last 400m split of 50.89. To put that into context it was nearly the same time as Perri Shakes-Drayton won her 400m event with, this after running 4600m already. Needless to say he won the race by quite a large margin and did so in a fashion that meant that, while the competition was at a poor level, onlooking rivals for the world Championships in Moscow would have been impressed and fearful of his quite remarkable final lap pace.

While the above athletes provided some positives moving forward, it was the promise shown by the selected young athletes that will really have impressed the new head of UK athletics. In what was arguably the shock and therefore performance of the weekend, Jessica Judd announced herself to the rest of Europe. Judd continued her outstanding start as a senior athlete shocking a world class field in the women’s 800m. In a performance rich with guts, determination and confidence despite her young age, Judd took the front early and never looked back. It was a quite breathtaking performance from the young 18 year old and one that will have the world taking notice of another young British distance runner coming to the fore. She showed maturity beyond her years by get into the front early in a 12 woman field, this is very abnormal for an 800m race and created a lot of bunching behind her. She exhibited a wonderful long stride and ran in a composed manner, as she eclipsed her predicted finish of 5th to bring home maximum points for the team.

Judd wins the 800m, beating a world class field at just 18 years of age

In addition to Judd, another young distance runner to perform admirably was Emelia Gorecka. She continued to really impress Eriksson, who was watching in the stands and roaring with approval, running very well in a gutsy first senior performance in which she achieved second place. Second was a position also achieved by yet another young women’s distance runner when Laura Weightman held on to second place in the 3000m women’s with a dogged display. Having made a breakthrough on the world stage last year under past great Steve Cram’s expert guidance, Weightman will  be very pleased with her result considering the fact that she’s a 1500m runner at best. Not to be outdone by the women, young 1500m runner Charlie Grice also achieved a creditable second place. Grice ran very well in what was a bizarre race in which the Turkish Ozbilen was leading by near 100m going into the last lap after setting an unbelievable pace. Ozbilen won despite a 64 second last lap in which he tied up dramatically. Grice took a big scalp in beating world class Lewandowski of Poland, in an experience which will help him moving forward in his career.

The wonderful performance of such a large number of young distance runners will excite new UK athletics chief Black, and be seen as a nice parting gift from Eriksson, in terms of the future, as his decision to place trust in youth in order to give the international competition experience paid off to a great extent. Eriksson was visibly jubilant at all of the youngsters’ performances while sitting in the stands. Not to be outdone by those youngsters running on the track Sophie Hitchon continued to show promise in the hammer throw she through nearly 73m. In doing so she achieved a lifetime best that also happens to be a national record, and more importantly the A standard needed to qualify automatically for the world championships. She came third overall and will be very proud as she continues to show promise and will continue to get better.

There were mixed results for the rest of the team in a team competition in which Britain finished 3rd, this will be seen as a satisfactory performance when all is considered. In terms of the sprint events, James Dasaulou decided to pull out of the 100 metres in what was seen as a quite bizarre decision considering he did compete in the relay later in the competition. It would have been thought that he would want to capitalise upon his good recent past performances at world level in which he has run low 10.1 seconds runs, making him Britain’s number one on current form. Kilty, his replacement, managed to come fourth in his heat which was run into a huge 4.1m/s headwind making any analysis of the times run quite irrelevant. He finished behind Frenchman Vicault, who is recognised as arguably the top European and has been mightily impressive this season.
Staying with the sprint events, in the women’s 200m Onoura ran a good race and came third behind 2 exceptional athletes. It was a solid performance and will have done her the world of good rub shoulders with such athletes and given her a confidence that she can compete on such a level ahead of the World Championships. After an impressive 2012 in which she competed well at world level, in the 100m hurdles Tiffany Porter continued to show her class in what was quite a low standard for herself to compete. She got the job done with a victory and will be hoping to use this as a steppingstone towards getting into the world Championships final later in the year. One athlete who has come of age this year so far is Nigel Levine after taking the indoor season by storm. He failed to quite live up to his early season form however and will be slightly disappointed at his second place finish. Levine started very well as he attacked the top end showing his growing confidence. Unfortunately he tied up terribly down the home straight and nearly lost second place too,  Krasnov the Russian representative beat him to the tape in an average time running 45.69.

Middle distance runner and Olympic finalist Andrew Osagie showed that in the 800m, he has some form going into the trials. However he will be disappointed to come third as it was largely down to his poor tactics in becoming boxed on the inside lane on the final lap. The field was relatively strong and this test will help him prepare for next weeks Grand Prix in Birmingham. Hannah England tied up badly in the last lap of her event in the 1500m after putting herself in the perfect position, and was very disappointed with her performance. She will need to improve if she is to have a successful season.

