Dai Greene frustrated British athletics' ''golden era'' is being overshadowed by 'Team Farah' doping saga - Mirror Online Sport Dai Greene frustrated British athletics' ''golden era'' is being overshadowed by 'Team Farah' doping saga Sprinter Adam Gemili and other young stars are losing column inches to allegations levelled at Olympic hero's coach Alberto Salazar Share Hurdles to overcome: Greene wants sport to be viewed as clean (Photo: Alexander Hassenstein) Share Get daily updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email Dai Greene has voiced his frustration that a ‘golden era’ of British athletics is being completely overshadowed by doping allegations in the sport. The past fortnight has seen Adam Gemili, 21 , become the first British athlete in history to go sub-10 AND sub-20 in the two sprint distances. Dina Asher-Smith has run the second fastest 200m ever by a British female – fresh from smashing the seven-year-old British 100m record and all at the age of 19.

Laura Muir, 22, has shocked the track world by running away from a top-class field to win the 1500m at the prestigious Bislett Games. And Olympic long jump champion Greg Rutherford has won successive Diamond League meets – in so doing producing the second furthest leap ever by a Briton. Yet the news agenda has been monopolised by explosive doping claims made against Mo Farah ’s coach Alberto Salazar and training partner Galen Rupp. Headliners: Rupp (left), Salazar (centre) and Farah at London 2012 (Photo: PA Wire) On the day Gemili clocked 9.97secs at the Birmingham Grand Prix , where Asher-Smith ran 22.30 in the 200, the lead story was Farah pulling out of the event. Given that the double Olympic and world champion is Britain’s greatest ever athlete, in championship medal terms at least, the coverage is wholly justified. The ramifications were Salazar to be found guilty would be seismic.As one of the few current British athletes to speak out against drugs cheats, hurdler Greene understands that as well as anyone.

But it does not lessen the sadness felt by the former 400m hurdles world champion at his sport’s image problem 66 days out from the World Championships and 417 days before the Rio Olympics. Dash it! Adam Gemili's sprint success was overshadowed by Salazar row (Photo: PA Wire) “There are so many good things happening at the moment but they’re largely going unnoticed,” said the Welshman. “It certainly has been depressing if you’ve just read what has been written about. “The really sad thing is this is probably a golden era in terms of the talent on the British team and the performances being produced. “Whether it’s Adam, Dina, Laura or Greg [and] Katarina (Johnson-Thompson) going so well in the multi-events while Jess (Ennis-Hill) is coming back after being away for so long. Their head-to-head should be fantastic later in the year. “But people at home won’t really know too much about all that.

They’ve probably read more about the banned athletes (Justin Gatlin and Tyson Gay) who are producing good performances again in the short sprints.” From dope bans to medal hopes: Gatlin (right) and Gay (left) (Photo: Getty) This is a huge issue for UK Athletics and explains why they are now taking the Salazar Affair so seriously. The swirl of negativity is hitting the sport at the turnstiles. Last week’s Birmingham Grand Prix attracted a crowd of barely 9,000, and there are tickets still available for all three days of next month’s Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games at the Olympic Stadium. As for this weekend’s European Team Championships in Russia - to which Britain is sending a party of 46 athletes - there has barely been mention of it. “Does the sport have an image problem? It certainly has an issue at the moment,” said Greene. “But I have always said the drugs situation in our sport has to get worse before it gets better.

Just as it did in cycling.” Video Loading London 2012: Britain has lost a ruthless and competitive edge, and it hurts | Francis Welch | Opinion | The Guardian London 2012: Britain has lost a ruthless and competitive edge, and it hurts Francis Welch Once Britain dominated track and field events. Let's hope these Olympics will help kickstart a new interest in athletics Jessica Ennis competes in the 100m hurdles event at the international heptathlon meeting in Goetzis May 26, 2012. Photograph: Miro Kuzmanovic/Reuters Tuesday 10 July 2012 04.00 EDT First published on Tuesday 10 July 2012 04.00 EDT Share on Messenger Close Charles van Commenee of Team GB has announced a 71-strong team of athletes that he hopes will win eight track and field medals in the 2012 Olympics . For a host nation with an impressive athletic history, is this too low an expectation for Team GB?

