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Farah to open season, Grabarz looks to continue fine form in Glasgow

For many athletes, the road to London 2012 begins at the Kelvin Hall for this traditional curtain-raiser to the season.

While some have already got their campaigns under way at minor meetings, the first televised event of the year provides the first glimpse in Olympic year of many of Britain’s medal hopefuls in the capital in August.

Among these will be Mo Farah, who has flown over from training at the UKA/Virgin London Marathon camp in Iten, Kenya, for his first competition of the year.

However, it will be in at the deep end for the man who set a UK indoor 3000m record here in 2009. The metric mile, in which he goes at the conclusion of the meeting, will be a good test of his winter’s training.

“Winning gold in Daegu hasn’t changed me as a person, though it’s given me a lot of confidence,” he told reporters in Kenya last week. “But things are probably harder for me now as I’m the guy everyone else is watching.

“Before, I could just go into races unnoticed. But I’ve just got to keep doing what I’m doing and not get carried away.

“I know a lot of people at home think, ‘Mo’s won the World Championship so he’s going to win the gold’, but it doesn’t work like that. People need to understand that.”

Led by Farah and team captain Helen Clitheroe – the European indoor 3000m champion – Great Britain field a competitive squad who will be in contention to regain the overall title from Germany at this five-way international. The team also includes world silver medallist Hannah England, world bronze medallist Andy Turner, and world-leading high jumper Robbie Grabarz.

BBC1 will show the event live from 1.30pm onwards. For startlists, timetable and live results, click here. And be sure to follow Athletics Weekly on twitter during the meeting for live updates.

Event-by-event preview

Men’s 60m
Mark Lewis-Francis enjoyed a winning return to Kelvin Hall last year after a four-year hiatus, although he will need to be near his best to take a repeat victory. He faces the elder statesman of world sprinting in Kim Collins, who is gearing up for his fifth Olympic Games appearance, and sub-10 100m performer Ivory Williams.
» Mark Lewis-Francis (GBR), Ivory Williams (USA), Aleksandr Brednev (RUS), Christian Blum (GER), Kim Collins (SKN/COM)

Men’s 200m
Calvin Smith might not have the pedigree of his father, who was twice a world 200m champion, but he could deliver for the USA in this race.
» Danny Talbot (GBR), Calvin Smith (USA), Roman Smirnov (RUS), Sven Knipphals (GER), Kim Collins (SKN/COM)

Men’s 400m
Reigning world indoor champion Chris Brown takes on Jamaal Torrance from the USA and multiple UK indoor champion Richard Buck, who won here in 2008.
» Richard Buck (GBR), Jamaal Torrance (USA), Pavel Trenikhin (RUS), Miguel Rigau (GER), Chris Brown (BAH/COM)

Men’s 800m
Expect sub-1:43 competitor Boaz Lalang to deliver maximum points for the Commonwealth select squad for the second year in succession. Joe Thomas is in good early-season form.
» Joe Thomas (GBR), Duane Solomon (USA), Ivan Tukhtachev (RUS), Soren Ludolph (GER), Boaz Lalang (KEN/COM)

Men’s 1500m
Mo Farah will have to be sharp from the get-go in order to make a winning start to the season as the world 5000m champion faces one of Kenya’s leading middle-distance runners in Augustine Choge. While Farah is no slouch at 1500m, this distance favours Choge, who has largely focused on the metric mile since winning the Commonwealth 5000m title in 2006.
» Mo Farah (GBR), Tommy Schmitz (USA), Valentin Smirnov (RUS), Carsten Schlangen (GER), Augustine Choge (KEN/COM)

Men’s 60m hurdles
World bronze medallist Andy Turner was forced to withdraw from the South of England Championships with an Achilles injury, but is still the pre-race favourite for his first win on this track since 2007. The 31-year-old faces European under-23 champion Konstantin Shabanov from Russia and world leader Kevin Craddock.
» Andy Turner (GBR), Kevin Craddock (USA), Konstantin Shabanov (RUS), Gregor Traber (GER), Lawrence Clarke (GBR/COM)

Men’s high jump
Robbie Grabarz catapulted himself to the top of the world rankings with a 2.34m breakthrough clearance and the Newham & Essex Beagle will be hopeful of scoring maximum points despite coming up against a field of the highest calibre. The line-up includes European champion Aleksandr Shustov, who cleared 2.31m last weekend, and Commonwealth champion Donald Thomas.
» Robbie Grabarz (GBR), Andra Manson (USA), Aleksandr Shustov (RUS), Matthias Haverney (GER), Donald Thomas (BAH/COM)

