Athletics Weekly

I can't imagine that many current AW readers will buy Spikes instead. From what little detail there is in the announcement, both the content and target audience will be very different. In my mind's eye I'm seeing monthly, glossy, long on fluffy interviews with stars and short on detail - much more R...

Bringing in this policy is fine.

But if I've read the coverage correctly UKA are, in effect, trying to make it retrospective for Dwain Chambers. Which, alas, is the sort of thing that makes a certain sort of lawyer salivate.

I'd love to be told my fears are misplaced!

Perhaps as significant as who's there is who's NOT there - ie the Japanese and Chinese whom I and others expect to be a major challenge to Paula. As I've said elsewhere I would have been happier to see Paula run Boston as even a win over a classy field in London won't tell anyone very much they didn...

Thanks nevets! Good run especially with that interrupted training she mentions.

The idea of a winter off-season not big in Japan, I gather?

It is fervently to be hoped you're right! Pro cycling is making very similar claims about its new generation of road racers, observing that those being caught belong to an incorrigible (relatively) old guard, who didn't pay close enough attention to the writing on the wall. Again, fingers tightly cr...

All I have to say is: short TV channel-hopping attention spans rule. Yet again no distance events - indeed nothing on the track that will take as much as 4 minutes!

Disgruntled.

Postie brought mine this morning.

Congratulations to AW for doing this, will certainly be donating and it will certainly be on my wall where I can see it from my treadmill. An inspiration for every month!

Interesting that Cram took up much longer distances for fun in his retirement - a 2:35 marathon when he was pushing 40 and also finishing the 56-mile Comrades Marathon ultra. Not even close to special timewise, obviously, but he clearly has decent endurance!

Messy is an understatement if anything. The IAAF will be lucky not to have a string of lawsuits to deal with whatever they decide. But they couldn't do nothing after MJ's confession. My personal preference would be to upgrade only career-clean athletes. It may not be entirely logical, indeed may not...

Should have thought of that extra medal point fangio, thanks.

On a less flag-draped note, I was also very pleased to see Lebid back winning in style - one of my favourite athletes even if he's never really been able to convert his grass form to the track.

Don't know which I'm more - surprised or pleased. Anyway, here's a bit of idle but hopefully amusing speculation for SPOTY 2008: - Hamilton wins F1 title - Justin Rose wins Open and/or US Masters - Paula Radcliffe wins Beijing gold - Andy Murray beats Roger Federer in the final at SW19 Okay, long od...

I notice that the BBC is still leading its athletics page with the MLF story despite Britain's most successful Euro XC ever. I'd be very interested to hear someone there explain why. (If there was an emoticon on this board for steam coming out of ears, I'd use it.)

Eight medals is splendid - and Farah would have been a banker to make it nine. Can't have everything I suppose.

Look forward to the reports in AW.

Well it was only a full page glorious technicolour ad!

( )

Look forward to it next week.
Thanks Jon.

Haven't seen one or mention of one.

But the Birchfield charity calendar featured in this week's edition looks very good!

OK lsabre, fair point - as a top marathon runner whose name now eludes me once said "you don't know your PB until you retire".

I'll rephrase it like this: if East were to run 3:29 or 3:30 and bits, it would be one hell of a surprise!

(which I'd be overjoyed by )

I'm glad to see Mike East back. He'll never be the world's fastest but I like to see him race, I always feel he's in with a shout.

The award title has always been a bit of a hostage to fortune.

But then "Sports Person Who Has Done Quite Well This Year, Been On Telly A Lot Preferably On The Beeb And Has No Skeletons In The Cupboard" is a bit of a mouthful.

Anyone even close to impartial when there are such irreconcilable opinions around is likely to get it in the neck from people on both sides who think anyone who isn't with them must therefore be against them. I was a newspaper political reporter/editor for several years: I speak from (bitter) experi...

Disappointed he didn't come to Leeds: I'm sure that if he did get the job, while he might not succeed, England would play their best football for ages.

Slight correction lsabre: Martin O'Neill almost managed my team Leeds, but not quite for various backstage reasons . No doubt you meant Leicester?

Mourinho, yes... he'll obviously get on so well with the Premiership managers he has to deal with.

On balance, although I can see they're a potential irritant for other runners (including myself) I don't think a ban is necessary. I strongly dislike their use in road training as there are obvious safety issues, but in the more controlled environment of a race these issues should be much less impor...

I'll be particularly interested to see how Baddeley goes. I'm sure most "old-timers" would approve of him including XC in his winter... is he intending to do more, does anyone know?

I'm really pleased about this; the majority of the criticism has been from people outside of and generally with no sympathy for the sport - often the same people who tell you "Radcliffe's a quitter", enough said. :roll: Presumably she'll be high on the list for random testing between now a...

It's hard to quantify but one does get the impression that when XC was what most British endurance athletes did through the winter as a matter of course, the said athletes got better results on the track in the summer. Of course, that's not necessarily cause and effect - but I don't think I've ever ...

I like the Commonwealths. It's hard to imagine that if they didn't exist there would be much chance of creating them now - but they do allow athletes who are perhaps a step or two away from ever winning a global medal to shine, which is good, and they also I think earn their nickname of the "fr...

Sad but I suppose inevitable that there are some people who still don't get it... and won't ever... and they're infesting the BBC board this morning.
I think their mums must have forgotten to give them their Ritalin or something... it's on about that level.

Let this be the thread, then, to avoid duplication: it's got the detail. Here's my thoughts from the other copied over: "A magnificent win that proved again that she is not just a fast runner, but an extremely tough racer. Obviously thoughts turn immediately to Beijing... where I would make her...

Think we almost dead heated on that one lsabre!

Delighted for Paula; must admit I thought she was dead in the water at the moment Gete Wami finally came past, but boy, is she tough!