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The double Olympic champion said: "I am very disappointed that I have been forced to withdraw. "I can hardly walk at the moment and I won't be able to do any running for two or three weeks although I'll be keeping fit as best I can." Holmes will have now have intensive treatment in South Africa. |
The 34-year-old made a cautious start to the season but looked back to her best when she stormed to the 1,000m title at the Birmingham Grand Prix 10 days ago. After that race and more progress in training, Holmes revealed she had decided to compete at the European Indoors before her plans were wrecked last weekend. "On Saturday night I pulled my hamstring running the last bend on my final 200m of the night," said Holmes. "I was going really, really well when I felt a massive spasm in my left leg and my hamstring blew. "I saw the doctor here and he has said it is not serious but it's frustrating missing Madrid when I knew I was in great shape." Holmes has now been advised by her coach Margot Jennings not to rush back into training and it is unlikely she will compete again until the summer. Helen Clitheroe now goes to Madrid as the only British competitor in the women's 1500m while there will be no representative in the 800m. |
Kluft impressed by Sotherton form |
Olympic heptathlon champion Carolina Kluft was full of admiration for Britain's Kelly Sotherton as the pair prepared to clash in Birmingham. |
Both will be in action on Friday in the 60m hurdles and long jump ahead of the European Indoor Championships later this month in Madrid. Sotherton finished third behind the Swede in Athens, and Kluft said: "I knew about her, she's a great girl. "She looked very good early in the season and was competing really well." Kluft showed impressive early-season form on Tuesday in Stockholm's GE Galan meeting, winning the sprint hurdles, the long jump and the 400m. Sotherton has also displayed promise, with a new high jump personal best in Sheffield at the combined Norwich Union European trials and AAA Championships, and a second place in the long jump behind Jade Johnson. |
What now for Kelly Holmes? |
Last April, Kelly Holmes spoke to the BBC Sport website about her loneliness, her fight to stay fit and her decision not to contest both the 800m and 1500m at the Olympics. |
It just goes to show even the most meticulous and measured athletes cannot predict what fate has in store for them. Four months later, Holmes stormed to double Olympic gold and has since been made a Dame, won the BBC Sport Personality of the Year and written a book whilst still finding time to coach aspiring athletes. With so much time spent in the spotlight, Holmes has increasingly dropped hints that her ambition on the track has begun to wilt. And when asked about her plans for both the indoor and outdoor seasons ahead, the 34-year-old has repeatedly chosen to tick the "don't know" box. Holmes has now pulled out of this weekend's European Indoor Championships, where she was selected for both the 800m and 1500m, because of a hamstring injury. But should we be surprised if the Olympic champion over both those distances decides she just does not feel like racing anymore? "Well, it's a lot easier being the double Olympic champion, being feted by everybody, than training to be at the top in middle distance running," points out former Olympian and BBC pundit Steve Cram. "You have to have a real strong desire to carry on doing it even if you're very talented." |
Holmes' drive and determination have always been unquestionable - that is the reason she has battled back from a string of injuries that threatened to see her finish her career empty-handed. But alarm bells start ringing when the Kent athlete begins questioning herself. "Will I have as much commitment, desire and energy to go through a major championship?" Holmes asked in the New Year. "That is what I don't know." At 34, Holmes will also be aware that time is running out. US 400m and 200m legend Michael Johnson, a five-time Olympic gold medallist, retired shortly after his 34th birthday as did Britain's double Olympic champion decathlete Daley Thompson. The physical demands of the day-to-day grind will only get harder for Holmes, who has already admitted she "doesn't like the training anymore." Whilst out on the circuit the allure of defeating a double Olympic champion will spur her opponents on. Holmes will not want to needlessly suffer the indignity of being beaten. Unless she is certain she has a strong chance of winning any race, she will not step onto the track. But if the Kent athlete finds the form that fuelled her ambitions last summer, there are more prizes up for grabs. The day after completing her double in Athens, the 34-year-old revealed she would still like to win her first indoors title. |
Holmes' wish could easily be met in Madrid before she goes on to prepare for the outdoor season where there are still scores to be settled, such as a first gold at the World Championships in Helsinki. There is just one small truth which could gnaw away at Holmes' motivation - the realisation that no matter how hard she trains, nothing she wins now can surpass her achievements in Athens. On the other hand, if those achievements cannot be matched shouldn't they be at least shared and celebrated? "You don't get the chance very often in your career to step onto the track as the double Olympic champion," agreed Cram. "You want to be able to take your bow in front of the fans because it's a fantastic feeling. "I think deep down Kelly wants to run. I think she will compete and run races on the circuits but whether or not she runs in the major championships is much less certain." |
