World medals only half story for GB
For a team that was supposed to be critically weakened by injuries to its key components, the British squad in Berlin had a remarkably successful nine days.
A final haul of six medals, one more than performance director Charles van Commenee had predicted, left GB , with their best medal haul since 1999.
Beyond that simple statistic, however, there are several more complex reasons why the forthright Dutchman will be flying back to the UK with an extra bounce in his stride.
Medals only ever tell part of the story. What can be more revealing is the number of finalists a country produces, and the placings athletes achieve in those finals.
Before these championships, ´óÏó´«Ã½ statistician that compared the British performances at all the Worlds so far. Under his system, one point is awarded to an athlete who finishes eighth, two for seventh and three for sixth, all the way up to eight for a first place.
On that basis, Britain . At the last Worlds in Osaka the tally was better - 61. And in Berlin? It has risen still further, to 80.5 (Mark B awards half marks in the event of a tied place, whereas the does not).
That figure is the best return a British team has had in 16 years. Not since the glories of Stuttgart, where Linford Christie, Colin Jackson and Sally Gunnell all won gold, has a GB squad scored so highly.
This gives a better indication of strength across the board than medals on their own can do. For GB to score almost twice as well as they did at the is heartening news with the London Olympics just three summers away.
in Berlin. Not only does that speak of a progression in physical ability, it also indicates an aptitude for producing the goods under the most intense pressure.
from his Olympic nemesis Nelson Evora is perhaps the most high-profile example, but there also breakthough performances from less heralded names like Will Sharman, Dai Green and Emily Freeman.
"It's a very positive step moving towards 2012," says double world champion and now ´óÏó´«Ã½ pundit Colin Jackson. "This is a young team which is building and developing together, and that is great to see.
"There are the building blocks in place for them to develop over the next few years - the European Championships next summer, and then the next Worlds in 2011. I'm excited to see what this team can produce."
This was a team that exceeded what most observers thought an optimistic target without two of its most recent world champions, Christine Ohuruogu and Paula Radcliffe, winning a medal between them.
It was also without three athletes who, going previous form and the marks produced by the medallists in Berlin, would have been fancied to make the podium had they been fit - Kelly Sotherton in the heptathlon, Mara Yamauchi in the marathon and Tasha Danvers in the 400m hurdles.
Factor in the absence of Olympic high jump silver medallist Germaine Mason, who injured his ankle a week before Berlin, and the picture seems even rosier.
What Van Commenee will be want to ensure, however, is that Berlin does not come to be viewed in future years as false dawn.
"That's a dramatic improvement over the last few years, and it's encouraging and very impressive, but you have to look at it as something to build on," says multiple world and Olympic champion Michael Johnson. "The concern is what happens from here.
"You can't be content with what you have. We saw lots of good things in Athens, but the foot wasn't kept on the pedal, and my concern going forward would be that the same thing might happen again."
Johnson is also wary of over-celebrating a tally boosted by two relay successes.
"This is an individual sport. In 2004 the 4x100m relay team won the Olympic gold medal and that did nothing for either one of those guys from an individual standpoint.
"There are medals to be won. There are athletes who have the ability to get in finals that don't get in finals and that continues to be a problem.
"You can't solve that by, at the end of the championships, by bringing home a medal and saying, "We're doing OK here". I think that would be a mistake.
"The 4x100m men brought home a medal to be proud of, but realistically you have to keep that in perspective if you want to improve. If you're fine with where you are and that's all you want to strive for then great but there's more to be had."
Encouragingly, a new generation of British talent has also started to emerge this summer.
The team sent to the World Youth Championships returned with four golds, while 15 medals were won at the European Juniors and 18 at the European Under-23s.
Van Commenee is nothing if not a realist. There are still substantial problems to be solved in British athletics, not least in terms of deciding whether athletes should be made to train together in concentrated groups or be allowed to work alone with their own coaches.
But his task leading up to 2012 will seem just a little bit easier this week than it did 10 days ago.
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Comment number 1.
At 24th Aug 2009, sunshine wrote:I'm thinking (or hoping!!) that these Championships could and will be a pivotal point for British Athletics.
I think, in a way, we showed the world that we are contenders for medals, and that we are getting better year by year.
I have no doubt that we'll walk away with more than 6 medals in 2012!
Oh and Tom....You're blogs are my new favourite read...so don't stop anytime soon!!
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Comment number 2.
