3 August 2012

Day One Morning Session

Women’s Heptathlon – 100m Hurdles

It was an amazing start for Jessica Ennis (Toni Minichiello) who set a British record time of 12.54 to win heat 5. Louise Hazel (Aston Moore) finished 4th in a time of 13.48 in heat 3. Katarina Johnson-Thompson (Mike Holmes) equalled her personal best of 13.48 in heat 4 to finish 4th.

Women’s Triple Jump Qualification

Yamile Aldama (Frank Attoh) qualified for Sunday’s final with her first jump of 14.45m.

"I’m glad to have that done. It was very windy out there, swirly conditions which made it tough but I got the qualifying," said Aldama.

"I have waited a long time for this. I have never known anything like it (the crowd). It was amazing, especially for qualifying we are normally used to jumping in an empty stadium but it is full. My son is here to watch today and my husband and my mother will be in the stadium for the final."

Men’s Shot Put Qualification

Carl Myerscough failed to achieve the qualifying distance of 20m. The Blackpool athlete could only produce a best of 18.95m.  

"I felt wonderful out there," said Myerscough. "I felt strong but something went slightly wrong with each throw, I just couldn’t put it together so it’s very frustrating and I’m massively disappointed because I was in great shape but you know it’s just huge disappointment.

"The crowd was amazing. The atmosphere out there was unbelievable, it’s a fabulous experience and I am all the more disappointed as I felt the best I have ever felt in a competition, maybe I was trying a little bit too hard."

Men’s 400m Hurdles Heats

It was job done for GB team captain Dai Greene (Malcolm Arnold) in heat 3 with a comfortable victory in 48.98.

Greene said: "It was relatively easy, and it’s job done. I’ll concentrate a bit harder tomorrow and be more on point. It’s amazing, as soon as I walked out at the 300m mark out of the tunnel the crowd started cheering so they obviously have a good knowledge of the sport.

It’s a great honour (to be captain) and I wanted to set the temp from the start and go out there and win. In general we had a great first day, I went into the call room just as Jess ran a 12.5 and I had to get a bit closer to the screen to double check the time. Those sort of things are amazing for team morale."

Rhys Williams (Dan Pfaff) ran a season’s best of  49.17 in heat 4 to qualify as a fastest loser. Jack Green (Malcolm Arnold) eased into the semi-final with 49.49 finishing second in the final heat.  

"A very tough heat, but that’s what you almost want it’s no good waiting until the final to get a tough race, I got through. I wasn’t good enough today but I guarantee I’ll be better tomorrow," reflected Williams.

"I’m really happy," admitted Green. "I’ve just got to make sure I get the stride right otherwise it’s not going to happen, but as you saw in Palace even though I messed some of it up there I got 90% of it right and ran 48.6 so if I get 100% of it right hopefully I can push for medals."

Women’s 400m Heats

Defending champion Christine Ohuruogu (Lloyd Cowan) began the defence of her title with a solid run in the first heat – recording 50.80 to qualify in second place. Ohuruogu’s training partner Shana Cox (Lloyd Cowan) also qualified in the next heat with a third place finish in 52.01.

"I was excited with the finish – obviously having made it through I’m looking to get on to that final," said Cox. "I felt really really good and I’ve come off a really good two weeks of training in Portugal so it’ s pretty good."

Lee McConnell (Rodger Harkins) ensured a full compliment of Team GB athletes through to the semi-finals when she finished third in heat 5 in a time of 52.23.

"I was really happy with that race, I felt good," she said. "It was nice to be running in front of that crowd, great reception which was wonderful."

Men’s Hammer Qualification

Alex Smith (Shane Peacock) finished 10th in group A with a throw of 74.71m. It was enough to earn the Yorkshireman a place in the final.

"I did a solid performance it wasn’t as good as I think I could have done," he admitted.

"It was my first major championships and I think I put out a good solid result out there. I’m proud because it has been a long hard road to get here, but I enjoyed every minute of today. I’ll never have a bigger competition in my life with that amount of support."

