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Usain Bolt hungry for Olympic Repeat despite slow start Ostrava

Tue, 29 May 2012 16:39:01 +0100

Usain Bolt insists he would not care about losing every race between now and the Olympics as long as he retains his titles in London.

Jessica Ennis won the battle but not the war – Tatyana Chernova

Tue, 29 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

As Tatyana Chernova packed her bags at the athletes' hotel yesterday after the two days of the Hypo-Meeting here in the west of Austria, it helped that she had been this way before. In fact, 12 months ago she suffered a more comprehensive defeat at the hands of Jessica Ennis in Götzis, yet ended the summer as the golden girl of the heptathlon.

'It's all going in the right direction,' says Farah

Mon, 28 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Mo Farah was back on home ground yesterday and back in winning form. Two months on from the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul, where he was run out of the medal frame in the 3,000m final, the 29-year-old was a comfortable winner of the Bupa London 10,000 road race for the fourth successive year.

Jessica Ennis weighs in with telling response to 'fat' critics

Mon, 28 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

It was highly debatable whether Jessica Ennis had a weight problem going into her Olympic heptathlon dress rehearsal here in the tranquil western corner of Austria. She certainly has one now.

Gebrselassie runs out of chances to run in London

Mon, 28 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Haile Gebrselassie's hopes of appearing at the London Olympics were dashed yesterday after the two-time Olympic 10,000m champion could only finish seventh at the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games in Hengelo.

Ennis storms away from field despite high-jump low

Sun, 27 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

It was the best of times; it was the wurst of times. From the track in the Mosle Stadion yesterday you could smell the sausage sizzling on the bratwurst grills – and the sweet stuff frying at the mini donut stall.

Grimacing Bolt on his knees after win

Sat, 26 May 2012 00:11:21 +0100

Usain Bolt eased to victory in Ostrava last night, but his post-race reaction was somewhat unusual.

Ennis quick to dismiss 'tubby' talk as nonsense

Sat, 26 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Jessica Ennis had to fend off unexpected and barely comprehensible claims about her weight as she set about getting her bearings in the Mösle Stadion here yesterday.

Fat? Really? Olympic hope laughs off official’s jibe – but others aren’t amused

Fri, 25 May 2012 18:21:01 +0100

The row over remarks branding the champion heptathlete Jessica Ennis “fat” escalated today as other female athletes spoke of similar taunts.

Jessica Ennis earns hurdle apology

Tue, 22 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Manchester GreatCity Games organisers have apologised to Jessica Ennis for the mix-up that led to her being denied a personal best in the 100m hurdles.

Jessica Ennis's joy dashed by officials' error

Mon, 21 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

As Jessica Ennis crossed the finish line on the specially constructed sprint strip stretching down Deansgate yesterday, she punched the air in celebration. Six days out from her meeting with her principal Olympic rivals in the Hypo Heptathlon at Götzis in Austria, the Sheffield woman had not only beaten two of the world's leading 100m hurdles specialists – the Olympic champion, Dawn Harper, and World Championship silver medallist, Danielle Carruthers – at their own game but she had done so in a personal best time.

Manchester will test Dwain's campaign to reign once again

Sat, 19 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

It has not exactly been the best of weeks for Dwain Chambers. Competing at the splendidly named Ponce Grand Prix meeting in Puerto Rico last weekend, the cause célèbre of British track and field got his Olympic season off to a decidedly sluggish start, failing to break 10.5sec for 100m. Then came some moral support from Ben Johnson.

Dennison up for pole vault rivalry

Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Kate Dennison claims losing her British pole-vault record to 20-year-old Holly Bleasdale has provided all the motivation she needs going into the Olympics.

Home fans happy to egg Jessica Ennis on to summer success

Mon, 14 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Jessica Ennis had barely reached the main stand – the only stand – at the Dorothy Hyman Sports Centre yesterday morning when the polite requests began. Little Lucy Mills of Halifax Harriers was one of the first to ask the great British all-rounder for an autograph, her mother showing theEuropean heptathlon champion a camera-phone image of "Jessica Eggis", a model egg that Lucy had made of her track and field idol for a competition. "Ah, that's lovely," Ennis said, beaming. "Did it win?"

