30 June 2014

The morning session on day four of athletics at Glasgow 2014 was all about getting a job done, and the majority of British athletes seemed to do that with consummate ease.

The event that really mattered though was the women’s heptathlon long jump, which played a big part in deciding which way the medals will go after the final two events this evening.

Again it was Jessica Taylor (coach: Mike Holmes) who exceled, setting yet another personal best to tighten her grip on the bronze medal position. She leapt to 6.16m, improving her old personal best by 4cm to rank second in that event and add 899 points to her tally. That gives Taylor a running total of 4419 points, some 173 points clear of fourth.

Jumps of 5.46m and 5.80m for Jess Tappin (Julie Holman) and Grace Clements (Ian Grant) saw them maintain their fifth and eighth place positions heading into the javelin and 800m later this evening.

The women’s high jump delighted the Hampden crowd, particularly when Jayne Nisbet (Graham Ravenscroft) went soaring over 1.85m with her first attempt to finish as joint winner of the qualifying pools, after that was the final height needed to progress. Isobel Pooley (Fuzz Ahmed), like Nisbet, made light work of qualifying with a string of first time clearances. Summarising things afterwards, Nisbet said:

“That was an amazing experience, the crowd was unbelievable.  It was a bit surreal at first. I felt really confident coming in to this, I’ve had quite a few really good sessions this week so I knew I had it in me.”

Of her expectations for the final, she added:

“I just want to go out and jump as high as I can. The target for me is the Scottish record of 1.91m, so hopefully it will go to 1.92m – let’s go for it!”

Unfortunately that was it for the British qualifiers, as Emma Nuttall (Laurier Primeau) was fractions away from 1.85m, as was England’s Bethan Partridge (Aston Moore). Rachel Mackenzie (Dianne Mackenzie) bowed out with a best of 1.76m, whilst the Isle of Man’s Reagan Dee (Grant Brown) cleared 1.71m for ninth in her pool.

Danny Talbot (Dan Cossins) demonstrated how to run the perfect qualifying round as the 200m heats got underway. Drawn in lane three, Talbot attacked the curve before making a smooth transition into the straight, where he was able to take his foot off the gas and still record a 20.56 victory.

“I feel good and coming here I’ve trusted the programme my coach put together and hopefully I can continue like this through the championship. I’ve been around my PB a lot this season in lots of different conditions, so I feel if conditions are good I should go a lot faster than my PB. But at the end of the day it’s a championship so times don’t really matter – I’m just going to take it one step at a time.”

Talbot’s compatriots James Ellington (Reider) and Chris Clarke (Steve Fudge) also ensured their safe passage to the semi-finals with second place finishes, whilst Northern Ireland’s Leon Reid (James Hillier) clocked 20.97 for third in his heat, which was enough for a fastest losers spot.

It was a similar clean sweep in the women’s 800m, Jenny Meadows (Trevor Painter) of Team England leading the way, winning the first heat in 2.02.53 ahead of local favourite Lynsey Sharp (Reider). Both women looked very much in control and it was a case of job done, with as little effort as possible.

Next up were Jess Judd (Rob Denmark) and Emily Dudgeon (Stuart Hogg) again of England and Scotland respectively. The crowd thoroughly enjoyed it when the pair moved into second and third down the home-straight to secure their safe passage into the next round.

In the final heat, Marilyn Okoro (Johnny Gray) went haring off in typical fashion, but paid for her early efforts, fading in the last 100m to finish fifth. However Northern Ireland’s Katie Kirk (Mark Kirk) had run a smart race, coming through late on to get second in 2.03.00. Afterwards the youngster, who lit the Olympic torch at the opening ceremony in London, said:

“I was happy with that. When they go out as hard as that you do worry, but I was happy to run with the two other girls. In the end it was pretty comfortable, but the crowd is so loud that you can’t here what’s coming behind you, so I couldn’t ease off! I felt ill yesterday with nerves, but I’m happy now!”

Okoro was later rewarded with a fastest loser spot, meaning that all six Brits will line up in tomorrow’s semi-finals.

It was mixed fortunes in a tricky women’s long jump qualifying round, where only two women exceeded the 6.55m automatic qualifying mark. Shara Proctor (Rana Reider) missed it by just 4 centimetres though, and she led the Team England trio into the final. Jazmin Sawyers (Alan Lerwill) went out to 6.39m in round one, which was the sixth longest jump of the morning, with Lorraine Ugen (Frank Attoh) nine centimetres back.

There was disappointment for Team Scotland duo Jade Nimmo (Darren Ritchie) and Sarah Warnock (John Scott) though, who missed out on places in the final by a matter of centimetres when finishing fourteenth and fifteenth overall.

It was great to see Welshman Dai Greene (Malcolm) back on the track, and he got his title defence underway in the third and final heat of the men’s 400m. Qualification was extremely tough, with just the first two from each of the three heats guaranteed a place in the final. Despite his best efforts, it wasn’t to be for Greene, as his lack of training due to injury told down the home-straight, where he faded to fifth.

In the same heat, Richard Yates (Stephen Ball) of Team England attacked all the way, and despite slowing in the closing stages held on for third. His time of 59.80 grabbed the final fastest losers spot for tomorrow’s final, pushing teammate Niall Flannery (Nick Dakin) down to ninth. Like Flannery,
Seb Rodger (Hillier) didn’t do enough to progress after finishing fifth in his heat.

The only throwing event of the morning was the men’s discus qualification, which saw four of the six British athletes advance. Leading the way was Team England’s Carl Myerscough, who threw 59.95m in the second pool to qualify seventh. One spot behind was Team Wales’ Brett Morse, whilst Scottish record holder Angus McInroy (Hugh Murray) and Jersey’s Zane Duquemin (John Hillier) also did enough. Once again another Scottish athlete just missed out on a final spot, as Nick Percy (Vesteinn Haftsteinsson) finished thirteenth, with England’s Tom Norman (Mike Winch) one place further back.