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Archives for April 2009

Michael Johnson answers your questions

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Tom Fordyce | 15:31 UK time, Thursday, 30 April 2009

Earlier in the week, I opened the floor to questions for the sprinting/summarising legend that is Michael Johnson.

Rather splendid they were too - so without futher blather or prittle-prattle, here are his answers to the best of the bunch.

(If your question made the cut, hats off. If it didn't, don't take it personally; MJ's a busy man. Format should be self-explanatory - name and question of user first, Michael's chat second and any 'TF' subsidiary questions from you've-worked-it-out.)

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Put your questions to Michael Johnson

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Tom Fordyce | 16:56 UK time, Wednesday, 29 April 2009

A few weeks back it was Usain Bolt. This time it's the man who preceded him as 200m world record holder and righteous wearer of the golden spikes - Michael Johnson.

What a line-up.

The deal is the same - post your questions down below, and I'll choose the most original, interesting and creative to put to the one-lap legend and ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sport expert when I sit down with him on Thursday.

Anything smeared in smut/libel/foolishness gets the instant heave-ho. Fair?

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They're your questions, so I'll merely be the mouthpiece - but should you need suggestions, it'd be foolish to ignore the following tasty topics:

* whether and when he thinks Usain can steal his 400m world record too
* what Christine Ohuruogu has to run to win the Worlds this summer
* how fast he can still run over 400m

Over to you...

Ten of the best

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Tom Fordyce | 15:29 UK time, Tuesday, 28 April 2009

If you want to put yourself off your breakfast one morning, type the words "pole vault accident" into a .

If you really want to put yourself off your breakfast, type in those words having just agreed to take part in a decathlon, with no prior experience of pole vaulting - or indeed shot putting, high jump, discus and 110m hurdles.

When I took up UK Athletics' challenge - completing an entire decathlon in an hour, by the end of August - it seemed somehow possible that I could learn 10 entirely new events in less than four months, and then do them all back-to-back in a very short space of time with at least a limited degree of success.

Among the significant issues I'd ignored were the following:

1. It's extremely hard even walking slowly while holding a pole in the right position
2. Shots are much heavier than they look
3. Throwing a javelin is not the same as throwing a cricket ball
4. I am not Daley Thompson
5. Or , or even

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Usain - the answers

Tom Fordyce | 15:45 UK time, Tuesday, 14 April 2009

If you recall, a few weeks ago I posted a blog offering the chance to ask Usain Bolt any question you liked - as long as it was original, interesting and free of smut/libel/foolishness.

The responses didn't disappoint. Neither, I'm glad to say, did the fastest man in history's answers.

Without any further ado, here's the video of Usain's answers. The great man will be in the UK for the on 17 May, which will be shown live on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Two (1700-1830 BST), so you can always try to catch him then.

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The Marvellous, Magical, Mad Football League Tour - part II

Tom Fordyce | 13:28 UK time, Friday, 10 April 2009

A few weeks ago, my regular travelling compadre Ben Dirs and I kicked off our MMMFLT in the happy environs of the Galpharm Stadium Huddersfield - and a splendid time was had by all, even if Ben is still trying to rid his clothes of the smell of the Terry the Terrier outfit.

Inspired by the wondrous sights we saw - Bill Shankly's toilet seat, an England shirt worn in 1928 by Huddersfield great Billy Smith and a man who spends so much money on the club he's afraid to tell his wife - we're packing the charabanc once again.

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Bullish Bell starts the long walk back

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Tom Fordyce | 11:25 UK time, Wednesday, 8 April 2009

Lord's on a bright spring afternoon. Ian Bell is batting in what could be the world's most perfect net - flawless grass surface, willing bowlers putting the ball wherever he wants, the finest willow in his hands and a backdrop of the most famous cricket ground of them all.

You'd expect him to be the happiest cricketer alive. He's not.

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Having been dropped unceremoniously from the England team, Bell is wounded. He's angry, and he is very, very determined.

"I've got to get back for the first West Indies Test here at Lord's," he says, with absolute purpose. "I've got to score so many runs that they have to pick me."

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Put your questions to Usain Bolt

Tom Fordyce | 13:40 UK time, Wednesday, 1 April 2009

It's not easy catching up with Usain Bolt.

Even if you had the speed - or a motorbike capable of the speed - there's finding time in the schedule of a sporting superstar in demand around the world. And, indeed, the fact that you're unlikely to have access to his mobile or email address.

It is with happy heart, then, that I type the following sentence: this blog can give you access to the fastest man the world has ever seen.

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