AT THE OLYMPICS Games a story can alter in a split second. In the four years that pass between Games the landscape of an event can change dramatically. Beijing was the beginning of some dramatic stories that have run through right to London 2012 and the start of seismic shifts in other events. Here are four events where this is particularly true, according to Irish sprinter Ailis McSweeney.
100m Hurdles – Lolo Jones
Lolo Jones took her place in the final in Beijing as the odds-on favourite to win having set a new personal best in the US trials and impressed throughout the opening rounds. Ten barriers in 100 metres can provide a lot of drama as was proven that night when Jones hit the second to last hurdle and lost a gold medal to her teammate Dawn Harper. A World Indoor gold since has hardly made up for the disappointment but Jones defied the odds to take the last available place on the US team, beating a host of athletes who had run quicker pre-trials. Sally Pearson, who took advantage of Jones’ error four years ago to claim a silver medal, has since closed in on the long-standing world record and goes to London as the reigning world champion. So while the American has unfinished business with the Olympic Games, Pearson is going into this race as strong a favourite as Jones was in 2008.
110m Hurdles – Liu Xiang
Liu Xiang’s disappointment in his home country’s Olympics was equally heart-breaking if somewhat less dramatic. Xiang lined up in the 110 hurdles heats in Beijing as the defending Olympic champion and the nation’s great hope. When the gun fired Xiang took three steps to the first hurdle and pulled up in pain, hampered by hamstring and achilles tendon injuries. Surgery was required for the Chinese athlete’s achilles injury but Xiang has since been on the comeback trail, mining silver in last year’s World Championships and ranked second in the world this year. Xiang recently pulled out of the final in the Diamond League race in Crystal Palace with a back injury and athletics fans will hope that history does not repeat itself in the coming days. If fit, Xiang will prove a formidable opponent for the in-form American’s, Aries Merrit and Jason Richardson, world record holder Dayron Robles and the European hope Sergey Shubenkov.
Pole Vault – Yelena Isinbayeva
Isinbayeva has set no less than 28 world records in the pole vault, both indoor and outdoor. A double Olympic champion, the Russian struggled with a couple of poor seasons following the 2008 Olympic with the dramatic losses of her World Outdoor and Indoor crowns in 2009 and 2010. Isinbayeva then took an indefinite break from the sport, only to return a year later having apparently regained her motivation and form. It seemed as if Isinbayeva was back to her best in early 2012 when she set a new indoor world record of 5.01 metres and followed up with gold in the World Indoor Championships. However, having failed to clear a height in Monaco, the last big meeting before the Olympics, she may have some demons to overcome in order to succeed in her defence of the title. It’s been a rollercoaster ride for the 2007 Laureus Sportswoman of the Year and we’ve witnessed her shed tears of both joy and sadness in the last four years – which will it be this time round?
Pole Vault – Steve Hooker
Hooker is the Australian team captain for London 2012 — last time around vaulted an Olympic record in Beijing to win Australia’s first field gold in 40 years. Hooker followed up with World Outdoor and Indoor titles, and Commonwealth gold. The World Championship title he took in Berlin was particularly impressive considering that the Aussie competed with an adductor injury. He won gold clearing 5.90m on only his second vault, having missed a previous attempt at 5.85m.
This kind of mental resolve deserted Hooker last year when he failed to register a height at the Worlds in Daegu. As he pulled out of his domestic season and the Australian trials earlier this year, Hooker admitted to a severe case of the “yips” saying that “the confidence I require to stand at the end of the runway and then charge down, land my pole and soar almost six metres into the air has left me for the time being”.
Qualification for London only came via a competition organised by his sponsor at his private training venue in Perth. Since qualifying, Hooker’s season has been a mixed bag of no-heights, below average vaults and finally a 5.72m mark in his last meet before the Games.
This year’s European Champion, Renaud Lavillenie, holds the world lead at 5.97m and is only one of many who will make Hooker’s defence a task of epic proportion.
All pics: PA images
