World Championships

Domer

Ok, prediction time again!!!

We have a pretty good team going to Osaka, but not too sure of the medal potential. I think once the US factor is intruduced into the equation, it is a different championship altogether.

Cragg, Gillick, Hession, Cullen, Cuddihy, O'Keefe, O'Rourke should make the final. Not sure if we have any real medal prospects, although you can never rule out O'Rourke.

Anyone think we have a real medal hope on the world stage?

Domer

Pherekydes

Domer wrote:

Anyone think we have a real medal hope on the world stage?

Domer

No.

Unless you count our walkers, which I see you didn't.

McGettigan might make the Steeple final.

Cragg and O'Rourke to go closest, I suppose.

Pherekydes

The official startlists/heatsheets are up on the IAAF website.

Hession is not entered for the 100m.

Rineanna

These are my predictions from another forum.

•On current form, I'm going to bet Hession will break the NR in the 200m in the semi and steal a sneaky spot in the final! He's had a stormer this season so hopefully he'll peak next week.

•If Eileen O' Keefe can uncork another 70m+ then she should make the final. Unfortunately she didn't throw over 70m at the World Uni's but the silver medal should have her full of confidence! It also helps that that beast Lysenko and her training partner have been kicked out of the comp, but there’s still 3 class Russians, Cubans and a Pole in there so it will be tough.

•Joanne Cuddihy to make semi final and could finally break Shinkins’ NR. If she pulls out another performance like the semi in Gothenburg then she’ll be doing well.

•I know O’ Rourke hasn’t exactly had an ideal season thus far, but she’s showed that she’s a championship performer so she’s in with a shot at the final;I certainly wouldn’t rule her out. She’ll need a new PB/NR to make the final I’d say.

•Not sure about Gillick. I’m still not convinced about him outdoors, but I’d say he’ll make the semi and who knows after that.

•Cragg to make final but not much else.

•McGettigan to make final if she can produce the form she showed in Heusden.

•Carey & Campbell will find it difficult to get out of heats, but where better to pull out a shocker than the Worlds!

•Heffernan to do the best out of all the race walkers….top 20 finish?

Hession is not entered for the 100m

Yeah, I think I read on the indo the he was going to focus on the 200m. It's dissapointing because I'd love to see how far he could go in it, but with the humidity and such, it might be the best idea for him.

Linford

Slow coach wrote:

The official startlists/heatsheets are up on the IAAF website.

Hession is not entered for the 100m.

Interview with Hession in the Irish Times today. Only says that he goes in the 200m.

thirtyfoot

As far as I can see on the starting lists he is ranked 9th on season bests so a final spot is on. Take out the top 3 and its wide open. My only concern would be the multiple rounds. It would be amazing to have an Irish athlete in a World 200m final.

19.62 Gay
19.75 Bolt
19.82 Spearmon
20.17 Williams
20.18 Martin
20.20 Suetsugu
20.29 Campbell
20.29 Dzingai
20.30 HESSION

http://osaka2007.iaaf.org/documents/pdf/3653/AT

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.EL2..V01.O.pdf

Common Sense

Currently the following Irish athletes are ranked in the world top 10 (of those competing in each event)

10. Paul Hession (200m - 20.30)
7. Alastair Cragg (5000m - 13:07.10)
10. Robert Heffernan (20k Walk - 1:20.15)
9. Roisin McGettigan (3000m S/C - 9.28.29

While 10th in the Hammer is 73.34 - so, Eileen O'Keeffe must be pretty close also.

Rineanna

Great start for Ireland; McGettigan and Britton both qualified for the final. McGettigan ran a great race and finished fourth, grabbing an automatic qualifying spot (She would have finished 2nd but she eased up at the line 'coz the top 4 were well clear of the rest).

Britton also ran an excellent race in the fastest of all three heats. She finished 7th overall, grabbing the final fastest loser spot (all 3 fastest losers came from her heat meaning Britain's Helen Clitheroe and Hattie Dean both failed to qualify).

It's great to see not one, but two Irish athletes in a World Final.

thirtyfoot

Great first session! Two finalists already is some achievement and to think its Britton's first real season in the event.

The men's marathon was a great race for the silver and bronze. The swiss guy was class and at one stage with a km to go I thought we might have 4 guys together in the stadium battling for silver. Kluft was brilliant in the high jump - 1.95, while I had some doubts about Powell but when I saw the front on shot of his heat he seemed to shutdown after about 30m and looked so easy. Really looking forward to the final tomorrow.

Rineanna

but when I saw the front on shot of his heat he seemed to shutdown after about 30m and looked so easy.

Ya, he practically jogged for the final 70m! The USA are doing terrible in the 100m; it must be their worst championships ever for the 100m. Jelps and Samuels are both out before the semi-final. It doesn't bode welll for the relay either.

