After any Championship event you can always expect a drop in performances, especially for those who have won the Gold. Zurich followed Osaka and the stadium was packed with spectators coming out for an evening's athletics and a chance to see the recently crowned Champions from Japan.
Two athletes who did have a great deal to prove were France's Mehdi Baala, who had been disqualfied after his semi-final in Osaka, and Sanya Richards (USA), who had failed to qualify for the US team in the 400m. Both cameto Zurich and had convincing wins in their respective distances over 1500 and 400.
There were Gold Medalists from Osaka who did win and they were; on the running side, Bernard Lagat who won the 3000m (in Osaka he became the first man in Championship history to do the 1500/5000 double, Bahrain's Maryam Jamal who had won the 1500m against Russia's Yelena Soboleva, repeated her performance in Zurich and then the new 'Darling of the 800m', Kenya's Janeth Jepkosgei, who again displayed her brilliance over 2 laps.
On the field events side Croatia's Blanka Vlasic took the High Jump and Yelena Isinbayeva captured the Pole Vault, this win keeps the Russian's hopes alive for the Golden Jackpot. .
Sweden's Susanna Kallur, 4th in the Women's 100m hurdles in Osaka, put an end to Michelle Perry's Golden League Jackpot contention, in winning in Zurich however Perry could only manage 3rd.
It was great to see a packed stadium and without pace setters, the crowds were treated to enthralling races which went down to the line.
It was truly a most enjoyable 9 days. Some stars of the future were born, some stars were confirmed and a legend or two needed to realise that their time had come to hand over to a new champion.
Our Top 10 performers of the World Athletic Championhips.
Allyson Felix USA sublime 200m final and relay Golds
Janeth JepkosgeiKenya superb series of 800m races to take Gold
Bernard Lagat USA fantastic 1500/5000 double
Carolina Kluft Sweden new European record Heptathlon win
Blanca Vlasic Croatia winning High Jump as favourite
Roman Šebrle Czech finally winning Gold in Decathlon, only took lead in event 9
Catherine Ndereba Kenya winning Women's Marathon to further underline her 'Catherine The Great' tag
Maryam Yusuf Jamal Bahrain for coming of age to take the Women's 1500m title
Jana Pittman Rawlinson Australia taking the 400m hurdles title less than a year after giving birth
There were many other performances of note in the field events however the above mentioned 10 athletes personified that special ingredient that made them worthy champions in their respective events.
It was a stunning 9 days, how to improve things is difficult to assess. To shorten the days would place more pressure on the athletes, so instead of shortening the days, organisers need to provide other means of entertainment or bonuses to make it more interesting to the public.
My major grip of the World Championships was the suicidal temperatures the marathon athletes found themselves competing in. A solution needs to be found before a fatality occurs. This is an area Time-to-Run will be hoping to discuss in the future.
Osaka 2007 Day 8 - The last day of these magnificent World Athletic Championships was kicked off with the Women's marathon. Yet again this event, as was the Men's Marathon, run in stiffling heat. I shall not comment too much about the folly of this in Day 9's sum up but will dedicate an article to this at a later stage.
The Women's marathon saw Kenya 's Catherine 'The Great' Ndereba, underline why she is called Catherine The Great. In winning in Osaka Ndereba made solid the consideration that she is the World's most succesful women's marathoner, when taking the Gold at this Championship. Her credentials for such a title are justified and when considering that she became the eldest women to win a major championship marathon title at 35 years, you can further admire the spirit of Ndereba. A majestic Champion and yet another wonderful ambassador to the sport.
Japan was relieved to win their first individual medal of the Championship while the women added a Bronze to the Gold acquired from the Men's Team Title.
There was an evening of great racing with 3 middle to distance titles being decided on the night. The Men's 5000, saw the USA 's Bernard Lagat do an amazing double when he outsprinted former Kenyan neighbour, Eluid Kipchoge, to add this title to 1500m Gold of Wedenesday - Day 5 . Also of note was how desparately close American compatriot Matt Tegenkamp came to grabbing Bronze.
The Men's 800m was a major disappointment for me watching South Africa 's Mbulaeni Mulaudzi fade out of the reckoning over the final 100m. But then also a great success in seeing Canada 's Gary Reed win the silver. Reed has now shown to have the big match temperament and goes to the 2008 Olympic's with a distinct chance of a medal there. Incredibly for Kenya's Alfred Yego, this race was his first win of the year and what a win it proved to be.
The Women's 1500m title win by Bahrain's Maryam Yusuf Jamal was splendid to witness and in the process the athlete has now dispelled any doubts of her ability to win a title at a major championship.
The USA took both relay titles on the night, thus winning all the relay Golds at these Championships.
It was dazzling to see Allyson Felix storm through in her 400m leg and we can certainly look forward to her venture over this distance.
