Rafa Maciel

Impressive line-up of Brits in the entry lists for 65th Mt. Sacs Relays from 17th April: Men: Tade Ojora - 110m Hurdles Yusuf Bizimana - 800m / 1500m Ricky Harvie - 3000m Steeple Zac Seddon - 3000m Steeple Efe Uwaifo - Triple Jump Bayley Campbell - Hammer Lawrence Okoye - Discus Jack Turner - Decathlon Women: Dina Asher-Smith - 100m / 200m Yemi John - 400m Victoria Ohuruogu - 200m / 400m Chay Clark - 400m Hurdles Jessica Tappin - 400m Hurdles Poppy Tank - 3000m Steeple Temi Ojora - Triple Jump Anna Purchase - Hammer Definitely get the feeling that the athletes have started their season a bit earlier than usual as they go in search of the all important Olympic qualifying standards.

Looking increasingly likely that we could have a pretty strong squad going to the Bahamas if the number of Brits in action in big US meets over the next week or so is anything to go by. That would tie in with them being available for the training camp in Florida from 18th April.

Was more thinking about the run up to London with stories about venues not being finished on time, the predictions of traffic chaos and how people would be too scared to come after the London riots.

GB Boxing squad announced for next week's Gee Bee Tournament in Finland Scott Richards - M51Kg Cameron McKay - M63.5Kg Kelsey Oakley - F50Kg Lucy Kings-Wheatley - F60Kg I think it is safe to say that competing next week will likely mean that these 4 are out of consideration for the final Olympic qualification tournament in Bangkok. Joining them on the squad are Olympic qualified Rosie Eccles F66Kg and Cindy Ngamba W75Kg

You're right that there are always scare stories in the run up to a games but there's more substance behind this issue than most given they had to cancel the swimming in the triathlon Olympic test event last year.

Katarina Johnson Thompson got her outdoor season underway last week competing in three events in Florida at Hurricane Invitational. She clocked 13.70 seconds in the 100m hurdles. That is marginally faster than her 2023 opener. In the long jump, she went out to 6.05m which is a modest start to the season. Finally, in the 200m, she clocked 24.28 seconds.

Women's Endurance events Women's Team Pursuit: Confirmed Quotas: Women's Madison: Confirmed Quotas from Team Pursuit: Safe Individual Quotas: Contested Quotas: - 4585 -------------- - 4482 - 4262 The last quota place should come down to a straightforward fight between Uzbekistan and Hong Kong. Mexico could be in the mix, but they probably have too much to do to be able to close the gap. Uzbekistan are not competing in Milton so it will all come down to what Hong Kong can achieve. Hong Kong will need to finish at least 10th to be able to overtake Uzbekistan. Generally, they have been finishing in the range of 10th-12th so whilst it will be difficult, it's not impossible. Given I used to live in Hong Kong, I've got my fingers crossed that they are able to do enough to get the final quota. Women's Omnium: Confirmed Quotas from Team Pursuit: Expected Quotas from Madison: Safe Individual Quotas: Continental Quota: Contested Quotas: - 2015.50 ----------------- - 1854.50 If Uzbekistan hold on and take the final Madison quota, then there are unlikely to be any contested quotas in the Omnium. Hong Kong would take the final individual quota. If there is a contested quota, Czechia have quite a high bar in order for them to be able to increase their points total as they would need to finish 9th or better but it's not any easier for Spain because although they have a lower discard score, in order to be able to overtake Czechia they would need to finish at least 10th. Czechia should therefore be safe for the final quota - but they need Hong Kong to help them out by taking the quota in the Madison.