At 24th Aug 2009, localhero wrote:Well remember it could have been just 5 medals BUT thanks to the disqualification of the USA mens 4 x 100m relay team Great Britain were able to snatch a bronze in the final. So we may not be so lucky next time!
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Comment number 3.
At 24th Aug 2009, nibs wrote:One can dress it up all they like, but all in all it was a very mediocre performance by team GB.
What you forget to tell us is that, out of the 6 medals, one came because the clear favourite had a misfortune in the qualifier, and even then by few hundredths; one was a complete fluke with the 2 favourites crashing and one of them getting disqualified; and one because of that infamous appeal for an infringement that the stewards and evryone else hadn't noticed (one more example of sportmanship by team GB added to the list).
Even so, with all the 2012 buildup 8th on the medal table isn't anything to get too excited about. And taking the above into account, 3 to 4 medals is what GB are capable of under normal circumstances, as was also seen in Osaka and Beijing, which is distinctly average resulting from a total of 141 events.
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Comment number 4.
At 24th Aug 2009, TheMoonman10 wrote:Whilst we won more medals than I thought, I was quite disappointed with the number of people wrapped in Union flags, having come 2nd or 3rd. Although there may be a few examples, I can't imaging many American's or Australian's being happy with not bring home the gold.
There are exceptions. It's ok to finish second to Usain Bolt, he's in another league, and for Roger Black to finish 2nd to Michael Johnson was a great achievement.
Maybe I'm just being grumpy, but it seems to becoming more and more indicative of this country to praise mediocrity. If you give your best and come 2nd or 3rd, you should be off thinking 'Next time I'll win', not prancing around as if you just have.
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Comment number 5.
At 24th Aug 2009, Welsh84 wrote:I get the impression that we are stronger across the spread of events but not strong in any other than heptathlon.
Particularly the sprints have got so much worse, the best british sprinters now are not quicker than Linford 15 years ago and now they are not in that top level. 10 years ago the 100, 200 and 400m mens finals often had 2 brits in them and competing for medals. At the same time you had Jackson and Jarrett in the hurdles and Backley and Hill in the javelin.
I'm not sure why we were so much stronger before but now we genuinely have only 1 or 2 world class athletes unlike before.
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Comment number 6.
At 24th Aug 2009, yerfdog53 wrote:Excellent blog Tom. In response to TheMoonman10: yes, your are being grumpy, and your use of the English language is decidedly mediocre. I am regularly bemused by the idea that coming 2nd or 3rd in the world at anything is "mediocrity". Mediocrity means coming in the middle - by any standards, those who even get to the Athletics World Championships are already excelling; to reach the final (normally the top 8 in the world) is superb; and to get a medal is exceptional. And in response to JimClark's comment, assuming that "genuinely world class" in your terms extends to those "mediocre" silver and bronze medals, the UK currently has I think not one or two but at least ten active "world class" medallists at Olympic or World level(Ohuruogo, Radcliffe, Ennis, Dobriskey, Mason, Idowu, Meadows, Sanders, Danvers, Sotherton - I've probably missed one or two). Yes, in some events have got worse and in some better, but the UK came 8th in the medals table this week. Tom, maybe you could blog on the subject of why it is that so many armchair pundits feel it is their role and right to sit in judgment on people who have the temerity to try and fail to be the best individuals in the world at their chosen activity?
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Comment number 7.
At 24th Aug 2009, Welsh84 wrote:yerfdog53,
When i say genuinely world class I mean pushing for world records and being consistently in the top few in the world. Ennis and Radcliffe certainly but most of our medalist were glad to be in the final and see how they go from there.
How many world leaders are british or close to it? How many medals were achieved as outsiders rather than favourites. This is the difference, whilst they have done well to get medals I wish it to be a stepping stone for the current generation and not the peak.
I'm not trying to be too critical I just think statistics can prove one thing but hide another. We are missing strong characters who are world leaders and pull people into the sport.
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Comment number 8.
At 24th Aug 2009, james montgomery wrote:I certainly wouldn't call a silver or bronze mediocre or even, depending on the expectations for an athlete, making a final 8 for that matter. If an athlete PB's in a championship they've done as well as can be expected even if they didn't make a final.
Yes, relatively speaking, GB did better than many, including me, expected them to do. Bingham (even though he's really an American) Rutherford, Sharman, Freeman, Lewis, Meadows and Green were exceptional and deserve praise. Of course our medallists also deserve praise but they were expected to do as well as they did.