Soon after this announcement, Steve Cram, a former world champion and Olympic silver medallist, said we should have loftier ambitions – aiming to have a British athlete in every final. Surely this is more like it? But Team GB won't even have a 4 x 100 relay team in the games and, while world-class athletes such as Mo Farrah and Jessica Ennis represent real hopes for Olympic gold, there is almost no chance of us challenging for medals in the most popular track events such as the 100m or 1500m. It was very different 30 years ago. Cram was part of a golden era of British athletics, which produced superstars such as Sebastian Coe, Steve Ovett, Linford Christie, Alan Wells and Daley Thompson. At the Moscow Olympics in 1980 a 19-year-old Cram lined up for the first of his three successive Olympic 1500m finals. The metric mile has, since the Athens games in 1896, always been the blue riband event of any Olympics. And in this era Britain owned the race. In Moscow Coe beat Ovett to take gold.

And this was only days after Ovett had won gold and Coe the silver medal in the 800m. At these games Britain didn't just dominate middle distance running. Wells won the 100m and Thompson triumphed in the decathlon. Four years later, at the Los Angeles Olympics, things got even better for British athletics. In the final of the 1500m, Coe, Ovett and Cram lined up again to fight for the prized gold medal. In an epic race Coe held off Cram to win his second successive 1500m gold, the only time in history an athlete has won this race twice. Cram, who had won the world championships the year before, took the silver medal. Also in LA, Thompson retained his decathlon title and Tessa Sanderson won gold in the javelin. Los Angeles in 1984 was to prove the high water mark for British athletics. Yet we still produced superstars such as Linford Christie, who challenged the dominance of American sprinters and won 100m gold in 1992 to follow his silver four years earlier.

In the last 20 years millions of pounds have been poured into British athletics, impressive state of the art training facilities built and the most sought-after foreign coaches recruited. Yet the countries that now dominate the top track events have none of these advantages. Today's powerhouse of world sprinting is Jamaica, while the top runners in middle and long distance are from the Rift Valley in Kenya, where over 40% live below the poverty line. I experienced this contrast at first hand on location for Faster Higher Stronger when filming at high-altitude training camps in the Rift Valley. Here athletes lead a very Spartan existence, running twice a day, sleeping and eating. The training camps were simple and showed almost no evidence of the latest scientific and technological innovations. Competitive athletics was introduced to Kenya by the British colonial administration in the 1950s. They organised sports days and cross country races based on Britain's own postwar school system, which encouraged hard competition. This system produced Kenya first Olympic superstar: Kipchoge Keino . And today a real culture of athletics thrives in this part of East Africa.

There is an argument that the same tough, competitive culture of athletics was strong in Britain in the 1960s and 70s and it was this that helped produce the golden era of Coe, Ovett et al. As well as sports being played – much more competitively – in schools, amateur athletic clubs sprang up across Britain. During the filming of Faster Higher Stronger, Cram told me about the importance of his local athletics club in Tyneside, where volunteers would give up their time to coach youngsters. Today the facilities and coaching are far more professional and scientific. But 2012 is a very different epoch. It's hard to criticise athletes in today's Team GB, which boasts a number of impressive world champions such as Dai Green in its ranks. Yet to produce runners capable of beating the Jamaicans and Kenyans in the very top Olympic events there needs to be a fundamental change in the wider culture. A more hard-edged, competitive approach to coaching athletics to youngsters, beginning in primary schools, would help instil a ruthless winning mentality. In Jamaica it's a regular occurrence for tens of thousands of spectators to attend school sports days. There, competition from a very young age is really tough.

Last week even David Cameron raised concerns that state schools in Britain weren't producing enough top athletes. "Sport can change lives," he said, "so why is it that, in so many schools, sport has been squeezed out and facilities run down?" It's estimated that a third of Team GB are privately educated. Britain can't afford for athletics to become an elitist sport. Athletics in Britain needs to reclaim centre stage in the imagination of the public. Today football's Premier League dominates and its stars are our children's sporting heroes. But growing up in the 1980s I can remember athletics coming close to matching the popularity of football when kids dreamed of emulating stars such as Thompson or Coe. The BBC would regularly show athletics meets from Crystal Palace and the level of competition meant that even Olympic champions such as Coe weren't always sure that they would be picked for the British team – he almost lost out on going to LA in 1984.