Gatlin edges Powell after running 9.87

Sat, 12 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Justin Gatlin beat Jamaica's Asafa Powell on the line to win the 100m in a time of 9.87 seconds at the season-opening Diamond League meet in Doha yesterday.

Paralysed woman Claire Lomas completes London Marathon in bionic suit

Tue, 08 May 2012 14:21:42 +0100

A paralysed woman has become the first person to complete a marathon in a bionic suit.

Star of the show Andy Pozzi breaks Colin Jackson record

Tue, 08 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Another day at the 2012 Olympic Stadium, another personal best for Andy Pozzi. And a Colin Jackson record too.

British stars rise to occasion in Olympic dress rehearsal

Mon, 07 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

It was the morning after the night before and Vernon Kay, Gabby Logan, Mel C, the Military Wives, Hugh Bonneville and Co had packed up and moved on. The X Factor-style glitz of the official opening of the 2012 Olympic Stadium gave way to Britain's Got Talent on day three of the athletics test event, the British Universities and Colleges Sport Championships.

Lightning Usain Bolt sends reminder of supremacy

Mon, 07 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Far from the madding crowd at the 2012 Olympic Stadium on Saturday night, the athlete most likely to emerge as a class act on the big stage come Games time got his season off to a flying start in the early hours, British-time, yesterday. Running in his first individual race of the year, the 100 metres in the Jamaica Invitational meeting at the National Stadium in Kingston, Usain Bolt emerged victorious in 9.82 seconds – the fastest time in the world in 2012 and his quickest-ever season opener.

Crystal Palace date for Mo Farah

Thu, 03 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

World champion Mo Farah will compete over 5,000 metres at the London Grand Prix in July. The Crystal Palace meeting, which takes place on 13 July, will be the distance runner's last event before the Olympics.

'Hysterical' BOA loses battle over Chambers

Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Relations between the British Olympic Association and the World Anti-Doping Agency dramatically worsened yesterday in the wake of the BOA's failed attempt to protect their bylaw barring drug cheats from competing in the Olympics.

Athletes earn reprieve over drugs ban

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Two British athletes who were exposed as drug cheats will be eligible to compete at the London Olympics when their lifetime bans are overturned today.

Dwain Chambers is cleared to run in the Olympics

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Dwain Chambers will today be cleared to run in the London Olympics. The Court of Arbitration for Sport yesterday informed the British Olympic Association of its judgement on the BOA's controversial byelaw that bars all athletes who have failed a dope test from competing in the Games.

Hallissey earns GB marathon selection

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:00:01 +0100

On Saturday night Claire Hallissey noticed maps of the Olympic course lying around the hotel where she was staying, ahead of the London Marathon. At the time she no more than glanced at them but she can now study the route as intensely as she likes, after the 29-year-old was selected to fill the third and final place in the British women's line-up for the Games yesterday afternoon .

Pavey could be overtaken in race for final Olympic marathon slot

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 00:00:01 +0100

This will not have made comfortable viewing for Jo Pavey. It was her decision not to compete in yesterday's London Marathon, instead hoping the time she set last year would prove enough to earn her the third and final host nation place in the women's marathon at this summer's Olympics. She could then only sit and watch as not one but two British women ran inside her time.

Triathlon: Hauss builds victory on final run

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 00:00:01 +0100

David Hauss of France claimed his first World Cup victory yesterday when he took the ITU Ishigaki title, erasing a 50-second deficit after the bike ride to win this Olympic qualifier in 1hr 50min 6sec.

Athletes angry over doping decision

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 00:00:01 +0100

A number of British athletes, including the Olympic gold medallist Mark Hunter, have expressed disappointment at the imminent overturning of the British Olympic Association's controversial bylaw that bans dopers from the Games for life.

Glory and Games places up for grabs on London streets

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 00:00:01 +0100

There is an elephant on the course of tomorrow morning's 32nd London Marathon. It is an Olympic year, and for the elite British runners a home Olympic year – so tomorrow, more than ever, the 26 miles will be sliced into a series of match races defined by nationality as athletes look to clinch places among the cast of the greatest show on earth.

