UK 400m - State of play

[Hammerklavier]

Charlie Dobson ran 45.11 in Sweden a couple of days ago, winning by a huge margin. They've surely got to pick him for the Europeans.

[jjimbojames]

Korir says he’s focusing on the 400m at the CWG - good news for the 800m boys but tougher for MHS

[Occasional Hope]

He's also clearly very motivated for Birmingham.

[Croadymeister]

Hopefully this will be the key to unlocking his full talent . Next couple of years : who knows ?

Yeah getting a global medal just days before his home championships could do wonders for the confidence, needs to be getting into more Diamond League events so he regularly test himself against Norman, Cherry, James, Gardiner and Van Niekerk.

[Croadymeister]

I am so pleased for MHS.

I can not think of another male British athlete, in recent times, I have been more relieved for when winning a bronze.

Not quite the fast time I was anticipatiing, but that doesn't matter - the mercurial talent has delivered this season. As he said himself, 'the monkey is off his back', two in fact, GB record [and I am sure he will lower it again] and a world medal. It was pleasing to see Martyn Rooney was at the track to share this moment, I would imagine he has borne witness to much of the back story, and very interesting to note Christine Ohuruogu has been 'mentoring' him.

Whatever he does next, he will always have Eugene.

Smart move to recruit Christine who is a proven winner at world level which he needs to help him find that extra

[alfie]

I am so pleased for MHS.

I can not think of another male British athlete, in recent times, I have been more relieved for when winning a bronze.

Not quite the fast time I was anticipatiing, but that doesn't matter - the mercurial talent has delivered this season. As he said himself, 'the monkey is off his back', two in fact, GB record [and I am sure he will lower it again] and a world medal. It was pleasing to see Martyn Rooney was at the track to share this moment, I would imagine he has borne witness to much of the back story, and very interesting to note Christine Ohuruogu has been 'mentoring' him.

Whatever he does next, he will always have Eugene.

Hopefully this will be the key to unlocking his full talent . Next couple of years : who knows ?

[carterhatch]

I am so pleased for MHS.

I can not think of another male British athlete, in recent times, I have been more relieved for when winning a bronze.

Not quite the fast time I was anticipatiing, but that doesn't matter - the mercurial talent has delivered this season. As he said himself, 'the monkey is off his back', two in fact, GB record [and I am sure he will lower it again] and a world medal. It was pleasing to see Martyn Rooney was at the track to share this moment, I would imagine he has borne witness to much of the back story, and very interesting to note Christine Ohuruogu has been 'mentoring' him.

Whatever he does next, he will always have Eugene.

[carterhatch]

I wanted to put on record before the men's 400 final how pleasing it has been to see the step change in the form of Mathew Hudson-Smith.

There was a pre-recorded interview with MHS, on the BBC, where he talked about changes he had made [nutrition, more professionalism et al] and a medal would be a very welcome outcome. [Prescod take note and run some 200s]

If it is the 'new' MHS who takes to the blocks in the final - I fully exepct at the very least he re-writes his own British record.

A mention of another British 400m runner AHW - he has had quite the roller coaster WCs himself... the PB shows he is moving in the right direction. I'm not a 400m coach, but in running this event, AHW does appear to me to be fighting his natural physiology, he has leaned down from when I first noticed him, but still relatively muscular, and 'fights' his race, rather then the great runners of this distance who flow. Anyway, good luck to the lad, he is only 22 and a sub 45 is surely likely soon ..,


with the hope that Charlie Dobson can stay fit and healthy ... we might even be able to talk about a men's 400 m relay



ps... where's Stew Coach!! I hope all is well with him.

[marilyn1]

merci, carter

[carterhatch]

Yes, I posted a comment on the 'Missing in Inaction' thread ... glad to know we will still have your input

[marilyn1]

There isn't a dedicated topic - of the 'state of play' kind - for this event - so to kick it off, a rather telling exchange on twitter.

Laviai Nielsen - very generously after Ms. Pipi's PB - noted in a tweet l- 'British 400m running 🔥🔥🔥'
Martyn Rooney replies - 'Before anyone else says it… *women'

Rather made me smile at the honesty.

I am really looking forward to the w400 . It might not have the sub 50 times, but it is a very hight quality field, and with the added dimension of our own Stew-coach involved, we might get some additonal insight.

The men ... the standard is as poor as i can recall in all my decades of watching athletics. There is a small cohort of U23s who could make the race competitive, although I noted that Charlie Dobson is not on the start list. I hope that there is some sort of MHS breakout moment, from someone, but not holding my breath.

Carter in no way to do with this post, but somewhere i read you wondered where philipo had gone. I havent; i am now marilyn1

[LuckySpikes]

The South American Federation's website says he will open his season at the Bolivarian Games in Colombia in the first week of July. He's currently at a training camp in Spain, was invited to compete n Eugene but preferred to continue training.

Scratch that! Zambrano is on the 400m startlist this evening in Salamanca.

[Occasional Hope]

Presumably so re Ed Faulds. I’d rather see him delay his return and make a full recovery than rush back and exacerbate any issues.

I don’t think MHS has moved.

[Ladyloz]

Does anyone know MHS coaching set up now? I know he was with Lance Brauman's group previously & still seems to be US based.

Also Ed Faulds hasn't run this outdoor season. Still troubled by whatever caused him to pull out of Euro Indoors?

[carterhatch]

You weren't wrong, OH, you had valid concerns as I too voiced. I even urged Christian Malcolm to personally intervene in the case of both MHS and Reece Prescod. I will never know, but Malcolm, I felt, was uniquely positioned to put an arm around both of these 'gifted' athletes and help them find a way to deliver the sort of performance both are capable of achieving. I truly hope both can make Eugene, fit, healthy and mentally in the right place. A sub 44 by MHS and a sub 9.9 by Prescod - medal or no medal - would be marvelous and something in my near 50 years of watching British athletics thought I would never see.