Now lets get realistic. Dorisky was to some people unlucky because she missed the gold by just 0.01 but others, including me, would say she was lucky over the incident in front that would more likely have placed her 4th?
The GB 4x100 team were perhaps also lucky the US got DQ'd as did the Bahamian team in the 4x400. But luck is all part of sport and medals and places can only go to those who make it through within the rules.
The real concern over the future development of GB towards 2012, is the fact that out of a team of 63 (?) less than a third made a final and more significantly,in terms of the supposed development of the talent pool and in the light of the last 10 years of public investment, 17 events had no British competitor and a further 11 had only one!
And just how bad is our, mainly mens,endurance running?
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Comment number 9.
At 24th Aug 2009, moveslowly wrote:I have been very critical of British athletic performances in recent years but was greatly encouraged by efforts in Berlin and also by those at recent Junior Champs. These show promise for the future especially 2012 when home advantage must be a factor. Just look at how well the German athletes performed compared with their showing in Beijing.
Athletics is surely one of few areas where statistics do not lie. Looking at performances at present time I think all following have chances of medals at 2012 (injuries permitting):
1500 Andy Baddeley
5000 Mo Farah
LJ Greg Rutherford
400 (h) David Greene
110 (h) Will Sharman
TJ Phillips Idowu
HJ Germaine Mason
Women
400 Christine Ohurogu/ Nichola Sanders
800 Jenny Meadows/ Marilyn Okoro
1500 Jessica Ennis/ Kelly Sotherton
PV Kate Dennison
Mara Paula Radcliffe/Mara Yamauchi
All (save for Baddeley) in top 5 all time Uk performances. Not saying all will medal but impressed by improvement from year to year of all of above (maybe not Radcliffe but she is a bit of one-off)
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Comment number 10.
At 24th Aug 2009, andyz81 wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 11.
At 24th Aug 2009, TrojanOtter wrote:Andy, I'm guessing you've had a tough day; could I suggest watching the cricket highlights to cheer you up?
Moveslowly, you may have been overly optimistic; though notably you did miss Tasha Danvers & Goldie Sayers of the proven performers. Also, we'll have athletes who peak for 2012; who'd have though Kwakye would finish 6th at Beijing, or let's be honest, who'd heard of Mason before his silver?
Rather than being pleased with mediocrity I was delighted to see how disappointed some of our finalists were; Bingham, Freeman & Green had all shattered PBs to make the final, rather than be happy, they were gutted not to have performed better in the final. Then factor in the inspiration of a home Olympics; the signs are more promising.
p.s. Tom, another great blog - wishing you all the best for your 1 hour decathlon.
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Comment number 12.
At 25th Aug 2009, james montgomery wrote:I wouldn't so so far as to completely agree with Andyz81 but in general I think he's absolutely right. The idea that some of our current lot will peak in 2012 does not mean they'll win anything on the day!
Andy IS wrong when he say's white men can't run. They can but not in the numbers prevalent in East Africa. White men have won Olympic and WC medals, including gold, from 800-marathon which clearly disproves that assertion.
Troj.O:
Goldie Sayers and Tasha Danvers "proven performers"? Sayers never makes it (re medals) in the big comps despite her 4th in Beijing (brilliant as it was) and Tash, again a great run in Beijing but do you really think she'll be around again? Hardly surprising Mason wasn't on the radar considering he's a Jamaican who only popped over here on occasion. And Bingham? He's an American, lives in America, managed and coached by Americans. Why doesn't UKA just advertise in Kenya and Ethiopia and the rest of the world for that matter to invite any potential international athlete who could lay claim to a British passport, after all, Britain was once the greatest Imperial nation on the planet so plenty of it's inhabitants must have ties with us somewhere down the line.
All the optimism is fine but realistically, regarding medals in 2012 we're not that promising to make the number the goverment wants, i.e., 10+ medals with at least 3 gold and 50% of our athletes in finals across ALL events and not just the ones we're currently good or reasonable good in!
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Comment number 13.
