Crystal Palace GP 5-6.8.11

[sidelined]

Dai Greene has pulled out of the Crystal Palace race (announcing it on...twitter...) and says he's just going to train till the world championships, which is a pity for the punters. He's been replaced by Richard Davenport. Jack Green is no longer on the start list either, which isn't surprising.

Jodie Williams is the only Brit with a lane in the 200.

The women's 800 is going to be like another trials race as it includes Jackson, Meadows, Okoro, Sharpe and Simpson.

There are so many athletes still chasing the A standard, or at least another B, it's going to be very interesting.

[Kermit]

The provisional start lists are out and for those looking to get on the plane for the World Championships it really is make or break.

This is also the last stop on the Diamond League tour before the 2 finals.

On Friday from a GB standpoint the action really gets under way with an all British men's 400m http://bit.ly/puknL3 whoever wins this should get a seat on the plane. Luke Gunn finds himself in an international field in the 3k steeple that is not a part of the Diamond League http://bit.ly/qIoY4o.

Goldie Sayer has an excellent field to compete against Obergfoll, Špotakova and Paterson have better throws this season http://bit.ly/rd6Dan. Lawrence Clarke, Gianni Frankis, Will Sharman and Andy Turner find themselves in heats to get to the business end of the Diamond League points in the 110h along with a star studded field http://bit.ly/q23bV4

Both Eilidh Child and the record breaking PSD find themselves in hot company in the Women's 400mH http://bit.ly/qwYX6i. Meanwhile both Holly Bleasdale and Kate Dennison will gain valuable Diamond League experience and an opportunity to go after a new British record http://bit.ly/nkEjxr

OK, let's not get carried away! Jodie Williams is running in the 200m, but it's not in the Diamond League. However the experience will stand her in good stead http://bit.ly/pvpWhO. In the mens 800m Kaki and Rudisha entertain Mukhtar Mohammed, Andrew Osagie, Michael Rimmer and Gareth Warburton http://bit.ly/nzSTuA (non scoring!)

Greg Rutherford, Julian Reid and British record holder Chris Tomlinson appear in the long jump http://bit.ly/ob4v8v. The 100m heats sees Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, Marlon Devonish, Mark Lewis-Francis and Craig Pickering will be in the presence of greatness in the form of Asafa Powell and 4 other sub 10 runners http://bit.ly/ov1Rl9

At the moment Mo Farrah doesn't appear in the 5000m list but Ryan Mcleod, Chris Thompson, Andy Vernon and James Walsh are http://bit.ly/rkccPh. While in the women's 800m Emma Jackson, Jenny Meadows, Marilyn Okoro, Lynsey Sharp and Jemma Simpson do battle with Kenia Sinclair http://bit.ly/rebi7p. Can Martyn Rooney get valuable speed work? http://bit.ly/qfu6ts and how will the women do in the 4x100 http://bit.ly/qIq4bY

Day two to come ....

[Kermit]

Sorry Sidelined, I hadn't noticed you posting this while I was compiling my thread - wish I had would of saved me some time!

[d pickup]

(Kermit: so are we all going to put our commetns her re this Meet here?)

Timetable & entries (& where results will be I guess)

Starting time 1707h 5th & 1303h on 6th
see
www.diamondleague-london.com/Live-Start ... /Overview/

[Patriot]

So Dai is out.....but Jack Green too? I really want Jack to be picked but isn't he taking a risk by not competing - or does he know something we don't?

[pedro1970]

So Dai is out.....but Jack Green too? I really want Jack to be picked but isn't he taking a risk by not competing - or does he know something we don't?

The only person standing in Jack's way i would say is Richard Davenport having come second in the trial's (but he needs to run the A standard at CP). Rhys looked out of sorts at the trials!!

[Charlie Boy]

Mo Farah is running the 3k.

[sidelined]

So Dai is out.....but Jack Green too? I really want Jack to be picked but isn't he taking a risk by not competing - or does he know something we don't?

Jack Green will probably be selected unless Davenport runs the A standard. If he runs when he hasn't fully recovered from tonsillitis he may a) have a poor run, which won't be impressive, and/or b) delay his return to full health. With hindsight, maybe Dai Greene would have been wiser to pull out of Monaco, which he ran while he had some kind of virus, rather than saying that he doesn't feel great now and ending up deciding to pull of of Crystal Palace.

Some of Jack Green's tweets:

...me and Malcolm decided to get ready for Worlds and train instead of rushing to get back for a race that I don't need.

I will not be running at Palace this weekend as I would prefer to train, rest and be running quick at Worlds, presuming I get selected.

I can't affect selection.

