London Olympics 2012: GB stars shake off winter cobwebs

Published on Sunday 29 January 2012 01:57

IT IS six months and a matter of days until the United Kingdom’s leading athletes step out into London’s Olympic Stadium and either ignite or burn under the harshest spotlight they have ever known.

Eight medals is the stated ambition. The team’s first appearance of 2012, at the Aviva International Match in Glasgow yesterday, was never to be a just barometer of what lies ahead. Performances then, not now, matter most.

Still, the annual indoor curtain raiser offered a handful of British stars the opportunity to blow off the cobwebs from their winter hibernation. Freshly returned from altitude training in Kenya on Thursday, Mo Farah was immediately back down to business, delivering a searing performance in the 1500 metres that clinched victory for Team GB in the team event ahead of Russia.

Stepping down in distance, the world 5000m champion rose up to the challenge presented by Kenya’s Augustine Choge, who threatened to silence the din at the Kelvin Hall when he took the lead with two laps left. Farah is now insouciant about such threats. He covered the final lap in 27.76 seconds en route to a indoor personal best of 3:39.03, entering the UK all-time top ten list and shattering a 22-year-old stadium record.

“I had to push him a little bit but it was all right,” Farah said. “It wasn’t that I wanted to hurt him or anything, it was just making him aware that I was there. I had to dig in the last bit and work on it but it’s not easy sometimes when you’re running good pace.”

More vital runs lie ahead. “This is not about one race,” he acknowledged. “Aiming for the Olympics you can’t ease down for every race.”

Hannah England is another of those with high expectations. As the world silver medallist, she will sport a target on her back on every outing between here and London, potentially both a curse and a blessing. “I have to embrace it,” she confided.

She was bettered, just, by Germany’s Denise Krebs in the 1500 metres, but being forced to run from the front was a useful examination of her own labours in the Kenyan mountains. “That was a bit out of my comfort zone,” she admitted. “That’s not how I usually race. But it’s fun to try different tactics.”

UK Athletics head coach Charles van Commenee was observing every lap and leap. With Mark Lewis-Francis and Jeanette Kwakye heading their respective fields in the 60 metres, he also saw some positive performances from Danny Talbot, who won the 200m ahead of Kim Collins, Margaret Adeoye, taking the women’s 200m in a new best of 23.68 seconds, and the Welsh prospect Joe Thomas in the 800m.

However, there must be some concern for world sprint hurdles bronze medallist Andy Turner, who was hindered by an Achilles injury and came dead last. It is not a new problem but it is, he conceded, restraining his preparations for London. “I just can’t hold myself in the right position to get over the hurdles efficiently because of that,” he revealed. “I’m missing out on training. Now I’m missing out on competing properly.”

Claire Gibson, the sole Scot in action, was fifth in the 800m on her GB debut.

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