At 25th Aug 2009, andyz81 wrote:Actually TrojanOtter, you are totally wrong I had an absolutely brilliant day. Chelsea won, unbeaten so far, our 2 strikers linked wonderfully. We won 7 gold medals, 4 silver and 2 bronze with 2.7million people on our Island. How could I possibly have had a tough day. I spent most of it discussing a brilliant world championship. (what a tough day). We are now totally the sprint capital of the world our ladies are supreme in sprinting and we do not pump thousands and thousands of pounds into it simply because we don't have to. You all keep talking about British athletes peaking, what about the rest of the world. Have you not got the common sense to see that the sport has moved on and left Britain far behind. You haven't even got 1 100 metres runner to compete at the world chapionship. If at the moment you cannot produce even 1 gold medal runner what makes you think you will surpass naturally talented Athletes all accross africa, the US and the Carribean?
Remind me? The last time England won the Ashes I seem to remember when they went to Austalia the Aussies kicked their Asses and didn't just beat them 2-1 but Actually whitewashed them 5 nil.
Sorry I forgot how many Olympic or World gold medals has Natasha Danvers won? When the commentator on the ´óÏó´«Ã½ claim that a British Athlete ran the perfect race and just about mangage to dip in third it make you wonder what kind of race the winner ran. You do not have any Ovetts Crams or Coes.
Forgot to ask you are England number 1 Cricketing team in the world???????
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Comment number 14.
At 25th Aug 2009, massimocerina wrote:I'm italian and I want to say that I've admired the British team. The results gotten have been important, not only for the six medals but for the number of the finalists. Moreover they were absent athletes of great value. Well done!
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Comment number 15.
At 25th Aug 2009, massimocerina wrote:I would want to answer to Nibs: probably you are experienced of athletics as me of Chinese language. If you apply then your reasonings to all the competitions every winner you/he/she must consider him fortunate... is truth that apart USA, Russia and Jamaica (but only in the speed) any other nation can tell it superior to the team GB. What would Germany and Poland be without the throwing? What Kenya and Ethiopia without the runs of long distance?
On the relay 4x100 would mean that the appeal against USA if was welcomed it must say that it was correct. Americans should learn to change in correct way....
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Comment number 16.
At 25th Aug 2009, massimocerina wrote:I say to Andy. Maybe you're a magician because you know who will win a medals in the next olympic games. Please magician, tell me, did you know that Brathwaite won the hurdles, Rogowska won the pole vault or Nerius won the javelin? I say of no. Before making forecasts, thinks please...
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Comment number 17.
At 25th Aug 2009, Scotsport wrote:Andyz81, they best thing about athletics is it's fairly unpredictable nature, anyone can fall, drop a baton, pull a muscle. Who would have predicted Will Sharman to get selected, never mind 2pb's and a fourth place finish, not me but I'm very glad he did!! I would say that in the final of an event everyone is in with a chance of a medal as wonderful things can happen to anyone regardless of what they have or have not achieved! That is why I love the sport. Every big athletics event I do a prediction competition, pour over stats and past perfomances and always do rubbish as special things happen at Championships because as you say Athletics is the most natural sport in the world.
Have immensly enjoyed the Worlds with the wonderful people in Berlin and of course Tom's blogs. Have been cheering on everyone not just my countrymen and am now at a loss as to what to do every evening with nothing to watch! Roll on the Com Games and Europeans!
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Comment number 18.
At 25th Aug 2009, Tom Fordyce wrote:Back home now from Germany. Fantastic nine days. Gutted it's all over. Sigh...
Will post a blog on how the one-hour decathlon goes in a few days time - before then, big thanks to everyone for all the comments posted on the Berlin blogs - been some first-class chat, banter and debate. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
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Comment number 19.
At 25th Aug 2009, andyz81 wrote:Sorry Massimocerina you did say that you were Italian and I know maybe English words to you are lost in translation. Magicians do not do predictions they do magic tricks etc. A prediction just means that people based on certain facts and personal performances are due to perform their tasks or jobs in a certain way. Example each World Cup Brazil are predicted to win. It was predicted that Barcelona would win the Champions league becuse during the season they played the best football and scored the most goals.
It was predicted in jamaica that Usain would win 3 Gold medals. He did. I can give you a website in Jamaica that predicted all the women sprint medals it turned out 80% right. As an Italian I'm sure you predict that Italy will win the world cup. No magic there.
If Robles was fit do you believe that Braithwaithe (with all due respect a fellow West Indian) would have won gold?
Yes anyone can drop the baton, pull a muscle etc but that does not and will not stop predictions.
Sorry Scotsport but a lot of athletics is quite predictable the fastest usually wins as Mr bolt showed us, anyone could have predicted that. Man Utd will usually beat Burnley and Liverpool beat Aston Villa.
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Comment number 20.
