European Team Championships, Stockholm, Sweden June 18-19

I think it's about time we got a thread going over the European Team Championships in the top flight that commence tomorrow and stretch across the weekend, with the British team well involved despite forced to field a well-depleted line-up. With the likes of Phillips Idowu, Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah missing, Britain's chances of making a top three placing in the overall standings have all but evaporated but skipper European champion Dai Greene and chief coach Charles van Commennee are adamant that the squad are out to deliver a good performance that will do them credit.

Dai Greene himself, Jenny Meadows, Dwain Chambers, Andy Turner, Tiffany Offili-Porter and Perri Shakes-Drayton are some of the stars that ensure of plenty of quality still within the British outfit and will be looking to score maximum points in their events, Nicola Sanders and Kelly Sotherton are expected to be involved in the long relay action, where the likes of James Shane, Danny Talbot, Eilish McColgan and Stevie Stockton are blooded for the first time in a senior international championships. Therefore, there will be plenty and diverse interest in individual displays across the board.

Championships website:
http://www.european-athletics.org/3th-spar-european-athletics-team-championships.html

Final Entries

Men
http://www.european-athletics.org/entries-etchs-2011-men.html
Women
http://www.european-athletics.org/entries-etchs-2011-women.html

Live Results:
http://www.sportresult.com/sports/la/ajax/eaa2.asp?module=timetable_date&event_id=10011100000004&lang=en

Sorry but can't be very famillar with the format. We are often missing big names, yet are nearly always in the top 2, let alone top 3.

ian_jamsie wrote:Sorry but can't be very famillar with the format. We are often missing big names, yet are nearly always in the top 2, let alone top 3.

When it was split, I would agree, but our women will have a tough time against Russia and Ukraine, without even factoring in a resurgent France or Germany, of whom few events lack depth

GBR's big issue remains one of depth - some are very strong, and our 3rd best would be OK, others (e.g. TJ, Sp, wHJ) are bereft of such luxury. I'd be happy with 3rd with this team

I won't go as far as predicting where the British team are going to end up in the table yet but this is my take on the Brits stepping into the arena in Stockholm today:

Sophie Hitchon is a superb competitor and relishes rising to the challenge so I should anticipate her to uphold her reputation and pull out something extra either in points or distance in the women's hammer today. Betty Heidler (GER) will be an overwhelming favourite to clinch this one.

Dai Greene lies head and shoulders above everyone else and should claim the men's 400m hurdles with ease. I don't think he needs to force the engines here but he may go out there to lead the team by example as captain and run something fast to set the tone.

Either way you see it, Greg Beard seems destined to fall in deep waters today as he holds the lowest SB or PB among all. He will definitely need a PB to scrape out of last. Big match-up between Andrei Mikhnevish and Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski in the men's shot.

Chris Tomlinson is a former winner of the competition and is in much better form than his SB suggest, having noticed that he's faster than ever on the runway. Unlike what many may think, I sense he's going to put in a real fight in the top three places in a long jump without a stand-out favourite.

In the women's pole vault, Holly Bleasdale has shown that she's fearless and loves punching above her weight, or height in that matter, so I'm expecting the presence of the likes of Anna Rogowska to fire her up and into new heights.

Anuika Onuora hasn't run since her astounding PB of 11.18 secs last month in Germany but now she is called on to reproduce that performance against the Ukrainian challenge of Olesya Pohv and Barcelona runner-up Veronique Mang, though the latter hasn't shown much form so far. The Brit looks confident and I'd expect her in the top three at least.

Conrad Williams has shown signs that he is moving up level and this is a chance for him to turn that into shape with a SB inside the Daegu B standard and a top three place. He goes in lane four with German Tomas Schneider a slight favourite.

Goldie Sayers has put together an excellent start to the season, beating the European champion in Turin, and will be fancying her chances to extend that over Stockholm. Mariya Abakumova and Christina Obergfoll may lie a little beyond her range at the moment but from there on she can well set her sights on third place.

Jenny Meadows is over a cold and a slight blip two weeks ago and is heading into another clash with Mariya Savinova over 800m on the back of a big SB of 1:59.27. The Russian looks to be a shade ahead at the moment but Jenny is a great racer and can perform and come up with the goods in any shape the race may take. Don't think she'll come below second.

Not in top nick at the moment but Samson Oni is on the way up and could add to his recent SB of 2.24m to get a few extra points than his standing suggests. If he can get a fourth or fifth, he'll have done fine.

