Weekend action (Manchester BMC GP, CAU, Geneva, Dakar, Hengelo)

First topic message reminder :

Wow, this promises to be a weekend of relentless action across the board, with large numbers of British athletes in action around Britain, Europe and beyond. So plenty to look forward to and let's do our best to keep pace with goes on around over the next couple of days - it's going to be real hot!

Without a doubt, World and European champion Jessica Ennis is very much anticipated to hog the spotlight as she engages in a fierce tussle against the best the world has to offer over the following couple of days at the highly-rated multi-event meeting of Gotzis, Austria, looking to retain her long unbeaten run and gain an early edge over her main rivals on the global stage of the heptathlon.

Nevertheless, Jenny Meadows, Andy Turner, Greg Rutherford, Andy Baddeley, Shana Cox, Tiffany Offili-Porter, James Dasaolu and Jack Green are a few among many to watch out for around, chasing some solid mental and performance boosts on the circuit, therefore I feel virtually everyone's taste should be satisfied. So let's pick things up one at a time.

The results from Craig's heat in the 100m:

1. FORSYTHE, Mario JAM SB 10.11 0.157
2. COLLINS, Kim SKN 10.13 0.223
3. EDWARDS, Rae Monzavous USA SB 10.13 0.149
4. DI GREGORIO, Emanuele ITA 10.22 0.164
5. PICKERING, Craig GBR SB 10.23 0.176
6. SAMUELS, J-Mee USA 10.24 0.134
7. WAUGH, Ainsley JAM 10.25 0.154
8. VAN LUIJK, Patrick NED 10.29 0.217
9. SPIER, Virgil NED SB 10.88 0.165

By the way, Greg Rutherford has taken the lead in the men's long jump with a fourth round SB of 8.18m (0.4m/sec) in Hengelo. Among those behind him are Dwight Phillips and Irving Saladino, lying fourth and second at 7.99 (-0.7m/sec) and 8.05m (-0.5m/sec) respectively. Something tells me, combined with Chris Tomlinson's result yesterday, that the men's long jump looks bound for a great season!

Both Chris and Greg have the ability to jump 8.40-8.50m IMO - lets hope they are both fit and healthy for the next eighteen months and beyond

The results from the women's 800m earlier on where Jenny got a second A and Emma a second B standard for Daegu:

1. MEADOWS, Jenny GBR SB 1:59.76
2. JACKSON, Emma GBR PB 2:00.24
3. NEGESA, Annet UGA NR 2:00.40
4. RUSANOVA, Yulia RUS 2:00.50
5. HAK, Yvonne NED SB 2:00.76
6. KLOCOVA, Lucia SVK 2:01.65
7. CICHOCKA, Angelika POL SB 2:01.73
8. BALCIUNAITÉ, Eglé LTU SB 2:02.35
9. MASNA, Lenka CZE 2:02.57
10. HOFFMAN, Claudia GER 2:03.82
- CILLIERS, Juanee (PM) RSA DNF

By the way, Deji Tobais 10.30 at the CAUs was windy (2.9) but Leevan Yearwood got a SB of 10.38 secs for runner-up in the final, where the former was disqualified.

Unfortunately, Andy Turner had to endure a well below par performance in the sprint hurdles to finish way back in 13.72 secs, his slowest race by far all season. Don't know what went wrong there.

Dayron Robles set an equal fastest time in the world in 13.07 secs with Dwight Thomas second in 13.18 (SB) and Terrence Trammelle third in 13.31 (SB).

Astonishingly enough, Yenew Alamirew (ETH) wasn't only beaten over any distance or environment on the track this season but also slipped out of the top four despite a PB of 13:02.71 in the 5000m in Hengelo, Edwin Soi (KEN) claiming the win in 12:59.15.

It seems like a final result with Greg Rutherford on top in the men's long jump which apparently had only four attempts, though a certain guy is down with five fouls in the results. Great win and two huge scalps in Phillips and Saladino for Greg there!

Greg finished 3rd, Gaisah and Saladino beat him...

The results on the men's long jump were stuck for a long time so thought that it could be final since there are so often only four attempts distributed to each athlete.

Greg seems to have passed the fifth and fouled his sixth, while Irving Saladino got two biggies with a fifth 8.38w and a sixth 8.30m (SB) to clinch the win.