Croatia's Blanka Vlašic lived up to the expectations in taking the High Jump title and in doing so underlined that she is undoubtedly the real deal in this event. A World Record awaits her.
Then in closing, Finland's Tero Pitkämäki captured the Men's Javelin Gold to place his career on the right track after his disappointment of the Helsinki Worlds. For the Suomi people, it was their first and most important medal of the Championship.
For our Athlete of the Day we shall name 2 stars, Catherine Ndereba for her dazzling marathon display and Bernard Lagat for the glorious double he achieved, becoming only the 3rd person in history to achieve this and the first at a World Championship.
That wrapped up Day 9 and the final day of these magnificent Championships.
There shall be a further and final sum up of the whole Championship to follow
Osaka 2007 Day 8 - The Women's 5000 was our feature event of the day, being that our coverage is mainly middle and distance running with comment provided on other performances of significance from the other events.
Without the presence of Tirunish Dibaba, it seemed a matter of formality for Ethiopia's Meseret Defar to capture the title and so it was. I was amazed that she had the confidence to leave it to a last 200m sprint. The World Championship title joins her already captured Olympic title over the distance.
What was incredible to watch was Roman Šebrle's winning throw in the javelin, his Personal Best (PB) throw of 71.18, moved him into the lead for the first time. Till then Jamaica's Maurice Smith looked to be cruising to victory. The javelin was the 9th event of 10 and with the 1500m to follow it was all but over for the brave Smith who had the Gold wretched away from him with one throw. For Šebrle, it was strange to consider that this was his first Gold at the World Championships, after being dominant on the World scene for so long. Šebrle was in our Fantasy Team, so the win was needed, not that it would make any difference as I had 'faux paxed' with a few late transfers.
Our Athlete of the Day - Roman Šebrle, lesser athletes would have settled for the Silver.
The USA rattled off further Golds on the night by taking both 4x100m titles
Slick, smooth and superb were words which matched both performances
Allyson Felix looks to add the 4x400m Gold tomorrow
No middle or distance event finals but 'none the less', glorious sprints in the Women's 200m and Men's 400m, the high hurdles and a new champion 'maybe' emerging in the Decathlon, as well as a simply sublime wins in the Winner's javelin and triple-jump.
The Women's 1500m semis did not make a case for who the outright favourite for the final should be. The athlete with the best credentials in the final is Russia's Yelena Soboleva. Soboleva is the World Leader in 2007 with 3:57.30. Maryam Yusuf Jamal is a great competitor but is yet to prove herself at the top level. These 2 athletes came out the semis as the athletes to watch. However, we shall still go with Yuliya Fomenko. The Ukraine's Iryna Lishchynska is always there or thereabouts and on the day can beat everyone. Bring it on.
In the Men's 800m semi-finals, Bahrain had the disappointment of both their representatives exiting. 2005 Champion was never in the race, while Youssef Saad Kamel was out foxed by the Saudi athlete, Mohammed Al Salhi. In semi 3, Salhi was again up against Yuriy Borzakovskiy and Wilfred Bungei again. I am not altogether clear on how the semi fields are put together (it seems as though the winners from ht1 and 2 race semi1, the winners from ht3 and 4 race semi 2 and the qualifiers of ht5 and 6 race semi3) Whereas you need to beat everyone assembled to win a medal, it seems strange to have 3 athletes race against one another in the very next race. Kenya's Bungei, so oft a front runner, qualified with a kick in semi3, one wonders what tactic he shall employ in the final. Canada's Gary Reed has looked the most competent in both rounds, being the winner in each. He is taking the pace from 300m out and applying early pressure. I believe if an athlete is strong enough and can hold on down the last 100m, then they can win the race down the backstretch of the 800m. Each of the athletes who set the pace over the first 400m of the semis failed to qualify. In Bungei we have an athlete who can win the race from the front, in Borza we have an athlete who can win the race over the last 100m. This all makes Sunday's race all the more intriguing.
That was all on Day in the form of Middle to Distance running, but certainly not all in the form of stunning athletics. In the Women's Triple Jump, Cuba's Yargelis Savigne won with her first jump of 15.28. This was enough to keep long jump winner Tatyana Lebedeva at bay. This was Cuba's first Gold of the Champs.
In the Women's Javelin, I was most impressed with the Czech winner's big match temperament. Barbora Špotáková threw a National Record of 66.40 in her first throw and then followed this up with another NR throw of 67.07. The German favourite had a last throw of 66.46 which would have won Gold if Špotáková had been content to settle on her first throw. A great achievement. For entertainment in this final, we had to look no further than Greece's Sávva Líka who finished 5 with a Personal Best of 63.13. Anyone would have thought she had won the contest, such was her delight in her own performance. Even going as far as kissing the television camera on one occasion. However do note, her behaviour was never directed at her opponents but more at the sheer joy of competing.
