Glasgow: Pickering wins 100m

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Pickering wins battle of Britain

Pickering splashed through the puddles to win comfortably
Craig Pickering won the battle of the Brits as he stormed home in the all-British 100m at the Glasgow Grand Prix on Sunday.
The 20-year-old equalled his personal best with a time of 10.22 seconds to relegate Mark Lewis-Francis into second on a cold, wet day in Scotland.

Tyrone Edgar was third, while the veteran Jason Gardener was disqualified for a false start.

Pickering is now likely to be picked for the EuroCup on 23-24 June.

Highlights: Glasgow Grand Prix athletics

“That time is very good in the conditions, in fact very good in any conditions really,” said Pickering.

"As an athlete you can’t afford to be fazed by a false start by another athlete. It’s a shame that it was Jason but it is an individual race.

"That was seen by the rest of the lads as a run for a spot on the team for the European Cup.

“I’m just hoping to continue my good form from the indoors and start to take it outdoors.”

He and Lewis-Francis later provided one half of the British team which won the 4x100m relay in an impressive 38.83 seconds, beating a Great Britain B team into second.

Goldie Sayers scored the biggest victory of her international career in the women’s javelin, claiming victory with a throw of 63.59 metres.

606: DEBATE
Your views on Pickering’s victory

The 24-year-old, who set a new British record a fortnight ago, beat a strong field that included the top three finishers at last summer’s European championships.

Commonwealth triple-jump champion Phillips Idowu continued his dominance over Nathan Douglas by beating his rival by two centrimetres with a jump of 17.14 metres.

The 400m was won Gary Kikaya from Congo, who just held off a late challenge from Xavier Carter to win by 0.01 of a second in 45.25 seconds, while Wales’ Tim Benjamin finished well off the pace in sixth in his first race of the season.

Jo Pavey also struggled in the women’s 5,000m and could only finish fifth, well behind winner Vivian Cheruiyot.

Nicola Sanders confirmed her impressive indoor form with a dominant win in the rarely-run 300m, although her time of 36.65 suffered because of the appalling conditions.

Kelly Sotherton was top Briton in the long jump, finishing fourth with a leap of 6.28m.

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Kikaya holds off the ‘X’ Man in Glasgow
Sunday 3 June 2007
Glasgow, UK - Gary Kikaya (COD) scored a thrilling victory when winning the men’s 400 metres in 45.25 in wet and cold weather conditions at the Norwich Union Grand Prix in Glasgow on Sunday (3).

The 29-year-old Congolese star who is the reigning African champion and finished runner-up in last year’s World Cup in Athens, maintained his discipline approaching the finishing line of a neck-and-neck struggle to beat off the challenge of USA’s Xavier Carter by one-hundredth-of-a-second. Carter the second fastest man all-time at 200m, is no slouch at 400m having a PB of 44.53 when winning the NCAA title in 2006.

Goldie Sayers wins the women’s Javelin in Glasgow
(Getty Images)

In very wet conditions the pair pulled marginally clear of Jamaica’s former Commonwealth champion Michael Blackwood who himself clocked 45.55 to just beat John Steffensen from Australia (44.56) who took the Commonwealth crown from him last year in Melbourne.

"I’ll welcome any win in weather like that. It was tough for me to breathe as I don’t run well in the cold,” said Kikaya, the World Indoor bronze medallist.

“I was surrounded by a very good field and some guys easily capable of running 44.50sec. I ran a very technical race and fortunately I came out the winner.”

Kikaya, 27, holds the African record of 44.10, which he set when coming second at last summer’s World Athletics Final in Stuttgart.

Sayers beats the big guns

Goldie Sayers who set a UK javelin record of 65.05m a fortnight earlier, scored the biggest victory of her international career.

Sayers with a second round throw of 63.59m beat Germany’s European champion and multiple global medallist Steffi Nerius, and the two women who accompanied her on the medal podium last year in Gothenburg, Czech Barbora Spotakova, and Mercedes Chilla of Spain.

The Brit who is already speaking about a medal at the World Championships, scored ahead of Nerius and Spotakova whose best efforts were 62.57m and 62.26m.

“I haven’t backed off training for Osaka, so in theory I should have some more big throws,” said the 24-year-old whose pre-2007 personal best was 61.45m.

There was also a good victory for the hosts in the men’s Triple Jump where Phillips Idowu, the European Indoor champion, jumped 17.14m (-0.1 m/s) to beat compatriot Nathan Douglas (17.12).

