RussB

Hilariously the comm called it definitively for Neita which seemed a little bold but the photo made it seem like not all that close which is mad. feels like these champs is a case of what ifs for the british champs. Not sure there are any performances here that will fundamentally change conceptions of medals in Paris. Possibly Charlie D aside although his opener indicated this level of performance.

another near miss. Poor Neita

Possibly. It's a medal at a major meet, but I think for followers of GB athletics, both her and Molly's bronzes will be viewed more as a missed opportunity to win a title.

that 10k couldn't have gone much worse for the GB ladies. Eilesh clearly isn't over the injury despite hopes her body would hold up, Jess not in form this year and disappointing Megan couldn't go with the pace in the last 2 laps.

This morning was a perfect example with the GB 4x1 men crashing out. Neither of the comms noticed this for about 3 minutes until the results came up.

Great run by Toby in the heats, 44.7 leg with taking the baton in traffic. Why I’ve been banging the drum for him on here; think he is into contention for the number 3/4 GB ranking and is moving himself into a favourite for qualifying with the men’s relay squad (possibly the mixed relay too). Charlie with a solid finishing leg of 44.9 from the front too. will be tough to take down Belgium in the final though

Only disagreement from me is I’m not sure I’d have her as preferred to Sekgodiso who has looked very good this year (if one of the big 3 misses the games). Phoebe is green so racecraft, guile and kick off a surging / slow pace is a complete unknown. That’s what makes it exciting with such a young prospect.

Oh of course she will get given the slot almost regardless of where she finishes. My point was more on how it impacts Gemma's build to the games. It's not a good mental buildup to Paris though if that happens on the back of the relative disastrous 1500 showing here. Should be a great race at trials. I'm hoping Keely can drag Phoebe to a PB.

It should be those 3. SHOULD. I just don't fully trust Reekie. I can see a scenario where she tries to go with a hard pace set by Phoebe and then Keely and falls away badly at the end.

This is precisely why I thought it was an odd decision to run the 1500m, but then again heinsight is wonderful and if she would have won I could have definitely accepted the mental boost was worth avoiding Keely. I feel like she should still make the 800m final in Paris but British trials are not going to be easy. In particular with a certain Phoebe Gill to add to the mix of the 800 girls at Europeans.

There were a lot of really bad showings tonight. Not to pile on but Reekie should have been able to blitz that field off such a slow pace (which for some reason she was leading). Dina was also not very impressive if we are to hold expectations of an Olympic individual medal but she did well to come through. best performer of the day by far was Charlie. Think there is genuine hopes he can go very low 44s In the final. Which would put him in the mix for Paris.

I'm not sure what has happened to Victoria O, that was hugely disappointing. The relay team needed her to be on 50s form well done to Lavaia on the small PB, hopefully she can go mid 50s in the final.

I missed this entirely! they won gold by almost 3 minutes!

Great bronze for Calli in the half marathon this morning as well

Amber came third behind two college teammates… winner went 48.89, insane. Made Amber looked pedestrian and she almost went a British record with 49.5

I thought the bronze and silver plus a couple of 4ths today wasn’t bad at all in the round. Molly looking a million dollars was another plus (won’t mention poor Holly B) and Giles making the 800 final is also a positive. looking forward to seeing Dobson tomorrow; see if he can take Doom down in the final should be a good race

I think we are all agreed. I just think we could win an Olympic title if we put our eggs in the mixed relay but they won’t do it for desire for individual honours which to me is preferable than perhaps a bronze in an individual race. keely is our best medal chance for sure. I don’t see Josh being off the podium as Jakob won’t allow the final to be slow and a complete burn up. Pole vault is always a bit variable, Molly had a relatively disastrous showing the other week but hopes are high. It’s on the same night I’m in the stadium in Paris so will be cheering for Molly very loudly!!

Trying not to get too hyped with Phoebe due to her age is really tough, but very keen to follow her progression this summer. Would be incredible if she can make the team. The comment above on MHS and CD I share, I feel they will prioritise the individual and will do the mens relay health permitting. As I said, I’d love it if we prioritised the mixed relay but it’s very unlikely from what we have seen. I have high hopes the older guy Toby H will make the team, did a very solid job in the world relays, it all comes down to trials. Amber and Louie will have that issue of having to peak twice in the same summer which is incredibly tough. I will live in hope they can do it! Poland were indeed very disappointing last night and I have no idea what’s going on with the French ! in terms of medal prospects for Paris I have more confidence in Molly and Kerr (keely the best chance) than I do in MHS but that’s just a personal feeling.

