On Saturday Sue and I had tickets for the first day of the London Anniversary Games, an Athletics meeting which forms part of the Diamond League, held on the anniversary (approx) of the 2012 Olympics in the stadium. Our seats were close to the Long Jump runway (perhaps too close for getting the best photographs)
The first event was a men’s 400 metres race for UK runners which was interesting in that the runners were competing for places in the 400m relay team at the European Championships to be held n Berlin in 3 weeks time.
Dwayne Cowan leads Martyn Rooney all the way to the finish line
The next event was the T44/47/T64 Women’s Long Jump for jumpers using a single leg blade. The winner was the British World Champion in this event, Stef Reid.
Stef Reid prepares for her jump and in flight
Back on the track, another UK athlete was winning, this time in the 3000m walking race. Tom Bosworth set a new world record in winning this event.
Tom Bosworth leads the field on his way to a world record
The events were coming thick and fast now and our attention was drawn away repeatedly to the Men’s Pole Vault at the end of the stadium, where a truly world-class field was competing including Sam Kendricks (World Champion), Renaud Lavillenie (World Record holder and Olympic Champion 2012) and Thiago Braz (Olympic Champion 2016).
Sam Kendricks (USA) [top left], Renaud Lavillenie (France)[bottom left] and Thiago Braz (Brazil) [right]
Who said that man can’t fly?
In the end, it came down to Lavillenie, who had led throughout, and Sam Kendricks, who eventually beat him by clearing their final height on his first jump.
Sam Kendricks, having won the competition attempts a new US national record, but is unsuccessful
The next event on the track also was intriguing, if for a strange reason. The women’s 3000m was going along as expected until the last lap when the leader, Fantu Worku, stopped running with half a lap to go and then looked on bewildered as everyone else kept running past her. Watching it back on TV later, the commentators thought she had lost track of her position and believed that she had already crossed the finish line (see https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/44912045)!
Worku passes Rengeruk on the back straight shortly before she stopped running.