At 25th Aug 2009, flyinghurdler2 wrote:Andy
there is such a think as being a bad winner
People respect the Jamaican team all over the world but your ridiculous boasting and gloating telling us we have bene left behind is just proving the Jamaican chip on the shoulder we have been subject to.
Yeah you are sprint kings but in the Sport of Athletics (you know all those other events outside the 1,2+4) we still have far more strength in depth and are a more sucesfull nation than Jamaica.
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Comment number 21.
At 25th Aug 2009, Mervatron wrote:I think a few people here are being a bit harsh on the GBR teams performance. In my mind they performed much better than i have seen ina long time on ther world stage.
Britain has never been a powerhpouse in athletics, we have always been there or thereabouts winning some medals here and there but never at the level of the USA, Russia or Jamaica this time round. To suddenly expect us to do that is just silly.
What i'm seeing is progression, and thats what we should be looking at in the build up to 2012. We should be looking at a very high medal count in the european and commonwealth games(that is all the home nations added together) and then another step up at the next world championships to see that improvement is still going.
Like most other nations we have our strengths and weaknesses. With our main weaknesses right now being the long distance running events and the throwing events and i don't see any of them improving anytime soon in terms of getting medals but we should be lookign at getting people qualified for the events, then get through to the final as stepping stones.
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Comment number 22.
At 25th Aug 2009, RedSoxGooner wrote:I don't care who gets disqualified, who falls over, who ate the wrong type of pasta the night before or whatever feeble excuses come up in these things.....
The ONLY fact at the end of the day is NUMBER OF GOLD/SILVER/BRONZE MEDALS!
There have been a hundred Olympics/Worlds/Europeans where GB have 'droppped the baton/fallen over/bee disqualified'.
People, please, GROW UP!
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Comment number 23.
At 25th Aug 2009, NHSpur wrote:I thought it was a wonderful Championship for GB. I am pleased with GB athletes who did PBs even SBs who were finalists but did not get a medal. I am ecstatic that GB athletes are enjoying themselves as well
One big disappointment for me is the GB athletics' reluctance to send our seemingly 2nd / 3rd/ 4th best when our best is injured. It is somewhat misleading to imply that they could not have done well. I reckon we would have had good placings in one of the longer distance events had we "taken the chance" on our left at home competent athletes. Some of these will be strong hopefuls for 2010 & 2011 big events and probably 2012 Olympics.
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Comment number 24.
At 25th Aug 2009, HotHeadWazza wrote:TheMoonman10 has it spot on.
We celebrate bronze as if it's a gold, and our standards need to be much higher if we're not to be completely overshadowed come 2012. Have you ever seen a US athlete celebrate a silver???
That said, our medal haul is showing clear improvements (despite controversy), especially with the absence of so many medal contenders (e.g. Sotherton, Mason, Yamauchi..)
So yeah, good job Team GB!
And special congrats to Idowu and Ennis (can't believe you forgot to mention her Tom)!!!
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Comment number 25.
At 25th Aug 2009, TrojanOtter wrote:Thanks flyinghurdler.
Obviously we don't have a Usain Bolt to win us 3 golds, so have to look elsewhere. Hence we are looking around for athletes who may be able step up to win Olympic medals. In my eyes, Danvers & Sayers coming 3rd & 4th last time qualified them as athletes who proved they can perform at the highest levels.
Yes, ultimately we'll only be judged on medals; but I agree with Mark Butler in how to gauge the state of the sport.
Take swimming; GBR won 1S in Barca, 1S, 1B in Atlanta, 0 in 2000 and then 2B (+11 other finallists) in Athens. Bill Sweetenham started focussing on the next generation and getting more and more people into world finals. The success was seen with 2G, 2S & 2B (+18 other finallists) at Beijing and then further progress at this summer's Worlds in Rome. Swimming bosses understand they're on an upward curve - but are not complacent.
Our athletes are on a slow upward curve. Charles van Commenee will ensure there's no complacency and he's not backward in telling people they should have done better (remember CvC telling Sotherton she ran like a wimp when only finishing third in Athens).
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Comment number 26.
At 25th Aug 2009, Paul Brooks wrote:Great World Championships - really enjoyed them.
Also really pleased with the British team performances.
Can people please stop saying we were lucky as the US got disqualified. That happened because they changed outside the box. If we had done that, then people wouldn't have said we were unlucky, rather we were idiots and why can't we practise baton change-overs.
