UK Indoor Trials

[Jon]

Results will be posted here:
http://www.uka.org.uk/results/20090214_sheffield/

[Smoke]

any audio feeds?

[Powell]

Dwain Chambers 6.53 in the first round - way ahead of everyone, so I presume he wasn't going all out?

[Powell]

6.51 (=WL) for Chambers in the semis. Pickering got DQed in the other semi.

[Jon]

Chambers equalled that 6.51 in the final with Edgar second (6.64) and Williamson third (6.66). Chambers will be guaranteed a spot on the team for Turin, but it will be interesting to see if they make room for Pickering.

I've been on the road all day, so I haven't watched any of the action, but it doesn't look like I missed out on much - the men's 60m aside, all the results seem rather so-so. The women's 60m was just boring with no Kwakye/Turner/Ania clash. Okoro is doing the 400m, so Meadows is just going to easily walk the 800m final. The men's HJ was won by a foreigner with a mediocre 2.22m - this is meant to be the national final of a country that had three Olympic finalists and four guys over 2.30m last year!! The women's 3000m was also won by a foreigner with Clitheroe down in fifth - confirming that she simply isn't in great form this indoor season. And there was no Claxton in the 60H - one of the few athletes who seemed capable of breaking a national record this weekend.

There was an indoor UK record set in the women's PV (4.45m), but Britain still lags way behind the rest of the world in this event. We really should have some girls getting nearer to the 4.50m/4.60m mark by now.

[eldrick]

i dunno if dwayne is flattering to decieve but his prelims this year seem to be low-6.5s indicating that he is going to smash 6.5 in the finals but he "disappoints" with another low-6.5

he really needs to find some international races & get somewhere like the 6.47/6.48 which his prelims are pointing towards

[Jon]

he really needs to find some international races

Kinda difficult, considering the Euromeetings agreement to not invite any athletes with past doping convictions. Maybe he'll break the 6.5 barrier in Turin.

[eldrick]

that doesn't preclude him from american meets, so he does have some opportunities

[Jon]

that doesn't preclude him from american meets, so he does have some opportunities

He is pretty much broke. The small $$$ he can earn on the track goes straight to the IAAF. Doesn't really make much sense to fork out for a return airfare to the US just to shave one or two hundredths off his PB. He might not even even break it, so it could be a completely wasted journey.

Anyway, his main aim isn't to set a PB. His main goal at the moment is to win the European Indoors in Turin, get publicity from that and then launch his autobiography off the back of that.

[eldrick]

he'll make more cash winning american meets regardless of travel expenses than he will winning english indoor championships or whatever it was a coupla weeks ago

at least in amerca he can find low-6.5 guys to push him

[Jon]

he'll make more cash winning american meets

Again, whatever 'cash' he does make has to go straight to the IAAF.

[jjimbojames]

he'll make more cash winning american meets

Again, whatever 'cash' he does make has to go straight to the IAAF.

I would imagine he also needs to win national trials to guarantee his place at Championships - remember how Pickering was put up as the 'last great hope' of GBR morality to stop him auto qualifying for last year's worlds - he's not stupid, and knows not all selectors will be on his side, come the discretionary places - whatever CVC says

[eldrick]

he'll make more cash winning american meets

Again, whatever 'cash' he does make has to go straight to the IAAF.

a $2k reward for winning an american race sans expenses makes more of a dent in his iaaf debt than the £50 for winning the english indoors

[Brettboy]

Sotherton had a disasterous LJ, notregisteringa proper jump. She had back treatment afterwards but came back witha good SB today in the shot with 14.50

[nevetsllim]

Even though it was pretty dismal, there were some decent performances. In the 1500, Farah won in a SR of 3:40.57 and went out hard (1:54 at 800), Donna Fraser claimed a sprint double, winning the 200 in 23.48 and the 400 in a PB of 52.83 (Okoro 2nd in a PB of 52.98, which bodes very well.) Meadows ran well in the 800 - 2:01.67 from the front and Steve Lewis cleared 5.65m on his first attempt before three failures at 5.82m. Kelly Sotherton was very solid in the shot put with a 14.50m effort, as well as four others over 14m but only took two jumps in the HJ.