7 August 2012

As promised yesterday, in preparation for Tuesdays 110m hurdle heats, we are starting off with an in-depth look at the one, the only, Lawrence Clarke!
 
Things you may not know about Lawrence Clarke (and I promise these are all true!):
 
•      His real name isn’t actually Lawrence. It is Charles Lawrence Somerset Clarke, Heir Apparent to Dunham Lodge
•      Lawrence’s favorite mid-training snack is cheese and grapes
•      His favorite post-training activities include game shoots, and punting on the Cam
•      In between sets in the gym, Lawrence likes to read Spectator magazine
•      In wet weather, Lawrence quite often turns up to training wearing wellington boots
•      Whilst most athletes are happy to spend race-day at a Grand Prix lounging around in a tracksuit, Lawrence much prefers a more formal tailored suit approach
•      Most athletes like to gently warm-up. Lawrence likes to start with flat out runs over hurdles
 
His training partner Andrew Pozzi also has a few eccentric nuances too. After training, most of us will have a protein shake, or some carbohydrate for fast energy. Pozzi likes to have a cold can of tomato soup. Obviously!
 
On to the athletics action. Yesterday we had two British athletes in finals; Holly Bleasdale in the pole vault, and Dai Greene in the 400m hurdles. I’ll admit to knowing nothing about pole vault, but apparently there was quite a difficult wind in the stadium tonight, so Holly’s sixth place finish is nothing to be ashamed with. Dai Greene pushed himself with all he had, but unfortunately it wasn’t quite enough, and he finished 4th in 48.24. It’s worth pointing out that this is faster than his winning time in Daegu last year. Having had a knee operation in December, it was always going to be a race against time, and this year it wasn’t to be. That’s athletics; sometimes no matter how good you are, someone is better. Was great to see Felix Sanchez win eight years after his last major championships victory, ironically in exactly the same time!
 
There were plenty of other Brits in action. Perri Shakes-Drayton had a roller coaster night, being eliminated in the 400m hurdles, then going through following an athlete’s disqualification. This disqualification was then over turned, and Perri found herself knocked out again. I can only imagine what she must have gone through. In the same event Eilidh Child also failed to progress to the final. In the women’s 200m, Margaret Adeoye and Abi Oyepitan both made it through to the semi-finals, with times of 22.94 (a PB for Margaret) and 22.92 respectively. Aniyka Onuora finished fourth in her heat in 23.23, missing out on a fastest loser spot by just two places.
 
In the morning session, Lawrence Okoye qualified for the final with a last round throw of 65.28. I’m obviously not going to be taking the mick out of Lawrence, as he is significantly taller, stronger, and probably faster than me right now. So well done Lawrence (please don’t hurt me)! In the same event, there was disappointment for Brett Morse (58.18) and Abdul Buhari (60.08), as they were both eliminated. Tiffany Porter qualified for the 100m hurdles semi-finals, finishing third in her heat with 12.79. Andrew Osagie gave everyone a heart attack, but came through to qualify for the 800m semi-finals by coming third in his heat with 1:46.42. Michael Rimmer (1:49.05) and Gareth Warburton (1:46.97) both failed to progress. There was great news in the women’s 1500m, as Lisa Dobriskey, Laura Weightman and Hannah England all made the semi-finals.
 
As is becoming customary, let’s finish off with a photo. Do you think Usain Bolt is pleased to see James Dasaolu? I’m not convinced.