I'm looking forward to watching athletes such as Mo Farrah win gold for Team GB, but I also hope that London 2012 kickstarts a new era in British athletics where track and field are more popular, more competitive and allow us to challenge for the very top Olympic events. • Faster Higher Stronger , a documentary on the history of the Olympic 1500m, is on BBC2 at 7pm on 11 July London 2012 Olympics: Team GB track and field team revealed | Daily Mail Online comments Dwain Chambers has been named in the Great Britain athletics team for London 2012, 12 years on from his last appearance at an Olympic Games, but the stunning pick of Lynsey Sharp as the only athlete in the women's 800 metres provided the headline selection. Controversial sprinter Chambers will compete over 100m in the capital next month after being included in a 71-strong squad for the Games named by the British Olympic Association.

Chambers, 34, finished fourth in the 100m in Sydney in 2000, but has not featured in the Olympics since following his two-year suspension for systematic drug use and the imposition of the BOA's lifetime ban. London calling: Goldie Sayers, Andrew Osagie, Sophie Hitchon, Greg Rutherford Yamile Aldama, Rhys Williams and Lisa Dobriskeywill be representing Team GB at the Games Towering above: UKA head coach Charles van Commenee (left) and Team GB chef de Mission Andy Hunt (right) join the track and field stars for a picture on the roof of GB House on the Olympic Park in east London However, the BOA ban was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport earlier this year, paving the way for him to compete at a home Olympics. Chambers was not able to secure his place in London automatically as, despite winning the trials in Birmingham, he failed to run the 'A' qualifying standard of 10.18 seconds. However, that victory ahead of his domestic rivals as well as his past performances have proved enough to gain selection.

His place on the team had looked a certainty ever since he was given the option of not chasing the qualifying time at last week's European Championships in Helsinki. Looking ahead: Adam Gemili, Sayers, Osagie, Hitchon, Rutherford and Aldama can now look forward to the Olympics Chambers was joined in the 100m by teenager Adam Gemili, the British number one this season, and James Dasaolu, who were second and third at the trials and have both run the 'A' standard. 'It is a real honour to be selected as part of Team GB today,' he said. 'For me representing my country in an Olympics is a privilege that should never be taken for granted. To be given the opportunity to do so in my home town has been a dream that at times has seemed very distant and is now a reality. 'It is now my responsibility to prepare fully for the 100m, the relay, to support all my fellow athletes and all my other colleagues within Team GB.

Thumbs up: Shamed sprinter Dwain Chambers is set to realise his Olympic dream after being selected 'It is a very proud day and I thank the selectors for the confidence and faith they have placed in me.' Jessica Ennis has been selected to represent Britain in both the Heptathlon and the women's 100metre hurdles in which she is highly fancied to strike gold. She said: 'I am really excited to have made my first Olympic team, and cant wait to compete in London on the 3rd & 4th August in front of a home crowd. Flying the flag: Jessica Ennis is one of Team GB's brightest gold medal hopes in the Heptathlon 'I have been training really hard and feel in great shape and am really looking forward to competing - I know the atmosphere will be amazing!' Edinburgh athlete Sharp won last month's trials in Birmingham and then went on to win silver at the European Championships in Helsinki, but she did not have an 'A' standard. Picking her, therefore, meant selecting no-one else as athletes with the 'B' standard can only be selected if no-one with the 'A' is chosen.

All in: Phillips Idowu (triple jump) and Lawrence Okoye (right, discus) will be going for glory at the Games Marilyn Okoro and Emma Jackson, the British number one and two this year who performed poorly at the trials, were also left out, as was Jemma Simpson, who was second in Birmingham. Meadows, who has not raced in 2012 because of an Achilles injury, had indicated before the selection she would appeal if she was left out and she is unlikely to be the only one to do so. UK Athletics head coach Charles van Commenee has already said he is bracing himself for a 'heap of appeals' from desperate athletes. Teenage kicks: Adam Gemili will go against Jamaican speedsters Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake in the 100m Any appeal must be lodged within 24 hours of the team announcement and then heard within 48 hours. The appeals panel consists of UKA chairman Ed Warner, UKA president Lynn Davies and an independent barrister. Okoro was included in the 4x400m relay squad.