BOA expect defeat over lifetime ban for drugs cheats

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 09:42:30 +0100

British Olympic Association chiefs are increasingly resigned to defeat next week in their court battle to keep their lifetime ban for drugs cheats.

Bolt's thunder stolen by Blake's lightning dash

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Usain Bolt opened his 2012 season with an impressive relay leg in Kingston, Jamaica, on Saturday night, but the Lightning Bolt had his thunder stolen in the UTech Invitational.

Tearful Radcliffe finds herself in a Viennese whirl

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 00:00:01 +0100

First the good news. Paula Radcliffe was not trampled by a herd of Lipizzaner horses on the streets of the Austrian capital yesterday. She did not disappear down a manhole into the Viennese sewers where Harry Lime was gunned down in The Third Man.

Gold is within kissing distance for Radcliffe

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Up on stage in the Rathaus, the grand town hall in the centre of the Austrian capital, on Friday night, they wheeled out a copy of one of the world's most celebrated works of art, The Kiss by Gustav Klimt. Then they invited Paula Radcliffe and Haile Gebrselassie to draw their own version of it.

Paula Radcliffe: I'd be happy with a medal of any colour

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 00:00:01 +0100

The demob happiness of Haile Gebrselassie was not the only reminder to Paula Radcliffe yesterday that she has unfinished business to attend to. There was also the presentation of a certificate marking her enlistment in the "Clean Running" campaign started by the organisers of the Vienna City Marathon and the Austrian Sports Ministry.

Camera-shy Ohuruogu off to train in Hollywood country

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Cathy Freeman flew across the other side of the world to prepare for the 400m at a home Olympics – to train with Donna Fraser at Eton. Christine Ohuruogu has only gone to Los Angeles, and as part of a British training squad (Freeman's was a solo mission). Still, the East End girl who struck gold in the one lap event in Beijing in 2008, would rather like to sneak under the radar ahead of the London Olympics if at all possible.

Simon Turnbull: It's a sorry state to have sympathy for the devil

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 00:00:01 +0100

The verdict is almost in. Any day now – by the end of the month at the latest – the Court of Arbitration for Sport will announce whether the British Olympic Association can maintain the by-law that precludes athletes from all sports who have served doping suspensions of six months or longer from selection for the British Olympic team.

Tearful Pendleton strikes gold in Melbourne

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 14:27:13 +0100

A tearful Victoria Pendleton today declared her sixth Track Cycling World Championships sprint title as the most important of her career as she moved into pole position for the London Olympic Games with victory in Melbourne.

Gebrselassie to chase Radcliffe in Vienna race

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 00:00:01 +0100

There will be at least one gold for Paula Radcliffe in 2012. Organisers of the Vienna City Marathon announced yesterday that the marathon world record holder will receive the presitious Goldener Rathausmann award at a special ceremony in the Austrian capital's City Hall - or “Rathaus” - a week on Friday.

Greene flies flag for rare bit of Welsh success

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 00:00:01 +0000

When Sam Warburton led the Wales rugby union XV into the pressure cooker of the Millennium Stadium for the Six Nations finale against France last weekend, Dai Greene was far from the madding crowd of Cardiff. He was sitting in front of the television at his home on the outskirts of Bath.

On The Road To 2012: I need to be in a pool improving my speed rather than training in lakes and rivers

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 00:00:01 +0000

At the last Olympics in Beijing, I was the flag-bearer for Bulgaria during the opening ceremony. I have represented my country in swimming at the last three Games. I hope London will be number four.

Usain Bolt on life in the fast lane

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 00:00:01 +0000

DAVID WALLIAMS: How are you feeling about the Olympics?

The Bolt Effect: How chasing Usain Bolt made the world run faster

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 00:00:01 +0000

He is the fastest man on two legs, the greatest sprinter of all time – and Usain Bolt can also claim another superlative. He alone has caused the other top athletes in the world to run faster.

Van Commenee lets mask slip as excitement builds

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 00:00:01 +0000

It was put to Charles van Commenee that he might not be too excited, even though the Great Britain track and field team were preparing to leave Istanbul yesterday with a record haul of nine medals from the World Indoor Championships. "Excited?" the head coach replied. "The last time I was excited I was sitting with my grandmother on a train. That was 48 years ago."