I'd say Ennis is a bit annoyed she didn't get to 1.95m too, or at least 1.92 to match te Ukranian. She had a poor shot today (as was expected) and needed to compensate for it in one of the other events. She had a lethal 100mH though in fairness to her. Sub 13 in no easy feat when you're a hurdles specialist, not a mind when you've 6 other events to focus on!

Rineanna

Just something to prove what an achievement the steeplechase result was last night; only three countries as far as I can see have more than one athlete in the steeplechase final:

Russia- Understandable given they've an excellent chance of doing a 1-2-3 in the final.

Kenya- Kenya speaks for itself in any middle/long distance event

.......and.....drumroll please....Ireland!

thirtyfoot

Yes, and Sli Cualainn are probably the only club with two athletes, can we safely say they are the top women steeplechasing club in the world?:)

Tough draw for Cuddihy tonight - Amertil, Sanders, Trotter (she is running sh*te though) and a 51.44 Nigerian. 4 to go through automatically.

The time-zone is a disaster. Off to bed for a few hours - then up at 2am until 5 ish, back to bed and up for the evening session at 11am. Not sure what I'll do on monday when I have work to fit in (just as well I'm on my break as training would suffer). Good practice for Beijing I suppose.

thirtyfoot

40 mins in and Rob Heffernan is in the hunt, in the main bunch about 40m behind an Italian out front.

thirtyfoot

Perez has made a break for the Italian and Rob is still in the pack. RTE are streaming it live - fair play to them - no commentary though. Top 10 finish is on the cards.

thirtyfoot

Italian DQed - Rob now 6th only 9 secs off a medal - Borchin just collapsed. This is great stuff!

thirtyfoot

Aussie DQed - up to 5th, go on ya good thing.

He ended up 6th what a performance, he looks very happy too!!

Dodge

www.rte.ie - what a service

What a finish for the silver

Gold medallist stretchered out

A delighted Rob Heffernan finishes in 5th place

Great entertainment

Rineanna

Fair Play to him, excellent result. Feck Fernandez anyway....I had him in my fantasy league team...quick transfer needed!

Pherekydes

Rineanna wrote:

Fair Play to him, excellent result. Feck Fernandez anyway....I had him in my fantasy league team...quick transfer needed!

Reinstated.

Cuddihy through, but a seriously tough SF.

Dodge

O'Rourke in a very strong heat tomorrow (or tonight our time...)

She's 5th fastest this year, with only 3 to go through (+ 4 fasteest losers)

Common Sense

Well done to Robert - a good championships for us so far. Is any of our athletes going to better Robert's 5th place finish.

In setting out the British stall, their head coach, Dave Collins, set a goal of 14 top 8 finishes and 4 medals.

What would be a realistic measure for us? 4 or 5 top 8 finishes and no medals. (Top 8 finishers - Heffernan, McGettigan, Cragg and one from Hession, O'Rourke and Cuddihy??)

Rineanna

Common Sense wrote:

Well done to Robert - a good championships for us so far. Is any of our athletes going to better Robert's 5th place finish.

In setting out the British stall, their head coach, Dave Collins, set a goal of 14 top 8 finishes and 4 medals.

What would be a realistic measure for us? 4 or 5 top 8 finishes and no medals. (Top 8 finishers - Heffernan, McGettigan, Cragg and one from Hession, O'Rourke and Cuddihy??)

That's spot on, I'd say. O' Rourke and Cuddihy, as was said previously, have both got really tough races tommorrow (or today??!!). I do think Hession has a great chance of making the final of the 200m. Actually, looking at the 100m in retrospect, he wouldn't have been out of place in the semi final if he was on form. Himself and the Slovenian athlete Osovnikar who made the final were pretty much evenly matched in the 100m before the champs began.

Rineanna

Fingers crossed the other heats are slower!!!

Edit: Great, she's through!!

thirtyfoot

She had a great start and is starting to look fast again.

I believe she has the easier semi draw - a sub 12.7 would probably get her in. Is she in sub 12.7 shape though.

Common Sense

Her start and first 60m were amazing and she normally improves as a championship progresses but, unfortunately, I don't think she has a sub 12.7 in her at this stage this year. But I'll be happy if Derval proves me wrong - it would be marvellous to see her in the final. Cuddihy in a very tough semi - quite honestly I can't see any way through for her without a massive PB and National record. Again, she has not done anything this season to suggest she is in that kind of shape. One person we haven't mentioned is Eileen O'Keeffe who goes in the hammer tomorrow morning. Any thing near her best should see her through to the final (automatic qualification standard is 71.00). Hession in Lane 9 tonight (Lane 1 not used), so with 4 to qualify and 8 fastest losers I can't see him not getting through. Rodney Marting of US in same heat (Hession has 1 win over him this season (Sheffield) although Martin got the better of him in Crystal Palace.) Gillick also in action tonight where 3 qualify by right and 3 fastest. Gillick is in lane 7 in same heat as Jeremy Wariner and Martin Rooney of GB. Moncur also in there, so difficult but not impossible task for him - I'd expect him to advance. That leaves the 3000m SC. McGettigan's SB is 6th fastest in the race and we all know what a battler Britton is. So a top 8 finish here is not out of the question.