The rest of the infield competitions were not surprisingly condsidering the wet weather conditions pretty low key affairs even though they also included many big international names.

Tatyana Kotova, Russia’s multiple global medallist, took the women’s Long Jump, winning the competition with a fifth round leap of 6.56m. She beat off the challenges of Romania’s Adina Anton who had a best of 6.34m and the USA’s Grace Upshaw who cleared 6.30m.

Sweden’s Olympic champion Stefan Holm won a below-par men’s High Jump clearing 2.27m, ahead of Czech Thomas Janku (2.20m) and Britain’s Germaine Mason (2.15m).

Williams back to winning ways

Tiffany Ross-Williams this year’s world leader returned to winning form after her defeat in Belem last month clinching the 400m Hurdles in a time of 55.64. The 24-year-old American in the unhelpful conditions easily defeated the host nation’s Natasha Danvers-Smith (56.42) and Jamaica’s Shevon Stoddart (57.77).

Pickering is the fastestof the home pack

Craig Pickering showed a clean pair of heels to his elder domestic rivals when matching his two-year-old best of 10.22, and now must come into consideration for European Cup selection at the end of the end of the month, after his confident performance.

The 20-year-old European junior champion in the all-British contest, finished well clear of Mark Lewis-Francis who clocked 10.37, with Tyrone Edgar third in 10.43sec.

“That was seen by the rest of the lads as a run for a spot on the team for the European Cup,” said Pickering. “I’m just hoping to continue my good form from the indoors and start taking it outdoors.”

Jason Gardener who beat his young training partner for the European Indoor 60m title in March had the misfortune of being disqualified.

“It was a result of my indiscipline,” said the “Bath Bullet” making no excuses for the error, although Lewis-Francis insisted they had been held for too long by the starter in the set position.

Ceplak’s scalp taken by Macharia

Jolanda Ceplak after her solid 800m victory in Belgrade last Tuesday stepped up to a 1,000m and after an opening lap of 64.60sec, led until the beginning of the home straight. The Slovenian Olympic bronze medallist was then immediately challenged by Faith Macharia the Kenyan record indoor holder, who powered ahead of her in the final 30 metres.

Macharia won in a Scottish all-comers’ record time of 2:39.26. Ceplak finished 0.43sec behind the African with Britain’s Jenny Meadows third in 2:39.84.

USA’s Rodney Martin a finalist in last year’s World Athletics final took the 200m in a time of 20.88 came in ahead of Chris Lloyd of Dominica who recorded 20.95. Last summer’s European bronze medallist Marlon Devonish was the first Briton home placing third in 20.97.

There was immediately another American success when Stephanie Durst won over 100m in 11.43, one-hundredth-of-second ahead of Cayman Islander Cydonie Mothersill with Aleen Bailey of Jamaica third in 11.46.

Spain’s Manuel Olmedo, the 2005 European U23 silver medallist, produced a tremendous sprint for the line to win the men’s 800m ahead of Brits James Brewer and Michael Coltherd. The 24-year-old Spaniard clocked 1:49.60 with Brewer and Coltherd recording times of 1:50.38 and 1:50.41.

Commonwealth Games 5000m champion Augustine Choge won the men’s 1500m in a stadium record of 3:36.92 from Portugal’s World and Olympic bronze medallist Rui Siva (3:37.04) and Britain’s Andrew Baddeley (3:37.14), while fellow Kenyan Vivian Cheruiyot took the women’s 5000m from Ethiopia’s Meselech Melkamu (14:50.76) and another Kenyan, Lucy Wangui (14:57.55).

In the men’s 4x100m Relay, the GB ‘A’ quartet of Ryan Scott, Pickering, Devonish, and Lewis-Francis, posted a time of 38.83 to beat off the challenges of GB ‘B’ (39.28sec) and a scratch USA quartet who recorded 39.31.

Sanders closes-out the meet on a high note

The final event the rarely run women’s 300m saw Britain’s 24-year-old Nicola Sanders, the European Indoor 400m champion, roar to a stadium record of 36.64sec in the very respectable time of 36.64s from Vicky Barr (37.78) and Emily Freeman (38.04).

Dave Martin - PA International - for the IAAF

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Was very impressed with Craig. He didn’t react well and lost a half yard or so on MLF out of the blocks, but his pick up and superior max speed took him well clear.