Before the action kicks off tomorrow, I thought I'd take a look at the individual track events to see if we are likely to see and changes as a result of Milton. Men's Team Pursuit: Confirmed Quotas: In my opinion, the Olympic field is set - China could spring a surprise and overtake Belgium, but the two teams have been equally matched across the season so it would seem to be unlikely. At a minimum, China need to finish at least 7th and hope that Belgium have an absolute nightmare in order for them to be in with any real chance. Men's Madison: Confirmed Quotas from Team Pursuit: Safe Individual Quotas: Contested Quotas: - 4750 - 4621 --------------- - 4398 All three are counting 2 NC events from 2024 and all have similar discard scores of 10th or 11th. It will be difficult for Switzerland to be able to do enough to overtake Czechia to get into the last quota spot - they'd need to finish at least 8th and keep 3 places between themselves and Czechia. That is something that they have not been able to do so far in the qualification window so it looks like both Austria and Czechia should qualify for Paris. Men's Omnium: Confirmed Quotas from Team Pursuit: Expected Quotas from Madison: Safe Individual Quotas: Continental Quota: Contested Quotas: - 1432 - 1394 --------------- - 1231 - 1189 There is potential for change in the final quotas in this event. Colombia should be safe as they have only competed in 2 NC events across the last 2 years whereas Indonesia is already counting their two 2024 NC events. Kazakhstan will need to finish higher than 16th to be able to overtake Indonesia. Hong Kong may have left themselves with too much to do after their poor result in the 2nd leg of last year's NC. For the continental quota, Egypt will be safe by virtue of the fact that South Africa are not competing in Milton despite being just 40 points off the quota. If I was a betting man, I'd say that Colombia and Kazakhstan will likely take the last 2 quotas for the men's endurance events.

IFSC World Cup: Boulder - Keqiao Men's Final: 1.) Tomoa Narasaki - 2 tops/4 zones 2.) Sorato Anraku - 2 tops/4 zones 3.) Hannes Van Duysen - 2 tops/3 zones 4.) Toby Roberts - 2 tops/3 zones 5.) Sam Avezou - 2 tops/3 zones 6.) Meichi Narasaki - 2 tops/2 zones 7.) Chon Jongwon - 1 top/4 zones 8.) Jakob Schubert -1 top/4 zones 9.) Max Milne - 1 top/3 zones 10.) Jan Luca Posch - 1 top/3 zones

Roberts finishes in 4th place with 2 tops and 1 zone. He ultimately misses out on the bronze medal because he took more attempts than Van Duysen. Although he misses the podium at this comp, if those scores were to be replicated at the Olympics, going into the lead section Roberts would be really well placed for a medal. Max Milne ultimately finished in 9th with 1 top/3 zones and Dayan Akhtar was in 19th with 1 zone.

There's high hopes for Roberts after the huge progress he made last year - he's world number 2 in combined boulder/lead so it would be surprising if there wasn't talk of a podium for him. It will be tough though with the strength and depth of the Japanese and the Korean teams amongst others. If Roberts can keep it close in the boulder stage, then he will have a great chance when it comes to lead. Prior to last year, Roberts was regarded more as a lead specialist but he has put in a huge amount of work in on his boulder technique and he is becoming a lot more consistent in his result. As for the rest of the GB squad, there's a lot of new names coming into the squad and we've got quite a few qualified for the OQS. It's not out of the question that we could end up with another couple of athletes qualified for Paris.

Brits in action this weekend: Tom Jones Memorial Invitational: Jona Efoloko - 100m / 200m Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake - 200m Matt Hudson-Smith - 400m Efekemo Okoro - 400m / 400m Hurdles Joe Breir - 400m Alistair Chambers - 400m Hurdles Josh Zeller - 110m Hurldes Finette Agyapong - 100m / 200m Imani Lansiquot - 100m / 200m Nia Wedderburn-Goodison - 100m / 200m Bianca Williams - 100m / 200m Ama Pipi - 200m Jodie Williams - 200m / 400m Amber Anning - 200m / 400m Nicole Yeargin - 400m Victoria Ohuruogu - 400m Cindy Sember - 100m Hurdles Isabel Wakefield - 100m Hurdles Pacific Coast Invitational: Jessica Tappin - 400m Hurdles Chay Clark - 400m Dan Putnam - 400m

Diamond League update: Leg 5 - Eugene (25-May) Women's 800m - Keely Hodgkinson will face off against Mary Moraa and Athing Mu.

