Sheena’s 2023 Athletics Thread

BoysForSeles

BoysForSeles

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A world championships year is always a bit more exciting. Budapest this time. Which event are we most looking forward to? At the start of the season I was thinking the women’s 400 metres might be the most intriguing and am sticking with that for now.
 
Oh and if anyone well organised could pop in a day or so in advance with a reminder of Diamond league events that would be most appreciated.
 
BoysForSeles said:
A world championships year is always a bit more exciting. Budapest this time. Which event are we most looking forward to? At the start of the season I was thinking the women’s 400 metres might be the most intriguing and am sticking with that for now.
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Oh yes - Is Sydney mclaughlin running the flat or the hurdles though? Also the women's 800m!
 
Sydney will stick with the hurdles I think- she's not actually learned the 400 yet. The US Trials will give us more of an idea, I think, but her pacing is really off and all this talk of her breaking the WR seems light years away. Famous last words!

I'm most interested in the return of Salwa Eid Naser, who I think is still going to be a major force come Worlds. It's a shame Shaunae is on maternity leave, as that would have been blinding- I really hope she's back in form next year and doesn't carry out that promise of not bothering with the 400m again.

I am also interested in the women's sprints this year- something odd is going on with the Jamaicans, who aren't really in any kind of form. For the 100m, Shelly- Ann hasn't raced this season so is presumably injured, Elaine ran 11.24 last week and Shericka has a 10.7 to her name, but was well down on that last week too. It's a shame Dina seems in no form either, as I really do think this is a year where there's going to be a mix- up of who wins medals. Ta Lou looks really good, but I'm really hoping she doesn't actually get anything...
 
Richardson is looking very good this year. Yes, we’ve been there before but it feels like (maybe) she’s getting her act together.

Last I heard Sydney was doing the flat at the trials but hadn’t decided on the worlds.
 
Yes I was wondering about DIna, she pulled out of a race then was sluggish in another one I saw, is Neita going to challenge for that #1 British spot this season do we think?
 
BoysForSeles said:
Richardson is looking very good this year. Yes, we’ve been there before but it feels like (maybe) she’s getting her act together.

Last I heard Sydney was doing the flat at the trials but hadn’t decided on the worlds.
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I still don't trust her. Apparently she's one strike away from a whereabouts ban as well- the rumours are that she'd missed 3 or 4 but has managed to get away with it through lawyers.

Sydney is doing flat at trials as she has the wildcard for the hurdles at worlds. I still think it might be a mistake to double up- same goes for the new American Britton Wilson, who crashed and burned at the NCAAs (where the new Irish find Rhasidat Adeleke became a real contender as well).
 
Halli said:
Yes I was wondering about DIna, she pulled out of a race then was sluggish in another one I saw, is Neita going to challenge for that #1 British spot this season do we think?
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I hope Dina can (as usual) get it together for Worlds. Neita famously has had a series of big race chokes. It's still very much up in the air.
 
Also Hodgkinson breaking the British record in her first outdoor 800m of the season? Setting up another great clash with Mu.
Is Keeley eying a place in our 400m relay team too? :disco:
 
That Euros was really there for the taking for Neita, that kind of race does tell you something about an athlete but hoping she has a good season.

Bol also has posted good flat 400 times indoors, has she announced her Budapest intentions? There are many ways to run a race so I’ll be proved wrong but when Koch and Kratochvilova went sub 48 they both did a blistering first 200 metres. I know other factors were at play but the current field don’t have their basic sprinting speed so it’s interesting to see what the alternative approach to getting under 48 will be.
 
Not just the Euros- she should have done better than bronze at the Commonwealths and she also should have at least got silver, if not gold, at the European Indoors this year. She keeps running great semis and then not backing it up in the final- even when you get to her breakthrough year in 2021, she ran sub 11 in the semi and then 11.12 for last in the final- though admittedly she wasn't expected to do much better than 8th there. I do feel there's an issue there, which I hope someone has worked on her with over the winter.

I can't see Bol looking beyond the 400 Hurdles in Budapest. She's almost in PB shape already and looks likely to be the third athlete under 52 seconds this year. At the 400, she'll be lucky to get a medal with Salwa, Paulino and potentially Sydney there. The events overlap so can't really be doubled. She'll also likely run both 400 relays, so I can't see her doing anything else.
 
Lausanne tonight :disco: First one this year I'll watch live. From what I can see Hodgkinson and Neita both lining up
 
Whizzed through Stockholm late last night - bad luck with the weather after 2 months of no rain there, obviously affected the times, and the broadcast, I remember downpours in the 90's in places like Zurich etc and them carrying on and it not affecting the commentary? Anyway, Neita got one over Asher-Smith, obviously they are competitive with eachother but do i sense they are actually not speaking now and not embracing eachother? :o
 
What a messy meeting- the weather, the coverage, the protestors on the track!

Stockholm often suffers from being cold, but last night really was a mess. But I still enjoyed it.