[sidelined]

Here's a tweet from Dai Greene:

As for the BBC article, I am NOT ill. Just want to do 2 weeks of hard training before I head to Korea,won't be able to train much when there

But unless I've got cloth ears, on the Athleticos video interview he said he hadn't been feeling great.

[Kermit]

Angelo Taylor and Yohan Blake added to London Samsung Diamond League

http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/dlm/ne ... &att=index

[marcusjohn]

What's the betting that many other "name" GB athletes assured of their place in the Worlds will also pull out before the weekend? Just like Idowu last week. No sense of obligation to the ticket-buying public of course, yet in twelve months time they'll be begging for our support.

They're too selfish to realise that when the Worlds are on in Daegu the soccer season will be in full swing and even GB golds will be relegated to a small paragraph's coverage.

The 2012 naysayers are banging on about the Games being about "minority sports" and the actions of the likes of Greene and Idowu just play into their hands.

[LJforlife]

What's the betting that many other "name" GB athletes assured of their place in the Worlds will also pull out before the weekend? Just like Idowu last week. No sense of obligation to the ticket-buying public of course, yet in twelve months time they'll be begging for our support.

They're too selfish to realise that when the Worlds are on in Daegu the soccer season will be in full swing and even GB golds will be relegated to a small paragraph's coverage.

The 2012 naysayers are banging on about the Games being about "minority sports" and the actions of the likes of Greene and Idowu just play into their hands.

begging? I dont think no1 one is begging if the likes of phillips, greene and others pull out of ONE diamond league meeting to improve their preparations for worlds then so be it

[SteveK26]

I think the Crystal Palace event only serves the purpose of those who need to impress or get a standards.
Nothing to be gained by the likes of Dai Greene running there, far better to train as he said. This meeting is far too close to the World Champs, and no-one would want to be eye-balls out there. Hell, the weather will probably be crap, and the stadium isn't much better!
All it is is last chance saloon, and a few bucks to be picked up. I'm actually surprised Powell is going to be there, so too PSD for that matter. She would probably be best served by a rest after running the two events at the trials.

[Mr Halibut]

Just noticed from the mTJ start list that Alexis Copello now has a new PB 17.68 from a couple of weeks ago. That knocks Phillips down to 4th in the rankings this year. It will be interesting to see if he can get anywhere near that again on Saturday, that would at least keep Daegu interesting now Tamgho is out.

[olympicdreamer]

I see Charlene Thomas has been replaced by Stevie Stockton in the 1500m. Chance for Stevie to run a decent time but such a shame Charlene not able to run. It looks as though her injury is going to keep her out of the World Champs? I was routing for her to run the A standard at Crystal Palace after such a fantastic run at the Euro team champs. We all like an underdog dont we?!

[jjimbojames]

Tweet from Kwakye about attending relay practice today - good to see they're getting some in, as CP is their only real chance of a dry run. I just hope they have tried everyone on different legs and get the max out of them - if not to medal in Daegu, at least to start dropping some decent times, without the car crash post-race interviews after

[fabolous]

Check out Adam Cottons last session before the Mile this weekend

http://www.athleticos.org/video/502551-Cotton

[kermit_the_frog]

I would hate to see us send only 2 athletes in the W800, so here's hoping for an A-Standard from at least one of the girls tomorrow. I think the last few years have shown that in this event at the moment (once you're of a certain standard), getting to the final in a major championships is a bit of a lottery. Quite literally anything can happen... so the more capable athletes on the start-line there, the better...

Will Okoro's strength and endurance improve in time? I think it might.
Will Jackson flourish in a world-class field? I think she might.

They'd be my theoretical picks - Jemma is a fast runner at her best, but has not yet shown much tactical nous in any of the championships she's attended...

[sidelined]

Jeannette Kwakye is the latest athlete to drop out. She has said on twitter:

No Crystal Palace Grand Prix for me this weekend. I'm concentrating on getting my body Championship ready! Will be a fantastic meet though.

I think every athlete who isn't injured should turn out for what is the most important event in the British athletics calendar. They have all known all season exactly when it is, so why can't they plan round it?

[mump boy]

I see Charlene Thomas has been replaced by Stevie Stockton in the 1500m. Chance for Stevie to run a decent time but such a shame Charlene not able to run. It looks as though her injury is going to keep her out of the World Champs? I was routing for her to run the A standard at Crystal Palace after such a fantastic run at the Euro team champs. We all like an underdog dont we?!

Charlene told me today that she will be running at CP and will make sure she gets on the team for Daegu

[mump boy]

Jeannette Kwakye is the latest athlete to drop out. She has said on twitter:

No Crystal Palace Grand Prix for me this weekend. I'm concentrating on getting my body Championship ready! Will be a fantastic meet though.

I think every athlete who isn't injured should turn out for what is the most important event in the British athletics calendar. They have all known all season exactly when it is, so why can't they plan round it?

