TS1 BANG ON TRACK FOR GLORY

Trackspeed1 take first and second in BOTH sprints in the Belgium classic

This weekend saw Trackspeed1 sprinters reaffirm their credentials as the likely best ever group to  adopt the tutelage of coach John Powell!  In fact they are bang on target for the squad's best EVER season!

Another personal best by Edmond Amaning, and progressive runs by David Bolarinwa, James Ellington, Ed Harrison and Jason Hussain, signalled yet again that 2012 is developing into an amazing summer of success!

Competing in the International Flanders Athletic Meeting, in Oordegem, Belgium, Amaning clocked another 200m lifetime  best performance, which meant he has run personal bests in every outing bar one this year!  He clocked 21.36s despite a poor start and less than ideal transition phase!

In the later races, James Ellington and David Bolarinwa made it a one-two for Great Britain in the same meeting, when they competed in the elite international races.  Ellington won both the 200m (20.73s) and the 100m (10.44s), but did not achieve the Olympic Games qualifying time he aims to achieve before the trials on June 22-24th.

Trackspeed1 pair David Bolarinwa and James Ellington after the
presentation for their second 'one-two' in Belgium

Bolarinwa was second in both events, clocking 10.48s and 20.88s, but only after a last minute drama that almost saw him fail to make the 200m start!

"David was sent away from the start of the 200m," explained coach John Powell, " and by the time he got round to me the far side of the track there was barely 5 minutes before the race was due off.  There had been a mix-up at registration and we got him back in the race, but he then had to get back to the start with the competitors already on the track.  Running 20.88 after that is little short of miraculous!"

Nearer home, in Basingstoke, Jason Hussain clocked one of the fastest times of his life over his specialist distance of 200m, timing 21.34s with a legal wind speed of 1.1m/s, while Ed Harrison improved his season's best 400m hurdles mark to 52.48 despite clattering into hurdle ten!

On day two of the first league weekend of the season, Andrew Matthews continued his improvement line back to form with 10.71 and 10.72 in two 100m races at Lee Valley, while Melvyn Anukam set his second persona best of the season in the 200m clocking 22.36s.

"We are enjoying an exceptional season," said John, ": but it will all mean very little if we do not get performances at the major championships.  All my guys know what they have to do - the hard work is largely behind them now, and it is up to them to produce the goods.  Exciting times!"

This coming week is a hectic one for all concerned.  James Ellington travels with Great Britain seniors to the Diamond League in Rome, and will then hook up with coach John Powell in Geneva for another European international there.  Then it's back to the UK for the 200m England Championship in Birmingham on Sunday.

David Bolarinwa will join training partners Jason Hussain, Ed Harrison, Andrew Matthews and Edmond Amaning on Saturday to contest the England Championships nearer home.

Coach John Powell reviews the day's work in Belgium on camera, with
double winner James Ellington

TIME TO ROCK!

Trackspeed1 coach John Powell is in Belgium this weekend, and he has said that time has now run out!  It's time to rock! - or perform - the trials for both World Juniors and the Olympics are simply 3-4 weeks away, and there can be no more hiding!


James Ellington, David Bolarinwa and Edmond Amaning are due to compete in the IFAM athletics meeting in Oordegem, on what is billed as Belgium's fastest track tomorrow (Saturday).

Ellington is chasing an Olympic qualifying time over 200 metres of 20.60s, while Bolarinwa will be looking to consolidate his position as one of Britain's leading contenders for the World Junior Championships, in Barcelona, in July.  Amaning will be looking to underline his position as the dark horse of junior sprinting in the UK when he contests the 200m in Belgium among classy senior opposition!

"We've had the most positive start to the season ever," said John, "but that will mean nothing unless we deliver appropriate performances at the right time - in other words at the trials!"

Other Trackspeed1 athletes are also competing nearer to home, with Jason Hussain representing Crawley AC in the British League, Melvyn Anukam joining Belgrave Harriers for their British League meet, and Kieran Daly contesting a Blackheath and Bromley open meeting on Monday night in Norman Park, Bromley.

David Bolarinwa has been invited to join the British Senior team, in Regensberg, Germany, for an international meeting where he will be part of the relay squad and also a contestant in the 200m.  It is the same venue where training partner James Ellington won his 10m, for Great Britain last year.

ELLINGTON GOES STRAIGHT WHILE TS1 GO ROUND THE BEND!

