29 July 2014

Greg Rutherford (coach: Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo) made extremely light work of his long jump qualification round on day three of athletics at Glasgow 2014. The London 2012 Olympic champion soared to 8.05m with his opening jump to easily surpass the 7.90m automatic qualification meaning he could head back to the village early and rest up ahead of tomorrow night’s final.

“That’s the aim of the qualification; you want to be out there and qualifying in the first round if you can. Nothing’s ever won in qualification, but you can lose a lot, so to go out there and get it done first round, I’m over the moon with that.

“The response the crowd gave me was out of this world – it was so reminiscent of the Olympics and it almost brought a tear to my eye again. I had to collect myself a bit and get ready. It feels like a home crowd and it’s a great feeling; the crowd definitely helps.”

Joining Rutherford will be his Team England colleagues Chris Tomlinson and JJ Jegede (Peter Stanley) who had best efforts of 7.89m and 7.66m respectively to finish in the top twelve.

Poster girl Eilidh Child (Malcolm Arnold) also got her long awaited Glasgow 2014 campaign off to the perfect start with a commanding victory in the heats of the women’s 400mH. She went in heat one, building up a sizeable lead over the opening 300m before switching to cruise control down the home-straight. She was still the second fastest qualifier with her 55.56 time, and afterwards she said:

“I tried not to react too much with the crowd and focus on my race – but I couldn’t help waving back because the roar was so loud. My coach, Malcolm Arnold, is making me think only about the lane and 10 hurdles and block out everything else. I was a little nervous but I am rooming with Laura Muir and quizzed her a bit about what the atmosphere is like.

“I think I will have to go under 54 seconds and my PB on Thursday  to win because Kaleise Spencer has run a second faster than me in the past. We will see what happens. I’m sure the crowd will help me.”

It was disappointment for Team England trio of Ese Okoro, Hayley McLean (Steve Mitchell) and Laura Wake (Nick Dakin) who failed to advance. They would have all made the semi-finals, however they were cut at the last minute, the organisers instead opting for just heats and a final.

In the heats of the men’s 110mH, Team England pair Lawrence Clarke (Arnold)and William Sharman (Jerzy Maciukiewicz) helped themselves to second place finishes in 13.63 and 13.49 to safely advance to tonight’s final. Sharman’s time was third quickest as he looks to upgrade the silver medal he won in Delhi four years ago.

In heat one, Ben Reynolds (Tom Reynolds) on Northern Ireland finished sixth in 13.96, but there was devastation for defending champion Andy Turner (Lloyd Cowan) who clattered the first two hurdles and was unable to finish.

David Weir (Jenny Archer) made sure of victory in the first heat of the men’s T54 1500m powering down the back straight to build up a sizeable lead; so much so that he didn’t even need to push in the last 50 metres. In heat two, Weir’s training partner Will Smith (Archer) profited from a crash up ahead to take third and an automatic qualification spot. It was Patrick Obeng of Ghana who lost out, crashing out of his chair before getting back up and finishing sixth. Either way, Smith would have still progressed as a fastest loser had Obeng not crashed and gone from third to sixth in the final 200m.

Heat one contained Jade Jones (Ian Thompson) of Team England and Meggan Dawson-Farrell (Ian Mirfin) of Team Scotland, and both progressed, Jones automatically with a 3.53.37 time in third and Dawson-Farrell as a faster loser.

Whilst in heat two, it was an easy win for Team England’s Shelly Woods (Archer) in 4.00.82, with Samantha Kinghorn (Mirfin) of Team Scotland securing third and automatic spot in Thursday’s final.
There was also a fastest losers spot for 16 year old Lauren Rowles (Job King).

There was controversy in the men’s 800m as Team England’s Andrew Osagie (Craig Winrow) and Team Wales’ Joe Thomas (Arwyn Davies) came together in the closing stages, with the England man eventually hitting the track. The pair crossed the line third and fourth but Osagie was eventually disqualified for obstructing the Welshman. Bad news for Osagie, but good news for Thomas, who took the third automatic final place.

Michael Rimmer (Jon Bigg) made lighter work of his heat, finishing second to Olympic champion and world record holder David Rudisha. Team Scotland’s Guy Learmonth (George Gandy) ran into traffic coming off the final bend, but his 1.47.85 time in fourth place turned out to be the fourth fastest time overall, so he too made the semi-final. Mukhtar Mohammed (Jon Bigg) also advances as a fastest loser after finishing fourth in heat two.

The British decathletes carried on where they left off last night in the 110m hurdles but they were powerless to stop Canadian Damien Warner extend his lead with a 13.50 clocking, the fastest time in a decathlon in Commonwealth Games history.

John Lane (Toni Minichiello) consolidated his second place in the overall standings after running the third quickest time of 14.64. Team Wales duo Ben Gregory (Julie Hollman) and David Guest (Mike Guest), as well as Team England’s Ashley Bryant (Ian Grant) all went sub fifteen in that fast heat. Bryant’s time brought him within 38 points of a medal.

The discus was next for the decathletes, and in pool A Guest threw a season’s best of 43.14 to continue to move up the standings. Meanwhile in pool B Guest’s teammate Curtis Matthews (Guest) threw a lifetime best of 47.85m to secure 826 points, with Team Northern Ireland’s Peter Glass throwing 45.11m and Bryant 43.45m.

The pole vault rounded out the multi-eventers penultimate session, and top British performer in that was Gregory of Wales, who after nervous moments at 4.80m went on to clear 5.00m for 910 points, much to the joy of the crowd who stayed late to watch. John Lane went clear at 4.90m with Ashley Bryant setting a personal best of 4.70m.

With two events to go, that moves Lane back into the silver medal position on 6650 points after a poor discus, with Bryant fourth on 6557 points, just 46 points behind bronze. It would take something special though at this stage to stop Canadian Damian Warner taking gold.

As well as the men’s decathlon, the women’s heptathlon got underway this morning with the 100m hurdles and the high jump.

Team England trio of Jess Tappin (Julie Holman), Jessica Taylor (Mike Holmes) and Grace Clements (Ian Grant)all got off to good starts. Tappin led the way with a 13.51 clocking, just four thousandths down on her personal, which secured her 1049 points. There was a 13.81 personal best for Taylor and a season’s best of 14.54 for Clements.

The seasons and personal bests kept coming in the high jump, with Clements producing another season’s best of 1.75m to move up to sixth overall. It was Taylor who made the big gains though, setting a new personal best after three nail biting third attempt clearances at 1.69m, 1.72m and 1.75m to move up to third overall on 1921 points. Tappin also performed well, clearing 1.69m to put herself fourth overall at the halfway stage on day one.