Athletics fans had every reason to believe they would see the new-look Kelly Holmes tearing up the track again. After her Olympic glory she emphatically denied she planned to retire. So, why is Holmes dragging her heels about making a decision on where, when or whether to even bother competing again? "That's just Kelly," explains Cram. "She's always been like that. "She enjoys people trying to guess what she is going to do next. She knows every time she makes a pronouncement now it's headline news. "Kelly has to figure out for herself what it is she wants and that will be based on athletics decisions, whether she can be competitive, if she is fit enough to put her neck on the line. "And if she decides not to run again, no-one is going to turn round and say 'you're making the wrong decision.'" |
Gardener battles to narrow win |
Jason Gardener fought all the way to the line to narrowly claim the men's 60m title at the Norwich Union Indoor trials and AAAs Championships. |
The world 60m champion got off to a rolling start and had to dig deep to dip ahead of Mark Findlay and Darren Chin, who both set personal bests. "It was a close race," admitted Gardener. "I stumbled out the blocks but my experience told through. "I still feel there's more life in me and I believe I can go faster." Gardener's performance in Sheffield could have been affected by the news, which he heard before his semi-final, that his European record had been broken Frenchman Ronald Pognon, who will be a real threat at the European Championships, set a new time of 6.45, one-hundreth of a second faster than Gardener's previous mark. Favourite |
delivered a powerful performance to take the women's 60m title in 7.27 seconds. "You'll see me in Madrid and I feel there is a lot more to come along," said the 22-year-old. Katherine Endacott battled hard to take second and dip under the European qualifying mark. Defending champion Joice Maduaka had pulled out of the final with a chest infection. |
was on record-breaking form as she stormed to the women's 60m hurdles crown. The 25-year-old set a new British record for the second time in seven days, clocking 7.96 seconds to finish ahead of rival Diane Allahgreen. "I'm so happy," a tearful Claxton told BBC Sport. "All the years I've been running and I'm getting recognition." Claxton's time was also good enough to qualify for the European Championships. |
The men's 800m went to form in Sheffield as |
dominated the race from start to finish. The Northern Ireland athlete went off at a startling pace but had to hold off the challenge of Welshman Jimmy Watkins over the final 200m to win in one minute, 47.96 seconds. Both McIlory and Watkins, who set a life-time best of 1:48.32, had already booked their places in Madrid and were again well within the qualifying time. "I had to go out and go through all the gears before the Europeans and I won't run again until then," said McIlroy. |
could not reach the European mark in the women's race as she crossed the line to win in 2:04.45. Olympic bronze heptathlon medallist |
rounded off a useful weekend with two more personal bests in Sheffield. The 28-year-old reached 1.80m in the high jump and clocked 8.47secs in the heats of the 60m hurdles. "I've surprised myself," said Sotherton. "I'm starting to thrive on the pressure but if I don't perform then it's not the end of the world." Pole vaulter |
made a winning return to major competition after a drugs ban. The Trafford athlete, who has served a two-year ban after testing positive for anabolic steroids, clinched the title with a championship record 4.25m. |
also set a new championship mark in the men's triple jump title in Sheffield. The 26-year-old, who has been training in Australia over the winter, landed 17.30m with his final effort - the longest leap in the world this year. "I didn't have a clue," said Idowu. "I've not jumped indoors before and I just wanted the qualifying mark. "But this isn't a bad start and hopefully I'll come back from Madrid with a gold medal." Nathan Douglas continued his steady progress this season as he set a life-time best of 16.76m in second while Jonathan Moore took third. |
and |
resumed their rivalry in the long jump competition, both achieving the European standard. Commonwealth champion Morgan reached a personal best of 7.96m on his very first jump and then promptly retired with a bruised heel. Olympian Tomlinson tried to play catch up with his six jumps but had to settle for a season's best jump of 7.91m. "I was advised not to jump by my doctor and so I'm pleased to come here and get the qualifying mark," said Tomlinson. |
, now based at Loughborough, sprinted past front runner Catherine Murphy in the final 100m to steal the women's 400m title. The 21-year-old ran a personal best of 53.45 seconds to win her first indoor title. Wall's time was just short of the qualifying mark - something Murphy already has. Ireland's |
took the men's title in 46.46 ahead of promising Channel Islands decathlete Dale Garland. Sudanese 18-year-old Rabah Yusuf, who is seeking British citizenship, showed his raw talent as he burst through in third. |
