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'Project sub 3' - Well actually, as pointed out elsewhere, it should be more like ’sub - 2.58’, but it doesn't quite have the same ring to it... But it's about getting a British men's 4 x 400 well under 3 mins and into the Paris 2024 final.
There is an encouraging cohort of U23 and U20 400 specialists who have run 45-and bits this season, so despite the poor performance at Tokyo of the men’s 4x400relay, all is not doom and gloom.
MHS might still fulfil his potential, and as jimbojames pointed out to me, Chalmers ran a 44.7 [relay] leg.
Various chatter on the forum suggests we might encourage one or two of the 200m runners to take up the challenge, Zarnel Hughes and NMB for starters, and I wondered if for the long lead-off leg, we might go Gary Cook style and consider Kyle Langford, or one of the emerging 800 young guns. Ben Pattison was mentioned by RunUnlimited.
I have quoted JimboJames in its entirety as it’s a good summary:
‘We’re really not that far away from 3mins, if you look across the season/Champs:
Dobson - 45.51 from blocks in April, so assume would have been quicker by the peak of the season
Chalmers (Tokyo) - 44.7
Faulds (Tallin) - 44.9
Ohioze (Poland) - 45.35
Nothing amazing, but it’s there. They really need to be targeting sub-2.59. A 43.x leg would help, but low 44s plus a 45.low lead off would work.
I think it’s also worth a conversation with the likes of Hughes (45.5 split mid-Feb 2019) about doing a Felix and doing both relays.’
What is needed is a concerted effort, a dedicated project with resources ring-fenced to turn around the run of disappointing performances in what many might consider a marquee event, holding a special place as the event that always closes a major championships, where historically we have been strong, and in many ways represents a litmus test of the true wider health of the sport,
A focus on a group of 9 -10 athletes to improve the relay performance will also have positive knock-on effect for their own individual performances and hopefully raising the standards beyond. A lead manager, our own stew-coach need only to apply, will draw on every marginal gain possible, much like the Sky team did when they set out to have the first British rider win the Tour de France. Funding should be separate to Olympic podium/potential, and triggered by achieving personal and team milestones. No relay opportunity will be too small to participate, batons will be held onto for dear life, and the Tokyo 1991 performance is required viewing (or if you want something a little more contemporary, to remind you how good it feels to win a relay, watch Team GB swimmers in the 4 x 200 freestyle at Tokyo.)
Of course no one is going to listen to me unless someone knows someone in the higher echelons of UK Athletics or judicious use of social media ...
Anyway, discuss
There is an encouraging cohort of U23 and U20 400 specialists who have run 45-and bits this season, so despite the poor performance at Tokyo of the men’s 4x400relay, all is not doom and gloom.
MHS might still fulfil his potential, and as jimbojames pointed out to me, Chalmers ran a 44.7 [relay] leg.
Various chatter on the forum suggests we might encourage one or two of the 200m runners to take up the challenge, Zarnel Hughes and NMB for starters, and I wondered if for the long lead-off leg, we might go Gary Cook style and consider Kyle Langford, or one of the emerging 800 young guns. Ben Pattison was mentioned by RunUnlimited.
I have quoted JimboJames in its entirety as it’s a good summary:
‘We’re really not that far away from 3mins, if you look across the season/Champs:
Dobson - 45.51 from blocks in April, so assume would have been quicker by the peak of the season
Chalmers (Tokyo) - 44.7
Faulds (Tallin) - 44.9
Ohioze (Poland) - 45.35
Nothing amazing, but it’s there. They really need to be targeting sub-2.59. A 43.x leg would help, but low 44s plus a 45.low lead off would work.
I think it’s also worth a conversation with the likes of Hughes (45.5 split mid-Feb 2019) about doing a Felix and doing both relays.’
What is needed is a concerted effort, a dedicated project with resources ring-fenced to turn around the run of disappointing performances in what many might consider a marquee event, holding a special place as the event that always closes a major championships, where historically we have been strong, and in many ways represents a litmus test of the true wider health of the sport,
A focus on a group of 9 -10 athletes to improve the relay performance will also have positive knock-on effect for their own individual performances and hopefully raising the standards beyond. A lead manager, our own stew-coach need only to apply, will draw on every marginal gain possible, much like the Sky team did when they set out to have the first British rider win the Tour de France. Funding should be separate to Olympic podium/potential, and triggered by achieving personal and team milestones. No relay opportunity will be too small to participate, batons will be held onto for dear life, and the Tokyo 1991 performance is required viewing (or if you want something a little more contemporary, to remind you how good it feels to win a relay, watch Team GB swimmers in the 4 x 200 freestyle at Tokyo.)
Of course no one is going to listen to me unless someone knows someone in the higher echelons of UK Athletics or judicious use of social media ...
Anyway, discuss
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