Van Commenee, who has set a target of eight medals, including one gold, for the Games, said: 'I am very proud to have nominated such a strong team of athletes to Team GB. Our collective philosophy since Beijing has been one of raising the bar as we work towards London 2012. Going the distance: World 400m hurdle champion Dai Green and defending Olympic 400m champion Christine Ohuruogu (R) will be looking to win in front of their home crowd at the Olympic Stadium 'I believe this team is well prepared to go out there, be competitive and achieve on the greatest sporting stage in front of a home crowd.' Chambers was joined in the squad by another athlete previously barred due to a drugs ban, with Carl Myerscough selected in the shot put. Elsewhere, European champion Rhys Williams took the third spot in the 400m hurdles, world bronze medallist Andy Turner the third spot in the 110m hurdles and Michael Rimmer joined Andrew Osagie in the 800m.

Over she goes: American-born Tiffany Porter will represent Team GB in the hurdles Van Commenee said the decision to pick Sharp in the women's 800m was because she was the athlete in the best form. The UK Athletics head coach also said the other hopefuls had not helped their own cases. He said at a press conference: 'I mentioned it was a selection meeting (to pick GB team) that took six hours. Two hours of those six were spent on one event, the 800m women. 'There were five women in contention, basically, four of them had notable 'A' standards, one, Lynsey Sharp, had a few 'B' standards. On a wing and prayer: 1500m star Hannah England will look to go beyond her silver medal success achieved at last year's World Championships 'The panel had to decide whether to go for one athlete with 'B' standards, or one, two or three on 'A' standards. 'After all the deliberations, thoughts and arguments were compared, it was decided that most important is to have the right performance at the right time. 'Lots of people had the right performance at the wrong time.

Snubbed: 800m runner Jenny Meadows 'Lynsey Sharp has done very good business recently and performed at the trials, beat everybody, did very well at the European Championships, beat athletes who have run 1.57, 1.58, 1.59... she beat Jemma Simpson on both occasions, and we decided that Lynsey Sharp is the one with the best current form. 'This was difficult basically because not one of these athletes actually took control of their own destiny. 'The athletes made it difficult by not doing what they're supposed to do. Once a selection panel has to spend two hours on selection, that's already a bad sign. 'The panel is convinced the athlete is selected who has the best chances to perform at the Games.' Asked his thoughts on the selection of Chambers and Myerscough, Team GB chef de mission Andy Hunt said: 'We always said that once the bylaw fell away, any athlete who is eligible to compete for Team GB would be welcomed into the team. 'There is no two-tier team, we will absolutely treat every athlete in the same way.

We'll give every athlete the same support and I expect every athlete in a similar way to commit to being part of Team GB and everything that stands up for.' On whether he was concerned other athletes might not embrace the duo in the same way, Hunt added: 'No I'm not worried about that at all. 'I think we've been very clear, we will embrace any athlete, including those you've named, into the team. They were welcomed into the team and will be given the best support and hopefully achieve the best performance possible.

I'm very happy about that.' Great expectations: Mo Farah will be hoping to deliver success in the 5000m and 10,000m events GOING TO THE GAMES: TEAM GB's TRACK AND FIELD SQUAD MEN Dai Greene misses out on World Championship spot in Beijing - Wales Online Sport Dai Greene misses out on World Championship spot in Beijing While setting a season’s best time of 49.85 seconds for fifth in the 400m hurdles at the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games in London, it was still short of the required mark of 49.50 seconds Share Dai Greene competes in the mens 400m hurdles during day two of the Sainsbury's Anniversary Games (Photo: Paul Gilham/Getty Images) Share Get rugby updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email It was always going to be a race against the clock for hurdler Dai Greene to make the World Championships this year, and injury again put paid to any slim hopes of a late push at this weekend’s Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games.

World 400m hurdles champion back in 2011, Greene only made his competitive return this season at the British Championships in Birmingham following a year littered with injuries. He finished third then back at the start of the month although the 29-year-old continued to harbour faint hopes he could do enough to convince selectors to give him a shot in Beijing. A race was scheduled last week – but suspected appendicitis dashed any hopes of competing – leaving Saturday’s competition at the London Olympic Stadium as his last chance to post a qualifying standard time. But while setting a season’s best time of 49.85 seconds for fifth, it was still short of the required mark of 49.50 seconds. And afterwards Greene admitted it had been a battle just to get on the start line. “I had a few injury niggles going into it so I had a few injections to get through the pain,” said Greene. “But I knew it was the last chance in terms of qualifying. Sadly it wasn’t quite there. Give it another race or two, warmer climates, certainly it’s there to be had. “It’s a case of running out of time for me.

