AIT Grand Prix 2017- 15th February

El Caballo

That time of the year again when some of the world's and Irelands best athletes come to Ireland and Athlone. A few names already announced including Mutaz Essa Barshim, Olympic Silver medalist and the second highest high jumper of all-time both outdoor and indoor (Set in Athlone 2015 when just missing out on the indoor world Record) and former World and Olympic champion Sally Pearson who is one of the fastest women in history over the 100m hurdles.

Some of the Irish competing will be 2014 European bronze medalist and 2015 Euro indoor silver medalist Mark English in the 800m alongside 2016 European 1500m Bronze Medalist Ciara Mageen.

Just a few of the early announcements, should be a lot more to come over the next few weeks and it looks to be shaping up as a cracking night.

average_runner

Think i will head up for this. Will drive up after work.

Just two questions:

1) If i arrive after 7.15, will i of missed much?

2) Is it better to buy a seated ticket or a standing ticket. Are seats assigned to a ticket?

Thanks

El Caballo

average_runner wrote: »

Think i will head up for this. Will drive up after work.

Just two questions:

1) If i arrive after 7.15, will i of missed much?

2) Is it better to buy a seated ticket or a standing ticket. Are seats assigned to a ticket?

Thanks

Nope, the senior action starts around 8 if I remember correctly, mostly junior races before that.

The seats are much better I found, standing tickets are for the second floor and although right next to the warm up area, it's standing. Can sit where you want.

Mark English is going for the 600m World record in other news

average_runner

Just bought my ticket today, got a seated one for 20 euro, so a good deal.
Now I just got to make sure no one in work buts a meeting for 5pm, as traffic is bad at that time in the city centre.

fishy21

does anyonw know what events are on this year?

I asked Harry Aikines-Aryeetey on instgram live last night and he thinks he is coming for the 60m.

El Caballo

fishy21 wrote: »

does anyonw know what events are on this year?

I asked Harry Aikines-Aryeetey on instgram live last night and he thinks he is coming for the 60m.

Sorry fishy, just found the event list now

Women: 60m, 60mH, Long Jump, 800m and 1500m

Men: 60m, 400m, 600m, High Jump and finally the Mile*.

(*The Mile will also have official timing at the 1500m mark for those looking for Euro Indoor standards etc.)

Melissa Bishop also confirmed she would be running too. She's a World Silver medalist and finished 4th in Rio with a 1.57.02 800m PB to her name. This field is shaping up to be the best they've ever had with a lot of names yet to be released. For anyone who has gone to meets or never set foot near a track meet in their life, I'd highly encourage you to get out and support this, it's a great night out with a hell of an entry list of the best athletes on the planet right on our doorstep.

Myles Splitz

El Caballo wrote: »

Mark English is going for the 600m World record in other news

This has been broken twice since this this post in the US;

20/1 - Emmanuel Korir - 1.14.97
28/1 - Cas Loxsom 1:14.91

For anyone interested here is one of Cas's recent training sessions

http://www.flotrack.org/video/1088001-workout-wednesday-brooks-beasts-morning-speed-work#.WJOVm_mLTcs

Myles Splitz

El Caballo wrote: »

Melissa Bishop also confirmed she would be running too. She's a World Silver medalist and finished 4th in Rio with a 1.57.02 800m PB to her name. This field is shaping up to be the best they've ever had with a lot of names yet to be released.

A recent Q & A with the women in question

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2017/02/qa-canadian-800-star-melissa-bishop-opens-olympic-heartbreak-like-racing-caster-semenya-stayed-canada-college/

El Caballo

Doing much reading?;)

average_runner

El Caballo wrote: »

Doing much reading?;)

Good line up. Looking forward to it

Myles Splitz

El Caballo wrote: »

Doing much reading?;)

Putting the A back the in A/R forum

fishy21

barshim has pulled out.

Its a shame would love to see him clearing huge heights in real life!

Ryan Greson is also out.