IFSC World Cup: Boulder - Keqiao Men's Finalists: 1.) Sorato Anraku 1.) Toby Roberts 3.) Tomoa Narasaki 3.) Ritsu Kayotani 5.) Hannes Van Duysen 5.) Satone Yoshida 7.) Meichi Narasaki 7.) Sam Avezou 9.) Colin Duffy 9.) Nicolai Uznik 11.) Chon Jongwon 11.) Anze Peharc 13.) Jakob Schubert 13.) Ram Levin 15.) Lee Dohyun 15.) Mickael Mawem 17.) Jan Luca Posch 17.) Yuji Fujiwaki 19.) Max Milne 19.) Dayan Akhtar

Toby Roberts qualifies for the final in Keqiao in second place with 4 tops and 5 zones. Max Milne (2 top/5 zone) and Dayan Akhtar (3 top/5 zone) also made it through to the extended final.

Logistically, gymnastics and netball are relatively easy to stage - you just need a big enough sports hall. Netball could even be played outside.

Brownlee seems to have gone AWOL - he hasn't competed on the main circuit since Pontevedra in September. OK Abu Dhabi was cancelled, but he wasn't on the start list there either. Yet there is still talk that the is in great shape to get a spot in Paris. I can't see it myself. I think there is a decent depth of GB men that are beginning to make some progress at the World Cup level and hopefully we'll start to see them competing in more of the WTCS events.

I certainly didn't see this coming - GB have been awarded a wildcard for the women's handball Olympic qualification tournament They are replacing Cameroon and will be up against Sweden, Hungary, and Japan. Top 2 go to Paris. How hilarious would it be if we failed to qualify in football but somehow manage to get a spot in handball.

athletes in the 2024 Wanda Diamond League: Leg 1 - Xiamen (20-Apr) Men's 800m - Ethan Hussey Aimee Pratt was apparently on the initial start list for the 300m Steeplechase but she's not on it anymore. Leg 2 - Shanghai/Suzhou (27-Apr) Leg 3 - Doha (10-May) Women's 800m Jemma Reekie Women's Pole Vault - Molly Caudery Leg 4 - Rabat/Marrakech (19-May) Leg 5 - Eugene (25-May) Bowerman Mile - Josh Kerr Will be interesting to see how many other Brits make the start lists. Not expecting many in the Chinese double header but we should see a few more by the time we get to Doha and Rabat.

Start lists are out for the WTCS in Yokohama Men: Alex Yee Barclay Izzard Women: Beth Potter Kate Waugh Sophie Coldwell Olivia Mathias

To be fair, given how the budget for Victoria was allowed to spiral out of control and the fact that if it goes wrong this time, it would pretty much guarantee the end of the Games, any host city/nation would face a higher degree of scrutiny and control.

Track Cycling Quota Simulation ahead of final qualifying event in Milton. As I've said before, I think the team pursuit quotas are now set. The situation for team sprints - both men and women - is still to be finalised. Ahead of Milton kicking off at the weekend, I'll try to take a look at the individual events to see what needs to happen to move the dial for the individual quotas.

Although if I was the CGF I would want to be exercising some degree of control over how that money is being spent.

Bear in mind that they will be getting paid to host though and if they already have the infrastructure in place from the African games, then so long as they don't go nuts with the size and scale of it, then the actual cost of hosting could be pretty negligible in the grand scheme of things.

IFSC World Cup: Boulder - Keqiao Women's Final: 1.) Janja Garnbret - (4 top/4 zone) She really was the class of the competition with 10 flash efforts out of 13 obstacles. 2.) Camilla Moronia - (2 top / 3 zone) She was the last qualifier for the final so a great result for her 3.) Luo Zhilu - (2 top / 2 zone) 4.) Zelia Avezou - (1 top / 3 zone) 5.) Erin McNeice - (1 top / 2 zone) 6.) Anon Matsufji - (1 top / 2 zone)