This ^

[SteveK26]

Au contrair...I disagree with Mump and Sidelined. The meeting is too close to the Worlds to suit all athletes. Some want to taper, a la the swimmers, so that they take a healthy and rested body into the Champs. It may be ok for some athletes to fine tune their preparations, or search an a standard, but I can certainly see why a lot would want to avoid competing this weekend.

Personally I'd rather an athlete performed well in Daegu than entertained the crowd at CP.

[mump boy]

i don't think they are mutually exclusive, Daegu isn't for over 3 weeks. If one meet over 3 weeks before a major champs can ruin your preperation then you are doing something wrong

[jjimbojames]

What is the point in us putting out a relay team that isn't containing the team we intend to use I trust those athletes that pull out of a practice run out don't turn round and talk about performing hard in practice but not quite getting it right under pressure when the baton get dropped

Great to hear Charlene is good to race

[athfan]

Re: Coverage on UKA website

"An all-star cast of British and international athletes is set to head to the Aviva London Grand Prix." What a pity they "forgot" to mention any of the field athletes!!! Doesn't bode well for the coverage the field will get - probably far less than the pontifications of presenters!!!!!

Edit - just spotted Phillips Idowu

[Kermit]

I would hate to see us send only 2 athletes in the W800, so here's hoping for an A-Standard from at least one of the girls tomorrow. I think the last few years have shown that in this event at the moment (once you're of a certain standard), getting to the final in a major championships is a bit of a lottery. Quite literally anything can happen... so the more capable athletes on the start-line there, the better...

Will Okoro's strength and endurance improve in time? I think it might.
Will Jackson flourish in a world-class field? I think she might.

They'd be my theoretical picks - Jemma is a fast runner at her best, but has not yet shown much tactical nous in any of the championships she's attended...

There will be a pace maker for this event

[jjimbojames]

I would hate to see us send only 2 athletes in the W800, so here's hoping for an A-Standard from at least one of the girls tomorrow. I think the last few years have shown that in this event at the moment (once you're of a certain standard), getting to the final in a major championships is a bit of a lottery. Quite literally anything can happen... so the more capable athletes on the start-line there, the better...

Will Okoro's strength and endurance improve in time? I think it might.
Will Jackson flourish in a world-class field? I think she might.

They'd be my theoretical picks - Jemma is a fast runner at her best, but has not yet shown much tactical nous in any of the championships she's attended...

There will be a pace maker for this event

Smart move for once! It's Tara Bird, I believe - not 100% sure she's done that before. Didn't Vicki Barr do it a few years ago - would have preferred someone experienced, as an even split will be key to the girls getting that time

[trickstat]

I would hate to see us send only 2 athletes in the W800, so here's hoping for an A-Standard from at least one of the girls tomorrow. I think the last few years have shown that in this event at the moment (once you're of a certain standard), getting to the final in a major championships is a bit of a lottery. Quite literally anything can happen... so the more capable athletes on the start-line there, the better...

Will Okoro's strength and endurance improve in time? I think it might.
Will Jackson flourish in a world-class field? I think she might.

They'd be my theoretical picks - Jemma is a fast runner at her best, but has not yet shown much tactical nous in any of the championships she's attended...

There will be a pace maker for this event

Smart move for once! It's Tara Bird, I believe - not 100% sure she's done that before. Didn't Vicki Barr do it a few years ago - would have preferred someone experienced, as an even split will be key to the girls getting that time

Strikes me as a good choice. Although she is slower than Vicki Barr at 400 she has a lot more 800 experience.

[jjimbojames]

I would hate to see us send only 2 athletes in the W800, so here's hoping for an A-Standard from at least one of the girls tomorrow. I think the last few years have shown that in this event at the moment (once you're of a certain standard), getting to the final in a major championships is a bit of a lottery. Quite literally anything can happen... so the more capable athletes on the start-line there, the better...

Will Okoro's strength and endurance improve in time? I think it might.
Will Jackson flourish in a world-class field? I think she might.

They'd be my theoretical picks - Jemma is a fast runner at her best, but has not yet shown much tactical nous in any of the championships she's attended...

There will be a pace maker for this event

Smart move for once! It's Tara Bird, I believe - not 100% sure she's done that before. Didn't Vicki Barr do it a few years ago - would have preferred someone experienced, as an even split will be key to the girls getting that time

Strikes me as a good choice. Although she is slower than Vicki Barr at 400 she has a lot more 800 experience.

She's definitely a better choice than Vicki, but would have liked an experienced pacemaker - someone like Karen Shinkins would've been great

[Kermit]

I am sure Tara will do a good job & could take them to 600, remember her pb came only a couple of weeks ago.