My season was majorly delayed from the start and I’ve been fighting to get back since then. “I was due to race last week but it was farcical, I was in hospital on race day with suspected appendicitis. “It’s just been one thing after another. If I’d run last week and this week, I think I probably would have got it between the two races. It’s just been really difficult the last fortnight, both mentally and physically. “I think I’ve had my fair share of bad luck this year. Last year I had problems all winter but this year I’ve had a great winter but the summer has disappeared before I’ve even known about it.” There was at least one silver lining among the troubled skies for Greene, who got to return to the stadium where he finished fourth at London 2012. But while enjoying the chance to soak up the home support again, the Welsh hurdler admitted he would have loved to have put on more of a show. “It’s nice to be back out there competing,” he added. “I did love being back here, I love racing so it’s been good to be back on the start line.

“I know I’m in good shape to get the standard but I just haven’t shown that yet, which is the most frustrating. That’s just the event. The other guys have run the times and there’s not much I can do. “I would have liked a bit better weather but the experience as a whole was great. Everyone has done a great job to get me to the start line. “I haven’t really thought past this weekend. We’ll see what they have to say about selection. There’s not really much on the calendar. It’s just unfortunate I seem to be back racing at the wrong time.” Dina Asher-Smith could scarcely comprehend her achievement after becoming the first British woman to break the 11-second barrier for the 100 metres. The 19-year-old history student announced her arrival as a world-class force by clocking 10.99 seconds. The Londoner was a box carrier at London 2012, but her achievement on her return to the Olympic Stadium, while only ranking her 17th in the world this year, marked a watershed moment in British women's sprinting.

It was in the heat where she lowered her own British record by 0.03secs, before having to settle for fourth place in the final in 11.06s, still a time only one other British athlete has bettered. Asher-Smith, who in the last two months has run three of the four fastest times ever by a British woman, said: "I'm in the 10 seconds now so I'm absolutely over the moon. "I felt like I was in good shape, but feeling in good shape and then doing it are two very different things. "When I crossed the line and saw the time I was beaming. I'm really, really happy. I was like, 'What on earth have I just run'? "I've still got work to do. In both races there is stuff to work on so hopefully I can go a bit faster." Holland's Dafne Schippers won the final in a Dutch record 10.92. Asher-Smith is not certain to run the 100m at the World Championships in Beijing in a month's time. The 200m is also an option and she has ruled out doubling up. "The selectors (decide)," she said.

"It's their team so they make the selection." Asher-Smith's British record was followed moments later by another, this time for Shara Proctor in the long jump, as the Anguilla-born athlete soared out to 6.98m with the last attempt of the competition. Proctor, who improved her national record by 3cm to take victory, said: "I didn't see this coming. "I pulled out a 6.98m today so definitely seven metres is right there. A few little technical tweaks and it'll be right there. "This stadium is very special. I remember being here for the Olympics and I didn't get the result I wanted, but today I came back and redeemed myself." Jessica Ennis-Hill insists she is still not certain to go to the World Championships in despite producing her three best performances since London 2012 on her return to the Olympic Stadium. The 29-year-old produced a 6.37 metres long jump and a 23.49 seconds 200m on Saturday, to go with the 12.79secs she ran over the 100m hurdles the day before.

The Olympic heptathlon champion said her performances had made her "a lot more positive" about her prospects for Beijing, having only returned to competition in May following the birth of her son Reggie. But the Sheffield athlete maintained she would only travel to China if she felt she could challenge for a medal, with defending her Olympic title in Rio next summer the key target. Her fellow multi-eventer Katarina Johnson-Thompson is also aiming for a medal of any colour, having been forced to adjust her goal from gold or nothing, after revealing her preparation has been hampered by a quad problem for the past three weeks. Johnson-Thompson finished fourth in the long jump with 6.50m, with Ennis-Hill seventh, as Anguilla-born Shara Proctor took victory in a new British record 6.98m. Ennis-Hill, who was eighth in the 200m, and coach Toni Minichiello are set to make a decision over her participation in Beijing by Monday, with the Great Britain team announced the following day. "I am making progress and my times are coming down. I'm really happy with this weekend," Ennis-Hill said. "I definitely feel a lot more positive.

