Grand return at Gateshead
Sep 1 2009 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal
LAST year organisers billed the Gateshead Grand Prix as a "Homecoming for Heroes", only to find precious few of them after an Olympics where Great Britain's track and field stars failed to come to the party.
This year they made no such bold promises but saw World Championship medallists Phillips Idowu and Lisa Dobriskey do the business.
The triple jump world champion and 1,500m silver medallist won their races, as did Christine Ohuruogu, disappointing in the 400m in Germany.
Jenny Meadows managed only third in the women’s 800m, matching her Berlin result, and although heptathlete Jessica Ennis finished fifth in the 100m hurdles she beat British No 1 Sarah Claxton in a field containing three world finalists.
Eight days after the end of the worlds, there was always the danger this could be after the Lord Mayor’s Show – particularly with the Lord Mayor of world athletics, Usain Bolt, conspicuous by his absence.
Different champions responded in different ways, but the cream came to the top in front of an 8,000-plus crowd.
Top billing was Idowu, a miserable figure here last year. In 2008 he was nursing an injured body and hurt pride after missing the Olympic gold which seemed there for the taking.
This year his second jump was 16.95m, and when compatriot Larry Achike went past him, he pulled out 17.31, beating it by a centimetre.
Considering most of those jumps came from some way behind the board, it was an impressive performance.
“I don’t think I’ve won in this stadium before, so after winning the world title it was nice to come here and put my stamp on it,” said the Londoner.
“Last year I was disappointed after Beijing so it was a completely different scenario this year. I came with a smile on my face and I enjoyed it. If I’m winning way behind the board there’s obviously a lot more to come, hopefully next year.”
Others took different approaches. “The meet directors all expect me to perform, they are paying me to perform, so I have to deal with those expectations,” reasoned world champion Brigitte Foster Hylton after winning the 100m hurdles, while Lashawn Merritt “was just having fun” in the 400m. Both found the right balance.
After a disappointing season, Britain’s Martyn Rooney came closest to threatening Merritt’s unbeaten season, roaring to second in 45.47.
Some had to grit their teeth. Meadows was suffering swollen glands 48 hours earlier, while Chris Tomlinson’s training partner Greg Rutherford felt a shot of pain in his right ankle on his first long jump and had to settle for sixth, a place behind the Teessider whose national record he took in Berlin.
Hexham’s Nick McCormick ran under eight minutes to finish a disappointing 11th in the 3,000m, and Chester-le-Street’s Vicky Barr – sixth in the 400m – had nothing in her legs.
Conditions were not conducive to record-breaking, with a headwind for the runners. The weather started pleasantly warm, but gave way to a downpour – although it was a far cry from the monsoon which blighted last year’s Grand Prix event.
“Same Gateshead, same rain,” joked Idowu as he cowered under his hood minutes before the start of the triple jump. It was said in jest, but unless next year’s Diamond League meeting here is not to be Gateshead’s first and last, they will need more luck with the weather. It would have been nice to see Bolt too, as even Tyson Gay admitted after winning the 100m. “When he’s in a race he brings the best out of me.”
Five-time World Championship sprint relay medallist Marlon Devonish added: “The times they’re running, I struggle to do them on the nintendo Wii!”
No Bolt, and plenty of rain. The biggest tribute to Gateshead is that this time, there was no anti-climax.