I know Dina's Mum and she was telling me last summer how they and all the other relay girls were all really good friends, but yes, I noticed the not embracing thing yesterday- it may have just been "it's cold, I want to get the fuck off this track" from Dina, so I wouldn't read that much into it. I think given the conditions, that was a 22.2 from both of them, so Dina is heading back in the right direction, albeit still not in her best form. Daryll looks great, though- I really want to see her run a 21.x this year- she's clearly capable.
 
Hows our 4x100 relay looking this year? Is Asha Phillips fit? I am guessing Lansiquot would take the second leg?
 
Halli said:
Hows our 4x100 relay looking this year? Is Asha Phillips fit? I am guessing Lansiquot would take the second leg?
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Asha isn't in bad form at all, but normally gets better as trials loom closer. Imani has been second leg for a while, so should stay there, I'd have thought. Bianca Williams is back in half decent form too, so is a good back up.
 
world class team isn't it when the baton gets round

Its about time we got a 400m female doing the business isn't it, all been a bit middling for a while now for us in that event. I love the 4x4 relay the most.
 
I’m focussed on the tennis right now but have been seeing some exciting times being posted at various national championships.

Is there a decent one stop resource for global track & field results anywhere? Anything google brings up seems a little chaotic or not that organised.
 
Been scanning the results of the British Champs, Muir being beaten is a bit of a surprise. Neita willing the 200m and Dina the 100m but they didn't double up? I'd have liked to see them go against eachother again
 
Halli said:
Been scanning the results of the British Champs, Muir being beaten is a bit of a surprise. Neita willing the 200m and Dina the 100m but they didn't double up? I'd have liked to see them go against eachother again
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Clearly avoiding each other. Both are obvious picks for the other event so didn't need to do two.

Muir has looked out of sorts all season. Not quite sure what is going on there, but maybe coaching herself now isn't working.
 
Tobi Amusan provisionally suspended for missing three drugs tests.
She'll miss the World Champs if Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) upholds the charge.

Hmmm.
 
So the final team selections will be made this week and it seems the UK is banging on with its ridiculous policy of sending a small team rather than interacting properly with World Athletics' new ranking and invite system.

For those who don't understand, World Athletics have changed the system of just getting a qualifying time to one where your world ranking (amassed from performances within the last 12 months) counts. Basically, you CAN qualify by time but it's super tough (really top 8 in the world level) and then after that, if you're in the top ranked athletes in the world, you get a World Athletics invite. This has been on the cards for years and for some reason, UKA have decided they don't want to play along and will only accept qualifying times. There are a few athletes to be added who have hit the UKA qualifying standards (usually slightly (but only slightly) less than World Athletics') but loads of qualified athletes will be left at home.

It's fucking insanity- if they actually go ahead with it (as it seems to be), they are the only federation worldwide seemingly doing so and they will be leaving a number of potential finalists at home. For example, Jade O'Dowda is something like 10 points off the heptathlon standard, has been improving all year and her ranking is within the world top 20. She's a likely top 8 finisher if she scores equivalent to her last heptathlon, even better if she improves.

The madness is that it gives young athletes no chance to have a breakout performance, to get experience at this level (particularly before Olympic year), no chance of public exposure for things like sponsorship (which in turn will mean more money and more chance to train at a higher level), no public recognition and inspiration for youngsters (right now, for example, we literally have 1 male field event athlete selected!). Also, athletes going in the relay aren't allowed to run the individual without the times- so we're taking people, the cost of everything is already there, but we're denying them the chance to run an individual event.

Athletes are furious and some are talking about legal challenges and I entirely see why. World Athletics have made the qualifying standards so much higher so that rankings are considered an equally appropriate and valid way to get into championships and we're completely ignoring that.

I'm fucking incensed about it.
 
It is ridiculous and I assume there is nothing remotely like a budget issue. I mean 10 points in the heptathlon could be just a matter of lucking out and hitting the board on long jump or having a bit of a tail wind in the hurdles for example.

I did notice the qualifying times were high end. Years ago there used to be a tough but not entirely unrealistic A standard where you could send up to 3 athletes who’d made it and if nobody had you could send one athlete who had made a B standard.
 
Also you have the Diamond League to filter out the elite athletes and I think a world champs or Olympics should have a much broader range. You wouldn’t start a grand slam tennis tournament from the last 16 onwards.
 
BoysForSeles said:
It is ridiculous and I assume there is nothing remotely like a budget issue. I mean 10 points in the heptathlon could be just a matter of lucking out and hitting the board on long jump or having a bit of a tail wind in the hurdles for example.

I did notice the qualifying times were high end. Years ago there used to be a tough but not entirely unrealistic A standard where you could send up to 3 athletes who’d made it and if nobody had you could send one athlete who had made a B standard.
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The budget is an interesting point- UK Athletics made a massive loss last year and lost its biggest sponsor (Muller). But they are claiming the decision is not a financial one- which, in some ways, surely makes it worse?

And the point of "lucking out" is another- we have generally unfavourable athletics conditions in this country (see the UK trials for an example!) whereas other countries have far hotter and far better climates. Just going on ridiculously hard times puts us at a massive disadvantage.