I feel the training I've done over the past few weeks has made a big difference. "It's an amazing atmosphere here, the track's amazing, but that's going to be the case in Beijing as well so I feel happy I've been able to raise my standards in this environment. "I need to sit down with Toni. He'll probably go, 'No, no', or 'Yes, yes'. He's kind of been up and down, it's going to be an interesting conversation. "I've done three events this weekend. It's given me a good indication of where my speed is, but I've got to make sure that my other events are going well. "I'm towards the end of my career. I've had an amazing career already and achieved so much. So Rio is the main thing for me and I want that to go the right way. "The World Championships this year was always going to be a massive bonus. I know things can go wrong in the heptathlon, but if I feel I can contend for a silver medal and things go wrong and I come away with a bronze medal I'd be absolutely ecstatic with that performance.

I want to win a medal." If this weekend was the acid test of her fitness for Beijing, though, Ennis-Hill passed with flying colours. She added more than 20 centimetres to her season's best in the long jump and backed her 6.37m effort up with another of 6.28m. Her 100m hurdles run on Friday night was emphatic proof her speed has returned and her 200m, in a world-class field, also offered encouragement. Johnson-Thompson, Ennis-Hill's heir apparent in the heptathlon, was down on her best in the long jump, but she declared herself "completely happy" given her injury-troubled build-up. The Liverpool athlete, who also battled a knee problem after winning European pentathlon gold in March, said: "Considering the preparation I've had for it I'm over the moon, and the fact I've come out of it not injured, healthy and happy.

"I need to concentrate on Beijing, which I've got four weeks for to do a proper build-up to a competition for once." Asked if she had been worried about missing the World Championships, she said: "I was worried about it before this competition but now I'm completely fine." This was the first time Ennis-Hill and Johnson-Thompson had gone head to head since the former's return to the sport and her younger rival urged her to go to Beijing. "I said to her she has to do it now considering what she did yesterday and today in the long jump, so I'm sure she'll be there," said Johnson-Thompson. Elsewhere, Ennis-Hill's fellow Super Saturday gold medallist Greg Rutherford had to settle for third in the long jump with 8.18m. Great Britain's 4x100m relay team of Richard Kilty, Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, James Ellington and Chijindu Ujah held off the French quartet by 0.02 to take victory in 38.32.

Kenya's David Rudisha, back at the stadium where he won Olympic gold and broke the 800m world record, had to settle for second behind Botswana's Nijel Amos. Sainsbury’s is a proud partner of British Athletics. The partnership reflects Sainsbury’s wider commitment to inspiring healthy lifestyles for all, and complements grassroots campaigns such as Active Kids and the Sainsbury’s School Games. Like us on Facebook Most Read Most Recent Most Read Most Recent Dai Greene - Team GB - London 2012 Olympics - Telegraph Height: 185cm / 6ft 1in Weight: 77kg / 12st 1lb I can't think of a single reason why my epilepsy would stop me winning a medal in 2012. Career highlights: Crowned Commonwealth and European champion in 2010 and clinched 2011 World Championship title in dramatic fashion in 48.26secs for GB's first gold in Daegu. He recorded a personal best in July's Diamond League meeting in Paris with 47.84secs and will captain Team GB's athletics squad at London 2012.

RANDOM FACT He has written a 10,000-word dissertation on the science behind success in hurdles. Hopefully his rivals haven't read it. How it all began: Swansea City FC offered him a contract when he was 16 but he refused to sign because he no longer enjoyed the game after an aggressive football coach knocked his confidence. He switched to athletics and after a couple of seasons on the track, his natural ability for hurdling became obvious and he began competing in elite competitions. RANDOM FACT He suffers from epilepsy and uses the strict diet and training regime of a professional athlete to keep his condition under control.

