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+---- Thread: RE L AA Y GLOD 4 BIRTIAN (/showthread.php?tid=3091)
RE L AA Y GLOD 4 BIRTIAN - Devongone - 30-08-2015
Amidst all the positives for British athletics at the World Championships it was disconcerting to witness the 4x 100 men in a brawling thoughtless heap after surrendering before the home straight.
I don't know who organises the check mark for the outgoing runner but it was clearly in the wrong place for the Ellington Ujah change. Ellington might be able to make up ground on Talbot but Ujah was going away from him after one stride.
More disturbingly two of the runners seemed ready to fail because they were convinced a quicker runner should not be added to the team. Now changing the team seems mad to me, but so does leaving out your fastest runners.
We selected two modest 200 metre runners who would struggle to make our top eight at 100 metres (which is the distance required here). We had Kilty who hasn't achieved much outdoors and has spent most of the season injured. And in the heats we substituted out a guy who finished fifth in 100 metres at the UK championships for the man who won it. We left our fastest sprinter out altogether following his failure in the individual event ...... we didn't consider a sprint finalist who trains with Usain Bolt, or Adam Gemili who is coming back from serious injury.
Maybe instead of red-faced anger, Kilty and Ellington should have had the good sense to keep quiet like their colleague Danny Talbot. Wouldn't you bet that Dasaoluo starting, handing to Gemili on the long straight, Zharnel Hughes to Ujah would be better every time than a team containing Kilty that necessitates having his slower mate Ellington to hold his hand, Harry AA who is now loveable but moderate and Danny Talbot?
Our vocal failures should consider how lucky they are even to have reached Beijing. I can't imagine Ellington or Talbot beating Ojie Edoburun over 100 and he didn't get to Beijing .... and Harry AA proved he couldn't do that at the UK Championships.
First step when selecting a relay team should taking the four fastest guys, then mould 'em. We only got one of our fastest and what happens when you try to make ground on much quicker guys in the relay is you fkuupc.
I don't believe the problem is lack of training together. I think we are making a very simple process difficult. If it's that hard how come we could do it at the school sports? It's a stick, run and give that guy .... wow he's going to be moving too. Don't let that scramble your brain. Okay at world level they'll be gaining hundredths of seconds, but haven't they be doing this since they were kids?
RE: RE L AA Y GLOD 4 BIRTIAN - Lord Snooty - 30-08-2015
It's mental how many times we cock up in the men's 4x100. Mental!
RE: RE L AA Y GLOD 4 BIRTIAN - Devongone - 31-08-2015
Have you noticed how when we get an emerging talent we don't fast-track him into the relay squad? We stick to tired old 200 metre failures. Gemili has just gained sufficient credibility to train with the squad, but he's such a highly intelligent adaptable young guy, he surely would have gained from the sessions as soon as his times warranted it and the team would have gained by his presence. Zharnel Hughes can run 20.02 for 200. He ain't going to be bad at 100. How could a few relay sessions have hurt his chances in the individual event? Wouldn't it have helped to welcome him into the team?
I watched Edoburun finish like a train at the UK Champs. My betting is he'll go to Rio in the individual 100. Wouldn't relay squad experience be a welcome part of his development? Surely whilst Bolt is alive and Jamaica continues to produce young upstart sprinters the best medal hope our guys have is in the Relay, and our best runners should be up for that chance, whilst our second-raters, if they remain that, should watching from the sofa.