Guernsey runner Lee Merrien says he is in the best shape of his life as he prepares to try and qualify for the marathon at the Olympic Games.

The 32-year-old must finish in under two hours 12 minutes in Sunday’s London Marathon to be considered for a place in the British team.

“I’m in as good a shape as I’ve ever been in,” he told

BBC Guernsey.

Merrien, who ran at the last World Championships, has been altitude training in Kenya ahead of the race.

“I’ve been going out to Kenya on a regular basis for the past couple of years.

“I find it’s helped me massively, it’s high altitude at 8,000ft, some challenging terrain and no shortage of inspiration in terms of the number of runners you see around the place, both Kenyan and from around the world,” Merrien said.

In the preparation for the London Marathon Merrien has been running up to 120 miles-per-week as he aims to make the ‘A’ standard for Olympic qualification.

Great Britain only have two places left on their marathon team as

Scott Overall

has already run under 2:12, and Merrien expects the best two British finishers on Sunday to be selected for the Olympics.

“If more than two Brits finish ahead of me under 2:12, then the chances are they’re more likely to be picked.

“If I’m the first or second Brit under 2:12 then that should pretty much guarantee me selection.”

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport/0/athletics/17738842

Guernsey runner Lee Merrien says he is in the best shape of his life as he prepares to try and qualify for the marathon at the Olympic Games.

The 32-year-old must finish in under two hours 12 minutes in Sunday’s London Marathon to be considered for a place in the British team.

“I’m in as good a shape as I’ve ever been in,” he told

BBC Guernsey.

Merrien, who ran at the last World Championships, has been altitude training in Kenya ahead of the race.

“I’ve been going out to Kenya on a regular basis for the past couple of years.

“I find it’s helped me massively, it’s high altitude at 8,000ft, some challenging terrain and no shortage of inspiration in terms of the number of runners you see around the place, both Kenyan and from around the world,” Merrien said.

In the preparation for the London Marathon Merrien has been running up to 120 miles-per-week as he aims to make the ‘A’ standard for Olympic qualification.

Great Britain only have two places left on their marathon team as

Scott Overall

has already run under 2:12, and Merrien expects the best two British finishers on Sunday to be selected for the Olympics.

“If more than two Brits finish ahead of me under 2:12, then the chances are they’re more likely to be picked.

“If I’m the first or second Brit under 2:12 then that should pretty much guarantee me selection.”

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport/0/athletics/17738842

Emmanuel Mutai is determined to defend his London Marathon title on Sunday, despite contracting typhoid last month.

Continue reading the main story

“For me this will definitely be a tougher competition than last year because the field is so strong”

Emmanuel Mutai
Kenyan long-distance runner

The Kenyan missed some training after catching the fever a month ago, but he needs to set a good time to earn his place on his country’s Olympic team.

“I had a fever a few weeks ago, and was under medication, but I am feeling better now and my recovery has been good. I will try my best,” he said.

The 27-year-old

set a course record

in winning the race last year.

However, he is one of six Kenyan athletes, including world record holder Patrick Makau and world champion Abel Kirui, who are on a provisional list competing for the three places on the team at the London Games. Kenyan selectors will name their final three for the Olympics at the end of April.

“The selection is challenging, but I think if I can finish in the top three here I will qualify,” said Mutai, who won last year with a time of two hours, four minutes and 39 seconds.

“For me this will definitely be a tougher competition than last year because the field is so strong.

“Everyone has run a good time so I will have to perform at my best.”

Keitany wins 2011 women’s marathon

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport/0/athletics/17749391

UK Athletics has said it will buy tickets to ensure British athletes’ friends and families can watch them perform at the London 2012 Olympics.

Team GB competitors get two tickets for their first appearance from the British Olympic Association, and the option to buy two tickets for any other sessions.

But UK Athletics (UKA) has become the first national governing body to pay for those tickets through to the final.

The move comes exactly 100 days before the start of the Games.

UKA chief executive Niels de Vos said: “This is essentially a performance decision – the last thing we want athletes to be worrying about is the cost or availability of tickets for their mum and dad, boyfriend or girlfriend, husband or wife.

“But it is also about recognising that, without the massive support and sacrifice of friends and family, over many years, most athletes would never have made it to elite level.”

Pole vaulter Holly Bleasdale said: “For me, having people close to me there and supporting me is a big boost. I always compete to my best when I’m at my happiest, so to hear this is great.”

It is not known whether other governing bodies will follow the lead of UK Athletics.

Earlier this month David Hoy, father of four-time Olympic cycling champion Sir Chris,

criticised the London 2012 ticketing process

, saying he is struggling to get hold of tickets to watch his son compete.

