Ohuruogu despair after false start in Daegu
Saturday, 27 August 2011
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By Mike Rowbottom in Daegu
Ohuruogu_false_startAugust 27 - Christine Ohuruogu stood for a long time at the side of the track here, trying to take in the fact that a year of hard work had disappeared in the fraction of a second when she had left her blocks prematurely in the 400 metres first round heats and been disqualified.
Getting to Daegu has been a struggle for the former world and Olympic champion, who has struggled to overcome a thigh injury and barely managed to qualify for the British team before finishing last in the Samsung Diamond League meeting in London.
After walking away in a daze, and in tears, she told Channel 4: "I knew it was me straight away, I can’t believe it.
"I just wanted to get a good start as I knew it was going to be a fast round.
"Of all the people it could happen to it had to be me, I’m the slowest starter, it’s so ironic.
“I worked really hard to turn the last three weeks around and I am upset for my coach Lloyd Cowan, who worked really hard to get me in shape.”
Ohuruogu had been hoping to make a late run into the box, just as she did in 2007 when she returned to the track shortly before the World Championships following a suspension for missing three doping tests and came through to win the gold medal.
The 27-year-old from Stratford, once billed as the poster girl for London 2012, has run out of luck in Championships over the last couple of years, though.
She only managed fifth place in the final as she defended her world title in 2009, and missed last year’s European Championships and Commonwealth Games through injury.
It was an agonising process for Ohuruogu, who looked sleek and toned and had prepared for the race with a new braided hairstyle, and pink nail varnish.
Suddenly, she was all dressed up with nowhere to go.
The latest false-start rules established by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 2010 were introduced primarily with the 100 and 200 metres in mind, and instances are extremely rare in distances above those.
For Ohuruogu there was no warning, and no second chance, it was a straight red card.
Christine_Ohuruogu_leaving_track_in_Daegu_August_27_2011
Commentating on BBC Radio 5 Live, Allison Curbishley, a Commonwealth Games silver medallist at 400m, said: "I can’t recall when anyone of note did something that silly.
"She’s got pedigree, she’s been there, she’s done it.
"She looked in good shape, she looked lean, she looked ready.
“No matter how long you’re held in the blocks, you do not jump the gun in the 400m.”
Defending champion Sanya Richards-Ross was waiting to go out for her heat as Ohuruogu was disqualified, and expressed sympathy for the woman who beat her to Olympic gold in Beijing three summers ago.
“It’s so rare that you hear the second gun in the 400m - I thought it was a malfunction,” she told the BBC.
“In the call room we were like, aw man, I’m disappointed for her.”
Ohuruogu will now seek to create some happier memories in the 4x400m relay later in the championships.
McConnell told BBC Sport: "Over the next few days we’ll rally round, pick her up and get her ready for the relay team.
"We’ve all gone out of Championships in ways we didn’t want to do and this is another way for it to happen.
"But she’s strong, she’s a strong girl and I’m sure she’ll get over this and we’ll do what we can to help her.
“I don’t think there is anything you can say, just a bit of a hug and letting her know you’re there.”