Dwain Chambers is enjoying his best build-up into a season ever with four runs in the 10.0 region and will be brimming with confidence after running Yohan Blake and Daniel Bailey close in Strasburg. Christophe Lemaitre will start as slight favourite in the 100m on current form but I reckon this is going to be very tight and I'm expecting Dwain to move up a gear and could go under 10 secs if conditions are decent.

I've heard many good things about Stevie Stockton this season but she's been a little unconvincing in her outings so far; hopefully she's going to buck the trend and put in a good run in the 3000m and place around sixth or thereabouts.

I really fancy Perri Shakes-Drayton to produce some fireworks and lay down her marker with a win over Zuzana Henjova and Natalya Antyukh in the women's 400m hurdles, she's a superb performer all the way and knows to raise her game when it matters. A mid to low 54 secs looks well on the cards.

Yasmine Regis is going to struggle in the women's triple jump but she's at least considerably better than two in the field and could hope to pick off someone that slips up from above.

I think James Shane can surprise a few in the men's 1500m as he's got a lot more in the tank than his recent PB of 3:39.11 recommends. This is very likely going to be a slow early pace-late burn-up race and his strength could tell while he's not short of speed either. Manuel Olmedo will be more than happy in this sort of race and hard to beat but from there on everyone lies within breathing distance.

I'm a firm believer that Eilish McColgan is going to be among the season revelations in British athletics and this is a ground where she can make an early mark. Forget her 9:58.13 PB early this month, everything around indicates she's in 9:46-48 form or thereabouts and she's brimming with speed as she showed last weekend in Watford. A top six finish is well feasible there.

James Campbell hasn't quite been in the same form as last month but I hope that he picks up her and reaches somewhere around his SB of 80.18m. There are four beyond him in this competition but everyone else is beatable.

Shana Cox is going to have a tough task running on the outside but she's an aggressive runner and hopefully she's fully over a slump of form a few weeks ago. She has shown potential of low 50 secs and can beat anyone in this field on her day.

I don't know how Andy Vernon may cope today as he looks to be turning his hand to the steeplechase, where he made his debut last weekend, and he could be short of a proper build-up for this race as a late call-up. His recent PB of 13:27.85 places him well high though.

Britain have got a very useful team in the women's 4x100m in terms of individuals and as long as they perform some decent changeovers they should be in the shake-up for a top three spot while the men have too much depth for anyone else in the short relay and should prevail barring accident.

Just tuned in to watch this on the Beeb. Really hoping for a good team showing here with a lot of youngsters for us all to keep our eye on. Looking forward to it!

The only difference between Eilish McColgan and the three-four runners ahead of her was her appalling water jumps (hope Eliz forgives me for saying so), while her hurdling was well improved over the other barriers, otherwise she would have run some 10 secs faster today. She stills clinched a new PB of 9:55.13 for ninth but there's a lot more to come there!

Great performance from James Shane to claim a superb third in the men's 1500m in 3:39.21, slightly outside his PB - the lad can go a long way!

Very good race by Shana Cox from lane eight to come home a close third in 51.49 secs, looks strong again.

Good news by the way that James Brewer is racing again after quite some time today, looking forward to his result!

Good run by Andy Vernon to get third in the 5000m in 13:40.15 despite being a late call-up in place of Chris Thompson. So far most 'subs' have performed very well!

Going a little back today, Goldie Sayers showed that's she's back to her very best and even better to come second against a world-class field with 64.46m, a huge SB and her second furthest ever behind her own UK record. For good measure, her opening 64.31m was her third best in her career showing sound endurance through the rounds while she claimed two top scalps in Barbora Spotakova (CZE) and Mariya Abakumova (RUS).

Very poor, actually marginal, handover between Laura Turner and Abi Oyepitan at the end that definitely cost the British relay a place after some good work by Jeanette Kwakye and Anuika Onuorah (43.50).

For me Goldie's was the stand out performance from the British team today. Really back towards her best form now.

Pretty good performance overall as well - on paper the Ukraine team should beat us to 3rd tomorrow.

Any news on an appeal by the British womens relay team? i must say Onuora ran away from a 11.1 runner on leg 2 and charged down Wagner 11.3 this year, she did actually look (Other than Ryemyen) the class sprinter in that relay, Impressed me.

TrackJack wrote:Any news on an appeal by the British womens relay team? i must say Onuora ran away from a 11.1 runner on leg 2 and charged down Wagner 11.3 this year, she did actually look (Other than Ryemyen) the class sprinter in that relay, Impressed me.