He said: “I don’t think athletes’ families have been taken into consideration. It’s not rocket science.”

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport/0/olympics/17747802

By Tom Fordyce
Chief sports writer, BBC Sport

UK Athletics head coach Charles van Commenee insists his squad can hit his ambitious target of eight medals at this summer’s Olympic Games.

Four years ago in Beijing Britain won only four in athletics.

But with 100 days to go until the opening ceremony in London, Van Commenee believes that can be doubled.

“The statistics and the results over the last three years indicate that we should be able to be there or thereabouts,” he told BBC Sport:

“99% of the work is done. We have to do much better than in the previous Olympics.

“It’s been difficult at times, having hard conversations and decisions to make. The effort has left me feeling 12 years older, but at the same time it feels as though my first championships – which were the European Indoors in Turin – were last week.

“Van Commenee is that 21st century sporting curio, a head coach who doesn’t actually coach any athletes. So what exactly does he do with his time?”

Tom Fordyce
Chief sports writer, BBC Sport

• Read more from Tom’s blog

“I always say to the athletes, ‘you’ll wake up tomorrow and see the Olympic flame. So, are you ready?’ I’m fully aware that the next three months will go like that.”

Van Commenee once again hit back at those who have called members of his squad “plastic Brits”.

He has

been criticised by some commentators 

for selecting athletes like United States-born hurdler Tiffany Porter and Cuban-born triple-jumper Yamile Aldama for the British team.

But he told BBC Sport: “I work for the United Kingdom. That’s the word – United. Shouldn’t that mean something? Doesn’t ‘United Kingdom’ stand for something, for anything?

“There is no such thing as ‘plastic Brits’, I think sport, and the Olympics in particular, is about bringing people together. It’s about inclusion. It’s not about separation or exclusion.

“So I expect our people to stand behind the team, and back the team, because that’s the essence of sport.”

When Van Commenee made Porter his team captain at last month’s World Indoors in Istanbul, a reporter from

the Daily Mail asked the hurdler to sing the national anthem. 

She refused, and as the affair escalated the newspaper was banned from team news conferences.

Porter was born in Michigan but has an English mother and has held British citizenship since birth. Aldama, who won gold in Turkey, has previously represented Cuba and Sudan, but has been married to a Scotsman for 11 years and first applied for British citizenship in 2001.

“In the end I was quite pleased,” said Van Commenee of the row. “When some people have different agendas, that’s not something I could help.

“In the end it worked out really well because it brought the team together. We had great team bonding, and that was maybe also a result of negative forces around us.”

Van Commenee also insisted that his ongoing dispute with former world triple jump champion Phillips Idowu is “not a problem”.

Last July

he heavily criticised Idowu in a BBC interview,

accusing him of using Twitter to announce his withdrawal from the European Team Championships.

A furious

Idowu demanded a public apology

that has never been forthcoming. When I talked to him earlier this year, Idowu admitted he could not remember the last time the pair had spoken.

“He’s coached by his own coach, whom I speak to weekly, and meet very regularly,” said Van Commenee.

“So the coach, and the medical team, are all directed by me, and they keep me updated, and we talk about progress and plans.

“The last time I spoke to him [Idowu] was around the Twitter affair, or just before actually. The lines of communication are open at this end. That remains.

“I offered my hand, and it’s there. Most important is that he’s got a good team around him, and that’s the case, and they work under the guidance of UK Athletics.”

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport/0/olympics/17747054

Triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt wants to “amaze” the world at London 2012 by running 9.4 seconds for the 100m and 19 seconds for the 200m.

Jamaican Bolt, 25, is the reigning Olympic champion and world-record holder over both distances, with times of 9.58secs and 19.19secs.

“People are looking forward to me running 9.4, 19 seconds, anything that’s amazing,” Bolt told BBC Sport.

“So I’m working as hard as possible so I can go as fast as possible.”

Talking on the BBC1 programme

100 Days To Go,

Bolt added that more performances, such as the ones that saw him take three gold medals at the 2008 Olympics, would make him “a living legend”.

“They want to see my personality, me enjoying it and doing crazy stuff, but they also want to see that time,” he said.

“If I dominate the Olympics, I’ll be a living legend. A living legend walking around. Sounds good.”

American swimmer Michael Phelps, 

a 14-time Olympic champion, said he hoped London would be the perfect ending to a stellar career.

“Being able to prepare myself to look back through my career and say I’ve done everything I’ve wanted and I’ve been successful is something I really want to do,” said the 26-year-old.

