Brits at home in Lausanne in the rain!

Brits at home in Lausanne in the rain!

I had to decide between the  Lausanne and Brussels Diamond Leagues. I made the right decision! I’m sitting in a hotel in Brussels watching the Lausanne Meet on television. It is a pleasant evening in Brussels, whereas in Lausanne, to use a British idiom, it is raining cats and dogs. Steady, heavy rain is making almost every event more challenging for the athletes. High jumpers are starting competition at a much lower height, field eventers are worried about their footholds, track athletes look absolutely miserable, and the times reflect that. Rain in Europe, and indeed in Switzerland, is not remotely rare, but it seems particularly ironic this year, when so much of Europe has been dealing with heatwaves. Unfortunate too for Lausanne’s 50th birthday.

The first thing to say as we assess the British performances is that times are meaningless given the constant heavy rain. The highlight of the evening was the women’s 800m with Keely Hodkinson facing her training partner, Georgia Hunter Bell. Remember the context.  This was Keely’s second race since Paris last year, due to a series of injuries, and her previous one was before Tokyo. Georgia is definitely going to Tokyo, but is it to run the 800, the 1500, or both? And did tonight’s race help the decision? It proved to be a high-speed race despite the conditions, with nine girls finishing under 2 minutes. Keely won with some aggressive front-running.  Her time was 1:55.69 (compared to 1:54.74 in Silesia last week). Georgia was never in contention but was coasting home in second when Audrey Werro passed her to take second place. Georgia’s time was 1:57.35.

Keely commented afterwards, “I felt great after Silesia and came straight here, so there has been a lot of waiting around for today. In a race like tonight, when the pace goes like that, you forget about everyone else, and it paid off with a solid performance. I couldn’t have asked for a better start this season. Now it is just the GB preparation camp and Tokyo, “Georgia said.” It was a little cold and wet, but coming from England, we can’t really complain about the rain. I still wanted to run quicker. I think I am capable of running a 1:55, but I need the right race and the right conditions. Next week I will be in the…