Good luck to all our athletes today and tomorrow morning - we know you'll all do yourselves and us proud.

Linford

Powell really blew it yesterday. Is he the new Leroy Burell of the sprint world?

I remember Linford Christie in the 90s saying something along the lines that there were about 10/15 people capable of running fast enough to win the olympic 100m final, but only 2 or 3 that can actually win it.

thirtyfoot

Linford wrote:

Powell really blew it yesterday. Is he the new Leroy Burell of the sprint world?

.

He sure did. I'm a big fan of Powell as I think he is the ultimate 100m athlete when in full flow. I'm a fan of Tyson Gay too so I wasn't too disappointed that he won. I just hope Powell can get the head sorted and deliver on his amazing talent in Beijing next year.

thirtyfoot

Common Sense wrote:

Her start and first 60m were amazing and she normally improves as a championship progresses but, unfortunately, I don't think she has a sub 12.7 in her at this stage this year. .

I'd have to agree but if anyone can pull out a big one when its needed, its her.

Dodge

McGettigan finished 10th, Britton finished 12th

Roisin tried to go with the pace early on but faded. 10th and 12th in the world is still excellent though

Rineanna

NR for Cuddihy!!!Excellent time in a tough, tough heat. Well done to McGettigan and Britton. Their performance bodes well for Beijing.

Damn, she misses out on a fastest loser place but fairplay to her on the NR; it's been a long time coming to her. Sanders ran a stormer!

thirtyfoot

Great run by Cuddihy. Sanders has just gone sub 50 and looked very, very good.

Pherekydes

Ohurougu won her SF, too. The Brits have two SF winners! Trotter through as fastest loser. Wide open.

Great run by Cuddihy.

thirtyfoot

It sure is wide open - Williams to win maybe with Sanders a silver.

Good for Cuddihy, she know another .5 and she'll be pushing for a final spot next year.

Rineanna

Slow coach wrote:

Ohurougu won her SF, too. The Brits have two SF winners! Trotter through as fastest loser. Wide open.

Great run by Cuddihy.

Superb performance by both Sanders and Ohuruogu. At he start of the champs, she was being tipped as an outside bet for a medal, but she's firmly in the mix for one now.

SitUbuSit

God...we've sent a pretty good Irish team this year.

Heffernen was an excellent 6th in the 20k walk. Both McGettigan and Britton ran great heats in the 3000m SC and finished very respectable 10th and 12th respectively in the final. Cuddihy ran a decent heat of the 400M with a SB and then ran stormer in the SF of the 400M, where she broke her PB by nearly half a second and the Irish record in the process - in times, she finishes 11th overall with her 50.73. O'Rourke ran a great race this morning to qualify from a tough heat in 12.91 in the 100m hurdles. She said that she found the heat tough and the early stat tough so maybe she could get down to 12.8/12.75 for the SF but she'll need to go even quicker to qualify for the final I think..but if anyone is a Championship performer. it's Derval. And we've got Hession and Gillick and Cragg and O'Keefeto look forward to. Yeah, we're not winning medals but we're putting in damn good performences across the board.

All I can say is congratulations everyone, particularly Heffernen and Cuddihy who have really pulled some top class performances out of the bag.

Anyone else finding the late night athletics watching difficult?

Seamus

Rineanna

Anyone else finding the late night athletics watching difficult?

Tell me about it! Went to bed around 4.30am this morning and then slept through my alarm (Set to get up to see the morning session), meaning I missed the steeplechase final and just saw Cuddihy's performance!

thirtyfoot

seamuscarey wrote:

Anyone else finding the late night athletics watching difficult?

Seamus

Its a nightmare but as I said already its good conditioning for Beijing! Going to have to look at talking days off next year.

SitUbuSit

Rineanna wrote:

Tell me about it! Went to bed around 4.30am this morning and then slept through my alarm (Set to get up to see the morning session), meaning I missed the steeplechase final and just saw Cuddihy's performance!

Yeah, I watched it all live last night until 4.30 and then up for work at 8.00 but I have youth on my side! Luckily I can watch it live from the RTE website at work.

Rineanna

Gillick is third fastest based on SBs. He has Wariner in his heat too, which I actually think is a good thing. Not only is he in a good position to take an automatic qualifying spot, but if he doesn't, that heat will probably be the fastest of them all so the fastest losers may come from that heat. I think he'll take an automatic spot though.

