Britain fails to reproduce success from European Championships
After a successful outing at the European Athletics Championships last month in Barcelona, Britain’s athletes failed to match that success on home soil at the Aviva London Grand Prix last week. In Barcelona, Britain managed to win six gold medals, and 19 medals overall.
Dai Greene, Phillips Idowu, and Mo Farah, who all won gold medals in Barcelona, failed to reproduce those championship results in London. Christian Malcolm, who won silver in the men’s 200m in Barcelona, finished last. Marlon Devonish finished in fifth place in the 200m, the same position he finished last month in the 4x100m. In that race, the baton pass between Devonish and Mark Lewis-Francis was not clean causing the fifth place finish.
"My strategy was to try and work the turn and come hard out of the corner, which unfortunately felt a bit flat,” said Devonish according to ESPN, “but I have the Commonwealth Games coming up so I just want to see what happens there.”
Andy Turner, the European champion in the 110m hurdles, finished last in his event as well. David Oliver, from the US, won the gold medal with a time of 13.06. Oliver is the third fastest man in history in the 110m hurdles with a personal best of 12.89 second. Turner, in comparison, has a personal best of 13.27 seconds, and is two years Oliver’s senior.
Jennifer Meadows won bronze in Barcelona but was only able to manage a fifth-place finish in the women’s 800m.
"My mind was all over the place and I switched off and got bumped and barged," said Meadows. "I was pleased with the time considering, and how I came through. However, it's very hard to get yourself back into the game after a major championship.”
With the Commonwealth Games coming up in Delhi, India this October, the British team has a chance to re-establish themselves after their European Championship success, and before the 2012 London Olympic Games. UK Athletics head coach Charles Van Commenee has made remarkable progress with the team since his appointment in 2008 after a dismal performance at the Beijing Games. His focus has been on direct coaching of his athletes and their coaches, and encouraging his team to not settle for anything less than gold.
After the European Championships, Van Commenee criticized his team for underperforming, despite the team’s 19 medals. He pointed out that Britain offered no women in the finals for the shot put, long jump, high jump, or the hammer and discus throws. Both the men’s and women’s 4x100m teams failed to meet expectations as well. Van Commenee has much work ahead in preparation for the Commonwealth Games and the 2012 Games, but has shown great progress to date since the 2008 Games.
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