Bolt and Phelps primed for Olympics

“This is the last chapter of my career as an athlete and I’m just hoping it goes the way I want. I’m trying to work as hard as I can to make sure it does.”

Meanwhile,

England footballer David Beckham, 

who hopes to be part of the GB side, expressed his pride at the possibility of competing in his home town.

“To see the transformation in east London, somewhere I was brought up as a kid, is really incredible.

“As a fan of the Olympics and as a dad, to be able to say that I am going to be able to take my sons and my daughter to an Olympic Games in the place where I grew up, I’m proud of that.”

2012 Olympic Games: 100 Days to Go, BBC One, Wednesday 18 April, 2245 BST.

Four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson previews the 2012 Olympics. With Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, British hopes David Beckham, Ben Ainslie and Tom Daley and filmmaker Danny Boyle, the artistic director of the opening ceremony.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport/0/olympics/17742236

Dai Greene has confirmed his Diamond League season will begin at the Golden Gala in Rome on 31 May.

The 400m hurdles world champion will continue his London Olympic preparations in Oslo on 7 June, in Paris on 6 July and at the London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace on 13-14 July.

Continue reading the main story

“There’s nothing more intense than Diamond League events”

Dai Greene

“I had to be sure my calendar got me in the best shape for London,” said Welshman Greene.

“We’ve decided to do all the European Diamond League competitions.”

The 25-year-old, who is also the reigning European and Commonwealth champion, is viewed as one of Great Britain’s best hopes for track gold in London this summer.

“It’s so important to periodise the year ahead,” added Greene. “Obviously during the winter months I was training at such a high volume, whereas now during the summer months the volume [of training] is far less to ensure my body recovers.

“But I train at a higher intensity and there’s nothing more intense than Diamond League events.”

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport/0/athletics/17735707

Ireland’s selectors have been handed a dilemma after Catriona Jennings became the fourth Irish woman to run inside the ‘A’ standard for the Olympics.

Only three can be included in the Irish athletics team for the London Games.

Jennings, from Donegal, ran a lifetime best of two hours, 36 minutes and 14 seconds in Rotterdam on Sunday.

It made her the second-fastest among the Irish runners who have met the qualifying requirement, behind Ava Hutchinson’s 2:35.33.

The other Irish women to have run inside the 2:37.00 standard are Linda Byrne and Maria McCambridge.

Athletics Ireland will announce which runners are being nominated on 14 May, and then the final selection decision will be made by the Olympic Council of Ireland.

Three Irish male runners – Sean Connolly, Gary Thornton and Thomas Frazier – fell short of the 2:15.00 Oympic target time in Rotterdam.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport/0/athletics/17725437

Haile Gebrselassie beat Paula Radcliffe in Sunday’s head-to-head half-marathon in Vienna.

The Briton had targeted a time below 70 minutes in the “Emperor versus the Queen” race.

However, the 38-year-old Ethiopian, who has not qualified for the men’s marathon in London, outpaced her and passed her at the 15.3 kilometre mark.

Gebrselassie finished in 1hr 0min 52sec, with Radcliffe recording a disappointing 1:12.03.

Analysis

Mike Costello
Presenter Commentator

“Paula Radcliffe was passed at the three-quarter mark, which was far earlier than expected. Her time of 72 minutes and three seconds is more than two minutes slower than any of her previous half marathons. It is not the confidence booster she was looking for in the build up to the Olympic marathon.”

Radcliffe had a head start of seven minutes 52 seconds in the 13.1 mile race, which is the difference between their respective personal bests.

Radcliffe, who viewed the race as an important part of her preparation ahead of the Olympic marathon on 5 August, set a good early tempo and passed the 5km point in 16:13.

After surprisingly running past his pacemaker, Kenyan Philemon Rono, Gebrselassie upped his pace and passed the 5km mark in 14:12.

Having reduced the gap to only 3:42 at the 9km mark, the Ethiopian was well on target to pass Radcliffe with ease.

He did so at 15.3km, waving an encouraging arm to her as he ran past. But the Briton’s pace had slowed to a long way behind her personal best.

She eventually finished 11 minutes 11 seconds behind the two-time Olympic 10,000 metre champion, before dropping to her haunches and appearing to shed tears of frustration.

The

women’s marathon world-record holder

has not been in the best of health in the last fortnight,

tweeting on Friday that she was relieved to have made it to Vienna 

after a bout of bronchitis and pleurisy.

“The last two weeks I’ve been pretty sick,” she said before the race.

“I guess it was a virus going round and it developed into bronchitis. I thought I was rid of it but it came back two or three times.”

