SPAR European Team Championships

19 June 2011

Day two of the SPAR European Team Championships saw the heavens open above the Olympic Stadium but there were some shining performances from the Aviva Great Britain and Northern Ireland team who eventually finished fourth with 289 points behind winners Russia (385), Germany (331.5) and Ukraine (304).

Report:

Charlene Thomas (Aaron Thomas) made a passionate return to the GB fold with an outstanding victory in the women’s 1500m which epitomised the superb team spirit that had shined through all weekend in Stockholm.

Thomas, who endured a frustrating 2010, following her breakthrough 2009 season, showed true passion over the last 100m sprint as she not only out-legged her opponents, but squeezed niftily through a gap between the eventual second the third placed Russian and Ukrainian athletes.

“I made a couple of mistakes and got boxed in a little bit, but I’m so fit and so strong at the moment that I seem to be able to come through and finish great at the moment,” she said.

“I’m just so happy and excited and I know all my family are at home watching and my coach Aaron will be screaming his head off at the TV!

“My aim now is the World Championships and I want a medal. That’s what I aspire to be I don’t just aspire to be the best in the UK I want to be the best in the World and I just beat some of them there.

“I believe I can do it, especially as I’m now a full time athlete, training harder and recovering better. It’s paying off, being able to train harder and go away to altitude, so it’s working. I’ve just ran 4.06 in bad conditions so I know I can smash my PB (4.05) as I’ve been setting PBs in training for the last 3 months.”

Andy Turner (Lloyd Cowan) turned in a superlative sprint hurdles performance with maximum points. Like his team captain the day before, Turner opened the day’s track campaign with a convincing victory in 13.42, albeit in slippery and blustery conditions.

“I’m happy with that in really tough conditions. I felt pretty good until about the seventh hurdle and then you could really start to feel the wind (minus 2.4) and you really hard to fight against the wind and the splashing from the rain which made the conditions really tough.

“I’m happy to have run that time. I’m very happy with where I am right now. Physically and mentally I’m in a good place. It’s great to get maximum points for the Team on Father’s Day especially.”

The relays bought their usual supply of drama to the Aviva GB & NI team at the end of day two.

The women’s quartet of Kelly Massey, Nicola Sanders, Lee McConnell and Perri Shakes Drayton ran impressively with McConnell and Shakes-Drayton matched for the fastest split with 50.6. They finished second although Shakes-Drayton was just a whisker from taking first from the winning Russian squad.

After she said: “The key thing for me was not letting the Ukranian past me.

“Second place is good but first would have been ever better but it didn’t happen this time. I was trying my hardest to catch the Russian girl, another metre and we would have done! It was nice to finish strong.”

However the men’s foursome suffered disqualification following their race. Andrew Steele, Conrad Williams, Michael Bingham and Richard Buck looked good for a strong result going into the final changeover, but a fumble between Bingham and Buck meant the baton hit the floor, and the later disqualification meant hopes of a podium finish evaporated.

After, Andrew Steele reflected: “Relay is as relay does. For me personally it was good to run a first leg and I felt like I had a reasonably good run. Great to run in this stadium with such history behind it and great to be back in the GB team.

“We are a team in the relay and this is nobody’s fault in particular. Relays can be a cruel event and so it proved today.”

Yet despite the overall result there were some sterling performances from the day with the team eager to keep the pressure up and points rolling in.

Inspired by the team’s achievements over the distance events on day one, Gareth Warburton (Darryl Maynard) ran a smart 800m race to ensure he was in prime position on the run in. His third place finish in a season’s best 1:46.95 better than he had been predicted and a welcome ten points for the team standings.

Although Poland and France were ahead on the final sprint, Warburton was clearly pleased with his effort:

“My main target out here was to get points for the team, it’s not about running fast,” he said.

“I got ten points and I was only predicted six or seven so I’m happy with ten points. I’m in good shape and running with the likes of the lead European athlete here is great for me.”

In the women’s 5000m, European Indoor champion Helen Clitheroe (John Nuttall) was rewarded with a 16 second PB of 15:33.03 behind Spain’s Dolores Checha and Russian Yelena Zadorozhnaya. Continuing her lifetime best form after stepping up in distance over the last year, her performance gained ten points for the team.