Gaisah got second through a legal 8.26 (1.6) in the fifth round.

Christian Malcolm sneaked a SB of 10.33 secs in the other 100m semi (0.9m/sec) but missed out on a place in a final won by evergreen Kim Collins (SKN) in a SB of 10.05 secs (0.3m/sec) from Dutch now Churandy Martina (10.10, SB).

Craig Pickering had a disappointing final as he came last in 10.38 secs.

Solid race by Abi Oyepitan to get the runner-up spot in 23.33 secs (1.1m/sec) behind World Indoor 400m champion Debbie Dunn (USA), who won in 23.24 secs, while Joice Maduaka came third in a SB of 23.41 secs.

Full results from Hengelo on the link below:

http://fbkgames.nl/uitslagen_2011/re0010002.html

Goldie Sayers opened her season with 57.97m in the javelin at the CAU by the way.

Good to see Goldie back, though would have preferred to see a bigger throw (hopefully over 60m very soon)

Not sure what the deal is with Abi though - was hoping she'd be legal sub-23 and winning races against the likes of Dunn after some good early runs - perhaps she's training through? Going to require 22.50 to make the final in Daegu I think, so she needs to get back into those sort of times regularly

By the way, Anyika Onuora ran a massive PB and A standard of 11.18 secs (1.6m/sec) to win the women's 100m at the Zeulenroda Meeting in Germany, the eight fastest time ever by a British girl. That's some shocker, isn't it?

She returned later to get the 200m in a B standard 23.15 into a fierce headwind of -3.0m/sec!

Julian Adeniran ran a PB of 13.85 secs (0.5m/sec) for second the 110m hurdles.

lsabre wrote:By the way, Anyika Onuora ran a massive PB and A standard of 11.18 secs (1.6m/sec) to win the women's 100m at the Zeulenroda Meeting in Germany, the eight fastest time ever by a British girl. That's some shocker, isn't it?She returned later to get the 200m in a windy 23.15 (3.0m/sec).

Julian Adeniran ran a PB of 13.85 secs (0.5m/sec) to win the 110m hurdles.

Shocker? That's insane! I hope that's a true time, and not a dodgy wind or whatever, as she's been floating around for ages, but I'm more surprised by that than Laura's 11.11 last year

Here are the results JJimBoJames! Also, the wind in that 23.15 secs over 200m was...-3.0m/sec actually!!!

http://leichtathletik.de/results/3819_zeulenroda_290511.htm

Thanks for those - massive winning margins, but I'd love to see the races - esp that 200m, as she must be in incredible form with that wind - that's about 22.9 in still conditions!

That sort of time should get her in some decent 2nd tier races - then we can see her under pressure

An urgent correction please!!! Goldie Sayers actually hurled her spear out to an opener of 61.61m, a straight A standard for Daegu, earlier today so opened her season on a very promising note, into the wind as herself mentions! That marks sees her go straight to eighth in the global rankings this season!

Andy Turner, by the way, was considerably affected in his race by a sore achilles that has been troubling him since April if I recall correct. I hope he sorts that out soon because he can't really afford to carry it with him through the season as it moves up into higher gears.

Behind Goldie, last season's revelation Laura Whittingham gained a substantial SB of 57.08m, moving up on her 55.48m at Halle, while U20 Freya Jones showed a return to her best form by way of a big PB of 52.82m, erasing her previous marker of 51.28m from last year.

Another U20 to perform well was David Parker-coached Tesni Ward who pushed her boundary out to a new lifetime best of 52.78m as she gains solid consistence over the 50m line, which Katie Watts creeped over by 2cm to a SB.

In other events, Helen Pryer convincingly beat returning Ashlee Nelson over 200m in 23.71 to 23.85 secs (SB), always a delight to see her back, but Kadi-Ann Thomas and Joey Duck did not enjoy the best of performances to end up towards the back of the field.

Chris Scott took the men's discus at 58.64m and Gemma Bennett set a SB of 13.22 secs over 100m hurdles that draws her within touching distance of the B standard for Daegu.

Also, Ben Reynolds missed out on a legal sub 14 secs for a second time in a row due to a slightly over the limit wind, this time setting 13.90 secs on a 2.2m/sec tailwind. Hopefully, it's going to be third time lucky for him.