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport/0/athletics/17715541

Sprinter Delano Williams has defended his decision to try out for Great Britain, because his native Turks and Caicos Islands are not eligible for London 2012.

As a British Overseas Territory, citizens can obtain a British passport and he plans to use his to compete.

“Turks Caicos do not have an Olympic committee,” he told

BBC Radio 5 live.

The 100m and 200m runner added he found London “pretty cool” on his only past trip to the United Kingdom.

Jamaica-based Williams received his passport on 31 January and his Olympic future will be decided next time he travels the 7,000 miles to Britain for the Olympic trials in June.

The 18-year-old will go up against the likes of James Ellington, Marlon Devonish and Christian Malcolm to seal a spot on the 200m team.

Olympic rules 

state a maximum of three ‘A’ standard athletes – a qualification Williams reached after he clocked a personal best 20.53 secs at a meeting in February – or one ‘B’ standard athlete can compete for each nation at a sprint event.

Selectors have been

criticised for choosing athletes who have switched nationalities 

in order to represent Britain at this summer’s Olympics, but Williams vowed to ignore these calls.

“Yes, there is a lot of criticism going round but I am not focusing on that. I block out the negativity and do not worry about what people say,” he told 5 Live’s London Calling programme which is to be broadcast at

2130 BST

on Thursday.

“I just perform my best and do what I have to do.”

Get behind ‘plastic Brits’ – Radcliffe

His personal best time is

0.01 secs behind Ellington, 

but a long way behind the decade-old benchmarks set by Devonish (

20.19 

) and Malcolm (

20.08 

).

His time is, however, faster than those set by the veteran pair in 2011 and would have been good enough to finish sixth at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Williams’s potential was underlined when he claimed the 100m title at Jamaica’s Inter-Secondary School Boys and Girls Athletics Championships at the end of March, an event previously won by Asafa Powell and current Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport/0/olympics/17691644

The Great Britain Paralympic athletics team are hoping that the influence of one of the world’s most successful Paralympians can help them star at London 2012.

The team struggled in Beijing, winning just two gold medals – both from wheelchair racer David Weir – in a total of 17 medals.

But the appointment of Swedish-born head coach Peter Eriksson in early 2009 has revitalised the team and the arrival of the squad’s newest addition, 14-time Paralympic gold medallist Chantal Petitclerc as a coach and mentor, means the future is looking bright.

While Eriksson has brought in many new initiatives, including closer integration with the Olympic team, the appointment of his long-time charge is the most eye-catching.

Canadian wheelchair racer Petitclerc has been one of the most stellar stars in the sport, winning five gold medals in both the Athens and Beijing Games at distances from 100m up to 1500m.

And the long-time rival of Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson wants to use all her expertise to help the GB squad.

“I retired four years ago with a lot of medals and a lot of experience, which I want to share, so when I was asked to consider the role I thought it would be a great opportunity for me,” Petitclerc told BBC Sport.

“I wanted to be in London so although it will be a little strange not to be competing, I will be there with the athletes.

“I’m happy to do it all – whether that is at the track helping with strategy and positioning and advice, having coffee with nervous athletes or holding water bottles at the track for athletes after they finish training or competing.”

Eriksson has set a target for London of around 25 medals, including five to six golds.

The team finished in third place in the medals table at last year’s World Championships in New Zealand with 12 golds in their 38-medal total and his tough stance has helped to revitalise the programme.

Now coaches like Dan Pfaff and Lloyd Cowan are working not only with the Olympic hopefuls but also the Paralympic squad and Eriksson’s mantra of “everything the same” is clearly evident.

“It is tougher today to be on the Paralympic programme than on the Olympic programme, because if you don’t medal, you won’t be on podium funding year-to-year,” explained Eriksson.

“Instead of having a rewards programme, where you stayed on the team forever, now it is about investing in medals and it has upped the standards quite a bit and we have a lot of new young athletes who are performing.”

And if any of the GB team, including female wheelchair racers like Shelly Woods, Hannah Cockcroft and Jade Jones, need to find out about how a Paralympic gold medal can change your life, they will not need to go too far to get Petitclerc’s insight.

Petitclerc’s achievements

• Petitclerc competed in five Paralympic Games (Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney, Athens, Beijing)
• She has won 21 Paralympic medals (including 14 golds)
• She still holds four world records (100m, 200m, 400m, 800m)
• She also holds five Paralympic records (100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m)
• In 2004 she won an Olympic gold medal in the 800m when it was held as a demonstration event

“I was always a very passionate and intense athlete and Beijing was so intense,” she admits.