Jaysuma Ndure is the fourth fastest man of all time in Europe with a best of 19.89, and third-fastest over 100m with 9.99s, yet Trackspeed1 sprinter James Ellington took him to within the thickness of his vest in a special 200 metres race, in Manchester City Centre, on Sunday.

James Ellington shone over 200m against
world class opposition on Sunday.

Competing in the somewhat unique Manchester City Games event, the two lined up for a 200m set on a completely straight track set up in the streets of the Lancastrian capital.  The Gambian-born Norwegian won in 20.63 seconds, but James clocked 20.65s to impress in front of a packed crowd and national television cameras.

The event held on a completely straight track arguably provides less of a challenge to the normal format of bend into straight, but as coach John Powell explained, the straight has a far from positive psychological effect:

"It looks like a marathon when you are staring down the straight at the start," he said, "and it's terribly difficult to judge .  James executed the race brilliantly despite being up against world class opposition, and I am personally delighted with his performance.

"What the TV commentators didn't know on Sunday is that a week ago, James was flat out with a nasty flue bug that seems to have hit at least four of my squad, including David Bolarinwa and Ed Harrison.  A virus like that can take alot out of you, and in training on Thursday he was clearly not fully recovered, so Sunday's run was fantastic."

The event over-shadowed the annual Loughborough University International meeting on the same day where John and other members of his squad spent the day in just as cold conditions as were facing the athletes in Manchester.  This said, Trackspeed1 continued to underline individual potential for 2012 summer.

Top performer was arguably David Bolarinwa, who notched a creditable 10.49s run despite farcicle circumstances surrounding the start.  Tremayne Gilling, drawn in lane two, committed a clear false start and was into his first stride before the gun had fired, leaving Bolarinwa in lane one thinking he had suffered the worst reaction of his life!

To the fury of John Powell and many others, the race was allowed to go on without recall, although both eventual winner Adam Gemilli and David hauled Gilling back to finish ahead of him - just!

"It was a ridiculous false start, and the more I played it back on the camera afterwards, the more people laughed at it," said John who recorded the whole event.  "It's a pity that sort of thing is allowed to happen, because it detracts from other people's performances.  Simeon Williamson finished fourth in 10.70s, and nobody can tell me that is reflective of his ability!"

David Bolarinwa was left to cope with a farcical false start at
Loughborough - pictured here last year after his European Junior 200m
Championship win, in Estonia.

The Trackspeed1 'dark horse' of the 2012 season who had PB's notched in every outing so far this year, wasn't quite able to continue that record, although it was almost certainly the 2.0m/s headwind that prevented it.  Edmond Amaning clocked his second fastest ever 200m of 21.50s in winning one of the men's invitation races - albeit running the traditional bend rather than the Manchester straight!

Bolarinwa, unlike training partner Ellington, clearly wasn't over the flu bug when the longer sprint kicked in, and he faded badly to 21.4s in the 200m finishing a disappointing fourth behind Chris Clarke, Deji Tobias and Luke Fagan.

"David will be fine after a couple of track sessions and a gym workout this week," said Powell, who takes Bolarinwa, Ellington, and Amaning through the Channel Tunnel on Saturday to a European International in Oordegem, Belgium on what is reportedly that country's fastest Mondo track.

"We went to Belgium last week as well," said John, "but the conditions were poor and there were no fast times in the entire meeting, so we are looking for far better this time round."

HUSSAIN STRIKES DOUBLE GOLD AS PB's FALL AGAIN!

Trackspeed1 sprinter Jason Hussain struck gold - twice - at the Sussex County Championships over the weekend, running the fastest 200m of his illustrious career into the bargain!

Jason proudly displays gold medal number one after his sensational 200m in the Sussex 
Championships, at the K2 Leisure Centre, Crawley

The 25-year-old Crawley AC Athlete of the Year for 2011 entered the 200m final on Saturday afternoon alongside former training pal Wade Bennett-Jackson and British Junior International multi-eventer Seb Roger.

It was a hard-fought battle that Hussain won, but not after an early fright that saw Bennett-Jackson fly out of the blocks and tear round the bend!  Hussain's trademark surge in the second half of the race pulled him clear at the line though, recording a lifetime's fastest 21.2 seconds.  It won't enter the official record books though, as it was both hand timed and assisted by a 3.2m/s tail wind.

Undeterred, Hussain - the London indoor Champion for 2012 - moved on to the 100m on Sunday, and duly struck gold a second time with an 11.1 run into a -0.8m/s head wind.  They were two performances which led another superb weekend for Trackspeed1.

