Highlights from three days of world observe and area motion on the Emirates Area in Glasgow
Josh Kerr’s 3000m masterclass
9 years after operating a modest 9:11.76 aged 17 for 3000m at a British Milers’ Membership occasion on the Emirates Area, Josh Kerr returned to the venue and stormed to world indoor gold in 7:42.98. Again in January 2015 he completed “DFL” by far on an evening the place Laura Muir stole the AW headlines for breaking 9 minutes for the primary time.
Kerr was really no slouch as a teenage runner and he’s the one runner within the UK under-13 boys 1500m all-time high 30 rankings to really get to the Olympics, not to mention win a medal. However he has now moved on to a brand new stage as world 1500m champion and, this winter, two miles world record-breaker and world indoor 3000m winner.
Molly Caudery (Getty)
Molly Caudery makes her mark
Molly Caudery’s Instagram following was already fairly large earlier than the World Indoor Championships however pole vault victory has led to hundreds extra followers flooding to her account. If her good type continues into this summer season and the Paris Olymipcs, there will likely be much more consideration too. It’s one thing Caudery and her clan are slowly getting used to.
Lengthy after the Emirates Area had emptied on Scotland’s ‘tremendous Saturday’ following her triumph, her mother and father and boyfriend, the excessive soar worldwide Joel Clarke-Khan, had been ready patiently for her to emerge from media interviews within the bowels of the stadium. They knew she can be up early for an look on BBC Breakfast amongst different issues as nicely. Chatting to AW, we joked: “Will she get the again web page lead within the West Briton, Cornish Guardian and Western Morning Information this week, although?”
Caudery quickly heads to New Zealand, partly to flee the highlight within the UK as she begins to crank up preparations for the summer season underneath the steerage of coach Scott Simpson, to not point out the long-time recommendation from dad Stuart, who himself is a wonderful vaulter and all-round athlete.
Success in Glasgow was a very long time coming for Caudery. She made her mark with a podium place on the Commonwealth Video games in Birmingham and fifth place on the World Championships final yr in Budapest however her 4.80m victory on the World Indoors was a brand new stage.
“After two surgical procedures final yr, I felt like I used to be dropping perception in myself, and that motivation at instances,” she mentioned. “I actually can’t imagine I’m a world champion in an Olympic yr. My goals are coming true and I’m loving completely each single second of this journey.”
Elle St Pierre, Gudaf Tsegay and Beatrice Chepkoech (Getty)
Greatest from the West tackle east Africa’s most interesting
Glasgow 2024 was notable for endurance runners from the Western world having fun with uncommon success over their east African rivals. This was epitomised by Elle St Pierre, who set the ball rolling by out-kicking Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia within the ladies’s 3000m in a championship report of 8:20.87.
Josh Kerr (and Yared Nuguse of the USA) adopted by beating reigning males’s 3000m champion Selemon Barega, whereas Geordie Beamish of New Zealand headed two Individuals within the males’s 1500m and Bryce Hoppell of the USA led two Europeans residence within the males’s 800m. Ethiopia did, nonetheless, win the ladies’s 800m and 1500m
As compared, on the final World Indoors in Belgrade in 2022 all the medals desk was topped by Ethiopia after they gained the boys’s and girls’s 1500m and 3000m titles along with 5 minor medals throughout the endurance races. Even Jakob Ingebrigtsen couldn’t dwell with the Ethiopians on that event, as he was overwhelmed within the 1500m by Samuel Tefera, however now the tide has turned, though you’ll be able to anticipate Ethiopia and Kenya to get pleasure from its standard stranglehold on the World Cross Nation Champs this month after all.
MOWA presentation, Glasgow 2024
Wealthy historical past of the game celebrated
Not all the finest moments had been within the Emirates Area. On Saturday afternoon on the St Enoch procuring centre there was a particular presentation on the momentary Museum of World Athletics exhibition.
Brilliantly organised by Chris Turner, a former AW contributor who now works for World Athletics, it noticed Scottish athletics legends like Yvonne Murray-Mooney, Tom McKean and Allan Wells donating memorabilia, plus Eric Liddell, the unique Flying Scotsman, was posthumously awarded a prestigious Heritage plaque – an well timed gesture provided that that is the 100th anniversary of the 1924 Paris “Chariots of Hearth Video games”.