The women's relay team were re-instated on appeal.

Glad they were, because that final change was poor but it was in the box, just.

Thanks, good news! That team (Change Turner for Williams) has great potential, arguably to be the best in Europe.

I think that it was an overall good first day for the British team and there was plenty to cheer about from some strong performances from top individuals like Dai Greene, Goldie Sayers and Jenny Meadows through to rather surprising top three places by James Shane and Andy Vernon while most newcomers stepped up to the challenge and performed.

But I reckon that the greatest gain of the day was the return of Goldie Sayers to the thick of matters in the global javelin as she turned in her second and third furthest marks ever (64.31, 64.46), showed character to snatch a brilliant second at the death against very much the best throwers the world has to offer and displayed a sound endurance across her attempts.

I can't really recall another time that she came up with a big last throw in a competition to illustrate how much she has improved as an athlete in all departments while she rises as a force to be reckoned with over the medal battle in Daegu. Brilliant scalps in Spotakova and Abakumova too!

Very good showing by Chris Tomlinson with three legal jumps over 8m to get third, attaining a Daegu B qualifier of 8.12m and Shana Cox showed very strong to come through in third in the women's 400m despite running on the outside. Watch this space next season!

There were excellent senior international debut for James Shane in a superb third in the 1500m just outside his PB, Stevie Stockton in the 3000m (7th, 9:00.67 PB) and Eilish McColgan with a PB of 9:55.13 in the 'chase although the latter apparently left plenty of seconds round the water jumps. But there's a lot more to come there.

Perri Shakes-Drayton messed up her stride pattern over the second half of the race and still held on for third in 55.06 secs to offer a glimpse of what she is capable of this season. Shame it didn't come off today but it's a matter of time before she hits under 54 secs.

Anuika Onuora turned out a pure riddle today starting off to a below par individual 100m in 11.43 secs but coming back with a well-improved anchor in the short relay later. What happened to her?

The boys worked some safe handovers to speed to a convincing win in the end in the men's 4x100m without some top names which comes to underline some good strength in depth and Andy Vernon ran a very good race to take third in the men's 5000m.

I'm slightly disappointed with Dwain Chambers who tensed up slightly midway through, rather uncharacteristic for a sprinter of his experience, to suffer a thorough defeat at the hands of Lemaitre. But he still ran 10.07 secs that way, his fifth outing in that region.

hi isabre, i share your admiration for lemaitre, clearly he is something special.

I was actually referring to the performances of the British team, Iamian, not the French. Christophe Lemaitre is good but sometimes hyped over the odds. Nevertheless, what really matters is who is going to finish strongest at the peak of the season.

I'm sorry if I don't admire him at the same rate as you do but he's not quite my type of sprinter. And I'm perfectly entitled to that.

iamian01 wrote:hi isabre, i share your admiration for lemaitre, clearly he is something special.

But not on a Global level. He's miles away from the best. As are all the brits.

sorry isabre just pushing your buttons, why is he not your kind of sprinter?

teassoc, really is he miles from the best on a global level? consistent 10.0/9.9 ? i'm impressed, more so perhaps than by any other individual this year. no, he isn't going to beat bolt or gay, then again neither are a dozen others, including a number of 9.7/9.8 guys.

sadly now there is daylight between lemaitre and the best of british then more daylight between chambers and the rest of british. i'm an unashamed fan of chambers, really though we need a coming of age from somebody soon, not sure i see where it is coming from though.

I think Dwain is running for the love of the sport these days.

I am becoming more and more impressed with Lemaitre. He made Chambers look average yesterday.

There seems to be a lot that could be corrected in Lemitre's technique. I see a lot of similarities between Bolt and Lemaitre. If Lemaitre can get his technique right he is capable of a lot more, but he needs the self belief that he can do it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHms6G6XLuM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5X0NzVBE8o&feature=related

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLiibiV8SR0&playnext=1&list=PLE7232B26C1BC2A88

Great run from Andy Turner - 13.42 in those conditions awesome...

Regarding some of yesterday's performances;

Goldie Sayers - superb! [ Though I'd like to ask, what has happened to the men's javelin?! ]

Solid performance from Chamber over the 100m; couldn't have expected to beat Lamaitre, who's on fire a the moment. Thought Chambers had a very sluggish start - not his usual explosive start, leaving Lemaitre not having to do too much to pass him ( given the quality of Lemaitre's pick up ). However, do feel Chambers has more to come, and that he is still work in progress...

