Athletics 2015
Edward_Sloley
Posts: 10,043 Forum Member
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Another year has passed, and seven years after the 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing will once more become the premier focal point of the athletics world as it hosts the IAAF World Championships between 22 and 30 August inclusive. It will be the second time China hosts a World Athletics Series event during this particular season since Guiyang will host the IAAF World Cross Country Championships on 28 March.
In the meantime, here's a summary of other events happening this year (lists are not exhaustive):
International championships
European Indoor Championships 6-8 March
European Games 12-28 June"
European Team Championships 20-21 June"
European U23 Championships 9-12 July
IAAF World Youth Championships 15-19 July
European Junior Championships 16-19 July
WMRA World Mountain Running Championships 19 September
IPC World Championships 22-31 October*
The IAAF World Relays will take place on 2 & 3 May. It is not shown in the above list since it is technically not a championship (perhaps an argument for the ETC as well, although that event is named as such).
Domestic/international events in the UK
Great Edinburgh Cross Country 10 January
Glasgow International Match 24 January
Indoor British Championships/Euro Indoor Trials 14-15 February
Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix 21 February
London Marathon 26 April*
Diamond League (Birmingham) 7 June
British Championships/World Trials 3-5 July
Diamond League (London) 24-25 July^
Great North Run 6 September
Cardiff Half Marathon 4 October
[" The European Games athletics programme will be a combination of street athletics & the Third League of the ETC]
[* IPC WCh marathon events will happen during the London Marathon instead, replacing the IPC Marathon World Cup this year only]
[^ I'm not sure if the Olympic Stadium will be ready by then - readiness for the Rugby World Cup should be a priority]
In the meantime, here's a summary of other events happening this year (lists are not exhaustive):
International championships
European Indoor Championships 6-8 March
European Games 12-28 June"
European Team Championships 20-21 June"
European U23 Championships 9-12 July
IAAF World Youth Championships 15-19 July
European Junior Championships 16-19 July
WMRA World Mountain Running Championships 19 September
IPC World Championships 22-31 October*
The IAAF World Relays will take place on 2 & 3 May. It is not shown in the above list since it is technically not a championship (perhaps an argument for the ETC as well, although that event is named as such).
Domestic/international events in the UK
Great Edinburgh Cross Country 10 January
Glasgow International Match 24 January
Indoor British Championships/Euro Indoor Trials 14-15 February
Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix 21 February
London Marathon 26 April*
Diamond League (Birmingham) 7 June
British Championships/World Trials 3-5 July
Diamond League (London) 24-25 July^
Great North Run 6 September
Cardiff Half Marathon 4 October
[" The European Games athletics programme will be a combination of street athletics & the Third League of the ETC]
[* IPC WCh marathon events will happen during the London Marathon instead, replacing the IPC Marathon World Cup this year only]
[^ I'm not sure if the Olympic Stadium will be ready by then - readiness for the Rugby World Cup should be a priority]
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Comments
In the Xiamen Marathon (China), Mare Dibaba and Moses Mosop ran course records of 2:19:52 and 2:06:19 respectively to win their races; impressive times this early in the season. Mosop also broke the Chinese all-comers record, which previously belonged to the late Sammy Wanjiru - his 2:06:32 in the 2008 Olympic marathon remains astonishing when you consider that he did it in the summer without pacemakers.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/athletics/30683192
He's still on for the Birmingham indoor though.
On another subject, some of the youngsters shared their thoughts on London 2017.
Agreed bar Adam Gemili the girls are the most promising although the Worlds is a big step from last years champs. They also forgot some of the male big names like Chinedu Ujah and James Desaolu.
gemili and hudson smith for the men, to a lesser extent ujah (maybe a fluke) and dasalou (made of glass, fairly old)
for the girls - dasher and jodie williams in particular, possibly asha phillip at the sprints
have a feeling that it could be lyndsay sharps year this year and she will push on from her pb to do something special in the worlds, laura muir, aison leonard, judd are also decent prospects, gorecka at the longer distances, and kjt at the long jump and heptathlon, morgan lake too
hopefully perri shakes drayton can make a decent comeback from injury this year and holly bleasdale from whatever the hell was wrong with her
who do people think can push on from the list above and medal at the worlds this year, what about our established stars? what realistic medal prospects do you think we have?
http://www.teamgb.com/news/tomlinson-targets-world-champs-renaissance
Dasaolu (100)/Hudson-Smith (400) could be finalists this year; Ujah needs more consistency than he demonstrated last season.