Moving on to brilliance of Allyson Felix. What a superb, majestic performance. She obliterated the rest of the field leaving 100m Champion, Veronica Campbell, in her wake. The American recorded 21.81 and in the process established the greatest winning margin in a 200m final at the highest level since 1948. The highest level being the finals of the Olympic Games and/or the World Championships.
A great result was Bronze, a shiver fluttered down my spine when watching Sri Lanka's Susanthika Jayasingherealise she had grabbing 3rd for her country, after witnessing the result display on the stadium's big screen. She had beaten the USA's Torri Edwards with her dip. A brilliant reward.
How can athletics bring tears to the eyes?
As for Felix, there is talk of her considering a few other events, either the 100 or 400. In Felix we have something special, a joy to behold. A poise and person with direction. There can only be one Allyson Felix and we wait for the future. 400 anyone?
Now the much anticipated 400m Final. Was Jeremy Wariner going to take a crack at Michael Johnson's record? Well, at the end of the day, it never happened however we still witnessed a simply dazzling performance by the 'heir apparent'. In the race, compatriot and winner of the Men's 400m hurdles title in Osaka 2007, LaShawn Merritt, attempted to place pressure on the young shoulders of Wariner. The winning time was 43.45, placing Wariner 3rd on the all-time list behind Johnson's 43.18 and Butch Reynolds' 43.29. Merritt went sub 44 for the first time with his 43.96, making him the 8th fastest 400m runner on the list.
China's Xiang Liu, won his country's first Gold (but expected) in the Men's 110m hurdles, coming through from the unfavourable lane 9 to take the win. This man must be a superstar in his country and the expectation must be enormous. .
Day 6 of the Osaka World Athletic Championships rolled in and it was as though the first climax for middle to distance running had been on Day 5, with the Men's 1500m. All we had for today were the heats of the 800m and 5000m. Of course, there were many tense events that took place on Thursday, like Jana Rawlinson's win in the 400m hurdles or the fine double of Tyson Gay capturing the 200m title after his emphatic win in the 100, not to mention the amazing competition in the Men's Long Jump.
In the Men's 800m heats, we would see 6 races to remove the excess runners before Friday's semi-finals. During this process the favourites often proceed without too much fuss however on this occasion the Netherland's Bram Som was the main casualty of note. Canada 's Gary Reed impressed with his controlled manner in which he executed his race and seems to be building on from 2005, where he stepped onto the main stage for the first time. Defending Champion, Rashid Ramzi, progressed without much trouble.
The 5000m semis, saw 2 races totally different from one to the other, Sweden's Erik Sjöqvist hung himself out to be punished and he paid the price over the last 1km, at least he won the first 4km. For Sunday's final, it looks like a match up between the big guns with Craig Mottram hoping to build opon his Bronze in 2005. The Kenyans have defending champ, Benjamin Limo, in the final as well as an impressive Eluid Kipchoge with our favourite, the newly crowned 1500m Champion , Bernard Lagat a massive threat. This race will go to the line and we believe Lagat will be there at the death. Incredibly, the USA finds themselves with 3 representatives in the 5000m final, some feat.
Now to our comment of the day, that is reserved for Italy's Andrew Howe. If this had been a football match he would have received a yellow card. His behaviour was way over the top and whereas he had reason to celebrate his jump, the excessive behaviour was inappropriate considering there were others jumping after him. Thank heavens Saldano mustered enough power of concentration to produce a stunning jump of 8m 57, a Personal Best, National Record, Area Record and most importantly, Gold.
Our Athlete of the Day, Tyson Gay - his 100/200 double making him the fastest double winner in the history of the World Championships.
Oh what a memorable day. Today's athletics left me further realising why I enjoy the individual sport of athletics. Day 5 of the Osaka World Athletic Champs was invigorating, emotional and purely dazzling. In Helsinki 2005, I was more busy in the Media Zone, this time round I have been forunate to be able to share my thoughts after witnessing things more clearly from in front of the television.
It is a blessing in life to be enthusiastic about things in life and when you are able to feel the excitement and the sheer disappointment of that lost medal chance, you begin to live and feel athletics. Life is a passion.
Now straight to the athletics and the glory of the victors.
Bernard Lagat formerly of Kenya and now representing the USA, rolled back 'Father Time' and won the coveted 1500m title, when most had thought a Major Championship win over that distance would elude him. The Kenyans feared him more than the supposed threat of World Leader, Allan Webb. How right they were, running a seemingly flawless race, Lagat kicked to victory over the last 50m without a single hitch and untroubled all the way to the line.