Also nobody's fault but Jepkosgie fell over in the 800M heats and should NOT have been re-instated so Silver for Meadows. The Spainard was disqualified in the 1500M because she pushed somebody over (they may have got a medal.
The numbers in the final IS encouraging. Finally lets be careful. Asafa Powell said he was pleased how well Jamaica did in Track and Field. Well actually they didn't do anything in field and on the track is was only the sprints - although they dominated them. Not to play down Jamaica's great games but lets not follow their example by improving our medal performances by just focusing on one event. We should look to have entries in all events in 2012. That means an improvement in the throws and in men's middle and long distance.
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Comment number 27.
At 25th Aug 2009, malwhereartthou wrote:Team GB are improving nicely. There will always be people lacking the patience and understanding to appreciate the relative improvement by the athletes, but most agree that real progress has been made. I thought we had a relatively young team, and it was missing a number of proven performers with our top performers injured (Ohuragu) yet it still managed to beat expectations. That's fantactic folk, that's a winning mentality. I feel across the team people are coping better with the expectation, they're competing at the right time and delivering PB's. If we keep doing that, keep bringing through and grooming young talent, and keep everyone fit on the run-in then we should enjoy a great Olympics in 2012.
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Comment number 28.
At 26th Aug 2009, jleonard21 wrote:Andyz81 I'm afraid I don't understand your point; you claim that sport is usually predictable and yet you cite two examples that would suggest that sport isn't predictable. Burnley DID beat Man Utd and Aston Villa DID beat Liverpool; two wholly unpredictable results. You're thus negating the central tenet of your argument. I think the question of whether sport per se is predictable or not is a thoroughly unbalanced and unfair question to pose but if I were to posit a response I would at least argue with cohesion and reasoning. (Take note Andy) Clearly sports vary in their levels of predictability based on the amount of variables that can have an impact upon each individual sport.
I also think that the World Champs was great fun, Usain was awesome, Keninisa was awesome, Caster was awesome and Great Britain competed really quite well, and look like they will do better in the future. I'd like to bring to the fore a couple of chaps who I was most impressed with, Will Sharman and James Brewer (who, to my detriment not theirs, I had down as no-hopers) and I think both have great futures.
Finally I'd just like to say to HotHeadWazza and MoonMan10, I don't think when Phillips Idowu won a silver at Beijing he celebrated like he'd won gold. However I do still think to win a medal is a great achievement and Phillips would have had every right to celebrate his Olympic silver medal. How many people can say that they are in the top three in the world for there chosen profession or discipline? It is a well-earned accolade and should be celebrated as such.
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Comment number 29.
At 3rd Sep 2009, hackerjack wrote:Medals only ever tell part of the story. What can be more revealing is the number of finalists a country produces, and the placings athletes achieve in those finals.
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NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!
When will you lot in the media get it through your heads that athletics is an INDIVIDUAL sport. How many medals, finalists, placings or whatever we produce as a team is simply a product of individual achievements, not a goal in itself.
The ONLY way we will be able to judge our success properly is by setting (and publishing) goals for each athlete as an individual and comparing those for each person.
If we work on medal/finalit targets as a group then failures will continue to be papered over by those who overachieve, instead we should look solely at individuals against their stated expectations.
If we expected 3 golds from Tom, Dick and Harry, but instead achieved 3 via Sarah, Jane and Bob, we would have met our target, great you say but then by meeting it would we really spend the effort to find out why our three prospects underachieved or would be slap ourselves on the back like UKA has done so many times before for 'achieving'. yes the 3 successes would be wonderful especially as they would be unexpected, but Tom, Dick and Harry still failed, regardless of where anyone else finished.
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Comment number 30.
At 13th Sep 2009, neilphillips wrote:Overall the British performances exceeded expectations and I was particularly impressed with athletes who made finals where traditionally GB have been weak. The pole vault is a good example.
We must not get obsessed with 2012 but look beyond this and seeing athletes make finals in a large number of events will hopefully encourage more youngsters to take up the sport.
I believe that part of the reason for the improved results is stronger drug-testing which means that there is now more of a level playing field. However, there is no doubt that Charles van Commenee has already been successful in bringing out the best performances from athletes when it matters most.
We now need to build on our success and seek to ensure that the 2012 Games is the start of a new era of British athletics. Let's keep being positive, accept that there will always be disappointments and injuries but look at the big picture - we are really on the move now!
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