Men’s 3000m Steeplechase Heats

Stuart Stokes’ Olympic debut ended in the third heat. A time of 8:43.04 was only good enough for 12th place.

"I’ve been getting up at 4.30 every morning, going to bed at 8pm at night – those are the sorts of sacrifices people make to get to an Olympics. It’s just a shame, I had a couple of niggles in last few weeks but I really just want to enjoy the moment as you will never get that back."

Women’s Heptathlon – High Jump

A personal best of 1.89m for Katarina Johnson-Thompson earned the Liverpool Harrier second place and 1093 points. Jessica Ennis recorded 1.86m to finish equal 5th. Louise Hazel jumped 1.59m.

"I’m still in shock from the hurdles to be honest," said Ennis. "I can’t believe I ran that time it was a great start. It would have been nice to get another height in the high jump but still not bad, so yeah good start to the day."

"It’s hard to frown out there, the support is incredible and I’m just so happy to be here, it’s a dream come true," said Johnson-Thompson.

Day One Evening Session

Women’s Heptathlon – Shot Put

Jessica Ennis maintained her consistent shot put form with a throw of 14.28m to score 813. Louise Hazel posted a distance of 12.81m to earn 715 points. Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s best was 11.32m to score 616 points.

Women’s 100m Heats

Abi Oyepitan (Tony Lester) progressed into the semi-finals as a fastest loser with a time of 11.22. Unfortunately Anyika Onuora failed to make the cut after finishing 5th with 11.41.

Men’s 1500m Heats

Ross Murray (Craig Winrow) qualified for the semi-finals after finishing fourth in the first heat., posting 3:36.74. He will be joined by Andy Baddeley (Andrew Hobdell) after he finished sixth in the second heat to automatically claim his place with 3:40.34.

"I’m delighted with that," said Murray. "No-one wants to be that guy who goes out in the heats do they?! With everybody back home watching you too. It felt good it was a good race, think I raced well I took the gaps when I saw them, so  I couldn’t be happier."

Baddeley admitted the crowd the London crowd was the best he has ever competed in front of.

"It’s a cliché now isn’t it, but it’s the most unbelievable thing ever, I said a few weeks ago that the best crowd I’d ran in before was the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, But this is something else, it’s another level, it’s so noisy, it’s unbelievable."

Men’s Long Jump Qualification

It was double delight for long jump duo Greg Rutherford (Dan Pfaff) and Chris Tomlinson (Frank Attoh) with both securing qualification to the final. Jumps of 8.08m and 8.06m eased them through.

Tomlinson said: "I was thinking about my Olympics just yesterday and only four months ago I thought I had no chance of even being here, I missed so much through injury, but to be here now through to the Olympic final is tremendous."

"It was good, what I didn’t actually realise at the time was that I was miles behind the board so , it could be a very exciting day tomorrow," Rutherford conceded. "I felt fantastic as well, so getting that crowd behind you my goodness I’ve never had anything like it in my life, it just gives you a little edge."

Women’s Heptathlon – 200m

Day one of the heptathlon concluded with a personal best for Jessica Ennis in the 200m with 22.83. Team-mate Katarina Johnson-Thompson followed suit with a lifetime best of 23.73 in the same heat. Louise Hazel rounded off day one with a win in 24.48 in the first round of the 200m.

Ennis said: "To end with a PB in the 200m was a brilliant end to the day. I think it’s a combination of a hard, fast track, obviously it’s the Olympics and having this crowd behind everyone makes all the difference."

Women’s 10,000m Final

The final event of the evening session saw personal bests for Jo Pavey (Gavin Pavey) and Julia Bleasdale (Nic Bideau). Pavey finished 7th in 30:53.20 and Bleasdale 8th with 30:55.63.

"We both ran massive PBs in front of a home crowd, you can’t ask for more than that," said Pavey.

"Well done to Julia she’s done so well, this is her first major championships and it’s just awesome. We’ve just been saying wow we can’t believe how fast we ran. Obviously you’d want to get a medal but it’s really tough so in front of a home crowd to run your fastest ever is amazing. Every time you overtook one person there was a massive roar."