by Stuart Weir
We are actually publishing this column on September 26, 2022, I had forgotten to publish on September 12, 2022. My apologies to Stuart Weir and our British athlete friends.
Plan to publish: 12 September 2022
Published, September 26, 2022
This is Stuart Weir’s column on the Brit performances at the Weltklasse on the day of the death of Queen Elizabeth II. This was day 2 of the Zurich DL, 8 September 2022.
Brits in Zurich
On the day the Queen died, what happened on the track (and field) seemed insignificant somehow. A BBC radio reporter told me that he might as well go home as BBC would not want any of his interviews. Ever the professional, he continued to interview. With great sensitivity, a member of the World Athletics team was taking British athletes aside after they raced to break the news, rather than having them find out from a journalist’s question. Jake Wightman found the right words: “This is for the Queen – she died, and this is a very big day for Great Britain. I am probably one of the last athletes competing. Sport in the UK should stop for a bit now. It is probably the biggest day I have ever seen, so it felt something special”.
However, life goes on, and there were several British athletes in action. Only Jake Wightman was on the podium, and he was dissatisfied, saying: “It wasn’t how I wanted it to go. I thought I could have won it. Last week in Brussels, everyone seemed pretty tired. I expected them to be more tired this week, but they came back better than I did. I needed to be better than in Brussels, and I wasn’t today. I have enjoyed running 800s this season, but tonight was my least favorite and did not feel as good. Also, at this stage of the season, you get the lack of training effect and feel on the down. There is less decision-making in the 800, so you can guarantee running better each time and hopefully something I can do more of in the future”.
Keely Hodgkinson failed to defend her Diamond League title successfully, finishing fifth in 1:59.06 at the end of a really long season where she medaled in three championships.
Darryl Neita was fourth in the 100m in 11.02, into a negative wind: She told me: “I ran my PB here last year, and I wanted to come here and run something special. But to come fourth in this field was pretty good as it was an incredible line-up today, and I beat those I should have beaten. It was a good run today into a negative 0.8 wind. Overall this season, I have made huge progress, and in track and field, if you are doing better than you were before, you are in a good place.
With four medals this summer, who can blame Laura Muir for a rare “failure,” finishing fifth in 4:02.31?
Reece Prescod was sixth in the 100m in 10.16. Matt Hudson-Smith, a real prospect in the 400m, got hurt in the warm-up and withdrew.
Alex Haydock-Wilson was fifth in the 400m B race. 45.93 was a little disappointing, but it has been a season of real progress for Alex.
Lorraine Ugen, with 6.38m, was seventh in the long jump.