Whos competing in the womens long jump?

fishy21

good to see bishop is added, she is top class!

average_runner

Will I be able to get some food at this event as going straight from work.

Thanks

El Caballo

average_runner wrote: »

Will I be able to get some food at this event as going straight from work.

Thanks

There's a canteen just across the road in the main building, you can get dinner, snacks or whatever else you need in there.

Mos Eisley

Anyone know the schedule of events? Word has it that Mark English has also pulled out

Myles Splitz

fishy21 wrote: »

barshim has pulled out.

Its a shame would love to see him clearing huge heights in real life!

Ryan Greson is also out.

Whos competing in the womens long jump?

Gregson definitely out? In Dublin with LeCaze and she is still running.

average_runner

Myles Splitz wrote: »

Gregson definitely out? In Dublin with LeCaze and she is still running.

Is there a link to who is taking part tomorrow night? Surely they have the line up sorted by now?

Myles Splitz

average_runner wrote: »

Is there a link to who is taking part tomorrow night? Surely they have the line up sorted by now?

http://www.aitsport.ie/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/2017-AIT-GP-Entry-List-as-of-Feb13.pdf

fishy21

I have two seating tickets if someone wants them. send me a message.

I can take paypal and email you the tickets.

will take 20 for the pair

fishy21

Myles Splitz wrote: »

Gregson definitely out? In Dublin with LeCaze and she is still running.

sorry my mistake, looks like he is running.

curtisbrown

I think English is out alright, I was looking forward to seeing him in action

Mos Eisley

I saw someone who I'm pretty sure was Gregson warming up in the AIT arena at lunch so we could be in luck. Will be great to see these top athletes in action up close.

Myles Splitz

Live Stream Available for those who couldn't make it down

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vwV5Jw7OxM

average_runner

Badly missing a electronic board showing the results.

Sacksian

Schedule & results:

http://www.athleticsirelandenterprises.com/results_aitgrandprix17/schedule.html

Itziger

Good 1500 there and now Bishop coming up in the 800. Fine stream too. Don't know what the moany cnuts in the live chat are on about.

average_runner

Itziger wrote: »

Good 1500 there and now Bishop coming up in the 800. Fine stream too. Don't know what the moany cnuts in the live chat are on about.

She held on well in the 1500m.
Very good run by Bishop.
High jump is good also


What live chat?

Itziger

average_runner wrote: »

Itziger wrote: »

Good 1500 there and now Bishop coming up in the 800. Fine stream too. Don't know what the moany cnuts in the live chat are on about.

She held on well in the 1500m.
Very good run by Bishop.
High jump is good also


What live chat?

On the Youtube stream. There was a lad criticising everything but fortunately he's headed off to watch Arsenal!!!

average_runner

Itziger wrote: »

On the Youtube stream. There was a lad criticising everything but fortunately he's headed off to watch Arsenal!!!

For 20 euro what more could you ask for?

I set a record for eating a sandwich at the door.

Pherekydes

Phil Healy missed the 60m record by one hundredth with 7.31.

Chivito550

Itziger wrote: »

Good 1500 there and now Bishop coming up in the 800. Fine stream too. Don't know what the moany cnuts in the live chat are on about.

The meet was good but coverage was really shoddy. No clock on screen. Only half way through did they start giving us results. For the 800m start list they had athletes listed in the wrong lanes including one listed in lane 12 (WTF). Interviews regularly going to mute, including half way through Sally Pearson's. Commentators getting mixed up a lot too. They didn't know that the pacemaker in the 600m was actually a pacemaker. Calling people "moany cnuts" because they expect a higher standard is harsh. Not everybody tolerates mediocrity.

Sunny Dayz

That was our first time at anything like that and I have to say we really enjoyed! The 800m, 1500m and the mile were all fantastic races! God you could feel the pace and the adrenaline! Brilliant stuff.

Only little niggle was the people walking up and down while a race or event was in progress. We were seated near the front and missed have the long and high jumps from people walking past me.