Biggest Disappointment: Thoughts on Justin Gatlin: from Seb Coe, Dai Greene, Renaldo Nehemiah, from EME News - RunBlogRun RunBlogRun By Larry Eder on October 7, 2014 4:45 PM | 0 Comments Justin Gatlin, September 2014, photo by PhotoRun.net Seb Coe, photo by PhotoRun.net Dai Greene, photo by PhotoRun.net Renaldo Nehemiah, Kirani James, Harvey Glance, photo by PhotoRun.net There has been a huge controversy surrounding Justin Gatlin being named as a candidate for the IAAF Athlete of the Year. His performances show that he is undefeated at 100m and 200m in 2014. Justin Gatlin was the best sprinter of 2014, not much argument there. The issue is this: Justin Gatlin served four years for a positive drug test in 2006, which he still denies. In American culture, when one serves time, they are supposed to get a second chance. Gatlin obviously has been tested not only while he served the ban, but also since he began training.

In British sports culture, a drug positive is a drug cheat and many believe that they should not be allowed to compete, period. Doping in athletics is the chancre just below the surface of our sport. How can one call athletes "convicted dopers" when they have never been tried in a court of law? How can USADA and WADA develop a program that get the support of all of the federations? Do we give athletes who dope second chances or not? Does the IAAF allow athletes to compete, but no dopers get to be Athletes of Year? These questions and others must be answered for us to put a strong and useful program for reversing the damage that doping has has done to athletes. I have added just a few comments, from Sebastian Coe, Dai Greene and Renaldo Nehemiah. Your comments? Send to [email protected] GATLIN NEWS LONDON (GBR): IAAF Vice President Sebastian Coe has said that he has "big problems" with Justin Gatlin's presence on the IAAF Athlete of the Year shortlist, inform AP. "I think you'd be pretty surprised if I did sit here and was sanguine about that.

I personally have big problems with that," said the former middle distance star, who is in the running to be the next IAAF president. BATH (GBR): Top British hurdler Dai Greene feels that Justin Gatlin's spectacular 2014 season has been fueled by performance enhancing drugs, report the BBC. He believes that Gatlin's 2014 success, which included 9.77 and 19.68 clockings for 100m and 200m respectively, show one of two things; "either he's still taking performance-enhancing drugs to get the best out of him at his advanced age, or the ones he did take are still doing a fantastic job. "Because there is no way he can still be running that well at this late point in his career. "After having years on the sidelines, being unable to train or compete, it doesn't really add up. 9.77 is an incredibly fast time. You only have to look at his performances. I don't believe in them." LONDON (GBR): Gatlin's agent, former 110 m hurdles world record holder Renaldo Nehemiah, defended his client. Informs BBC.

"Justin would have run these times, and faster, had his overzealous coach, Trevor Graham, not tried to get him there sooner than he would've naturally gotten there," Nehemiah told the BBC, mentioning the coach Gatlin worked under when he failed a drug test in 2006. So, what Justin is doing right now, I'm not surprised by that. His body is rested for four years, so he wasn't racing. And he was the talent that I always knew he was. It's between the rest, and the talent that he always had, and the determination to prove everyone wrong, to prove that he was always this good." RESTON (USA): Agent Renaldo Nehemiah also confirmed that Justin Gatlin will not compete during the coming indoor season but concentrate on summer. It has logic behind as for US athletes during the 2015 indoor no global event is in the calendar. Next World Indoor Championships are planned for 2016 in Portland, USA. Nehemiah also added that Gatlin was tested multiple times this year out and in the competition.

by Athletics Weekly June 6, 2014 Christian Malcolm not among 33 athletes selected for Wales at Commonwealth Games in Glasgow A 33-strong Wales team has been selected for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games where Dai Greene will look to return to his winning ways and defend his 400m hurdles title. The 2011 world champion hasn’t competed since the IAAF World Championships in Moscow last August where he failed to make the final, having struggled with illness and injury. His season’s best came when winning the British title in July with a 48.66 clocking. He will be joined at the Games by fellow hurdler Rhys Williams, who claimed bronze behind Greene in Delhi in 2010 and ran a season’s best of 50.00 to win the Welsh Championships last weekend. The team, which combines a mix of more experienced athletes with those competing at their first major championship, has been set a target of four medals by Sport Wales.

