byStuart WeirAs Stuart Weir does with most meets, we see which Brits do well in the event. The meeting today is Bauhaus Galan, and the Stockholm DL was a good meeting.
Adam Gemili and Richard Kilty, photo by Chris Cooper
Brits Kick Ass in Stockholm!
There were four British winners in the Bauhaus Diamond League in Stockholm.
The 4 Brits in women’s 1,500m, Melissa Courtney-Bryant,@lauramuiruns, @lauraweightman and @eilishmccolgan, 23 August 2020, photos by Chris Cooper,
Laura Muir won the 1500m in 3:57.86, a world lead, winning by almost 4 seconds while Jemma Reekie won the 800m in 1:59.68. See separate post on these two races. But before we leave the 1500m, we need to note that it was a British 1-2-3 with Laura Weightman second in 4:01.62. Melissa Courtney-Bryant was third in 4:01.81. Weightman commented: “My first 1500m of the year running 4.01.62! That felt fast after running Monaco 5000m last week”. You may recall that her Monaco 5000m was a PR. Courtney-Bryant said: “I’m really happy today, I ran a PR, I would have liked to get a little bit closer to 4 minutes but I’m really happy to run a PR. I knew the race was really stacked so I wanted to be in a good position with 500m to go and I think I did that and I made a move and worked my way towards the front”. I love that kind of comment which shows exactly why she is so good, I mean the “I’m pleased with a PR but I wanted it to be even faster” attitude.
And don’t forget that the Stockholm 1500 field included Shannon Rowbury, Jess Hull, Winny Chebet and Hellen Obiri.
Adam Gemili, 23 August 2020, photo by Chris Cooper
Adam Gemili won the 200m in 20.61. Gemili commented: “Execution wasn’t great and my speed isn’t amazing and my speed-endurance isn’t amazing at the moment either”. Apart from that, I think, he was quite pleased with the race. He did add: “It was good, it was nice to get the win It was nice to come out here and get competitive and a victory is fantastic so I’m really happy!”
Holly Bradshaw, 23 August 2020, photo by Chris Cooper
Holly Bradshaw won the pole vault with 4:69, the only athlete to clear that height to register her first ever diamond league victory.
Katerina Johnson-Thompson, 23 August 2020, photo by Chris Cooper
Heptathlete, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, had a light afternoon, only doing two events. She was sixth in the 100m hurdles in 13.94 and sixth in the long jump with 6:52. She commented: “The long jump was much better than the hurdles – in the hurdles I hit one, really, really hit one, with my knee, and almost fell over so I was happy to stay on my feet.
This was my first long jump competition of the season, yeah it was good”.
In the women’s 400m Laviai Nielsen, running from lane eight, was second in 52.16, almost catching winner Wadeline Jonathas. Hurdler, Jessie Knight, caught the eye, running a PR 52.42 for fourth place. She summed up the experience: “The race was OK, I’m finding the 400 flats hard as I’m a hurdler, I just don’t really know how to run it really”. Knight has made enormous progress in the last year as a part time athlete and full-time teacher. She added: “I’m back at school on the 1st September. I’m going part time, working Mon, Tue, Wed … I’m class sharing with someone else. It will give me more time to recover and focus on eating and sleeping well“.
Other British performances
Eilish McColgan was eighth in the 1500m 4:03.74
Richard Kilty sixth in the 200 in 20.87
Abi Irozuru long-jumped a season’s best of 6:57 for fifth place while Sarah Proctor could only manage 6:14
Neil Gourley was eighth (3:38.30) and Charlie Da’Vall Grice 11th in 3:41.75 in the 1500
Max Burgin was sixth in the 800 in 1:46.02
Rabah Yousif was fourth in the 400m in 46.63