It truly couldn't have happened to a nicer guy, he is an ambassador to his sport and now his adopted country. He is a proud American and has now achieved a major 1500m title after running Silver on the biggest stage, the Olympics 2004 in Athens. He is the 2nd fastest in history, only scantly behind the World Mark of Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj. Lagat - 3:26.34 to that of El G's 3:26.00.
Now for the 5000m Bernard.
In other areas it was a sparkling day, my heart went out to Sweden's Susanna Kallur who simply could not hide her disappointment of that elusive medal. 100th of a second determined the feeling of loss to that of success.
Then came along the Caribbean flair of 'Don't worry be Happy', in the form of the Bahamas' Donald Thomas. Who leaped to Gold on the platform of pole-vaulting shoes. I am sure you shall read more about this guy, as his background is remarkably different. It was not many years ago that he was a basketball player who could jump a bit to 'slam dunk'. Well now he is World Champion. Also in the High Jump we had the massive surprise of Cyprus' Bronze medal jumper in the form of Kyriakos Ioannou who raised his Personal Best and National Record on two occasions, firstly to 2.33 and then to 2.35. This in the high pressure cauldron of the World Champs. The Top 3 all jumped 2.35 and the title went to Thomas on the countbacks, another superb spectacle to witness from these great Championships.
Still not happy to finish there, we had the most unbelievable performance of the Brits in the Women's 400m flat. Here both Nicola Sanders and Christine Ohuruogu pulled out all the stops to record PB's and to take the top 2 places on the podium. Ohuruogu grabbed Gold and Sanders Silver.
For Ohuruoga it spelled an end to a year of turmoil after being suspended for a year due to failing to make herself available on 3 occasions for testing. Though never being suspended for failing a drug test, it must be remembered that failing to make yourself available for drug testing is seen by most as just as bad as failing a test. Do note that something similar led to the removal of this year's Tour de France leader, Denmark's Michael Rasmussen, by his team Robobank. Not exactly the same but similar in the games played to avoid out of competition testing. I have no qualms with Ohuruogu, however in this scenario is it either an attempt to cheat the system or is the person just plain stupid? The athlete can decide.
Sanders could rightly feel aggrieved however she would do well to focus on what she has achieved and not the what IF, after this performance she has a bright future.
Without ending on a damper, our Athlete of the Day goes to Bernard Lagat. The Surprise of the Day goes to Kyriakos Ioannou and for sheer Entertainment of the Day to Donald Thomas. If you get a chance read about the character, it is well worth it.
The Men's 3000m SteepleChase saw Kenya continue their dominance with a 1-2-3, that without the year's World Leader, Paul Kipsiele Koech being present. The least known of the 3, Brimin Kiprop Kipruto grabbed the lead with less than 200m to go and galloped to victory unchallenged. The best effort of the race belonged to Sweden's Mustafa Mohamed who took 4th. In 2005, we had Saif Saaeed Shaheen take the title, whereas it is registered as a Qatar victory, Shaheen is originally from Kenya.
What was to follow, (our coverage is primarily 800 to the marathon) was the Women's 800m final. I had Mozambique's Maria Mutola down for my IAAF Fantasy Team however I was most interested to see the performance of Janeth Jepkosgei and Belarus' Sviatlana Usovich. Jepkosgei won going away and looks like the real thing and the future of 800m running. I have waited in anticipation when the Russian 400m specialists stepped up to 800 however they prefer to use the method of 'sitting and kicking'. Now we have a Champion who can do everything for herself, one can only imagine what she will be like during the Golden League later this year with designated 'rabbitts' (aka pacers).
As for Mutola, to me it seemed more like a major blow of the head and not the thigh (an opinion). This could spell the end of her Championship career, after having run 1:56 this season there would be no need to retire for her however I do believe the intensity of the games and her own expectations may have been too much on the day. She was a great champion but had to make way some day and I am only glad to see the likes of Jepkosgei taking up the role.
First a little fun, for the Time-to-Run 'Hairdo of the Champs', this must certainly go to Tatyana Lebedeva, but Boy, can she jump. Always 'value for your money' with her performances. And by the way, she captured the Long Jump title in emphatic form. Spare a thought for Portugal's Nadia Gomes who was in Silver position right till the last jump and then was pushed out of the medals by the Russians.
Athlete of the Day, without doubt Janeth Jepkosgei.
In other areas of the field events Belarus' Ivan Tsikhan showed his pure class by winning the Hammer with his penultimate throw. The mark of a Champion who up until that throw was not in a medal position. The big surprise came in the Men's Triple Jump where Portugal's Nelson Évora produced a National Record jump to win the title.
The Women's 100m provided a blanket finish where Jamaica's Veronica Campbell took Gold on a photo finish.