For the next few years (at least), it's likely Gemili will remain the best of the male sprinters.
Would be nice to see the first two (and Bianca Williams) in the 200. Jodie looks like a potential finalist; the other two probably need another season.
Hard to see anyone in the 100 final, despite the depth demonstrated last year. Philip seems to do best over 60, even though she ran a PB in Glasgow; Dasher and Ashleigh Nelson probably need a couple more seasons, as does Desiree Henry.
Anything less than a medal for Christine Ohuruogu (400) would be disappointing. That race in Moscow was a classic.
Out of that bunch, Sharp is perhaps the most likely to earn a medal (800). Provided her foot is sorted out, that isn't a farfetched scenario. Laura Weightman (1500) is also a potential medalist this season as long as she maintains her good tactical acumen.
Muir (800 or 1500) and Judd (800) seem to be potential finalists, but not yet medal winners. I'm not convinced about Leonard's potential.
Gorecka has certainly made a great start to this season with victory in Edinburgh. She certainly has potential, but it'll probably be several years before it really comes to the fore.
Long jump - last season's PBs (both in/out) and world indoor silver underline KJT's great potential, though the heptathlon remains her priority. Time will tell if Shara Proctor (if she's fit) can nail a big one in the WC final - which she hasn't yet done in previous editions.
Heptathlon - Where do I start?
After 2 seasons without (much) action, JEH is focused on peaking for the 2016 Olympics, so don't expect her to win. A podium is still possible, though.
KJT is the favourite (for now) to win - her 6682 in the Hypo-Meeting was the best performance of 2014, and progress from there would stand her in good stead. There are four foreign competitors that may well be in the mix, though.
Assuming both JEH and KJT are fit, third spot selection will be interesting, as both Lake and Jessica Taylor have it in their sights.
Taylor needs a 249 point PB improvement to score the qualifying mark of 6075 (which Lake exceeded last season - twice). She's currently 26, but as Kelly Sotherton proved (Olympic bronze at 28), that is not impossible.
Lake will also be eligible for the European Juniors; if she wants to enter 2 champs this year, she cannot do heptathlons in both. The transition to senior ranks over the next few years will be critical to her international career. Incidentally, she is aiming to finish in the top 8 at London 2017.
I believe PSD is concentrating on the 400 this year, then switches back to the 400H next year, which is interesting since I wasn't sure if she'd ever hurdle again.
Not sure how Bleasdale will fare this season.
Hard to see Farah winning the 10,000 & 5,000 together. Maybe the 10,000 (plus podium in 5,000).
Rutherford could medal in the long jump; Porter could medal again in 100H; Sharman an outside medal shot in 110H.
At least one medal to be earned in the relays (most likely either 4x400).
Would also like to see the women's high jump NR hit 2m within the next few years.
I don't expect to be entirely correct in my predictions - as ever, nothing is guaranteed. There's still over half a year to go...
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JEH will compete at this year's Hypo-Meeting, apparently.
Morgan also confirmed last week that she will be competing at Gotzis. Any chance either BBC or Eurosport will cover it this year or will I have to rely on the Austrian TV feed again?
More stuff straight off the press - UKA have published their 2015 WC selection policy and FAQs.
Here's a particularly interesting extract:
In theory, that changes nothing for JEH and KJT as they're a class apart from the rest. If more than 3 per country can compete in Götzis, that'll add more spice to the competition for that third spot.
Would love Eurosport to cover Gotzis - I'm more excited for that than any Diamond League meeting.