Aldama, our woman from Havana, raises gold hopes

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:00:01 +0000

There was a reception committee waiting for Yamile Aldama when she got back to the Wow Hotel in the west end of Istanbul on Saturday night. "That was the best bit," the new golden girl of British athletics – the 39-year-old golden girl – reflected the morning after. "They were throwing me in the air: all the team, the support staff. It's not easy for me to cry but I was close to tears."

Ohuruogu finds form when it matters to secure relay win

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:00:01 +0000

It has taken the best part of four years, and no little pain on the injury front, but there was finally a spring back in Christine Ohurougu's stride yesterday – and a gold medal around her neck. The Stratford woman who won individual 400m gold at the Beijing Olympics showed a return to form – ahead of what, for her, will be a particularly close-to-home Olympics – with a storming run on the penultimate leg of the 4 x 400m relay final at the World Indoor Championships.

Britain claim record haul but Farah concern grows

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:00:01 +0000

A flying finish by the boys and girls in red, white and blue brought a record haul of nine medals for the British team by the end of the third and final day of the World Indoor Championships here in Istanbul. There were five in all yesterday, and a timely return to gold-standard form for our only reigning Olympic track and field champion, Christine Ohuruogu, albeit as the vital cog in an inspired women's 4 x 400m relay quartet.

Aldama is worth her wait in gold

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 00:00:01 +0000

It was in November 2001 that Yamile Aldama moved to London from Havana, with a newly-born son and a Scottish husband. Her dream was to go for Olympic triple jump gold in the red, white and blue of a Great Britain vest.

The Last Word: Passport to run for GB? It's in the Mail

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 00:00:01 +0000

There were questions left to be asked after the gentleman from the Daily Mail enquired whether Tiffany Porter could sing "the first lines of 'God Save the Queen'", when the American-born and raised runner was presented as Britain's athletics team captain last week. The most immediate query that sprung to mind was: did he mean the tune that now serves as the national anthem of the United Kingdom and has been sung since the 18th century, or the jaunty ditty that was belted out by Johnny Rotten and his Sex Pistols in 1977?

‘Devastated’ Ennis falls victim to gold robbery

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 00:00:01 +0000

Another World Championship multi-events denouement; another dose of silver medal disappointment for Jessica Ennis to digest.

Porter backed as 'inspirational' despite anthem row

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 00:00:01 +0000

The chances are that Tiffany Porter will be on the rostrum for the 60m hurdles medal ceremony in the Atakoy Athletics Arena today. Unless Australia's Sally Pearson false-starts or crashes into a barrier, however, the British team captain is unlikely to be singing the national anthem.

Brits on course for 'very good' Olympics

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 15:29:51 +0000

UK Athletics head coach Charles van Commenee believes Britain remains “on course” for a successful Olympic Games after encouraging performances this winter.

Isinbayeva back in form and bullish for Istanbul

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 00:00:01 +0000

The pole-vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva and hurdler Liu Xiang are enjoying a return to form in Olympic year and head into this week's World Indoor Championships as favourites for their events but less familiar names are in contention for the sprints.

Clitheroe looks beyond London Olympic dream

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 00:00:01 +0000

It was a picture of domestic bliss, 8,000ft above sea level on the slopes overlooking the Great Rift Valley in Kenya. Outside a modest brick-built chalet at Lornah Kiplagat's High Altitude Training Centre in Iten, two pairs of red-dusted running shoes were propped against the doorstep and a selection of vests, shorts and socks were hanging from the washing line.

Fiona May: 'It's the reality of life, so just get on with it'

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 00:00:01 +0000

By the time Shara Proctor was in the interview area at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham the weekend before last, being asked what she felt about the label "plastic Brit", Fiona May had already received news via Twitter that the Anguillan-born-and-raised long jumper had broken the 28-year-old British indoor long jump record.

Gebrselassie in 'worst ever' marathon

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:00:01 +0000

Kenya's Michael Kipyego won the Tokyo Marathon yesterday, leaving the former world record holder Haile Gebrselassie floundering in fourth.