Among those hoping to help the team meet that target is world and Paralympic discus champion Aled Davies who recently threw 48.69m in Italy to break a 12-year-old world F42 record. He is joined by the likes of fellow throws athletes Lee Doran, Brett Morse and Ryan Spencer-Jones. Back on the track and Hannah Brier has had her spot on the 4x100m squad confirmed, the 16-year-old sprinter having recently broken Sallyanne Short’s 30-year-old Welsh under-17 100m record with an 11.57 clocking. Also on the sprint relay squad are fellow Commonwealth Games debutantes Rachel Johncock, Mica Moore, Hannah Thomas and Lucy Evans, with Brier, Thomas, Moore and Johncock having set a Welsh record of 45.17 at the recent Loughborough International. Brier is the youngest member of the Welsh team and will travel to Glasgow along with the likes of Chris Gowell in the 1500m, Dewi Griffiths in the 10,000m and Sally Peake in the pole vault.

There was disappointment, though, for Christian Malcolm. The sprinter had been hoping to compete in his fifth Commonwealth Games but struggling for form due to injury he failed to make the 200m final at the Welsh Championships and has been overlooked. “I have been stunned by the response of the Welsh athletes to the impending Commonwealth Games in Glasgow – their performance levels over recent weeks have sky-rocketed,” said national performance coach Scott Simpson. “We have selected one of the largest-ever athletics contingents – something that truly reflects the strength and depth of the sport in Wales at this point in time. My congratulations go out to all those athletes, and their coaches, who have worked so hard over the last four years to achieve this selection.” The Commonwealth Games take place from July 23 – August 3, with athletics action getting under way on July 27.

Wales team for Glasgow 2014 Men: 800m: Joe Thomas*, Gareth Warburton 1500m: Chris Gowell 10,000m: Adam Bitchell, Dewi Griffiths Marathon: Andrew Davies 400m hurdles: Dai Greene, Rhys Williams F42 discus: Aled Davies Montreal set to host track & field meet with a twist | Official Canadian Olympic Team Website | Team Canada | 2016 Olympic Games Montreal set to host track & field meet with a twist February 20, 2015 Total Shares From February 20-22 in Montreal, Athletics Canada will play host to the 2015 Canadian Indoor Open Championship. Although the competition is intended primarily for youth and junior level athletes, the event will also help many Olympians prepare for an busy upcoming track and field season featuring the Pan American Games in Toronto and the World Championships in Beijing. The weekend also has a celebrity twist that will include a top winter Olympian. Webcast available beginning Friday at 5:30 p.m.

ET For preparation, many Athletics Canada stars are in Montreal, including Alex Genest , who will be competing in the men’s 1500m event on Saturday; middle-distance runner Melissa Bishop is in the women’s 800m race; decathlete Damian Warner will compete in the long jump; and Jessica Zelinka will be in the women’s shot-put event. The men’s 600m race will be a major draw for fans at the Claude Robillard Sports Complex, which could be the setting for a world indoor record. Fans in attendance will be able to see athletes such as Dominican Lugelin Santos, 400m silver medallist at London 2012, and British Olympian David “Dai” Green, 2011 World Champion in the 400m hurdles, rise to the challenge in this three-lap race. Quebecker Charles Philibert-Thiboutot, Torontonian Philip Osei, American Mark Wieczorek, Columbian Rafith Rodriguez and Jamaican Errol Nolan will also be competing. There may be some elbowing, as the seven runners don’t have their own designated lanes.

Olympic relay champion Bruny Surin has invited celebrities to race for his foundation, which aims to motivate young people to choose healthy lifestyles. The event will begin with a bang on Friday at the Bruny Surin Celebrity Speed Challenge, to raise funds for the sprinter’s foundation, which aims to motivate kids and young students to embrace healthy lifestyles. “As a retired athlete, one of my goals is to get youth off the couch and into playing sports,” Surin said on the event’s official site. The list of participants includes Olympic Winter Games champion, Alex Bilodeau . Here is the list of celebrities who will be racing in the 60m Speed Challenge. Bruny Surin – Olympic gold medallist (a recent injury may rule him out) Lucian Bute – former light heavyweight world champion Jessica Zelinka – two-time Olympian Firas Zahabi – head trainer at TriStar Gym Étienne Boulay – three-time Grey Cup champion Georges Laraque – former NHL player Alex Bilodeau – two-time Olympic gold medallist Jeremy Filosa – media personality with 98.5 FM Montréal Patrick Côté – feature fighter at the next UFC 186 event Feature photo via Athletics Canada

Question: British athlete Dai Green competes in which track event?
Answer: Hurdles