Dodge

Derval has a very tough semi. She's the slowest in this year, and in PBs although the fourth best PB is only 12.67 so on top form she could squeek it

Common Sense

I didn't get a chance to see any of the action today, but Cuddihy's NR is a huge achievement, especially the way she obliterated the old one held by Karen Shinkins. I was a bit disappointed with McGettigan's result - I thought she would comfortably make the top 8 and her time was some distance off her PB. But, hey, that's what competing at these championships is all about - making mistakes and learning from them. Hopefully we'll see the fruits of her efforts in Osaka next year and subsequent years.

The performance of the 2 British 400m women was superb and both should make the podium, with Sanders taking gold. My only worry is that she has run incredibly fast today and may be incapable of pulling out another effort of similar quality in the final. Ditto with Ohorougu and more so in her case because of her lack of competition during the year due to her suspension. I tipped Sanders for Gold way back, after Richards' failure to make the US team so I'm sticking with my prediction. As I stated above I expect Hession and Gillick to progress from their heats tonight and am reasonably confident that O'Keeffe will also progress.

Rineanna

Great, he's through. Time wasn't too shabby either (45.35), but will obviously need quicker next round. My theory of his heat being the fastest quickly went out the window, but he got the automatic spot so fastest loser doesn't matter anymore!

cmoney

Rineanna wrote:

Great, he's through. Time wasn't too shabby either (45.35), but will obviously need quicker next round. My theory of his heat being the fastest quickly out the window, but he got the automatic spot so fastest loser doesn't matter anymore!

yeah pretty decent performance in respect of his national record and in general

thirtyfoot

Hession looked class, coasted through and even gave a cheeky glance across the track with 30m to go. Eileen with a super throw and is through in the hammer and heading back to bed with the automatic qualification. This is great stuff.

Rineanna

Tingle wrote:

Hession looked class, coasted through and even gave a cheeky glance across the track with 30m to go.

When have we last seen an Irish athlete with this confidence?!

tingle wrote:

Eileen with a super throw and is through in the hammer and heading back to bed with the automatic qualification.

Great stuff, on her first throw and all. "Come on Eileen....."

tingle wrote:

This is great stuff.

Compare Osaka with Helsinki...what a change 2 years can make!

Dodge

Hession equal 11th fastest in the first round. Equal with tyson gay

Great to see O'Keefe get it right first time, when genuine medal contednors are struggling

Rineanna

They're having fierce problems in the hammer; a lot of casualties in the heats. The holder Kuzenkova is out, only one german and Chinese athlete made it through and Yuanika Crawford barely scraped through. Plus only 5 out of the 40 throwers actually got the automatic qualifying distance, O' Keefe included.

Pherekydes

Three great performances! 71.07m with her first throw shows her NR was no fluke. I hope she gets a biggie early in the final to settle her nerves. Go for it, Eileen.

Gillick, so close to his NR at 10 in the morning! But his SF is brutal:

2 380 California Molefe BOT 45.36 45.34
3 459 William Collazo CUB 45.29 45.29
4 451 Gary Kikaya COD 44.60 44.10
5 352 Chris Brown BAH 44.50 44.48
6 1049 Ato Modibo TRI 45.22 44.87
7 1151 Jeremy Wariner USA 43.50 43.50
8 713 Ricardo Chambers JAM 44.62 44.62
9 684 David Gillick IRL 45.23 45.23

I can see him running a NR and not going through. Or even getting top 4.

Hession is on a completely different planet to previous years. He qualified easily and got what looks like a dream draw:

2 1013 Marc Schneeberger SUI 20.47 20.47
3 970 Ivan Teplykh RUS 20.81 20.71
4 648 Anastásios Goúsis GRE 20.11 20.11
5 685 Paul Hession IRL 20.30 20.30
6 326 Patrick Johnson AUS 20.48 20.35
7 359 Kristof Beyens BEL 20.44 20.44
8 909 Arnaldo Abrantes POR 20.48 20.48
9 492 Franklin Nazareno ECU 20.47 20.47

Nobody to worry about, methinks. He could get a decent lane in the SF. Here's hoping!

thirtyfoot

Thats is some draw for Gillick.

As for Hession that Greek looked very good this morning, jogged the last 10m and was very easy running 20.11. He should get 2nd though.

Linford

How many throwers got through on their first throw like Eileen? She must be in the mix for a medal now having had such a relaxed qualification.

Hession's performance was brilliant (NR if he hadn't eased up?), my 18 month old daughter hasn't woken up in months, she must have known Daddy wanted to see the 200m heats

thirtyfoot

Linford wrote:

How many throwers got through on their first throw like Eileen? She must be in the mix for a medal now having had such a relaxed qualification.

Only 5 got the 71m.