Great facility in the AIT, back again very soon when my young fella is running in there!

average_runner

Chivito550 wrote: »

The meet was good but coverage was really shoddy. No clock on screen. Only half way through did they start giving us results. For the 800m start list they had athletes listed in the wrong lanes including one listed in lane 12 (WTF). Interviews regularly going to mute, including half way through Sally Pearson's. Commentators getting mixed up a lot too. They didn't know that the pacemaker in the 600m was actually a pacemaker. Calling people "moany cnuts" because they expect a higher standard is harsh. Not everybody tolerates mediocrity.

So just back from it.

Overall I enjoyed it, the 1500, 600m and mile race was very good. There was no pacemaker in the 600m, Polish guy led from the start and got overtaken on the final straight. One guy dropped out. Bett was pacemaker for 800m but they thought he might try and win it.

The speed over the hurdles was amazing.

A few things that annoyed me were:

No electronic board for line ups and results.

When parking the car in the underground car park they only told you at barrier it was 3 euros and had to be paid now in exact change. Guy on the barrier very clueless.

I asked outside if I could bring sandwich from canteen in, got told yes but at arena door they stopped me. Saying food not allowed. No signs.

Said no reserve seating yet over half was reserved. Need to advertise it properly as if you get there early, you still won't get a great seat.

Overall I enjoyed it, would I go again? I think so.

pconn062

Chivito550 wrote: »

The meet was good but coverage was really shoddy. No clock on screen. Only half way through did they start giving us results. For the 800m start list they had athletes listed in the wrong lanes including one listed in lane 12 (WTF). Interviews regularly going to mute, including half way through Sally Pearson's. Commentators getting mixed up a lot too. They didn't know that the pacemaker in the 600m was actually a pacemaker. Calling people "moany cnuts" because they expect a higher standard is harsh. Not everybody tolerates mediocrity.

Have to agree, although I don't think it would take much to greatly improve it. Put a clock on the screen (basic), show results after races with times, follow the whole race with the camera (not just the leader, in Ciara's race they never once showed the chasing pack!). I don't mind the commentators too much and actually think Jesse Barr is pretty good and would like to see her on RTE in the future. Also they need to sort out the sounds for the interviews and get a better guy to do them.

average_runner

pconn062 wrote: »

Have to agree, although I don't think it would take much to greatly improve it. Put a clock on the screen (basic), show results after races with times, follow the whole race with the camera (not just the leader, in Ciara's race they never once showed the chasing pack!). I don't mind the commentators too much and actually think Jesse Barr is pretty good and would like to see her on RTE in the future. Also they need to sort out the sounds for the interviews and get a better guy to do them.

No one in the arena could hear the interviews and results were slow all over. Long jump became a farce at one stage.

Chivito550

Without trying to pick on the commentators too much, Dick Hooper said that Niall Tuohy "is as good as Mark English really". What an absurdly ridiculous statement to come out with. One guy is a multiple European medalist and a 1:44 runner. The other has never broken 1:48. You can't take commentators seriously when they come out with nonsense like that. Not expecting Tim Hutchins type stuff, but you'd expect greater displays of knowledge than that.

Chivito550

average_runner wrote: »

So just back from it.

Overall I enjoyed it, the 1500, 600m and mile race was very good. There was no pacemaker in the 600m, Polish guy led from the start and got overtaken on the final straight. One guy dropped out. Bett was pacemaker for 800m but they thought he might try and win it.

The speed over the hurdles was amazing.

A few things that annoyed me were:

No electronic board for line ups and results.

When parking the car in the underground car park they only told you at barrier it was 3 euros and had to be paid now in exact change. Guy on the barrier very clueless.

I asked outside if I could bring sandwich from canteen in, got told yes but at arena door they stopped me. Saying food not allowed. No signs.

Said no reserve seating yet over half was reserved. Need to advertise it properly as if you get there early, you still won't get a great seat.