“I knew I was going there to win five gold medals for the second time in a row, which had never been done before, so it came with a lot of pressure and I had also decided it would be my last Paralympics. Looking back now, I just can’t believe I made it happen.

“Working here with some of the younger members of the GB team it has brought me back many years. The energy is so high and positive and they have great potential.

“Many of these athletes will have the experience of having their first Games on home soil, which will never happen again, so I think they have to realise it is a unique privilege and as well as the performance, I want them to realise how great it is to have that experience and enjoy it.

“But winning a gold medal is certainly life-changing and you can’t really prepare for it when you are at a Games. Then you land back home and you find your life has changed. People recognise you and even now there are people who remember me competing who want autographs and photos.

“It’s great but it does come with pressure and time management and your life is completely different.

“I think as part of the GB team I will be happy if they make it to their goal in terms of medals but personally I will be very happy if I can come out of this games having made a difference and helped individuals make their dreams happen.”

You can hear more from Chantal Petitclerc in
Sportsworld

this Sunday on
BBC World Service

from 1500-1800 GMT/1600-1900 BST

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport/0/disability-sport/17501253

Long-distance runner Paula Radcliffe insists Great Britain should get behind their Olympic athletes, even if they were born abroad.

Selectors have been

criticised for choosing athletes who have switched nationalities 

in order to represent Britain at this summer’s Olympics.

US-born hurdler Tiffany Porter is among those critics call ‘Plastic Brits’.

But Radcliffe said: “They are going out there giving their absolute best to represent Britain, so get behind them.”

Porter, whose mother is from England,

captained the Great Britain team

at last month’s World Indoor Championships, where Cuban-born

Yamile Aldama won a surprise gold for Britain

in the triple jump.

“I think you need to look at each individual case,” said Radcliffe. “I don’t think it’s by any means a case of Britain going round and buying athletes in, as has been the case in other countries.

“I think these are people who actually do feel an affinity with Britain, they want that opportunity to compete in the British kit with the Union Jack on their vest.”

Meanwhile, Radcliffe still believes she can claim gold for Britain this summer despite her struggle for fitness.

The 38-year-old booked her place in the marathon after achieving the qualifying time with a

third-placed finish in September’s Berlin Marathon,

her first full-distance event since November 2009 after she took a 19-month break to have her second child.

The marathon world record holder is desperate to arrive fully fit at an Olympic Games after she

failed to finish the race in Athens in 2004,

while four years later in Beijing

she ended down in 23rd place.

“Most importantly I think is to be able to get to that start line 100% healthy and able to give it my best shot on the day,” she said.

“That’s what I feel I haven’t been able to do in the last two [Olympics] and I really just want that chance.

“I hope that’s good enough to win a medal, win the race – I think it can be on the right day.”

She made her comeback in May last year at the London 10,000m race,

where she came third, but she has had a series of health problems which have included a torn disc in her back, an overactive thyroid gland and tendonitis.

Since securing Olympic selection, she has raced just once in a 10km road race in December and her first race of 2012 will be a half marathon in Vienna next week.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport/0/olympics/17624597

Greece’s athletics federation (Segas) has suspended domestic events because of severe spending cuts in the country.

The governing board of Segas has stopped all track and field activity until cuts to funding are reviewed by the country’s government.

The suspension will not affect Greece’s representation in this summer’s Olympic Games in London or the Olympic flame lighting ceremony in Ancient Olympia.

Greece has faced the threat of bankruptcy since 2009.

In a statement the federation said it had decided to suspend events “until the decisions of the unfair and selective cuts” are reviewed by the government.

On Tuesday, Segas president Vassilis Secastis said coaching staff and suppliers had not been paid for months because of funding reductions.

All competition is now suspended until funding cuts are reconsidered, including a meet planned for 12 May.

Although the suspension does not currently affect international competitions, the federation could toughen its stance if the government fails to respond.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport/0/olympics/17611731

By James Pearce
BBC Olympics Correspondent

Dai Greene is one of several British Olympic athletes to receive extra London 2012 tickets for their families thanks to help from sports fans.

Competitors only get two tickets for each of their sessions, leading 400m hurdle world champion Greene, 25, to express his frustration on Twitter.

Fans who had become experts at finding tickets on official foreign websites got Greene eight more for his events.

Greene said: “This is exactly what the Olympic spirit embodies.”

With demand from the public so high, family members of British Olympic athletes have been faced with the prospect of having to watch their loved ones on television.

But as citizens of the European Union, British sports fans are entitled to buy Olympic tickets from any seller within the EU, as each country is given its own allocation.

