THE 13th IAAF World Athletics championships concluded on Sunday in Daegu, South Korea and it was a championship to remember. Some major shocks, close finishes and stunning individual performances came together over nine days of thrilling and compelling action. Great Britain’s athletes returned last night to the UK after a mixed championship. They managed to earn seven medals, matching the target set out by the coach of UK Athletics, Charles van Commenee. However, some form was very patchy from many ‘banker’ gold medal hopefuls and big improvements and decisions have to be made soon, especially with London 2012 less than a year away.
Great Britain come home with two gold medals, four silvers and one bronze; the biggest haul of medals at any world championships since 1993 in Stuttgart. On the face of it, this sounds very good, considering we finished sixth in the medals table and only behind the powers of America, Jamaica, Kenya, Russia and Germany; probably all expected to be ahead of us. However, does the Daegu haul put us on the right track for the Olympics next summer?
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| DELIGHT: Mo Farah recovered from 10,000m heartbreak in style |
First, the positives and they come from Mo Farah and Di Greene, who produced their golden moments in clinical style. Farah was bravely beaten into silver position in the men’s 10,000m by a late burst from Ibrahim Jeilan of Ethiopia. On Sunday, he refused to be denied in his success at the 5,000m. Mo is now the best ever long-distance runner Great Britain has ever had and he can hold his head up high. In the 5,000m, he ran the race perfectly, especially when you consider the tactics the Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes are likely to employ on dangers outside their continent. In Di Greene, Britain has its best hurdler since the days of Sally Gunnell. He was in peak form throughout the championship and he burst through right at the end on Thursday night to claim gold in the men’s 400m hurdles. The winning time of 48.26secs was enough to see off his main threat, Javier Culson from Puerto Rico. With hard work and persistence, these two athletes have to be proud of what they have achieved in South Korea.
The surprise of the championships from a British perspective was Hannah England’s shock, but rewarding silver medal in the women’s 1500m. She was completely off the radar and getting into the final was an achievement in itself. The shock on her face as she crossed the line was one of the pictures of the championships. With 200m to go, it looked like Hannah had been run out of it, but she went wide and as athletes began to tire in the finishing straight, she kicked for home and got her just rewards. Well done Hannah on a stunning performance! Andy Turner also did well to win bronze in the men’s 110m hurdles, although there was some luck in his medal. Turner crossed the line in fourth, but the winner on the track; Cuban Dayron Robes was disqualified following a clash on the penultimate hurdle with Liu Xiang of China, which promoted Turner into the bronze medal position. For me, it was unfortunate, but Xiang would have won the race had it not been for the clash, so it was the right decision to disqualify Robes.
Other silver medals came from expected gold medal hopefuls. Phillips Idowu was unable to hang onto his triple jump championship, as he was beaten by a sensational jump from a young starlet. 21-year old Christian Taylor, from the United States produced a massive leap of 17.96m to deny Idowu gold. It was a shame for Phillips, as he produced a series of consistent jumps and at any other world championship gone by, his best jump of just over 17.70m would have won him gold. You just have to hand it to Taylor, who nailed it just right on the day. Britain’s golden girl Jessica Ennis had to settle for silver too, in the women’s heptathlon. Despite getting a higher points total than she managed to win gold in Berlin two years ago, Ennis had to settle for silver, behind the Russian Tatyana Chernova. However, Jess will be disappointed with a clumsy 100m hurdles and a shocking javelin, which was her ultimate downfall. Sometimes you can’t get it right all the time and there is no doubt that Jessica Ennis will win many more heptathlons, but one bad event will cost you in this high class field. It is something you might get away with at the Commonwealth Games, but not at the world Championships.
Big disappointments for Britain were the failure to get any male or female sprinters into the finals of the men’s and women’s 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m. It is an abject failure to say the least, with the biggest sporting event in this country less than a year away. Dwain Chambers false started in his 100m semi-final and knocked himself out of participation in the final. With his Olympic ban for failing a drugs test back in 2003 still likely to stand, we might have seen the controversial Chambers at a major championships for a final time. Having achieved a bronze medal in Berlin, Jenny Meadows was a massive disappointment in the women’s 800m, getting knocked out in the semi-final stage. Meadows was definitely a medal contender, so her early demise from these championships were a real letdown. Despite having struggled with injuries, Martin Rooney’s form is so erratic; you wonder why he even bothers. He failed at the semi-final stage of the individual 400m and didn’t look much better in the relays. No wonder why the Korean journalists thought he was Wayne Rooney, it says it all! Finally, the relay squads have a lot to answer for. Only the 4x400m women can feel satisfied, running a solid race to fourth without any mistakes. Once again, questions will be pointed at the 4x100m men’s team, which once again; yep you guessed it, dropped the baton! Marlon Devonish needs to work on his target practice too. Why did he throw the baton at team-mate Harry Aikines-Aryeetey. For someone so experienced as Devonish, it was a ridiculous action! Maybe it is time for UK Athletics to cut money in our relay squads and invest it in other areas of the team, as excuses run thin and they are certainly out of them.
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| SHOCK: Bolt realises it's too late as he faces a DQ in the 100m |
Away from Britain and it was a miserable championships for Usain Bolt; he only won two gold medals!! Bolt’s amazing false start in the 100m final, when the gold medal was already being engraved in his name shook the world. It was training partner and countryman Yohan Blake who won the prestigious sprint gold. Bolt recovered from his blip to dominate the 200m, then be part of the Jamaican squad that broke the world record in the 4x100m relay; fittingly the final event of the championships. 35-year old Kim Collins, the 100m champion back in Paris in 2003, rolled back the years with two bronze medals and there was also a bronze (200m) and silver (4x100m) for the talented Christophe Lemaitre of France. Lemaitre is definitely Europe’s best hope of stopping the Jamaican/American domination. Jamaica’s Veronica-Campbell Brown won the women’s 200m; the title that had eluded her throughout her lengthy and successful career as Allyson Felix failed in her quest to take a sprint double. Felix had to settle for silver in the women’s 400m and bronze in the 200m. Finally, the individual performance of the championships has to go to Australia’s Sally Pearson, who broke her PB in the semi-finals of the women’s 100m hurdles, then went onto smash it again and take a championship record in the final just three hours later. It was a popular success with the hundreds of Australian fans that had made the short journey to Daegu.
Also, this was the first IAAF World Athletics championships not to be covered live on TV by the BBC. Channel 4 won the rights last summer and to the 2013 championships in Moscow too. However, they badly need an experienced sports presenter. Whilst Michael Johnson’s analysis was fantastic as ever and was backed up by strong commentary from the likes of John Rawling, Rob Walker and Katherine Merry, the anchor let them down. Ortis Deley was a nightmare for the first three days. Who decided to hire him!! He knows next to nothing about athletics and eventually, the bumbling host was axed into a tame reporting role three days into the championships. The mistakes on the YouTube video (see below) speak volumes for themselves. Rick Edwards, best known as the guy from T4 who introduces Hollyoaks, Friends and One Tree Hill to teenage morning viewers, did a solid job and carried the baton on without ever being remarkable. If Channel 4 is serious about sport like they say they are, it’s time to sign someone up who has been there in sports presenting, done it and can lead the way.
Daegu 2011 will go down as a memorable championship for many people. Great Britain have made significant strides forward, but improvements still have to be made, with London less than a year away now. No more excuses, it’s time to deliver!
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