Still, as I hate being negative, some POSITIVE news coming in from the US... Louie Hinchcliffe has taken the men's 100m NCAA title in a new PB of 9.95 with essentially 0 wind to take over the GB lead this year. Exciting career ahead for the Uni of Houston star under the guidance of Carl Lewis. One to watch out for at trials and an intriguing addition to the mixture possibly in terms of the 4x1 [Hughes, Azu, Hinchcliffe form a very solid basis]

They are young but I spoke to a member of the relay squad out in Rome tonight and they admitted the team were very disappointed with their showing. I don't think we should be treating them with cotton wool given the targets have got to be Olympic medals in all 3 relays, but more than this, with the talent in the squad they should be aspiring to be pushing for gold in the mixed and silver in each of the other 2 relays. It was exactly the same story at the world relays, where we had to run an extra race in the mixed because we couldn't get it done in the heat to advance straight to the final. I guess it all comes downs to hopes and expectations. I expect to see at least one of the relay squads in Paris compete for a gold. Accordingly, I'm much more invested in the run-up trials for the team and tonight with a young team just fell very flat for me, not being able to compete for a minor medal at this level. In the individual, I don't hold quite the same expectations, but obviously would be delighted if Charlie, Matt or Amber can shock the bigger favs (I'll be in attendance for the men's 400m so defo hope they both make it through to the final and challenge for medals!). The relay squads will have to be rotated and used in Paris, it's not an event you can blast your starting 4 in both heats and finals, especially with the men's individual being so close to the mixed relay. So it REALLY matters if the 4 athletes tonight make the squad. On the men's side I expect 6 to go; if you take out MHS, Dobson and AHW, then you're looking at who beyond that is going to provide quality back-ups (and a 4th spot in the men's final lineup). Carvell, Davey, Harries, Brodie Young are probably the 4 at the head of the pack but the times are really close. Current PBs of 45 mid to high, both boys ran 45.6s tonight (relay splits obv) with the team pushing for 44 relay splits, that's the target. On the ladies side; again we can assume that Anning, Lavaia Nielsen, Ohurougu all go (barring disaster) then the picture looks very messy. Keely is currently sitting at number 5 in the UK rankings over 400 which is quite shocking, so we are looking at Pipi, Lina, Yeargin, Kelly, Newnham, Mary John (another at NCAA finals) to make that jump and move into the low 51s or high 50s on their individual PB. That's what the team needs to take the next step forward, and that's what I'm hoping they can do (preferably in the near future!).

KJT is one of the small number of nailed on medal chances for Paris, so her performances carry a significant weight in my mind when judging the performances. This goes for the 4x4 as well. The 4 who ran were very disappointing which is dampening what otherwise would be buoyant hopes in Paris with the performances of Amber, MHS and Charlie to name the obvious 3, with promising support from others (Nielsen La. & Nicole Yeargin in particular). It is these two performances that caused my view. I agree with the poster above about them getting on my nerves. You have a competitive women's, men's and mixed teams, but the approach (either from athletes or management or both) seems to be not to be doing everything we can to maximise the relays, with a focus on the individuals. Getting the team settled and practise racing in competition is vital. We saw today with the mess of the first leg changeover this is not something to just ignore. I understand you have NCAAs (meaning Amber was never going to race here) and MHS/Charlie focusing on their own individual chances but I look at Ireland and wish our team had the same approach. Get your fastest runners to competitions like the world relays / Europeans, know what you're doing and be ready for Paris. The second wave is simply not good enough at this moment in time. I genuinely think there is a slight but real gold medal chance (or a strong silver/bronze chance) if we prioritised the mixed relay and put out a team of MHS, Dobson, Anning and Nielsen. Maybe that still is "the plan" for Paris but the vibes would indicate otherwise. The other performances were exactly as you said, very much what you'd expect, which in Olympic year is still disappointing. You're really hoping people can make a big step up on the European scene and become ones to watch later in the summer. That is a high bar admittedly but no one did this aside from to an extent Fincham Dukes in my mind. Morgan not jumping the auto qualifying height was disappointing, and I'm not sure we saw anything from the others that will translate into a medal threat. If Reekie wins the 1500m then that's a European title but I don't see how it will directly improve her chances in Paris...she still has a little way to go to get to the very top of the 800m global class (but is in the next group behind the big 3/possibly 4 depending on your viewpoint) & I don't see her trying to enter the 1500 in Paris. Maybe with rose-tinted glasses on you can argue the confidence of a title will propel her forward. Hopefully day 2 will bring more positive results, some PBs and some momentum to the team for the rest of the meet.

Well talk about a thoroughly miserable and downheartening day of athletics from GBR. It's clear KJT is not getting anywhere near Thiam this year, and the mixed relay was quite pathetic in all honesty. I know we don't have any of our actual big guns at this meet, but none of the 4 running tonight on this performance should be getting into any of the relay squads. Sole bright spots go to the solid long jump qualification and Reekie in the 1500m, although not sure I really understand the game plan for Reekie running the 1500m here. Perhaps its some endurance work because I'd be staggered if she goes to trials over 15 over the 8.

MATTHEW HUDSON SMITH WITH A 44.07 EUROPEAN RECORD! Yeesh.

Yep my comment isn’t writing them off but more to say I have GBR in 3rd behind USA and China as it stands right now. Bronze will be competitive for sure

Yeah think this is right. I don’t see France breaking into the top 3 as it stands. The final in Paris will be a step up from Fukuoka looking at the progression of some squads, e.g. GBR who I didn’t have as medal contenders but the progression of Morgan and Peaty puts them bang in the frame (all hopes on Jimmy regaining his fly ability!)