In winning the Steeple, Volkova went one better than her Silver placing in 2005 and displaced her compatriot, Gulnara Samitova-Galkina, as her country's #1 in the event. Samitova-Galinka still holds the World Record in the event and had started out rather quickly before 'dying a 1000 deaths', not a nice feeling in this grueling event. She finished 7th, well off the pace.
In the 10000m, Bekele survived the test and took the title with a powerful kick over the last 200m. This was no 'run of the mill' win for Bekele, who had to shake off the massive doubt which had begun to hang over him since his defeat in Mombasa. With 2 laps to go you could see he was troubled and anyone who carries a strong finishing kick knows, that even when you are feeling lousy, all you have to do is put yourself within a striking distance and you will have a chance. Once you unleash the kick it is almost as though the mind takes over from the body and orders the physical reaction to take place. Bekele had this to thank, as I believe he still had a little doubt in his ability and when the kick came, it was as though a relief came over him and a smile broke across his face once victory was assured. Another title but more significantly a return to the belief in one's ability.
At this level, it is all about self-belief.
Now to my talking point of the day, the diabolical performance of France's Mehdi Baala. Everyone has focused on the final straight however even earlier in the race down the backstraight approaching 200m to go, Baala tried to go through on the inside without there being a gap. Then to do what he did was plain and simply ridiculous. For me there was no choice but disqualification, there was no other choice. If this were the final they would even have to reconsider re-running it and rightly so.
Baala deserves all the criticism he shall receive and he must learn from this once and for all. The final shall now see 14 athletes instead of 12 and yet again New Zealand's Nick Willis was a recipient of luck on the day.
The athletes were reinstated under Rule 163 .. see IAAF ruling
Bahrain's Rashid Ramzi looked impressive and has me eating a portion of humble pie, however with a faster pace in the final, I will still stick with Belal Mansoor Ali as my favourite. The USA's Allan Webb did not run a convincing semi and he can look to the final with a different perspective. If Webb, is to win, I suspect that El G's winning approach from Athens 2004, is the answer. A 3.33 winning time could put paid to Ramzi.
Day 2 of the Osaka World Athletic Championships promised to provide fireworks towards the end of the day in the 'Blue Ribbon' event, the 100m. To get straight to the result, America's Tyson Gay won howver it was a bit of a damper with Jamaica's Asafa Powell failing to deliver a performance that justified his status.
Previously during the week, there was an article where the author mentioned; "What a Trouper", Powell was. Powell had allegedly stayed out in the pubs and clubs till 2am and then 4 1/2 hr later was putting in a training session. I was most critical of the article and warned that if Powell failed to deliver Gold that the incident will come back to haunt him. Nuff said.
Turning our attention to the other performances of the day and the 'Golden Darling of Athletics', Sweden's Carolina Kluft, took Gold and this time in a new European record score. The enthusiasm and delight of the heptathletes has been seen as a major highpoint of the Champs so far. Jätte bra.
Before moving to my Athlete of the Day, I would like to mention the satisfaction the Women's 800m semi finals brought me. In Kenya's Janeth Jepkosgei and Belarus' Sviatlana Usovich, we have 2 lasses who have added much excitement to the 2 lap event with their aggressive front running tactics. The final should be a thriller however we know that there can be only one winner and their similar tactics may be the 'death' of each other, opening the door for another. Jepkosgei starts as favourite and I still have the 'legend' Maria Mutola in with a shot.
There was high drama in the Men's 3000m SteepleChase qualifiers with Austria's Günther Weidlinger crahing face first against the barrier. The accident looked agonisingly dangerous and fortunately he has escaped with no serious neck or other injuries albeit a split lip and an inability to chew a hamburger for a short while. Thank heavens.
Now for our athlete of the day. Please, realise that Time-to-Run is, currently, primarily a site covering distances from 800m to the marathon, that is our main focus however when a performance comes along which is eye catching and touching at the same time we are quick to acknowledge. New Zealand 's Valerie Vili is our athlete of the Day with her last round heave to capture the Women's Shot Put . Power to you Valerie, long enjoy the feeling of triumph in capturing your World Athletic Championship title.
Well, that's all for this sum up and we will bring you day 3 tomorrow.
The reports may be a bit slow in their placement on the main site however everything shall be in place in due time
We have filed a report and you can read the full report via the link provided. What can be mentioned was the incredibly challenging conditions that the athletes faced. A truly remarkable tussle took place for the Bronze medal with 4 athletes vying for the last of the medals over the last 1km. Switzerland's Viktor Rothlin grabbed the last remaining medal with Kenya's Luke Kibet securing Gold and Qatar's Mubarak Shami taking Silver.