Matt de Monte, of London, secured more than 20 tickets for himself from official foreign sellers to watch several different events at the Games. When he heard about Greene’s struggle to get hold of tickets, he offered his assistance.

Greene’s girlfriend responded to De Monte’s message on Twitter, promising that, if he could secure tickets for the Welsh star’s events, she and Greene would pay him back.

Within a week, De Monte had purchased eight tickets for Greene’s semi-final and final, initially paying £1,500 of his own money to buy them.

A delighted Greene told BBC Sport he was overjoyed that someone he had never met before could help out his family in this way.

“You don’t hear of many stories like this. It’s usually just doom and gloom – this is somebody going out of their way to help others.”

De Monte said: “It feels great. Anything which can help our athletes and Team GB achieve more at the Olympics is fantastic.”

Since Greene’s success in securing tickets, other sports fans have used Twitter in the same way to contact Olympians to offer their help.

A random group of five people have used their knowledge of official foreign ticket sellers to club together and purchase a total of 14 tickets for Olympic rowing gold medallist Zac Purchase.

Other British athletes have also now turned to Twitter in search of tickets for their families.

The good news for those who have still not been successful is that the next round of sales by the London 2012 Organising Committee (Locog) will take place in April.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport/0/olympics/17518406

Christian Malcolm hopes Dwain Chambers will have his lifetime Olympic ban quashed so his old friend can line up alongside him at the London Games.

The British Olympic Association bans drug cheats for life but the

Court of Arbitration for Sport will decide

if it breaches the world anti-doping code.

British sprinter Chambers,

found guilty of taking the anabolic steroid THG

in 2004, hopes to get a chance at London.

And Team GB team-mate Malcolm said: “He has served his time now.”

Malcolm, the 2010 European silver and Commonwealth bronze medalist, paid a considerable personal price for Chambers’ cheating.

The 32-year-old and Chambers, 33, made up half the GB 4x100m relay team that raced to silver at the 2003 World Championships in Paris, also aided by Darren Campbell and Marlon Devonish.

But the British quartet had their medals taken away as a consequence of anchor-leg runner Chambers testing positive for a banned substance six months later.

“When he first failed the drug test, I was the first person he called,” Malcolm told the BBC Wales Sport Wales TV show.

“But what I heard in his voice was the disappointment and the fear.

“I was angry at him but I knew he was hurting and I knew he needed me.

“He came to stay with me for six to eight weeks during that period to get away from the media.

“He apologised and we had our discussions and I have forgiven him for what he has done.”

Welsh 200m runner Malcolm admits he was “frustrated” by his friend as he felt Chambers, who had already won an individual European silver and a world bronze before his ban, was good enough to win major tournaments.

“He was misled at the time,” said Malcolm, hoping to qualify for his fourth Olympic Games in London.

“He was young, vulnerable, very naive and has learned from a hard mistake.

“Dwain has a good heart but went through a stupid period in his life where he was naive.

“There should be redemption and I like to see drug cheats come back because I like to see what they can do without the drugs.

“Are they really talented enough to perform well or did the drugs help them?

“If they come back without the drugs in their system and don’t do well, then that is a real punishment.”

Chambers was Britain’s fastest 100m runner in 2011 and the 33-year-old

won bronze in the 60m in the world indoors championships in Turkey

earlier this month.

The

BOA

is “cautiously optimistic” its lifetime bans for drug cheats like Chambers will be upheld by The Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).

A verdict by Cas is expected in April after hearing arguments from the BOA and the World Anti-Doping Administration,

which opposes lifetime bans

, earlier in March.

Christian Malcolm talks Chambers, Bolt and old age with Iwan Thomas

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport/0/olympics/17495157

Team GB athletes have praised the design of their kit for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

Britain’s sportsmen and women will step out in an indigo kit, inspired by the union flag, with red shoes, when they compete at the Games.

Leading designer Stella McCartney, who collaborated with manufacturers adidas, said it combined style with performance.

BMX cyclist Shanaze Reade was among the first to praise the kit.

“Today is the first time we got the kit and it is fabulous in every single sport and we all love it,” she told BBC Sport.

“Instead of having generic sport kit that looks the same as everybody else, we wanted something that stood out, is performance-enhancing and has us being a part of it.

“Stella McCartney sat down with us and asked us what we wanted and we achieved that.”

Analysis

Gordon Farquhar
BBC sports news Olympics correspondent

“I like it. It’s funky. You don’t expect plain white T-shirts if you employ Stella McCartney. It’s the Union flag in reversal with pastel shades of blues going into sapphire. Athletes competing will be very visible to the crowd, which is good. People in the crowd may be sat a long way away from the action and they will see the Brits coming in this gear.”