Overall I enjoyed it, would I go again? I think so.

There was a pacemaker. De Santos was. He dropped out at 400 after several glances around his shoulder. He was seen hugging the winner after. A job well done by him.

Commentators were talking up a WR attempt. Why wouldn't there be a pacemaker?

Itziger

Well, it seems I got lucky with the few races I caught on live stream. Sure it was a bit amateurish but the comments on the right were on about 'one camera too bright, the other too dark', the quality of the video being awful when what I saw was almost perfect......Commentary was ok (I picked up on the as good as English comment alright and thought it was a bit silly).
Not saying they can't improve but a live free internet stream is a bonus on a midweek night.

average_runner

Chivito550 wrote: »

There was a pacemaker. De Santos was. He dropped out at 400 after several glances around his shoulder. He was seen hugging the winner after. A job well done by him.

Commentators were talking up a WR attempt. Why wouldn't there be a pacemaker?

According to the program it was an English lad. Maybe I missed It. I thought the pole led the whole way around till.the finish straight

average_runner

We picked out the bad points but surely there is alot of praise for it.

Some irish athletes getting a chance to run against class opposition and would never get the chance if it wasn't for this.

We constantly asked about getting kids into athletics, well this is one major way, amount of kids there was brilliant.

We have two great indoor arenas and all we seem to do is moan about them.

Myles Splitz

average_runner wrote: »

We picked out the bad points but surely there is alot of praise for it.

Some irish athletes getting a chance to run against class opposition and would never get the chance if it wasn't for this.

We constantly asked about getting kids into athletics, well this is one major way, amount of kids there was brilliant.

We have two great indoor arenas and all we seem to do is moan about them.

Agreed

In terms of performances the quality was second to none

- Christina Mannings 60mH performance was 21st fastest indoor time ever.
- Ryan Gregson ran a new Australian indoor record in mile
- Kyle Langford (u23) broke British 600m record
- Liga Velvere broke Latvian 800m record
- Johan Rogestedt became first Swede to break 4 minutes indoor

From an Irish perspective some great performances also
- Robinson, Travers and Everard all being within a half second of each other sets up a great race for Nationals at the weekend
- Emma Mitchel with a huge PB in womens 1500m which was over 3 seconds quicker than her outdoor PB
- (as mentioned previously) Phil Healy went 7.34, 7.31 both quicker than she has ran this season and is number 3 on all time irish list

loudymacloud

Well I enjoyed it anyway, sure there were a few little issues, but did not take away what was a good event.

I watched it on the TV using my phone and Chromecast, the quality was quite good I thought.

Im from Athlone but living up in Dublin, so i was delighted I could watch it, for free from the comfort of my own home.

pconn062

average_runner wrote: »

We picked out the bad points but surely there is alot of praise for it.

Some irish athletes getting a chance to run against class opposition and would never get the chance if it wasn't for this.

We constantly asked about getting kids into athletics, well this is one major way, amount of kids there was brilliant.

We have two great indoor arenas and all we seem to do is moan about them.

That's not even remotely true, and you know it. In my experience (as someone who has been or raced there about 10 times in the last two years) the comments about AIT in general are always hugely positive, and making a few comments about the quality about the live stream is not the same as always moaning about it. You said yourself a scoreboard was majorly lacking from the arena.

Agree about the positives, Phil Healy is a star in the making. Apart from Eoin Everard I thought most of the Irish had disappointing runs in the mile and let the race get away from them. I know Everard blew up but at least he gave a good account of himself. Mageann again looked a little stale but maybe just lacking a little sharpness against good quality athletes. I still expect her to run away with the Nationals this weekend. Disappointing English wasn't in the 600m (is he injured?) as I think he would have won easily.

Good quality from the foreign athletes as well, Gregson especially is a class act.

average_runner

pconn062 wrote: »

That's not even remotely true, and you know it. In my experience (as someone who has been or raced there about 10 times in the last two years) the comments about AIT in general are always hugely positive, and making a few comments about the quality about the live stream is not the same as always moaning about it. You said yourself a scoreboard was majorly lacking from the arena.