Good stuff from Jess Ennis in the heptathlon, just 33 points off her PB is excellent! Expect the British record to fall this summer surely. Unless I'm mistaken, she's currently ranked n°2 in Britain in the 100 hurdles, and n°1 in both the 200 and the high jump, amazing really...

Full results from the first day at the CAU in Bedford:
http://www.thepowerof10.info/resultsfiles/2011/47725_6002_29052011224415_CAU_Results_2011_Day1_provisional.pdf

The FBK Games in Hengelo as seen through the eyes of IAAF:
http://www.iaaf.org/IWC11/news/newsid=60147.html

Full results:
http://www.iaaf.org/iwc11/results/eventcode=4719/

I think I've already put up another link for the results from Geneva but there's no harm posting another one!

http://www.cag-geneve.ch/atleticageneve/results/2011.php?lang=en

Newham & Essex Beagles finished an eventual fifth on 101pts at the European Club Championships in Portugal as Steve Lewis could not register a height in the pole vault in what seemed like gales blowing over the arena.

Gianni Frankis added a win to the side's tally in 14.08 secs into a fiercesome headwind of -5.3m/sec in the 110m hurdles before the 4x400m through a Tom Burton, Nathan Woodward, Richard Davenport and Erison Hurtault rounded off the day on a winning note in 3:06.58.

James Shane was third over 800m in a SB of 1:48.47 and Abdul Buhari occupied the same position in the discus at 58.08m, first time he fell below the 60m this season, while Chris Hughff picked up a SB of 67.22m in the javelin.

Results:
http://www.aaalgarve.pt/portal/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1193:eccc-2011-results-&catid=147:resultados-de-pista-2010-2011&Itemid=152

Mad for Chelsea wrote:Good stuff from Jess Ennis in the heptathlon, just 33 points off her PB is excellent! Expect the British record to fall this summer surely. Unless I'm mistaken, she's currently ranked n°2 in Britain in the 100 hurdles, and n°1 in both the 200 and the high jump, amazing really...

For me, the best thing about this weekend is that Jess showed both herself and her competitiors that she can get it wrong (about .25 of a second off her best in the 100mH) and still come back and run PBs and win - that edge will be invaluable. Almost like the aura TBO had (has?) in a champs 400m - she's in the heads of her competitors

Paula Radcliffe looks as though she's got a long way to go yet to regain the form of old, or anything near that for that matter, as she gets well beaten by Jo Pavey in the streets of London by a sound 56-second margin. Their times are 33:19 and 32:23 respectively. Gemma Steel got in between them for runner-up.

Incidentally, Radcliffe hinted that she may miss the World Championships in Daegu, having earlier showed an interest in running the 10000m as part of her build-up to a fall marathon, in an interview on the eve of the race.

I hope she saves her mind for later and assesses her form thoroughly on the track first, maybe by turning her hand to a 10000m in late June to early July if sufficiently fit, before she makes up her mind over that as I feel an appearance in a world championships background after a while would help ramp up her enterprise.

Mo Farah, as widely expected, was the winner in the men's race although I don't know his time yet.

Mo Farah's winning time was 29:15 over the London 10km earlier on. Mind you, there's a race walking test event in the streets of the centre of the capital later where Jo Jackson will be looking to add her name to the A qualifiers for Daegu.

Really great to see five women throw over 50m in the Javelin at CAU - maybe the first time that's happened? It will be interesting to see how Goldie Sayers reacts to meaningful domestic competition over the summer. I believe Zane Duquemin set another PB - 56.37m - in the Discus, that's his third this month. I guess that's the sort of response you get when you have a phenomenal athlete like Lawrence Okoye in your training group.

To be honest I wasn't expecting much from Paula today - she wouldn't pull out of events if she was in the sort of shape she was happy with. I hope she sues that dog owner in Monaco for loss of earnings. Hopefully she'll be over her latest illness and injury niggles soon.

Jodie Williams has demonstrated her sprinting prowess in style earlier on as she powered to a 11.35 secs season opener over 100m (0.9m/sec) on a heavy wet track at the CAU in Bedford earlier on, pulling away from a looking-strong Bernice Wilson in the late stages. That was a B qualifier for Daegu on top of that from the off although Jodie has maintained that she won't be contesting the senior World Championships. Here's the video of the race:

http://www.twitvid.com/LAAC8

Some useful, slightly windy, runs in the semis of the men's 200m as Richard Kilty sets 21.04 (2.2m/sec) and 400m Nick Leavey 21.07 secs (2.2m/sec) in different heats. But Luke Fagan looks to have suffered a hamstring injury, hope it's not serious.

