byStuart WeirLet me tell you how Stuart and I work together remotely.
Stuart Weir covers the meet, as he did in Birmingham today. Except he had a terrible storm that almost stopped him from coming to Birmingham from Oxford.
Stuart always starts out with a few pictures he takes at the meet, so we can see the audience and I can give you, kind reader, some of the culture around the meet.
Then, the photos (thanks Getty/British Athletics) begin to come in.
The full crowd of British track fans, 2022 Muller Indoor Grand Prix, Birmingham, England, photo by Getty Images for British Athletics
The meet in Birmingham was early, 1:15pm-4 pm, Birmingham time, which meant, 8:15 AM Chicago time for me. Using my VPN, I watch the World Athletes streaming coverage, with Chris Temple and Jenny Meadows. They actually do a fantastic job.
Stuart headed back right after the meet via train and began writing late in the evening.
By that time, I had posted photos on Twitter, FB, and Instagram (about 64), with links, to build our coverage.
Our take? Through the photos, stories, tweets, and stories on Instagram, we build a multi-layered story of a great track & field meet in Birmingham, England.
Enjoy the intro!
There was a great atmosphere at the Muller Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham on Saturday with a sell-out crowd enjoying a full and varied program of top-class track and field. Birmingham, England’s second city is the city of athletics this year with this event followed by the British Indoor Championships, a Diamond League and the Commonwealth Games – the last two in the revamped Alexander Stadium.
Andy Pozzi and Grant Hollister, 60m hurdles, 2022 Muller Indoor GP, Birmingham, England, photo by Getty Images / British Athletics
There were Olympic Champions who won (Elaine Thompson-Herah and Mondo Duplantis) and an Olympic champion who suffered a rare defeat (Mariya Lasitskene). There was Grant Holloway maintaining an unbeaten record in the sprint hurdles. Another failure was Olympic medallist Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk failing to record a legal jump in the women’s long jump.
There were four PRs in the women’s 1500m and five in the men’s 1500m.
There were British wins – Isabelle Boffey and Keely Hodgkinson. There were British near-misses with Andrew Pozzi, Darryl Neita and Elliot Giles second.
There was a men’s 60m race where 4 Brits made the final with 4 Americans but it finished USA1,2,3,4
The award for the hardest working athlete who reaped no reward goes to Erik Sowinski, who paced both the 800 and 1500.
Isabelle Boffey takes the 1000m in PB 2:38.25, 2022 Muller Indoor GP, Birmingham, England, photo by Getty Images / British Athletics
There were two para-athletics races with the peerless Sophie Hahn winning and a very competitive men’s race won by Zac Seddon from Thomas Young.
There was a couples section when Harry Coppell (pole vault) and Emily Borthwick (high jump) were in competition at the same time and later Jazmin Sawyers (long jump) and Guy Learmonth (800).
And it had stopped raining by the time the meet ended.
Fast Elaine Thompson Herah, Olympic champion, World Champion, likes Birmingham, 2022 Muller Indoor GP, photo by British Athletics