Agree about the positives, Phil Healy is a star in the making. Apart from Eoin Everard I thought most of the Irish had disappointing runs in the mile and let the race get away from them. I know Everard blew up but at least he gave a good account of himself. Mageann again looked a little stale but maybe just lacking a little sharpness against good quality athletes. I still expect her to run away with the Nationals this weekend. Disappointing English wasn't in the 600m (is he injured?) as I think he would have won easily.

Good quality from the foreign athletes as well, Gregson especially is a class act.

Yes it is true.

Lets look at you on this thread since the event started last night, You made one post before the last one and its was negative.

Yes I said the electronic score board would be good, but also mention plenty of positives.

There is no harm making some negative comments but you got to mention the positives ones also.

pconn062

average_runner wrote: »

Yes it is true.

Lets look at you on this thread since the event started last night, You made one post before the last one and its was negative.

Yes I said the electronic score board would be good, but also mention plenty of positives.

There is no harm making some negative comments but you got to mention the positives ones also.

So making one comment about the stream suddenly = all we do is moan about two high class arenas? I made several positive comments about the event on different platforms as I don't really use this forum anymore (I now remember why I haven't been posting here much anymore!). I just happened to see a comment about the stream here and chimed in. I find it ironic that you are calling me out about making negative comments as in the past you have been one of the most critical and negative people about Atheltics Ireland and their work on the entire forum!

If you knew anything about me I mostly have nothing but positive things to say about Irish athletics and I will be at least one if not both days of the National Indoors at the weekend, supporting Irish Athletics. I won't be posting about it here but that doesn't mean it's not positive.

average_runner

pconn062 wrote: »

So making one comment about the stream suddenly = all we do is moan about two high class arenas? I made several positive comments about the event on different platforms as I don't really use this forum anymore (I now remember why I haven't been posting here much anymore!). I just happened to see a comment about the stream here and chimed in. I find it ironic that you are calling me out about making negative comments as in the past you have been one of the most critical and negative people about Atheltics Ireland and their work on the entire forum!

If you knew anything about me I mostly have nothing but positive things to say about Irish athletics and I will be at least one if not both days of the National Indoors at the weekend, supporting Irish Athletics. I won't be posting about it here but that doesn't mean it's not positive.

I was talking about last night event, that you decided to post negative instead of posting the positive stuff with it. And yes I am highly critical of athletics in Ireland but am might impress we have two class indoor arenas in ideal locations

pconn062

average_runner wrote: »

I was talking about last night event, that you decided to post negative instead of posting the positive stuff with it. And yes I am highly critical of athletics in Ireland but am might impress we have two class indoor arenas in ideal locations

Fair enough, let's move on.

hurdles1

You have to hand it to o caitain, he's a great athletics man and gets the job done.
Great to watch it live at home and some top overseas athletes compete.
Commentary very amateurish, they don't have to talk all the time. Think hooper meant tuohy as talented as English but injuries held him back.

Big disappointment for me was the lack of our so called star athletes not taking the opportunity to race against top class opposition in sprints /hurdles/ 400m.
These athletes give the summer racing In Belgium looking for quality races and then when opportunity to race at home won't take it.
Sad to see ait / club athletes making up lanes in races when some of our better athletes should have been there.
Tom Barr could have skipped some races in the varsity last weekend and raced .
Likes of gregan neville moreland could have benefited fromantic racing here in prep for nationals this weekend. These chances don't come very often.
Fair play to Phil Healy and young molly Scott these athletes and their coaches not afraid to get out and race these two will be stars of our sport for the coming years.

Tombo2001

Did John Travers run the mile and the 1500?

KielyUnusual

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Did John Travers run the mile and the 1500?

There was just the mile race but they gave the 1500 split as a separate result, which was sort of confusing.