Bleasdale falls short in Stockholm

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:00:01 +0000

For the second time in two weeks, Holly Bleasdale was forced to play second fiddle to the queen of the pole vault, Yelena Isinbayeva.

Bleasdale eyeing revenge

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:00:01 +0000

Holly Bleasdale has another crack at the queen of the pole vault in Stockholm tonight. Two weeks ago in Bydgoszcz, Poland, the 20-year-old Briton cleared the same height as Yelena Isinbayeva, 4.68m, but was beaten by the Russian Olympic champion on countback.

Farah 'will run into form at the right time'

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:01 +0000

The indoor season has long been the phoney war of track and field, particularly in Olympic year. The winner of the women's 800m at the 2008 World Indoor Championships, anyone? That would be Tamsyn Lewis of Australia. Come the Beijing Olympics that summer, she failed to make it to the final.

'Plastic Brit' jibe propels Proctor into contention

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 00:00:01 +0000

Perhaps it was only to be expected, but after claiming her first British record and beating the host of stars on show to the athlete of the meeting award at the Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham on Saturday – Jessica Ennis and Liu Xiang amongst them – Shara Proctor was obliged to set the record straight on the subject of her Britishness.

Miracle man Evans back in the fast lane

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 00:00:01 +0000

Interviewed in these pages in January 2008, after being called into the Scotland squad for that year's Six Nations Championship, Thom Evans pondered the possibility of eventually returning to a life in the fast lane in time for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Chrissie Wellington: 'Sometimes your worst races are your biggest triumphs'

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 00:00:01 +0000

I call myself an accidental athlete I first realised my capacity for endurance while I was [working for an NGO] in Nepal. I would cycle every day with friends and Nepali sherpas, and I outperformed all of them. So I started doing marathons and triathlons when I returned to the UK, and didn't stop. I'd never in a million years thought I could win the Ironman World Championships once, let alone four years running.

Record-breaker Farah not in British winners' circle

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 00:00:01 +0000

Outside the International Convention Centre in England's second city yesterday Brummies were queuing to see Britain's Got Talent – Simon Cowell, Ant and Dec et al. Inside the National Indoor Arena, just around the corner, the capacity 8,000 crowd were banging their thunder sticks and threatening to raise the rafters as Britain's runners and jumpers showed that they have some ability among them, 160 days out from the main event of the London Olympics.

Farah set to harvest European record of retired gardener

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 00:00:01 +0000

Emiel Puttemans is planning to get on his bike this afternoon. "I'll be cycling to the sea," he said.

Ennis timing her run to perfection

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 00:00:01 +0000

The Russians are coming. Six months after Jessica Ennis was relieved of her World Championship heptathlon crown by Tatyana Chernova, another potential golden girl of the multi-events scene happens to be emerging from within the boundaries of the Russian Federation. Competing in Moscow last week, the previously unheralded Ekaterina Bolshova won her national pentathlon championship with a score of 4,896 points – 41 more than Chernova has ever amassed.

Ennis forced to dig deep before raising her game

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:00:01 +0000

Looking ahead to the main stretch of the indoor season, and the longer haul to the London Olympics, Toni Minichiello insisted on Friday that he and Jessica Ennis would not be getting wrapped up in what Tatyana Chernova might be doing. "No," Ennis's long-time coach said when asked about the Russian who relieved his charge of the world heptathlon title last summer, "it's about Jess getting better at being Jess."

Sheffield first stop for Ennis on route to Chernova showdown

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:00:01 +0000

Denise Lewis was on Desert Island Discs yesterday morning, talking about her golden moment on top of the podium in Sydney in 2000 and the empty feeling of what to do with the rest of her life after Olympic heptathlon success.

Chambers stays in running as he waits for ruling

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:01 +0000

For Dwain Chambers, the key battle has yet to come in 2012. Still, as he awaits the Court of Arbitration for Sport's definitive ruling on the British Olympic Association's lifetime ban on doping offenders – due to be announced before the end of April – the world indoor 60 metres champion is up and running in London Olympic year.