Despite the conditions, Kibet described the race as not his toughest marathon. Surely a man suited for hot conditions and on this standing he could be a threat come Beijing in 2008, where it is considered that conditions will be just as challenging. For Kibet, it will be more a case of qualifying for the chance, as making the Kenyan team can be the biggest obstacle to overcome.
I was in awe and inspired by the athletes' determination to win a medal as the World Championship grows in stature with the World's top class marathoners. This augers well for future Championships.
In the Men's 1500m heats there was a fair amount of posturing from Rashid Ramzi as to his form and what to expect. However, I was not truly convinced and do not consider him a serious medal contender. Of course I could be proven wrong however the palor of his skin surrounding his mouth after his acceleration did not say to me "I am an athlete in full control". Kenya's Abel Kiprop was certainly impressive, as was the pink shoed Frenchmen Mehdi Baala. Two athletes who must feel fortunate to have gone through to the next round are New Zealand 's Nick Willis and the Kenyan Daniel Kipchirchir Komen who went through as fastest qualifiers. My pick, Belal Mansoor Ali, did not look good at all and I can only hope that this was his one bad race because he has a great deal to do. USA 's Allan Webb ran with an assurity and qualified with aplomb and ease.
In the Women's 10000m, Ethiopia's Tirunesh Dibaba showed what the 'Heart of a Champion' truly means when coming back from a tumble as well as a side stitch to win comfortably in a time of 31:55.41 ahead of Turkey's Elvan Abeylegesse. America celebrated the unexpected bronze of Kara Goucher while Britain lamented the 4th placing of Jo Pavey.
Our Athlete of the Day - Tirunesh Dibaba winner of the 10000m
Well, who would have guessed, Kenenisa Bekele can trash talk? It isn't exactly 'trash talk' by any stretch of the imagination of a sprinter's standards or even that of Australia's Craig Mottram however for the Ethiopian to dismiss Mottram in the manner he has, places some fuel to the fire.
Bekele has stated that he doesn't consider Mottram a serious rival and actually he may have a point, and now Mottram may have a point to prove. The King of Track and Cross Country has not had exactly the most delightful year, to put it lightly. Having failed to defend his XCountry title for the 6th time in Kenya this year, seemed to diminish the awe of invincibility that befell athletes lining up against him.
The loss was no doubt painful in Mombasa and the road back has probably been quite tough for an athlete of such enormous expectations. It must be remembered that in the build up to the X-Country World Champs, he continually stated that he had no interest in defending his title. However, after the pressure of his country's athletic association he toed the line and faced defeat for the first time in a World X-C Championship having won as a junior before notching up 5 doubles of the short and long distance course titles. Hopefully the authorities leave this enormous talent to further fulfil his own destiny without them trying to plot his map.
Bekele approaches Japan with fine form and his recent sub 7:30 runs over the 3000m distance show he is in fine fettle. The pressure is on Mottram to win Gold in Osaka, if he wants to consider himself as any form of competition to the East African athlete. If Bekele was to do the double in Osaka, we would certainly be in for a treat, as the fuel has been added and all that is needed is the starter's gun.
Oh happy days if this was so because we can assure you the Aussie known as Buster will no doubt retort something in reply.
The World Athletic Championships are steaming in quicker than an autumn morning in Sweden. Japan welcomes athletes to Osaka for a feast of athletics and the journalists and squires from around the world prepare to put pen to paper in preparation for 9 days of athletics. The last Champs, 2 years ago in Finland, were literally washed out and the organisers must be holding thumbs that the same fate does not await them.
Now for the predictions! No sporting event should pass without the speculation of who is fancied to win Gold and who is your pick of the surprise of the games, so I shall not falter in making a few predictions of my own to add to the fun.
First off, I shall mention Jeremy Wariner of the USA, as I have made him Captain of my Men's team for the IAAF Fantasy Prediction contest. The IAAF contest allows you to select only 1 athlete per country out of 20 possible best performers worldwide. Wariner, I do believe, is on song for something spectacular and the warm and humid conditions may certainly favour his event. Now we could say 'time will tell' and in this case it certainly shall.
For my surprise of the games, I shall look to Bernard Lagat to take the Men's 5000m. He has been quietly preparing and everyone (The Kenyans per say) have been focusing his performances towards the 1500m, however I do believe that the 5000m may just be his event.
Staying with the predictions I shall give my favourites from 800m to the Marathon .
Because of the difficulty of finding 20 different country winners in the Fantasy game, I decided to go for the stalwart in the form of the Mozambique great, Maria Mutola. However, if I had not used up my Russian certainty in the Women's polevault, I would have tried to find a winner amongst their 3 entrants. The Ukraine has a great emerging athlete in the form of Yuliya Krevsu, who set the year's fastest time in the recently held Student's Games in Bangkok with a time of 1:57.63. I don't give her much scope on the larger scale as the event is a tough nut to crack. I will be more than happy if Mutola takes a medal. In the Men's event, I don't see Rashid Ramzi coming back to defend his title and Russia's Olympic Champion, Yuriy Borzakovskiy, is always a threat. I have not selected a winner in the IAAF game however I do fancy South Africa 's Mbulaeni Mulaudzi to be in the shake up.
