Finalists.

This a just out of interest, but as i think we can all more or less agree the likelyhood of Britain having a representive in the 100m final(men) is slim to none, it got me thinking about other finals were we may see the opposite and have more than 1 representitive? Off the top of my head 2 possibilities I think are the mens long jump(tomlinson and rutherford), and the mens 400mHurdles. Some people may think the second choice unlikely, but with Dai green being one of the best in the world at the event, last year we also had Nathan Woodward and Jack Greene both under 49 seconds, both of whom are under 23 and will hopefully have improved even further this year! Any other in both track and firld people think are likely/outside chance?

we'll have to see with Green and Woodward how much they've improved (if at all), but that is a decent shout.

Other thoughts: men's 5000/10000 if Thompson gets some form back. Conceivably some women's middle-distance races (800 and 1500 - we have good depth there) though of course just as possibly we have no one. Of the two, I'd say 1500 is the more likely (more competitors). Men's HJ? Grabbaz (sp?) has been doing well recently, and it's not impossible someone else could get through.

Nothing else really springs to mind (well nothing that seems particularly realistic), but someone could spring a surprise and join one of our "expected" finalists I guess (men's TJ for instance).

I'm not sure I agree with your opening sentence BTW, I'm not saying if he's free to run Chambers will make the final, but I think he's got a decent shot (he made the final of the worlds three years ago in a high quality field).

Men's Discus maybe, as a long shot.

Maybe even the women's pole vault.

Cheers for the input, was hoping someone would mention the longer distances because i tend to know less about those than the shorter distances! Dont get me wrong id love to see DC make the final, just not very optimistic. What are the chances one of our other sprinters have made drastic improvements over the winter and are capable of running consistently around 10 flat? Extremrly unlikely i know.

Good shout with the discus, we have 3 men throwing similar sorts of distances if im not mistakin?

lfc91 wrote:Cheers for the input, was hoping someone would mention the longer distances because i tend to know less about those than the shorter distances! Dont get me wrong id love to see DC make the final, just not very optimistic. What are the chances one of our other sprinters have made drastic improvements over the winter and are capable of running consistently around 10 flat? Extremrly unlikely i know.

If Simeon Williamson can get fit and is raring to go he's more than capable of going sub-10 IMO. Not many others out there I don't think, though the youngsters mentioned on another thread (Bolarinwa and Gemilli - especially the latter) should be aiming at getting into the 10.1s this season.

Yep, as far as the discus goes, we've got Lawrence Okoye - he's the current world leader (early days of course) with 66.67, which is very promising as it confirms that his British Record last year was no flash in the pan.

Also, Brett Morse who through 66 something last year could be in the mix for the final with a good performance.

At 20 and 23 respectively, these are very promising athletes.

Before that injury simeon was certainly knocking on the door of sub 10, 2 seasons in a row where he ran low 10.0s. Although since the injury hes been nowhere near that unfortunatley. Totally agree, especialy with gemmili posting pbs in the first 100/200 of the season, maybe capable of 10.1. Just out of curiosity dj as i dont follow the discus etc as closely as the track, but what is considered to be world class distances?

To put it in perspective, nobody threw over 70 metres last year and the Worlds was won in just under 69 metres.

A good number of athletes are inbetween the top and 66 metres, but only a relatively small improvement and a good performance at London could put them in the medal hunt.

It's not a great chance, but if they make the final, they can't be completely written off.

So if either/or both of them can produce a 67 plus throw they will be in with a good chance of making the final.

They'll make the final with that, and if they can throw 67+ in the final, they'll be looking at being in medal mix.

Bronze is usually around 66-67 metres.

I agree with much that has been said earlier. Okoye is however some way ahead of the others in terms of consistency this year.

Possibles:

Men:
800m Osagie and Rimmer (if he is back to his best)
10000 Farah and Thompson
100hdls Turner and one of Sharman/Pozzi
400hdls Green and one of Woodward/Green
Discuss Okoye and one of Morse/Buhari
HJ Grabarz and one of Parsons/Oni/Bernard
LJ Rutherford and Tomlinson

Women
400 Ohuruogu and Cox
1500 England and Dobriskey
400 hdls Drayton and Danvers (if back to form)

Didnt even think of the 110h teassoc cheers. Pozzis the youngster if im not mistakin, do you think he will be ready this year to compete on the biggest stage of them all?

Yes, Pozzi is still very young and this would be a huge step up for him. He showed in the indoor season, especially the World's, that he is certainly one to watch.

Sharman, if he is back to his best, is the more likely finalist.

One of those events though where a little bit of luck one way or the other can have a huge impact on the result.

Just had a look at power of 10 and pozzis indoor times were very impressive! Hopefully he transfers that to outdoors, if so a final spot is possible! Just out of curiousity teassoc, how many medals do you think/hope we will win in track and field?(that question is for everyone).

The official target is 8 medals including at least one gold.

I think they should do better than that. In fact I'll be disappointed if they don't reach double figures. (This is assuming a 'home games' boost for the GB team which should help events, especially relays).

So anything between 10 and 14, with 11 or 12 as the most likely. A lot would consider that wildly optimistic but we'll have to see.

Yes i think the home olympics should be a real boost, you would expect the athletes to have trained harder than ever before for these games. Think martyn rooney could e a good example of this, for a few years there he seemed to have went backwards, and all of a sudden hes posted a sub 45 time in the first race of the season! Either way rooney seems to be back on form.

Always a bit risky predicting medals , but the "home ground" effect , and the number of quite impressive early season marks being set (eg: Hitchon , Okoye , Rooney) lead me to suspect that CVC is being a bit cagey in suggesting eight is still the target...

As some cautious experts point out , one has to factor in injuries and special breakthrough performances by opponents ... but opponents get injuries too , and home athletes are arguably as likely as any to produce a surprise on the big day.

I reckon double figures is not a bad call.