Events such as this are very useful in creating a competitive run out for relay teams and on the whole Britain showed much promise this weekend. However, the women’s sprint relay was very sloppy with terrible changeovers, much too safe. They continue to disappoint after not even qualifying for last years Olympic games. In contrast, the men’s sprint relay was very encouraging as they stormed to victory. The changeovers were pretty good, and the win quite convincing in the end. While the time of 38.40 will not be turning any heads on the world stage, it’s a good start to the season and is a good steppingstone towards greater things to come hopefully. The team was relatively strong but can certainly be improved by substituting a couple of the athletes. All in all it was a strong performance and one that builds confidence that they can hopefully progress to the finals at least at the world Championships. They beat a quite strong French team so can be pleased with the scalp of a team of that quality.

The event was rounded off in keeping with tradition, by the 4x400m relays. In both the men’s and women’s 4 x 400m relay, the teams ran extremely professionally and achieved comfortable wins. Both teams proved much too strong for their opposition, and were littered with great individual performances, showing both strength and maturity. It is a testament to the strength in depth of both of these teams that both teams manage to win comfortably without full strength teams. The strength of the 400m hurdle runners has translated well into the 4x400m relay teams, this has led to both genders’ teams looking incredibly strong performance wise, and with great strength in depth going into the world Championships in the summer. In the women’s race, there were stand out performances firstly from Child who continued her blistering form from the 400m hurdles event. She gave Britain an exceptional start and a huge lead on the opposition after the first leg. Christine Thorough showed all her strength in a performance that we have become accustomed to over her career, in bringing the baton home in first after Beaseley and Cox also had ran good strong legs with Britain leading from start to finish. This team has at least two world class athletes that can be added in Perri Shakes-Drayton and Nicola Sanders, so it must be said that they have a real chance of challenging for the World title later this year.

In the men’s race the strength in depth was shown even further as from the team that won the race, only Conrad Williams has been much of a fixture recently when it comes to the big championships. Rhys Williams, Richard Buck and Michael Bingham all ran very solid legs also in a performance which showed superiority of the men’s 400m team at this level of competition. With athletes of the class of Dai Green, Martin Rooney, and Nigel Levine all Still to come into this team, the strength in depth looks quite phenomenal.

The British women dominated the 400m events winning both individual 400m and 400m hurdles in addition to the relay

In general conclusion, Eriksson must be extremely happy with most of the teams performances. The young athletes that he picked did a great job and while this years world championships will almost certainly be too early for any of them to made a noteworthy impact in top level competition, the signs for the future heading up to Rio 2016 are bright. While there is room for disappointment for some of our top athletes performances here, it must be considered that there is still almost two months until the world championships, and so it must be remembered that athletes at the top level will be working towards a peak during the championships themselves. It is not wise to concentrate too much on poor performances this weekend and if anything, it merely will have given the top athletes hoping to compete in Moscow an indicator of where they are in terms of their training. The standard of competition at the European team championship is not one, that in many events, can be translated to world standard. The main positive in addition to the young athletes must most certainly be the performance in the relays. There seems to be a very good team spirit in the camp which has translated to the relay teams, in events that offer a real chance of medals for Britain in world competition this is positive moving forward. In his short stint as UK head of athletics, Peter Eriksson will be happy that in this tournament he was able to show glimpses of a new era of athletes that he has been nurturing over the last 6 months. It is certainly a shame he wont be able to help them fulfil their potential, but Neil Black is inheriting some great new talents as a result. Everyone will wish Eriksson well in his future endeavours.

Blade Runner: Just the beginning?

The Olympics has come and gone, heroes have been created, dreams fulfilled and one man became a self confessed living legend. In addition to this though, one achievement was made that was unique; a disabled athlete competed against able bodied competitors for the first time in history. Pistorius made history running in the 400m and made the semi finals proving that through use of his ability alone, he was rubbing shoulders with the elite, as an equal.

The issue of Pistorius is a curious one; hero among fellow athletes and spectators alike, his achievements are recognised by everyone. Very rarely is a bad word said about the well liked South African. However, it could be argued that it would take but one race to change opinions regarding this superb athlete, and his participation in both forms of the Olympics.

Pistorius fulfils him dream by running is the Olympics, as an equal.

The Paralympics games offer a chance for disabled athletes the same chance as their able bodied counterparts, to compete for the title of the world’s best on the biggest global stage of them all. Oscar however, has achieved all there is to achieve in this form of the games and is now almost “too good” for his fellow athletes to compete against, and so he headed to the Olympic Games as a disabled athlete in search of competition. It is widely recognised that he, as a “disabled athlete”, is less able and therefore at a disadvantage compared to his fellow Olympic rivals. This begs the question however, is he at a disadvantage, or actually is the fact of the matter that while Oscar has no lower legs, he actually enjoys many advantages over able bodied athletes and therefore is actually competing with the advantage?