Stepping up to the 3000m, Andy Baddeley (Andrew Hobdell) worked his way up from the back of the field to join the last lap burn up. Finishing fourth for nine points in 8:03.97, he was disappointed to have missed out on the race win from Spain’s Juan Carlos Higuero with 8:03.43:

“I’m not happy with that. I came here to win and I predicted myself 12 points because if you don’t aim high then what’s the point and there were guys in there that I’ve beaten before,” he said.

“I’m just disappointed with decisions I made in the race and I’ve got a little bit of work to do. My tactics are something I’m working hard on and I’ve just got to keep on trying.”

In the day’s final endurance event, Luke Gunn (Derby) was ninth in 8:45.41 over the 3000m steeplechase scoring four points.

Earlier in the afternoon, UK record holder Tiffany Ofili-Porter had been disappointed to “only” take nine points back to the team following her overall fourth fastest time in the women’s hurdles. The European Indoor silver medallist admitted feeling flatter than normal:

“The race was a disappointment from start to finish. I just didn’t have the ‘pop’ (sharpness) that I normally have. I had a bad start and was a little sloppy.

“I just didn’t have the race today to put it together. I’m just focused on competing and improving, I’m more disappointed than anyone else can be in me.”

Both representatives in the 200m were also disappointed with their haul, although both were up against impressive opposition. In the women’s race Abi Oyepitan (Tony Lester) marked her return to the Aviva GB & NI fold with sixth place overall and seven points in the bag with 23.91 into a -2.2m/s wind. In the men’s race, Danny Talbot (Dan Cossins) had to ignore the dominance of Christophe Lemaitre on the lane inside, and matched Oyepitan also with a seven point gain with his 20.96 against a -2.8 head wind.

“I was really nervous in the call room, looked across and saw Lemaitre and I got a bit daunted and nervous,” Talbot admitted.

“I didn’t really run my race, I think I went off a bit hard because I knew Lemaitre was inside me. I really enjoyed the experience, racing against the likes of Christophe was an honour, and I look forward to the Under-23’s and the trials coming up.”

Over on the field, making her Aviva GB & NI debut, high jumper Emma Perkins (Fuzz Ahmed) performed solidly against a strong field, taking the two predicted points with 1.75m.

In the throws, both implements and circles proved a challenge in the soaking conditions for the athletes with Brett Morse having the most successful day in the office.

Morse (Nigel Bevan) performed above his expected finish with sixth place and seven points in the discus. The Birchfield Harrier who was disappointed with his performance in Bergen last year, redeemed himself with a solid throw of 59.37m to bag the points in tough conditions.

Andy Frost (Alan Bertram) secured his predicted two points in the men’s hammer competition with his second round safety throw of 61.53m. The Woodford Green & Essex Ladies athlete battled well in horrendous conditions, in a competition won by Germany’s Markus Esser with 79.28m.

In slightly less torrential rain, Becky Peake (Gert Damkat) also secured her expected shot put finish with a first round 15.06m – giving her three points towards the team total whilst in the women’s discus, European Under 23 bronze medallist Jade Nicholls (Andrew Neal) finished eighth for 53.85m and five points.

In the men’s triple jump, Kola Adedoyin (Frank Attoh) exceeded expectations with his three points and tenth place finish, whilst in the women’s long jump, Shara Proctor (Rana Reider) had to content with the noisy home crowd supporting the darling of Swedish Athletics as Carolina Kluft opened the competition with 6.73m. Proctor however looked solid leaping 6.31m for four points, whilst Russian Darya Klishina later eclipsed Kluft for the victory with 6.74m.

The delayed men's pole vault - which has been moved indoors and off-site due to the wet conditions - was the last result of the day to come in, but a seventh place finish and six points for Steve Lewis (Dan Pfaff) with a best effort of 5.40m couldn't improve the overall team position of fourth.

Speaking on the team performance, UKA Head Coach Charles Van Commenee was considered in his reaction:

“It was a huge effort with good competition from a lot of athletes in difficult circumstances – but it was not good enough to stay on the podium,” he reflected.

“That (the relay) changed everything because we were really in the mix all the way, but whether you do it in the first or last event or somewhere in between it’s not relevant, it’s just a bit bitter that it happened in the last part of the last event.

“But that’s sport and if you want to win and have a result, you shouldn’t make mistakes but that is the nature of our sport.”

For results please follow this link to European Athletics