As things stand Morgan Lake can't compete in Heptathlon at both Beijing and the Euro Juniors due to the British Athletics new selection rules which mean athletes can't double up in both age group champs and Worlds, including most ridiculously the U23s. I think it might be a bit too much to expect Jess Taylor to improve so much again this year to get the qualifying mark of 6075.
heres my predictions, wildly ambitious i know, but i feel that this will be our biggest medal haul at a worlds, obviously not all those below will win medals and there may even be a surprise in some events
100 finalist - dassalou
200 bronze - gemili
400 finalist mhs, rooney
800 finalist - osagie
1500 top 10 finish - chris o hare
5000 gold or silver farah
10,000 gold or silver farah (dont think he will win both)
110 hurdles - finalist will sharman
400 hurdles - finalist dai greene
4x100 - medal silver or bronze (probably bronze)
4x400 - medal silver or bronze
long jump - medal - rutherford
100 maybe one finalist if someones season goes well and they lower their pb
200 finalist - jodie williams
400 medal (any colour) ohurugu
800 medal (bronze) lyndsey sharp, final (possibly) judd
1500 possible final - muir + weightman
5000 pavey (will make one of the 2 finals)
10,000 pavey (will make one of the 2 finals)
110 hurdles bronze - porter
400 hurdles possibe bronze
4x100 - possible bronze or silver
4x400 possible bronze (probably 4th or 5th)
hep - gold , silver or bronze jeh + kjt
long jump bronze, possibly silver kjt, proctor (possible bronze as well)
* Colin Jackson & Sally Gunnell ran WRs to win gold (!); Linford Christie would have with the tailwind Carl Lewis had in Tokyo 1991 (he still ran an AR for gold!)
* 10 medals won in total (no double-figure haul since)
* Jonathan Edwards began his collection of 7 consecutive global triple jump medals there
In the meantime, there are a couple of Combined Events International Indoor Matches happening simultaneously on 24-25 January; Apeldoorn for the Seniors from CZE/ESP/FRA/GBR/NED and Nogent-sur-Oise for the U23s & Juniors from ESP/FRA/GBR. British teams are listed on the UKA site.
http://sport.bt.com/more-sport-hub/more-sport/iaaf-probes-new-russia-controversy-S11363954687231
She's doing the Northern Indoors in Sheffield this weekend, good to see what sort of shape she is in.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2097298/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/athletics/30896611
MEN
60m: Richard Kilty
400m: Conrad Williams (captain)
800m: James Bowness
1500m: Stephen Mitchell
60m hurdles: David Omoregie
High jump: Chris Kandu
Pole vault: Luke Cutts
Long jump: Chris Tomlinson
4x400m: Williams, Rabah Yousif, Richard Buck, Elliot Rutter, Jarryd Dunn
WOMEN
60m: Rachel Johncock
400m: Kelly Massey
800m: Shelayna Oskan-Clarke
1500m: Jessica Judd
60m hurdles: Serita Solomon
Long jump: Jazmin Sawyers
4x400m: Massey, Seren Bundy-Davies, Emily Diamond, Victoria Ohuruogu
Looks like the BBC won't be covering this one as they usually do, will have a look to see if there is alternative coverage.
Not too bad overall - equalled her 60mh PB of 8.40, OK shot but no signs of big improvements here & a 6.62 Long Jump
British Athletics has announced the team for Saturday's international match at Glasgow. Having seen it and also the start lists I can understand why BBC aren't showing it this year.
http://www.britishathletics.org.uk/media/news/2015-news-page/january-2015/20-01-15-gbni-glasgow/
http://www.britishathletics.org.uk/british-athletics-series/sainsburys-glasgow-international-match/event-schedule/
Be interesting to see Jess Judd running the 1500 though - think that could prove to be her best event
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/athletics/30900087
What is particularly curious is their ruling on London 2012, in which 3 of the 5 walkers in question participated - Sergey Kirdyapkin keeps his 50km gold, Olga Kaniskina keeps her 20km silver, and Valeriy Borchin (who, er, evacuated himself and DNF) is given a DQ - yes, you read that right. Talk is that WADA/IAAF are likely to appeal that portion of the verdict.
BTW, Kaniskina is now head of the infamous racewalking facility in Saransk.
More annoying that the Beeb do not have it like they used to, but if is daytime thrash instead.
I suspect the standard will be even higher than Moscow because it's the year before the 'pics and not the year after. Will wait until the season kicks off before making any predictions for our medal hopes...anyone know anywhere online or off I can get the glasgow meet?
2018 Berlin is hosting European Athletics and I heard last year the idea they are bidding for the IPC Europe Athletics.
Should this be the norm? That a city hosts both Para and able body versions of the Athletics?