In the current climate the fact is that Oscar managed to reach the semi finals, therefore this could be deemed as the best result all around. Oscar managed to win his respect as an equal while not affecting the results of the big race, and not changing the fortunes of the athletes at the top of their sport. While this continues to happen, the issue of fairness that surrounds his “blades” will be swept under the carpet as a non matter. However it is very interesting to imagine what might have happened were he to have run a great race and taken the place of a contender in the Olympic final. Of even more interest, what would have happened if better still he was able to achieve a medal performance. Would his fellow competitors still hold him in the same affinity (illustrated by Kirani James below); would they still celebrate his achievements? I suspect not. It is human nature to be envious of those who achieve your own dreams and if the athletes were to believe that an unfair advantage was being enjoyed by a fellow athlete, it is very likely they would make that view felt.

New Olympic champion Kirani James: ‘Oscar is someone special, especially in our event. It’s a memorable moment for me to be out here performing with him.
‘He’s an inspiration to all of us. He is very special to our sport. He’s a down to earth guy and a great individual. I thought it was a nice gesture to exchange bibs. I am going to keep it.’ (Quote Daily Mail 2012)

As a sprinter you are susceptible to a number of injuries; common sense and past history tells us that most of these injuries are related to ones legs. Familiar injuries suffered include ankle injuries, calf muscle injuries and perhaps most commonly hamstring injuries. While humanity will always encourage empathy towards a disabled athlete due to the compassion we possess towards ill fortune, from purely a sporting viewpoint it is common sense that Oscar Pistorius cannot possibly suffer from these injuries due to him having artificial replaceable leg limbs (blades). This therefore gives the advantage that at no time can he suffer with the injuries most common for sprinting and nor can he fail to properly warm up a leg muscle and so pull or tear it. Finals in athletics history are littered with heartbreaking injury stories from instances such as Derek Redmond battling back from injury in the Barcelona games only to pull a muscle while in contention, to most recently Asafa Powell being unable to finish the 100m final at the London Olympic pulling a groin. I am by no stretch of the imagination suggesting that Oscar’s loss of limbs is more tragic than career defining and ending injuries; the fact that his limbs are created solely for the use of running and are unable to suffer these injuries gives him a marked advantage over current athletes. In addition to this, and most evident is Pistorius’ event, is the issue of tiredness and lactic acid. In the 400m, an event using both aerobic and anaerobic energy systems, a major part of training is the training of pushing back the lactic acid threshold. While Pistorius is sure to suffer from such a build up, the effects will be less remarkable during the fight to the line down the home straight and he therefore hold the ultimate advantage.

As has earlier been suggested, at present the advantages that Oscar may possess are almost irrelevant due to his place just below the top table of 400m sprinters.  The issue presents itself that in a sport that is progressing at a rapid rate, who is to say that developments made to his blades in the future or more importantly those of a future more talented disabled athlete, won’t bridge the gap on the top sprinters creating a standoff in the face of fairness. Just 24 years ago Ben Johnson of Canada ran a blistering 9.77 100m race under the influence of performance enhancing drugs, this was seen rightly as cheating as he had an unfair advantage that the other athletes could not naturally possess; an advantage that the other athletes did not have that made it easier for him to run a much faster time. While ethically the use of blades and that of performance enhancing drugs are worlds apart, can it not be argued that they are in effect creating the same result, an advantage over the athletes who do not have them? Ben Johnson without the drugs was a world class athlete in his own right as is Pistorius, the drugs merely gave him the push to become THE best, they enabled him to run the 0.2 seconds quicker which would elevate one from world class to legend status. Performance enhancing drugs can create an ability to be able to train harder, to run faster and to not tire as quickly, all traits shared by the blades of Pistorius.

It is clear that Oscar Pistorius is an athlete who deserves our adulation, one that we should admire and respect. When dealt a cruel hand by life his pure talent, hard work and determination led him to becoming the most incredible athlete the Paralympics has ever seen. While one cannot possibly want to punish an athlete of such integrity and liken him to those who cheat fellow athletes and the athletics world, by taking illegal substances to give them an advantage, thought must be given to where this saga will lead. Whether using blades or taking drugs, fellow athletes will not stand for their rivals being able to obtain a clear advantage which inevitably will lead to a clash in the event of an athlete with blades winning a medal in the Olympics. While seeing a disabled athlete run alongside the able bodied in London was a proud, memorable and emotional experience one fears that this must signal the end of such happenings for the sake of the sports future. Fears are that we will be entangled in a war over just what is deemed fair in athletics which could lead in arguments that drugs are as fair as blades in terms of performance, leading to the abolishment drug testing and the end of athletics as a sport rather than a scientist’s playground.