ATHLETICS:"AUF DIE Platze . . . Fertig . . . Bang!" That's about as far as my German goes for now, but they may be the most important words spoken inside Berlin's old Olympic Stadium this weekend once the 12th edition of the World Athletics Championships get under way.
Too bad Leni Riefenstahl isn’t still around to film it all because the latest race to decide the fastest man on earth promises to be the most spectacular in years: Usain Bolt v Tyson Gay (not forgetting the other six finalists).
They’ve been kept apart in this morning’s 12 qualifying heats, and it will likely remain that way until tomorrow evening’s final – which goes out at 8.35pm Irish-time.
Given the Jamaican likes to think of himself as a lightening bolt and the American as a typhoon, it’s not unreasonable to anticipate an electrical storm.
In the spirit of any major championship, both men have been talking a big show. Bolt is hotly fancied to win, but a lot may depend on the exact nature of the groin injury that has been troubling Gay this summer. We do know Bolt is ready to rumble.
“I just can’t wait to get on the track,” he told a media throng at Berlin’s sprawling, Caribbean-style Yaam Club. “I have no physical problems, I’m in really good shape. I’m just itching to run. I can’t wait.
“It’s a race, a competition, but it’s not a fight. I don’t take it personally, it’s all business for me. So I’m going out there to just compete. I don’t really put pressure on myself. I go out there and just take it one step at a time over the four rounds. And when it comes to the final I just do what I have to do because I’m always ready to compete at my best.”
Even if fully fit, Gay may well need to better Bolt’s world record of 9.69 seconds to upset the big Jamaican, but he is the defending champion and will almost certainly get the better start. Unlike the Olympics, both men have the added incentive of the $100,000 cash bonus the IAAF put up for any world record set during their championships.
They’re also likely to be inspired by the spirit of Jesse Owens, which comes alive just by walking into the old Olympic Stadium. The American team will have the initials “JO” on their vests, a small tribute to the athlete who helped pave the way for so many of them, in both a sporting and cultural sense.
Four of the 14-strong Irish team are in action over the opening two days, starting with Róisín McGettigan in the heats of the 3,000 metres steeplechase at 9.50am Irish-time. She’s got a tough draw going in the second of three heats, her season’s best of 9:56.71 ranks her the slowest of the 14 starters. Only the first four in the each heat, and the three fastest losers, will progress to Monday’s final.
Also on the track this evening is Thomas Chamney in the heats of the 1,500 metres at 5.15pm Irish-time. He certainly won’t have it easy either in trying to make it through, drawn in the second of four heats alongside defending champion Bernard Lagat of the US, Kenya’s gold medal hope Asbel Kiprop and European Indoor champion Rui Silva of Portugal.
There are, however, high hopes that Rob Heffernan and Olive Loughnane can put themselves in the mix for the medals in the 20km walk. For the first time in World Championship history, those events are being staged away from the stadium, around a small and hugely historic circuit next to the Brandenburg Gate.
Heffernan is up first at noon Irish-time. Sixth two years ago in Osaka, and eighth at the Beijing Olympics, the 31-year-old from Cork admits this may well be his best shot at getting into the medals, particularly as preparations have gone so well.
Olympic champion Valeriy Borchin of Russia, who has walked 1:17.38 this year, is clearly the man to beat, and Heffernan will likely need to improve on his lifetime best of 1:19.22 to make it into the top half-dozen again.
Loughnane goes at noon tomorrow also facing the reigning Olympic and World champion Olga Kaniskina of Russia, but her seventh-place finish in Beijing, the best placing of any Irish athlete, has given her the confidence to mix it with the best from the start. After that, particularly in the walks, anything can happen.
“I am feeling as good if not stronger than I was last year,” she says.
Team manager Patsy McGonagle says the Irish athletes have a positive mindset. “Every team member in the Irish camp is extremely positive and upbeat,” he said. “Both Rob and Olive seem to be extremely happy with their form, and I was particularly impressed by the way that Alistair Cragg has shown up here for the 5,000 metres later in the week. He appears to me as if he has prepared very well . . . and I think he will surprise a few people here.”
Indeed he would.