Given that MLF ran 10.38 Vs 10.19 in the week, Craig’s 10.22 was probably worth close to 10.1 in better conditions. I did think he was a little tense but then it’s only his second race of the summer.

If he has improved from the indoor season then (dare I say it!!) he could become the first caucasion to break 10s…! He would probably need to run 6.50s at 60 to break 10s?

I still however have doubts about his ability to perform under real pressure, i.e when Powell or Gay are running away from him.

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Can he compete when the weather is good? Apparently the Federation is worried about that and has arranged to keep him in a cold Bog as often as possible.
If Britain has a budget, WTF kind of timing is this for a meet in Glasgow? He should be in Spain or some such, benefiting from proper race conditions during the initial comp period, against moderate opposition, only returning to Britain when the weather is predictably decent. He should NOT be on the US race circuit, regardless of conditions, and should only face the top guys when he’s at his peak, and most US meets will be over by then.

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The GP was in glasgow to promote the bid for the CWGs in 2014. Agreed that it is stupid to run in britain but it’s easy money and was also the “race off” for the european cup which will be better conditions.

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Easy money now costs later. Just another example of how Federation BS, like promoting a bid at exactly the wrong time screws the athletes over.
BTW, I bet all the voters for the CWG were really impressed with the weather- bet they can’t wait to have a meet there!
This is why I was so critical of the athlete’s contract that they are forced into.
Having "trials’ just increases the likelihood of injury. Smarter people would hold run-offs in a warm weather site- preferably in a comp camp with several race opportunities.

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But Britain’s head coach is a martial arts man, judo or whatever. The freezing, pissing sleet never bothered those tough guys. Oh, Right. Yeah they Did only ever compete Indoors on comfy rubber mats. Well, I’m sure all the chaps in Glasgow were offered a nice cuppa tea once they’d thawed out and dried off.

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Do you remember the meet they had there in 1986?? Bloody awful weather! Beyond cold.

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Kinda off-topic, but charlie, how much do you think that kind of weather really affects the athletes? I ask because I ran my season best this year when it was in the low 40s and minimal wind and then ran an identical time when the temperature was in the 80s w/ an illegal wind! I know some others that have also run very similar times in cold weather and in warm weather, assuming it isn’t wet or super windy.

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Temperature and wind matter, perhaps you just need to peak when it counts

Also Mickey Grimes ran 10.02 into -4.0 wind, equivalent to 9.77, watch out gay, peak when it counts

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No they don’t. I heard Mickey Grimes just ran 10.02 -4.0m/s

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Same has happened to me- when I was ready but not before. In any event, there is a significant gain when the temp is up- hot air rises because the molecules are farther apart, which equals less wind resistance. so temp and humidity can be factors just like altitude and wind.

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Better be sure the wind meter wasn’t turned around like in Edmonton in 2001.

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The one with the backstraight headwind that blew off the register. It was 9m+ and was freezing? (The grandstand protected the home-straight a bit) but I’m thinking of Edinburgh Com Games.

It was so cold I was wearing a shirt, woollen sweater, leather jacket zipped to the collar and then the windcheater jacket and trousers over that. And I was still frozen.

That was the meet in which media baron Robert Maxwell promised to sponsor and then found a Japanese octagenarian multimillionaire to make good on the promise he (Maxwell) couldn’t keep. A few weeks later he “fell” overboard on his yacht and drowned.

I remember Ben won the Games and then was unplaced in some meaningless meet which Allan Wells won (from ancient memory). I think Ben was still thawing out from his Edinburgh Experience.

The only place that was colder for a meet that I have attended was for those few days at the 83 Helsinki worlds when global warming was a term unknown and it seemed like a glacier had reached the stadium gates. I had to go out (and I wasn’t alone) and buy a stack of snow-gear and gloves. And that too was summer.

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Jade Johnson nearly sustained an injury on the long jump. She slipped several times on the board then packed it in - thankfully.

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… although Jade is a bigger primadonna than Paris Hilton. If she trained as well as she talked she’s break the world record!

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yes, but it’s so cold in Glasgow, Paris Hilton would wear underwear.

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:smiley: Too funny!
She might even wear the orange jump suit too.

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There’s usually ‘anti-freeze’ in the tea too …

(Anti-freeze is code for whiskey)

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You should visit sunny Gateshead KK, races recently into a minus 5.5 wind. What do you reckon 0.7 difference added to normal times under decent conditions ?.