The presentation was full of followers of the historical past of the game with visitors comparable to Steve Cram, Fiona Could, Denise Lewis, John Regis and naturally Seb Coe additionally concerned with Coe giving the plaque to Sue Liddell Caton.
Miltiadis Tentoglou (Getty)
Tentoglou’s fury at new lengthy soar rule concepts
Miltos Tentoglou beat Mattia Furlani and Carey McLeod in a detailed and thrilling lengthy soar however the Greek athlete’s feedback after the occasion had been much more eye-catching as he slated proposals to introduce a ‘boardless lengthy soar’.
“It’s so unhealthy, it’s humorous,” he mentioned. “I feel no one likes it aside from perhaps among the guys who do loads of fouls.”
There have been just a few voices of disgruntlement the next day at a Coaches’ Membership presentation in Glasgow metropolis centre, too, with Swedish jumps coach Yannick Tregaro clearly against the plans.
Nonetheless, Jakob Larsen, Florian Weber and Jon Ridgeon from World Athletics supplied extra perception into the proposals on the identical Coaches’ Membership occasion with Ridgeon emphasising that it was very a lot an thought in its early levels of testing and with no assure in any respect that it’s going to turn into a part of the official guidelines in, on the earliest, 2026.
Geordie Beamish (left) (Getty)
Beamish beaming after blistering 1500m end
Geordie Beamish’s ending dash is so good that since 2019 he has solely been overtaken within the final 200m of a race as soon as – and that was when he miscounted the laps on the Millrose Video games final month and started his closing cost too early.
He confirmed this pace on this planet indoor 1500m closing by coming from fifth to first within the closing straight after which prompt his native New Zealand ought to stage the occasion.
With it being reinvented as a world ‘quick observe’ championships, he figures, there may very well be scope for an out of doors 200m circuit in New Zealand.
Femke Bol and Lieke Klaver (Getty)
File-breaking Bol conquers flat 400m
If Femke Bol’s winter type is something to go by then we should always anticipate additional enhancements in her specialist 400m hurdles this summer season.
In Glasgow the Dutch athlete improved her world report to 49.17 after which anchored her workforce to gold within the 4x400m.
“It’s a dream come true. I knew I used to be in good condition, however you’ll be able to by no means predict a world report,” she mentioned. “It was such a powerful race, I knew I needed to exit quick. My coach mentioned to me ‘ you’ll be able to run sooner’ however to be sincere I simply needed to win. That is nice as a result of I’ve not achieved hurdles for 4 weeks and it provides me confidence.”
Devynne Charlton (Getty)
Dash hurdles excellence from Charlton
Deyvenne Charlton claimed the second world report of those championships when she stormed to 60m hurdles victory in 7.65.
“Extra data, extra golds… I feel I’m in the very best form of my life and solely getting higher,” she mentioned.
“To be world champion in Glasgow… it’s the proper season for me.”
Thea LaFond (Getty)
LaFond flies the flag for Dominica
If followers of British athletics thought the host nation had a small workforce in Glasgow then spare a thought for among the ‘one-athlete groups’ who had a solitary competitor flying the flag.
Commonwealth of Dominica, for instance, is an island nation within the Caribbean and was represented by Thea LaFond, who struck gold within the ladies’s triple soar with 15.01m.
“This feels completely surreal. I’m the one athlete right here from my nation and I’ve the gold medal,” she mentioned. “We’re just a bit island with a inhabitants of 70,000 folks, so this one is for my folks, all of my folks.”
Even conventional athletics superpowers like Germany had a tiny workforce on the championships.
With only one observe athlete – 60m sprinter Aleksandar Askovic – of their six-man squad, as an illustration, it meant the Germans solely had a presence on the observe for 12 seconds as he reached the semi-final of his occasion.
Jemma Reekie (Getty)
Reekie reaps the rewards of persistence
Jemma Reekie won’t have gained the gold that her residence followers craved however she walked away from the Emirates Area with the most important smile within the metropolis after taking a well-earned silver medal within the 800m.
Finally she didn’t have sufficient firepower within the final lap to take care of Tsigie Duguma, however her type and health has improved massively after a lean spell attributable to glandular fever.
“I actually needed to stroll away with that gold medal in entrance of a house crowd however it’s my first senior medal, I’ve bought to take it,” she mentioned.
Take a look at our Glasgow 2024 protection right here