The kit, which features only a hint of red around the collar of most of the designs, contains more blue than previous designs.

Reade added: “It is very blue and that is nice and subtle but, at the same time, it does what it needs to do.

“You can often blend in with French wearing red, white and blue but this is completely on its own and makes us feel very British.

“As females it is all about what it looks like and if you feel good it makes us perform even better.”

Five-time Paralympic swimming and cycling gold medallist Jody Cundy also backed the kit, saying he “couldn’t wait to wear it proudly this summer”.

Of Thursday’s launch event he said: “My legs were kind of shaking when I was standing on the stage, with the nerves of it all, but it was a fantastic experience and the kit looks amazing, especially when you see everybody together in it.”

110m hurdler Will Sharman said he liked the functional element of the kit, to help athletes reach their potential this summer.

“It needs to be lightweight, which it is,” he said. “It needs to be aerodynamic and it is.

“There is no flapping about so, from a performance perspective, it’s exactly what we were looking for.

“The colours are different but it’s definitely British. I get excited putting it on. It has the Olympic rings on and that gives you pride.”

Former badminton silver medallist Gail Emms is also a fan.

Stella McCartney: “It is like nothing I have ever worked on before”

“I love the fact the Union flag is so prominent,” she told the BBC. “The eyes of the world will be on Team GB.

“The athletes should be proud of the fact that they represent the nation. Everyone can see it. We will stand out.”

Double Paralympic swimming gold medallist Ellie Simmonds said she “cannot wait to be wearing it at the Games”.

“I think we are all going to be looking great in London.”

Triathlon world champion Alistair Brownlee said: “The tri suit is a fantastic piece of kit.

“It’s notoriously difficult to get it right, because it has to be not too baggy for the swim, but tighter for the cycle and the run.

“The games are getting closer and closer and, standing in London wearing the kit, it’s definitely creeping up on us now.”

Many other athletes took to Twitter to give their thoughts on the new threads.

Sprinter
Jeanette Kwakye

was all in favour: “What do you think of the kit? Goldie Sayers, Jess Ennis and I are loving it!”

However, cyclist
Bradley Wiggins

seemed less enamoured: “Oh dear, The Olympic kit!!”

Heptathlete
Kelly Sotherton

put the debate into perspective by adding: “I don’t care what the kit looks like as long as I get the chance to actually compete in it!”

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport/0/olympics/17474404

By Steve Cram
BBC athletics commentator

In the light of

five-time Olympic swimming champion Ian Thorpe’s failure to qualify for London 2012

and distance running legend

Haile Gebrselassie’s struggles to make the Ethiopian team, 

Steve Cram discusses how athletes decide when to retire.

I didn’t announce my retirement at all.

I just woke up one day after two or three years of injuries and not being particularly fit, and admitted to myself that I was not even trying to get back.

I didn’t ring the newspapers or do a press conference – officially I am still not retired!

Haile Gebreselassie is struggling to qualify for this summer’s London Olympics

It was a strange feeling because the pressure is off, but it is a scary decision.

Sport is what you have done since you were a child for many people and suddenly at some point in your thirties you have to call an end to that.

For greats like Thorpe and Gebreselassie, it is a very different decision to the one made by Manchester United’s Paul Scholes, who

retired in May

and was back

playing by January

.

The problem with being a runner or a swimmer is that there is no way to mitigate the demands the sport makes on your body.

If you are a footballer you can play 70 minutes of a game, play in a different position or miss every other game.

You cannot do that in individual sport.

But Gebreselassie and Thorpe face very different decisions from each other as well.

If you are a marathon runner, there are still 10km races and half marathons around the world in which you can run to quite a high standard.

Karen Pickering

“I agree with Steve, if you enjoy your sport still feel motivated then why stop?”

• Ex-British swimmer Karen Pickering on Twitter 

Gebreselassie can still go and try to win the Great Manchester Run, for example.

If that is enough to keep him involved and he still enjoys it, then why not?

For Thorpe though, without the Olympics, there is less to keep him involved on a regular basis. He is not going to swim in the local gala.

He would still have to train very hard to be the third best in the world and if you have been possibly the best the world has ever seen, is the enjoyment of the competition still there?

Continue reading the main story

“You have to be very sure about the reasons you made that decision because you do not want to revisit it six months or a year down the line”

My feeling is that generally you should retire once you find you are not getting enough back from the effort you are putting in.

