by Larry Eder
Micheal Tinsley, photo by PhotoRun.net
Aleksandr Menkov,
photo by PhotoRun.net
Christian Taylor, TJ,
photo by PhotoRun.net
Birmingham DL was a fantastic meet. Here is how Roy Stevenson, Runblogrun.com correspondent, who is traveling to several Diamond League events this summer, saw the track events…..
Sainsbury Birmingham Diamond League Meet
By Roy Stevenson
A maximum sell out crowd of 13,000 in Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium enjoyed perfect weather, with nary a cloud in the sky and temperatures hovering around 75 degrees. Birmingham is the home city of England’s blue collar industrial worker and the town is clearly still on an excited patriotic post-Olympic high. The boisterous crowd, clearly enjoying the beginning of the summer, clapped their hands and listened to Abba tunes bouncing around the stadium. They were psyched!
With loud fireworks blasting off at the finish of each Diamond League race, and jazzy tunes belting out during the events, this is one fun meet. (And, as an aside, the catered lunch for the press was also excellent).
Now to the races . . . a gusting cross wind and head wind affected the occasional home straight performance. The fields were packed with 30 Olympic medalists, including 11 reigning Olympic champions, and many races featured the first three finishers from the London Olympics, plus the odd world champion thrown in for good measure. Our media kit proclaimed this would be the best ever DL meet in Birmingham in terms of competitors.
Mo Farah in particular, who has achieved cult status in Great Britain, was looking forward to the meet. “I’m really looking forward to competing in front of a home crowd again” he says. “This is another big year with the World Championships just around the corner . . . I have great memories of competing at Alexander stadium”.
A popular 1-2 punch for the Great Britain crowd were Perri Shakes-Drayton winning the womens 400m Hurdles (53.82) and Eilidh Child runner up in 54.22 .
The packed mens 1500m field featured speedsters Mohamed Moustaoui, Abdelaati Iguider, and Aman Wote. Abraham kiplagat’s first lap in 55.6 kept the pace honest and by 800m, the field was spread over 15m. Pacemaker Kiplagat’s 800m in 1:54 was followed by Iguider, Wote, and Moustaoui, and in the home straight sprint Wote took Iguider with 70m to go with Moustaoui third. Wote’s time was 3:35.99.
The women’s 800m proved as exciting on the track as it did on pre-race paper. With five sub-2 minute starters including Briton Marilyn Okoro and Ethiopian Fantu Magiso, plus 18-year-old wunderkid Jessica Judd, fresh from a fast time at Gateshead the week before, this would prove to be one of the meet’s most exciting races.
The race followed standard tactical form with Okoro and Magiso following Russian Kotulskaya’s lead and Judd hanging back in the field. As the place getters started to open up down the home straight, Judd finished powerfully over the final 90 meters to beat Okoro decisively by almost a second, and Judd’s 1:59.85 was a qualifier for the World Champs. “It feels amazing”, said Judd. “I just can’t believe it. We went through 400m fast. I remember thinking “I can’t keep up”, but I thought if I run my own race, I’ll be OK. I hadn’t got the A Standard until today so I was putting it all in this race”. I foresee some knock down drag out races between 17-year old Mary Cain and Judd in the next couple of years.
Puerto Rico’s Javier Culson dominated the last 300m of the 400m Hurdles in 48.59 from Briton Rhys Williams (48.93) who just held off American Michael Tinsley 3rd in 48.94. Culson said, “All the other athletes are strong, but today I had the opportunity and I won”.
It’s not often you see Australian high hurdler Sally Pearson place 4th in “her” event, but still short on races, she was outgunned by the fiercely competitive American trio of Dawn Harper-Nelson (12.64), Kellie Wells (12.67) and Tiffany Porter (12.72) to Pearson’s 12.73. An elated Harper-Nelson said, “Honestly, I was really happy that the one, two, and three in the world get to line up against each other and I realized it was the first time for us, which I was really excited for”.
Botswanan Amantle Montsho learned the hard way that the 400m race is not over until you cross the finish line. Christine Ohurougu trailed Montsho down the home straight by 3 yards, but Ohurougu clawed back the distance and when Montsho practically walked across the finish line Ohurougu pipped her in the final stride, 50.63 to 50.64.
Despite the absence of superstars Bolt and Gay, the men’s 100m heats earlier in the day had whet the crowd’s appetite for the short sprint. This was a closely run race with Jamaica’s Nesta Carter winning by a whisker from Brit James Dasaolu, 9.99 to 10.03, and Kim Collins third in 10.06. Michael Rodgers was the first American to cross the finish with fourth in 10.07. Said Carter, “It feels good to run sub 10-seconds. I’m going to go to the World Champs and do what I can do”.
Barbados hurdler Ryan Brathwaite outgunned American Aries Merritt in the 110m Hurdles, 13.13 to 13.22, and Merritt looked short on sprint speed between the hurdles. Said Merritt after the race, “I think it went well. I’m fresh off the plane. I haven’t had much training so I am going to be racing myself into shape ahead of the World Championships”. Brathwaite was pleased with his win, “It was pretty good but I needed it to be legal to set a new national record. I will get the record next time”.
The womens 1500m had a loaded field and the field stayed crowded during first 3.5 laps, leading to a desperate sprint which came down to Sweden’s Abeba Aregawi, Nancy Langat, and Russian Sharmina Yekaterina, with them finishing in that order. Gabriele Anderson was first american across the line in 9th place in 4:07.98 and Morgan Uceny 12th in 4:08.49. Said Aregawi, “It was not a fast time but it was good to win. I felt comfortable and I am in good form so I am looking forward to the World Champs”.
The crowd was at fever pitch for the final track event, the men’s 5000m, and M
o Farah did not disappoint. Geofrey Barusei made the pace with a lot of daylight bak to the pack, which was clusterd around pre race favorite Mo Farah. With 5 to go Farah moved up to 2nd, Yenew Alamirew 3rd.
o Farah did not disappoint. Geofrey Barusei made the pace with a lot of daylight bak to the pack, which was clusterd around pre race favorite Mo Farah. With 5 to go Farah moved up to 2nd, Yenew Alamirew 3rd.
With 4 laps to go Farah was in the lead from Hagos Gebhriwet, Alamirew, Collis Birmingham, and Yigrem Demelash.
With 3 to go Chris Thompson dashed into lead trying to steal the race from Gebhriwet and Farah covering them all. Farah lead from 600m out, with Alamirew and Gebhriwet in close attendance.
Alamirew screamed thogh to 2nd up the home straight, but Farah held him off by a half second, 13:14.24 to 13:14.71, while Gebhrimet faded in the wake of the blistering last lap sprint of 53.3.
Farah’s comments afterwards; “It was a tough field so I’m really pleased I came through it with a victory. It’s important that I keep working hard now and get ready for the world champs. IO got a massive roar from the crowd. It reminded me of the atmosphere of the games”.
All in all, the Birmingham meet reached everyone’s expectations with some fast times and close finishes, and the English athletes looking primed for the world champs. The American athletes looked a little short on races, and will, I am sure, use the next few DL meets to sharpen up.