Men’s pole vault
It has taken a while for Dmitry Starodubtsev to make an impact in the senior ranks, but the Russian is starting to deliver the promise he showed in the mid-2000s when he won world junior and European junior titles in successive seasons. Starodubtsev has cleared 5.90m twice in domestic competitions this winter, which makes him an early forerunner for the world indoor title.
» Steve Lewis (GBR), Scott Roth (USA), Dmitry Starodubtsev (RUS), Karsten Dilla (GER), Max Eaves (GBR/COM)

Women’s 60m
In a re-run of the 2008 World Indoor Championships final, Angela Williams goes head to head with Jeanette Kwakye, who is moving back in the right direction after a spate of injuries since reaching the Olympic final in Beijing.
» Jeanette Kwakye (GBR), Angela Williams (USA), Yuna Mekhti-Zade (RUS), Yasmin Kwadwo (GER), Virgil Hodge (SKN/COM)

Women’s 200m
Yuliya Gushchina is perhaps better known as a 400m runner nowadays, but the Olympic fourth-placer is more than competent at this distance as well. Gushchina, who was a part of Russia’s gold medal-winning sprint relay team in Beijing, is a former European silver medallist and the fastest in the field at 22.53.
» Margaret Adeoye (GBR), Candyce McGrone (USA), Yuliya Gushchina (RUS), Cathleen Tschirch (GER), Virgil Hodge (SKN/COM)

Women’s 400m
British newbie Shana Cox will be vying for maximum points over two laps, although the pre-race favourite is arguably her former team-mate Natasha Hastings, who won the US indoor title last year with a sub-51 clocking.
» Shana Cox (GBR), Natasha Hastings (USA), Yulia Terekhova (RUS), Esther Cremer (GER), Patricia Hall (JAM/COM)

Women’s 800m
Another athlete aiming for a hat-trick on this track is Jenny Meadows, who takes on Russian 1500m champion Yekaterina Martynova and former world junior silver medallist Winny Chebet of Kenya.
» Claire Gibson (GBR), Erica Moore (USA), Yekaterina Martynova (RUS), Diana Sujew (GER), Winny Chebet (KEN/COM)

Women’s 1500m
World silver medallist Hannah England is the fastest athlete on paper but has a tough assignment in her first race of the year. The Oxford athlete faces former UK champion Charlene Thomas and sub-1:59 800m runner Irina Maracheva from Russia.
» Hannah England (GBR), Treniere Moser (USA), Irina Maracheva (RUS), Denise Krebs (GER), Charlene Thomas (GBR/COM)

Women’s 3000m
Helen Clitheroe will be gunning for her third successive victory, although the opposition will be of a higher calibre this year. Despite specialising at 800m and 1500m, Helen Obiri showed good strength by finishing second in a competitive race at the Kenyan Military Cross Country Championships which augurs well for a successful debut over 3000m.
» Helen Clitheroe (GBR), Tara Erdmann (USA), Yelena Korobkina (RUS), Corinna Harrer (GER), Helen Obiri (KEN/COM)

Women’s 60m hurdles
World silver medallist Danielle Carruthers goes head to head with former world indoor and outdoor champion Perdita Felicien, although world fifth-placer Tatyana Dektyareva is a proficient indoor hurdler and shouldn’t be discounted.
» Gemma Bennett (GBR), Danielle Carruthers (USA), Tatyana Dektyareva (RUS), Cindy Roleder (GER), Perdita Felicien (CAN/COM)

Women’s long jump
Rising star Darya Klishina is the only seven-metre performer in the field and the European indoor champion will be among Russia’s leading candidates for maximum points. Her main rival will be Beijing Olympic finalist Funmi Jimoh, who has twice been the runner-up here.
» Shara Proctor (GBR), Funmi Jimoh (USA), Darya Klishina (RUS), Bianca Kappler (GER), Bianca Stuart (BAH/COM)

Women’s triple jump
Can Yamile Aldama eke out a victory on home-soil in just her second appearance in a British vest? The Cuban-born athlete, who gained British citizenship last year, finished fifth in Daegu to show she still has something to offer even at the age of 39.
» Yamile Aldama (GBR), Amanda Smock (USA), Natalya Kutyakova (RUS), Kristin Gierisch (GER), Kimberly Williams (JAM/COM)

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