In the 1500m, things are truly open for all, amongst the Women we can again look to the Russians to be at the party in full force and I couldn't find Maryam Yusuf Jamal's name among the entrants, so it is an easy call to go for a Russian athlete, but which one? So, I will go for, Yuliya Fomenko, who I believe can catch her compatriots out on the day. In the Men's race, America are screaming for Alan Webb and for them Gold is begging, however if he is able to nab a podium finish he will have had a great Championship. One athlete who won't be there because of failing a drug test is Morocco's Adil Kaouch and this opens the door for France's Mehdi Baala however I shall go for Belal Mansoor Ali who I believe is due a good one.
In the 5000m Women's event, we have to look no further than Ethiopia's Tirunesh Dibaba with her ever present rival, Meseret Defar, waiting to take honours at the smallest of slip ups. Championship races often tend to be tactical, cagey affairs and Defar still does not seem to have the firepower when needed over the last 200m. In the men, as mentioned, I am going with Bernard Lagat.
The 10000m is an Ethiopian affair in both the Men and Women's races with Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba my favourites. The 10 is before the 5, Dibaba will take this race and then go towards the 5. If Bekele doubles, then I thinks he will take the 5 as well.
The Steeplechase, Russia to take the Women's gold with a few of their athletes again capable of winning, especially with Zambia's Docus Inzikuru missing. World leader, Gulnara Samitova-Galkina, to do the honours. In the Men's race, the withdrawal of the WL, Kenya 's Paul Kipsiele Koech and World Record Holder, Saif Saaeed Shaheen, pave the way for Ezekiel Kemboi with Kenyan trials winner, Richard Kipkemboi Mateelong, a great threat.
The marathon is never an open affair, especially at Championship events. I however will stick with Japan's Yumiko Hara (who I have in my fantasy team because I have China's high hurdler, Xiang Liu, I could not choose, Chunxiu Zhou, who I believe is the outright favourite). For the Men, it is a tough call and I will go with Morocco's Abderrahim Goumri. Goumri had a good London on his debut and a tactical race will suit him tremendously.
Japan to win the Women's Marathon team event and Morocco to take the Men's.
It is quite incredible that I again find myself penning or for more accuracy, typing another blog regarding Drugs-in-Sport.
France is currently a bedrock for everything taking place in the fight against drugs in athletics. The Tour de Farce is over with and now the storm descends on French middle and distance running.
Jolande Ceplak is minute in comparison of the scale of what is taking place now. Recently suspended French athlete, Hind Dehiba , wanted to spill the beans regarding the network of suppliers and athletes all with a Moroccan link. This cannot do the image of North African athletics any good whatsoever and the sooner that these allegations are looked into the better for all involved in the sport.
The main name that has been linked as the supplier is former Olympic Champion Khalid Skah. Skah the winner of the 10000m at Barcelona in 1992 can ill afford to have his name linked with these accusations however this is not the first time the name of a former Olympic Champion has been brought up regarding the promotion of the use of banned substances.
Sadly Said Aouita has been mentioned by Australian athletes for encouraging the use of drugs to enhance their performances. One athlete, 1500m runner Mark Fountain, sent a letter to the Australian Sports Commission regarding this however Aouita was cleared and left his post shortly afterwards.
Harsher sentences are needed for those who supply drugs, as they as a supplier are seeking the financial reward and are no different to those who were recently arrested for possession of the Harry Potter ecstacy tablets.
Only today a former French national marathon champion stated, "One thing that completely beats me is how people agree to take any of this stuff, do they just not understand what kind of state they will be in at 40 years of age if they live that long".
Sadly, the athletes only care about the glory and cannot think further than their own glory.
I keep repeating this, we are making gains in this sport and once the athletes work to eradicate the sport of this evil then the battle of the minds will begin to be won.
The Slovakian, Jolanda Ceplak, has been suspended after testing positive for EPO.
Whereas I was hoping to avoid commenting on this scenario with a blog post, it was simply too much after a week of controversy which hit the Tour de France.
With an article just been written about Alexandre Vinokourov under the title,
and to now have to write about Ceplak makes an awful week for me. I truly love our sport and I truly admire sports persons who commit to their sport, hence the article on Tamsyn Lewis. However, to have this continual blight on sport during the past week, seems to give everyone the impression that you can only shine if you take drugs.