Also, Worlds are within the Olympic qualifying window- so any decent times run in Budapest will count towards Paris and save a lot of athletes chasing standards when they should be training for that.
 
BoysForSeles said:
Also you have the Diamond League to filter out the elite athletes and I think a world champs or Olympics should have a much broader range. You wouldn’t start a grand slam tennis tournament from the last 16 onwards.
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I remember an athlete called Alison Leonard a few years back who qualified for the Olympics but they wouldn't take her. She wasn't in any way a potential medallist and an unlikely finalist, but, as she said, making the Olympics is a massive goal in itself and was, for her, her "gold medal". I don't see how you can deny athletes their chance to compete on the biggest stage when they've met the main criteria to compete.
 
And do NOT get me started on the mess of the Diamond Fucking League. Literally NO ONE (including the athletes) understands how it actually works, half the time when it's on and what it actually means.
 
Also, this is really good:

www.bbc.co.uk

BBC World Service - Sportsworld, The stars of the 1983 World Championships – a BBC Warm Up Track Special

Celebrating 40 years of the World Athletics Championships with the first edition’s stars.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

BBC Sounds programme on the first World Championships, in 1983, with contributions from Steve Cram (obvious but he's a great storyteller) and somewhat more surprisingly, amongst others, Juliet Cuthbert, who was at the Championships but was eventually Olympic 100/200 silver medallist in Barcelona '92 and as a result, right up in the pantheon of my all time athletics heroes, being in the thick of the Ottey/Torrence/Devers/Privalova sprint queen era.

Most interesting take away was something I never knew- the original plan was to make the WCs the showpiece for athletics, particularly in a world of Olympic boycotts and, like the football World Cup is the most important football event, make it more important than the Olympic Games. Apparently, the plans were to eventually make the Olympics an under 23 competition!
 
Oh I’ll definitely watch that’s. Yes, the worlds would’ve been so exciting particularly for the GDR v USA v USSR clashes. Thankfully plenty of the footage is on YouTube these days. Yes, I know it’s tainted but looking back an Ashford v Gohr showdown at the 84 Olympics was a race we were robbed off.

Juliet Cuthbert was an odd one to me. Ottey and Grace Jackson were world level regular finalists but Juliet always felt second string to them until she emerged seemingly (out of nowhere) to be on a par with them or better that season. Mind you athletics coverage at the time might have meant I missed her improvements along the way.
 
Look for Basil Sage on YouTube. He has uploaded basically entire BBC broadcasts of most World Champs/ Euro Champs/ Commonwealth Games, including all of the 80s/ 90s, and most of the Olympics, though some of that gets removed- yeah, thanks IOC, cause you're so FUCKING GOOD at uploading heats of the women's 200m from 1992. :manson: I've lost many a weekend watching all of his stuff. The 83/87 Worlds were before my interest, so watching all of that as complete coverage was brilliant!

I would class the 100/200 scene in those days as top four, then Mary Onyali/ Cuthbert/ Perec (only in the sprints, not the 400 obvs)/ Pauline Davis etc. as the supporting characters. It was all so much fun. I miss those days.

But as for Cuthbert's progression, she was an Olympic finalist in Seoul in 88 and sub 11 and then took time off to have a baby. She came back in '91 and was again a World finalist, before 1992, which, yes, was her best season by far. She was injured in the 4x100 in Barcelona and that was almost career ending and she never managed to get back to the same heights again. She raced really sparingly in 1993 and missed the individual events, but was a World finalist a couple of times more and made the Olympic 200 final in Atlanta. She most certainly made a big improvement in '92, but it wasn't "out of nowhere" over 100m and she'd never (to my memory) concentrated on the 200m before '92- I can't remember her entering a major champs at that distance before then.
 
Yes I have been reading about the UK selection process and some athletes protesting, imagine being INVITED by the world champs as you are top 40 in the world and then your own federation blocking it. Think it was Lena Nielson speaking out amongst others?

And the Diamond League, I thought the premise was athletes clock up points and a ranking over all of the different meets and the winner gets a big cash prize? Has it changed, or do they all face off in the Diamond League final? I have lost track!
 
Sydney OUT of the World Champs with a 'minor' injury
and maybe Mu too?
 
Halli said:
Sydney OUT of the World Champs with a 'minor' injury
and maybe Mu too?
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That’s a shame, it’s a knee issue that she wants to protect for the Olympics, understandable I guess.

Could be totally wrong but the Athing Mu sounds like coach’s bluster and head games as the reason I’ve seen is to have an extended preparation for the Olympics. You don’t skip a world’s for that.
 
The fuss around this is weird. Everyone is forgetting that the US normally do Olympics- Worlds- Off Year- Worlds- Olympics. Covid has meant no break and so I’m not surprised some athletes might not be at their peak.

The Mu thing is mind games I reckon. She’ll be there.

Having said all of that, I don’t trust Bobby Kersee as a coach anyway.
 
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