OK performance from Tomlinson - at least he's becoming more consistent in terms of 8m jumps.

Should also add, thought Andy Burnam's run yesterday was great. Gritty and determined...

Good run by Gareth Warburton there to finish 3rd. Solid race by him.

Not a great run from Porter...never mind

Porter - good interview though, considering some of the questions coming at her from Edwards

The men's pole vault has been delayed due to the conditions by the way.

Not as good day for GB. Quite a few disappointments.

Agree Isabre - Baddeley is so much better. He also didn't look sharp enough. However, feel that if he is going to make a mistake at an international event this year, then better here, in Sweden, than at the worlds later on i.e. hope that he is able to learn from this...

Superb run from Thomas!!! Found myself shouting at the Screen

what a run by Charlene Thomas to get the win! Was really worried she wouldn't find a gap in the home straight but she did it, really happy for her

Baddeley just didn't look sharp. The race being slow wasn't the issue.

He certainly shouldn't have pushed the pace on, I know he lost to the anyway but he would have been automatically losing to Higeuro and Silva had he have done that.

Hitting the front early is very much overrated.

...and what an interview from Thomas

I think Cram got it right re: Baddeley. He let them get those crucial 5m lead on him so he left himself a bit too much to do in the end. If he could only have just stayed a bit closer to them he'd have won.

An ok run from Talbot - 20 years of age, plenty more to come; good luck to the fella...

However, Lemaitre - this guy's likely to eventually take the both the Euro 100m and 200m records...

Also I'm not sure how big a scalp Nuria Fernandez is these days.

Her best performances all came before Operacion Galgo.

Good run though, should have a 4:02/03 in her in the next few weeks.

Is the pole vault going to be competed in?

Looks like Fernandez's leftover stache didn't go to waste. Good to see her helping her mates, haha.

InTheFastLane wrote:Is the pole vault going to be competed in?

I think at the start of the coverage they said it was going to take place indoors so they wouldn't be able to show us any of it but they would update us on the results.

ah, so close by the women in the 400m 4x4!

Russia just managed to hold on to the win, but that's a great second place.

Pole vault now in its early stages. Lewis over 5:20 at third attempt.

Great result for w 4 x 400. So close to Russia for first. Not many results today to cheer about. Looks like Russia, Germany, Ukraine as 1, 2 and 3 but we could sneak ahead of Ukraine if Lewis recovers from a bad start and the m 4 x 400 get a decent result (ahead of Ukraine).

lsabre wrote:Wonder really why Kelly Massey has been preferred over Kelly Sotherton and on the lead-off at that...

Seems strange. Maybe Sotherton pulled out otherwise they would have won it.

...

Disaster! The men's 4x400m team has been disqualified...

Steve Lewis needed three attempt to go over 5.20m but cleared 5.40m first time out so he's back into his stride.

lsabre wrote:Actually, Sotherton was disappointed because she wasn't picked for the relay earlier today.

Makes you wonder what the team management were thinking. Sotherton was always going to run around 52 seconds. What did they think Massey was capable of?

What happened to the men. DQ! Are they going to appeal?

Steve Lewis safely over 5:40 first time.

teassoc wrote:

lsabre wrote:Actually, Sotherton was disappointed because she wasn't picked for the relay earlier today.

Makes you wonder what the team management were thinking. Sotherton was always going to run around 52 seconds. What did they think Massey was capable of?

What happened to the men. DQ! Are they going to appeal?

Steve Lewis safely over 5:40 first time.

On what grounds? The DQ was totally fair & justified.

...

Tiger Rose wrote:

teassoc wrote:

lsabre wrote:Actually, Sotherton was disappointed because she wasn't picked for the relay earlier today.

Makes you wonder what the team management were thinking. Sotherton was always going to run around 52 seconds. What did they think Massey was capable of?

What happened to the men. DQ! Are they going to appeal?

Steve Lewis safely over 5:40 first time.

On what grounds? The DQ was totally fair & justified.

Thanks. I wasn't watching on TV so didn't know what happened.

Teassoc - it seemed that Buck turned too soon when he thought he had the baton off Bingham and it was dropped. Bingham then picked it up and threw it (against the rules) to Buck. Buck didn't actually catch it but by then we were already pretty certain to be DQ'd. Just a bit of a mess really!