by Stuart Weir
Brits at home in Lausanne in the rain!
I had to decide between the Lausanne and Brussels Diamond Leagues. I made the right decision! I’m sitting in a hotel in Brussels watching the Lausanne Meet on television. It is a pleasant evening in Brussels, whereas in Lausanne, to use a British idiom, it is raining cats and dogs. Steady, heavy rain is making almost every event more challenging for the athletes. High jumpers are starting competition at a much lower height, field eventers are worried about their footholds, track athletes look absolutely miserable, and the times reflect that. Rain in Europe, and indeed in Switzerland, is not remotely rare, but it seems particularly ironic this year, when so much of Europe has been dealing with heatwaves. Unfortunate too for Lausanne’s 50th birthday.
The first thing to say as we assess the British performances is that times are meaningless given the constant heavy rain. The highlight of the evening was the women’s 800m with Keely Hodkinson facing her training partner, Georgia Hunter Bell. Remember the context. This was Keely’s second race since Paris last year, due to a series of injuries, and her previous one was before Tokyo. Georgia is definitely going to Tokyo, but is it to run the 800, the 1500, or both? And did tonight’s race help the decision? It proved to be a high-speed race despite the conditions, with nine girls finishing under 2 minutes. Keely won with some aggressive front-running. Her time was 1:55.69 (compared to 1:54.74 in Silesia last week). Georgia was never in contention but was coasting home in second when Audrey Werro passed her to take second place. Georgia’s time was 1:57.35.
Keely commented afterwards, “I felt great after Silesia and came straight here, so there has been a lot of waiting around for today. In a race like tonight, when the pace goes like that, you forget about everyone else, and it paid off with a solid performance. I couldn’t have asked for a better start this season. Now it is just the GB preparation camp and Tokyo, “Georgia said.” It was a little cold and wet, but coming from England, we can’t really complain about the rain. I still wanted to run quicker. I think I am capable of running a 1:55, but I need the right race and the right conditions. Next week I will be in the Diamond League final in Zurich”.
The result showed that Keely is back with no ill effects from her long layoff and is undoubtedly the favorite to win her first world title in Tokyo. Georgia looks unlikely to beat Keely in the 800 or Faith Kipyegon in the 1500, but could still medal in either event. Which is more likely, and can she medal in both? The answers are beyond my understanding.
The 200m, won by Brittany Brown in 22.23, was a British disappointment with Dina-Asher Smith fifth in 22.64 and Darryl Neita seventh in 22.73. And remember that these two were fourth and fifth in the Paris 200. Dina, who always keeps her cards close to her chest, has relocated from Texas to London but has declined to give any reasons for the move. Darryl moved from Italy to Lance Brauman in the USA in the fall. Darryl has said that training and coaching are going well, but she is dealing with numerous adjustments. Both are great athletes, but Tokyo is getting closer.
Max Burgin was fourth in the 800 in 1:43.44, behind Josh Hoey, the World Indoor champion, who failed to make the US team for Tokyo, with Emmanuel Wanyonyi second. Burgin led on the home straight but could not hold his position. It was good to see Guy Learmonth, now 33, involved as a pace-maker.
The 800 m B race was won by former World and European U23 medalist Ethan Hussey in 1:45.80, with Alex Botterill, who was third in the recent GB Champs, finishing third in Lausanne in 1:46.17.
Alistair Chalmers was fifth in the 400m in 49.92. If running in torrential rain is hard, try hurdling. It has been a good season for Chalmers, getting into Diamond League races consistently and never looking out of place.
Elise Thorner was fourth in the 3000m steeplechase in 9:21.16, a race with a series of water-jumps due to the rain! A product of the Florida Gators Track and Field program, I saw her run a PR in Oslo this year, second on the GB all-time list. She has had a great season.
Zharnel Hughes was fifth in the 100m in 10.09. While one can blame the conditions for the time, Oblique Seville managed to produce a 9.87 finish.
Morgan Lake was fifth in a high jump affected by bad weather with a height of 1.86. The winning height was 1.91 m, achieved by four athletes who declined to risk life and limb in a jump-off. Yaroslava Mahuchikh had two failures and then retired to fight another day.
It was a good evening’s competition, but the weather rather spoiled it. GB performances were a mixed bag, but we cannot draw too many conclusions due to the weather.