In the Kent County Championships, Omardo Anson equalled his lifetime best 200m despite being drawn in lane one in the final.  And he was rewarded with his first ever medal in athletics - silver - although better was to come 24 hours later.

Omardo Anson struck gold and silver at the Kent County Championships

Coping with the traditionally unpredictable and changeable conditions at the Ashford Julie Rose Stadium, Omardo, from Abbey Wood, charged to gold in the 100m recording an albeit modest 11.49s, but when considering a significant head wind, it was a highly respectable effort.

"Omardo emerged into track and field from Met-Track a couple of years ago,"explained coach John Powell, "and he was no star, but he has progressed and matured amazingly since.  He spent much of last year recuperating from a badly torn hamstring, so you could say this is his first ever proper season, and those two medals will never be more deserved, I am delighted for him."

Meanwhile, Trackspeed1 training partner Edmond Amaning was further improving his fastest ever 200m, making it three out of three so far this season.  Competing in the Middlesex Junior Championships at Mile End, he clocked 21.54 in the heat, and then 21.41 (wind +0.9m/s) to win the under-20 final.

"Edmond is a potentially very special talent," commented John Powell.  "He has a long way to go before he gets close to his real best, but clipping fractions off his best at every outing is a great way to go into early season.  I've said he could be a dark horse this year, and so far he has underlined that."

With a trip to Belgium mid-week for the European Permit meeting in Namur on Wednesday, and the Loughborough International on Sunday, it's all systems 'go' for Trackspeed1 in the biggest season for track and field in the UK ever!

"We've never had a start to a season like this," said John, "and I simply cannot wait for the next few weeks to play out - we could be heading for something very special indeed this year."

The squad's progress may stall slightly though - James Ellington was suffering from flu at the weekend, a European Junior 200m Champion David Bolarinwa has only just got over a nasty fever.  Conversely, injury-dogged Andrew Matthews is looking to put the last few troubled weeks behind him with a niggle-free 100m the other side of the English Channel on Wednesday.

Ed Harrison joins his sprinter companions in Belgium on Wednesday
when he hopes to improve his opening 400m hurdles of the season
(52.70s), set in Gainsville, USA, last month.

OUR OLYMPIC STADIUM ONE-TWO!

Our famous squad one-two in the Olympic Stadium on Saturday night as James Ellington set the stadium record for the Olympic Games, with training partner David Bolarinwa on his shoulder in second...

ELLINGTON KICKS OFF IN DREAMLAND!

JAMES ELLINGTON will be the holder of the Olympic Stadium 100m record when the Olympic Games kick off in July.  He won the UK Athletics 100m showpiece on the track that Usain Bolt has already declared he will break world records on later this year.

James Ellington salutes a 40,000 crowd as he crosses the line first
ahead of second-placed training partner David Bolarinwa
in the Olympic Stadium today.

The special race was staged at the climax of day two of the British Universities Championships, held in the Olymic Stadium as a test event for the games proper.  Ellington clocked 10.30s to set a season's best, but for his Trackspeed1 training squad there was better news to come.

Finishing strongly in second place came training partner David Bolarinwa, making it a sensational one-two for the Crystal Palace-based training group, which produced a smile a mile wide on the face of coach John Powell.

Trackspeed1 coach said he went into dreamland when the result went up
confirming his athletes James Ellington (left) and David Bolarinwa (right)
finished one and two in the first ever event in the Olympic
Stadium earlier today

"That was dreamland," he said, "two of my athletes finishing first and second in the Olympic Stadium in a race of that level?  I had to pinch myself to make sure I hadn't nodded off when I saw the scoreboard confirm it!  And it was way faster than the championship final, so the stadium record will stand until the Olympics.  Wow - that is quite something to tell your kids when they grow up isn't it!

"We're not getting carried away though.  It was a great confidence booster for both athletes, but there is still alot of work to be done, and improvements made, but we are in a pretty nice place right now."

James Ellington runs again in the Olympic Stadium tomorrow (Sunday 6th) when he contests the UK Athletics invitation 200 metres.  He already has the Olympic qualifying time of 20.59s in the event in which he represented Great Britain in the World Championships last year, but will be looking to re-assert his grip on the event nationally in 2012 as the Olympic trials approach in June.

David Bolarinwa (left) and James Ellington warm up for their
100m n the Olympic Stadium earlier today

James Ellington (arms outstretched) and David Bolarinwa
(on his left) line up for the 100m start in the Olympic stadium