If you wake up and find you don’t care about your results and are not enjoying it, then you should stop there.

But on the other hand, just because you have stopped winning doesn’t necessarily mean you should call it a day.

Athletes’ reputations are not damaged by them prolonging their careers so long as they are still competitive and are enjoying it.

I had a period full of injuries in the latter part of my career, Daley Thompson and Steve Ovett had the same, but nobody talks about that part.

Instead people remember the good stuff that happened, not the bad times.

It is a big step in your life – you are closing one chapter in your life and starting on something completely new.

You have to be very sure about the reasons you made that decision in the first place because you do not want to revisit it six months or a year down the line.

Steve Cram was talking to BBC Sport’s Mike Henson.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport/0/athletics/17451990

Oscar Pistorius hopes to have done enough to qualify for the London Olympics after again running the 400m ‘A’ qualification time.

In November, South Africa’s Olympic Committee (Sascoc) said their athletes

must run the qualifying time three months before the Games.

Double-amputee Pistorius, 25, ran a time of 45.20 seconds, just inside the qualification standard of 45.30.

“This is a huge moment for me and I am trying to take it all in,” he said.

Continue reading the main story

“I would be proud to compete for my country at the Olympic and Paralympic Games”

Oscar Pistorius

Pistorius, who runs in carbon fibre blades, beat the qualifying time in July, earning a place at the 2011 World Championships to become the first amputee to compete.

Sascoc chief executive Tubby Reddy said if he ran it again within three months of the Games, which start on 27 July, he would qualify.

Pistorius achieved the required time at the Provincial Championships for Gauteng North in a selection event for the South African National Championships.

He added: “I am absolutely thrilled to have run the Olympic qualification time.

“I am looking forward to hopefully being confirmed by Sascoc as a member of the South African Olympic team and I will do everything I can to train and prepare to the best of my ability.

“I would be proud to compete for my country at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport/0/athletics/17416063

World 5,000m champion Mo Farah admits he has lost his “air of invincibility” after his defeat in the 3,000m at the World Indoor Championships in Turkey.

BBC Sport columnist Steve Cram said Farah’s fourth place was Britain’s

“biggest concern” in Olympic year.

And Farah said: “I agree with Steve. You want to keep that invincibility.”

But looking ahead to the Olympics he told BBC Sport: “I’m definitely where I need to be. I’m probably a little bit more than what I need to be.”

Continue reading the main story

“Steve’s an athlete and I have a lot of respect for him, and what he was trying to say”

Mo Farah
World 5,000m champion

Farah, who won the 5,000m at last summer’s World Championships, missed out on a medal in the 3,000m

at last weekend’s World Indoor Championships in Istanbul.

The Somalia-born Londoner collided with Kenyan Edwin Soi before finishing fourth in seven minutes 41.79 seconds.

At one stage Soi was disqualified, handing bronze to Farah, only for the decision to be reversed on appeal.

Cram, a former world, Commonwealth and European middle-distance champion, said in his BBC Sport column that Farah’s fourth successive defeat had handed confidence to the Briton’s great rival Bernard Lagat, who clinched gold in Turkey.

However, Cram added there was no need for Farah to “press the panic button yet”.

Farah said: “Steve’s an athlete and I have a lot of respect for him, and what he was trying to say.

“He just said ‘as an athlete, you just want to keep winning, you don’t want to lose to another athlete’.”

Farah said that competing at the world indoor event “was always fun and games”, adding “at the same time I wanted to do well”.

He said his next race would be the Bupa London 10km in May and he would return to Portland, Oregon, to train until then.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport/0/athletics/17387085

Staffordshire 800m runner Emma Jackson has said she is ready to battle for an Olympic place at London 2012 after a winter affected by injury problems.

Jackson told

BBC Radio Stoke:

“I really do believe I can get there.

“I’ve had a tough winter with injuries but I’ve managed to stay really positive and I believe I can make it.”

The 23-year-old

was a semi-finalist at the World Championships in Daegu last year

and finished fourth at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

Jackson’s personal best of 1.59:77 is below the Olympic qualifying time, but she has a number of challengers for a spot in London.

Jenny Meadows, Marilyn Okoro and Jemma Simpson have also run 800m in under two minutes in the past 12 months, so Jackson expects lots of competition for places at the British trials in June.

“There are three other girls with the Olympic qualifying standard and there are only three places on the Olympic team,” she added.

“There are four of us battling for three places so I’m always looking at what those other three girls are doing.”

Jackson was named the Female Sports Personality of the Year at the City of Stoke-on-Trent Sports Awards on Tuesday.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport/0/athletics/17366526