BBC's report on the BUPA London 10km earlier on with mixed feelings as Paula Radcliffe described it as a 'disaster' whereas Mo Farah and Jo Pavey were pleased with their day's work, as well as a reference to the test run of 39 runners at dawn today over the Olympic course that sets out and winds up on the Mall:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympic_games/london_2012/9500523.stm

I've got to say that "torn disk in the back" mention by Paula Radcliffe doesn't augur well for her season to me if it affects her as bad as it seems. Hope she gets over that soon as she can't afford to carry it with her over the heavy mileage she performs in training.

Top 5 finishers:

MEN
1.Mo Farah 29:15
2.Mehretab Solomon (ERI) 29:37
3.Andrew Lemoncello 29:38
4.Phil Wicks 29:41
5.Mark Warmby 29:50

WOMEN
1.Jo Pavey 32:22
2.Gemma Steel 32:48
3.Paula Radcliffe 33:17
4.Justina Heslop 33:20
5.Hollie Rowland 33:58
...
7.Alyson Dixon 34:22

In some other results from the CAU now, UK champion Jade Nicholls pulled another SB on the way at 57.35m to draw within just 14cm of Eden Francis's UK lead in the women's discus, the latter having to do with second with 55.56m.

If I figured out well, Somto Erutchie pipped one-lapper Nick Leavey right at the death of the men's 200m in 21.09 to 21.10 secs (1.2m/sec), a big PB from 21.28 secs for the latter.

Chris Craig and Julian Thomas were close behind in a PB of 21.14 and a SB of 21.16 secs respectively where Nigel Levine got an outdoor PB of 21.34 secs back in fifth.

David Hughes, suffering a non-finish in Geneva due to a knee complaint on Saturday, was content to complete a fitness test of a race in the semifinals of the 400m hurdles in a SB of 51.46 secs this time round and with restored confidence is heading off to Bydgoszcz, Poland, for the European Athletics Festival on Friday.

Alex Smith turned round a defeat at the hands of Mark Dry at Loughborough to prevail with 70.84m against 69.49m this time round in the hammer.

In the women's dash, Bernice Wilson set 11.58 secs behind Jodie Williams which would have been a PB but for a marginally faster 11.57 secs in the semis.

Nadia Williams was the winner of the women's triple jump with a SB of 13.40m (0.4m/sec) as World U20 silver medallist Laura Samuel clawed at precisecly 13m for bronze (-0.2m/sec) at a last-ditch attempt, tied with Sineade Gutzmore.

Last, Lee Doran took the men's javelin with 73.04m from an off-colour yet Merwyn Luckwell, who got 70.62m, and U23 Bonne Buwembo (70.43, SB).

Jo Jackson has obtained the A qualifying standard and virtually booked her place on the British team to Daegu over the 20km race walking as she covered the distance in 1h31:50 at the Olympic test event on the Mall earlier on, going through 10km in 46:13 (45:37 second 10km).

Forgot to mention through the weekend that Thomas Phillips, an U23, took a full three tenths of a second off his PB to 50.22 secs at the NCAA West Regional champs, another Brit drawing on the brink of the 50 secs barrier.

On the women's side of the event, Chelmsford's 16-year-old Hayley McLean pulled a huge PB of 59.58 secs on her home town soil to improve from a recent 61.18 secs. As I can gather from her card, she's a useful all-rounder into the bargain.

I can't recall whether I've mentioned Abbi Carter, just 17, reaching on the verge of 60m in the hammer after a PB of 59.55m at the Loughborough International. At the same meeting, former UK No1 Zoe Derham posted a SB of 64.95m, as did second-placed Laura Douglas with 64.05m.

Here's more of the action at the Test Event, doubling as the UK Race Walking Championships, on the Mall where Jo Jackson attained the Olympic and World A standard in a time of 1h31:50 despite difficult conditions.

http://www.uka.org.uk/media/news/may-2011/31-05-11-uk-race-walking/