I cannot emphasise that this is further from the truth than one can imagine. When money comes into a sport along with it comes the agents and managers who are often there only for the money. This is a broad brush that is being used however it is time to paint the full picture and to nail those who are integral in bringing the sport into disrepute.
For long cycling was slow to respond to the knowledge of the drug problems they had, however this year's Tour will forever change that perception. Their very livelihood is being threatened and it is time for things to be brought to an end in sport. We need to learn from what takes places and move to eradicate the hanger ons in our sport who try to encourage silence and the turning of one's back. This is not a case for whistle-blowing but more a case for the players in sport to stand up and be counted. This applies to the athletes (all sports persons) as well, it is time for them to say NO!
For Ceplak it spells the end and when in the past she was referred to as the future of the 800m on the site, it seems she was more from the past where the 800m record is tainted with doubt and the controversy of the record and the record holder under suspicion.
Kelly Holmes had made murmurs and the eye brows were being raised however Ceplak was invited to a role within the IAAF which with hindsight now available to us, was a complete and utter mistake. Such occurences will hopefully be avoided in the future.
I shall close in saying that in a next blog on the subject I shall mention certain aspects that I have been aware of which maybe highlights how things do occur.
There were Gold Medalists from Osaka who did win and they were; on the running side, Bernard Lagat who won the 3000m (in Osaka he became the first man in Championship history to do the 1500/5000 double, Bahrain's Maryam Jamal who had won the 1500m against Russia's Yelena Soboleva, repeated her performance in Zurich and then the new 'Darling of the 800m', Kenya's Janeth Jepkosgei, who again displayed her brilliance over 2 laps. 
The Women's marathon saw 
Without the presence of Tirunish Dibaba, it seemed a matter of formality for Ethiopia's Meseret Defar to capture the title and so it was. I was amazed that she had the confidence to leave it to a last 200m sprint. The World Championship title joins her already captured Olympic title over the distance.
Moving on to brilliance of Allyson Felix. What a superb, majestic performance. She obliterated the rest of the field leaving 100m Champion, Veronica Campbell, in her wake. The American recorded 21.81 and in the process established the greatest winning margin in a 200m final at the highest level since 1948. The highest level being the finals of the Olympic Games and/or the World Championships.
Now to our comment of the day, that is reserved for Italy's Andrew Howe. If this had been a football match he would have received a yellow card. His behaviour was way over the top and whereas he had reason to celebrate his jump, the excessive behaviour was inappropriate considering there were others jumping after him. Thank heavens Saldano mustered enough power of concentration to produce a stunning jump of 8m 57, a Personal Best, National Record, Area Record and most importantly, Gold. 
Bernard Lagat formerly of Kenya and now representing the USA, rolled back 'Father Time' and won the coveted 1500m title, when most had thought a Major Championship win over that distance would elude him. The Kenyans feared him more than the supposed threat of World Leader, Allan Webb. How right they were, running a seemingly flawless race, Lagat kicked to victory over the last 50m without a single hitch and untroubled all the way to the line.
What was to follow, (our coverage is primarily 800 to the marathon) was the Women's 800m final. I had Mozambique's Maria Mutola down for my IAAF Fantasy Team however I was most interested to see the performance of Janeth Jepkosgei and Belarus' Sviatlana Usovich. Jepkosgei won going away and looks like the real thing and the future of 800m running. I have waited in anticipation when the Russian 400m specialists stepped up to 800 however they prefer to use the method of 'sitting and kicking'. Now we have a Champion who can do everything for herself, one can only imagine what she will be like during the 
Now to my talking point of the day, the diabolical performance of France's Mehdi Baala. Everyone has focused on the final straight however even earlier in the race down the backstraight approaching 200m to go, Baala tried to go through on the inside without there being a gap. Then to do what he did was plain and simply ridiculous. For me there was no choice but disqualification, there was no other choice. If this were the final they would even have to reconsider re-running it and rightly so.
Now for our athlete of the day. Please, realise that Time-to-Run is, currently, primarily a site covering distances from 800m to the marathon, that is our main focus however when a performance comes along which is eye catching and touching at the same time we are quick to acknowledge. 
In the Women's 10000m, Ethiopia's Tirunesh Dibaba showed what the 'Heart of a Champion' truly means when coming back from a tumble as well as a side stitch to win comfortably in a time of 31:55.41 ahead of Turkey's Elvan Abeylegesse. America celebrated the unexpected bronze of Kara Goucher while 
Bekele has stated that he 
For my surprise of the games, I shall look to Bernard Lagat to take the Men's 5000m. He has been quietly preparing and everyone (The Kenyans per say) have been focusing his performances towards the 1500m, however I do believe that the 5000m may just be his event. 
The main name that has been linked as the supplier is former 
The Slovakian, Jolanda Ceplak, has been suspended after testing positive for EPO.