cleared the required 1.90m to qualify for the European championships and claim the AAAs title in the women's high jump. In the men's 3,000m, |
powered to a new personal best of seven minutes, 56.86 seconds to defend his AAAs title in style. It was the first time in 11 years the eight-minute barrier has been broken at the championships and was just within the European mark. |
took the women's 1500m AAAs title in the absence of Kelly Holmes. Her time of 4:19.11 was not good enough to qualify for Madrid but Ovens had already opted out of the championships. The men's race was won by |
, who had to fight off a closing pack to claim the title in 3:45.87. |
European medal chances improve |
What have the European Indoor trials told us? Well, I think we could be heading to the European Championships with half a dozen medal prospects. |
It was good to see athletes beginning to make steps forward, to see a few new faces and there were lots of personal bests kicking around. |
The best performance on the track for me was Sarah Claxton's win in the 60m hurdles. Running sub-eight seconds twice in a week puts her right up there and if she repeats that in Madrid she will be close to picking up a medal. But what was great about Sunday's performance was that she was under pressure to produce the goods when it counted. Diane Allahgreen has been our best hurdler for some time now and I think she was surprised to be beaten by Sarah. And knowing that she got the better of Diane in a head-to-head race will give Sarah confidence. In the men's race on Saturday, Allan Scott was right in there and there is definitely more to come from him. In fact, the men's 60m hurdles is so strong, I think the selectors will pick three hurdlers to go to Madrid. |
Phillips Idowu lit up the field events, not only with his hair, but also with his leap of 17.30m, which puts him at the top of the world rankings. I had a chat with him before the competition and he was really looking forward to getting out there. He feels he is in great shape and has some big jumps inside him - but then Phillips always has. A lot of the athletes said the runway was not very helpful, so for Phillips to jump like that is a good performance. He is such a huge talent but just needs some consistency - and if he does that then the big jumps will get even further. Across the board I thought Kelly Sotherton had a great weekend and continued to show she is developing. She picked up three personal bests in the long jump, high jump and 60m hurdles and you can't ask for more than that. Kelly will be up against Carolina Kluft in the pentathlon at the European Championships but she has every chance of a medal on the basis of what we've seen so far. |
She has a complicated training regime where different people help her with different disciplines but it seems to be working really well. It wasn't all good news in Sheffield. I thought both the 60m races were disappointing in different ways. Jason Gardener may have won but he wasn't at his best. I chatted to him afterwards and he knows it was an off-day for him. He's there to be shot at and the other lads nearly got a big scalp out there. In the women's race, Jeanette Kwayke was hoping to run against defending champion Joice Maduaka. The pair are enjoying a bit of rivalry but Joice had to pull out with a chest infection. If she had made the final I think Jeanette would have gone a bit quicker. |
Janine Whitlock competed well in the pole vault on her return following a two-year drugs ban. But the most disappointing thing in the wider view is that she is our best pole vaulter by a long way and that shouldn't be the case. The event has moved on immensely since Janine has been away and if there was more domestic competition I think that would help her. A couple of other interesting topics to look out for are the citizenship issues surrounding Mark Findlay and Rabah Yusuf. Findlay is a Londoner who has chosen to represent Trinidad and Tobago but has never run for them so he could still compete for Great Britain. Yusuf, who came third in the 400m, is from the Sudan but is trying to gain British citizenship. He came to Britain as a high jumper but damaged his toe, started doing more running and found his talent. So we shall have to see what happens to both of them. |
Isinbayeva claims new world best |
Pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva broke her own indoor world record by clearing 4.89 metres in Lievin on Saturday. |
It was the Russian's 12th world record of her career and came just a few days after she cleared 4.88m at the Norwich Union Grand Prix in Birmingham. The Olympic champion went on to attempt 5.05m at the meeting on France but failed to clear that height. In the men's 60m, former Olympic 100m champion Maurice Greene could only finish second to Leonard Scott. It was Greene's second consecutive defeat at the hands of his fellow American, who also won in Birmingham last week. "I ran my race perfectly," said Scott, who won in 6.46secs, his best time indoors. "I am happy even if I know that Maurice is a long way from being at his peak at the start of the season." |
McIlroy wins 800m indoor title |
James McIlroy motored to the AAA's Indoor 800m title in Sheffied on Sunday in a time of one minute, 47.97 seconds. |
The Larne athlete dominated the race from start to finish although he had to hold off a late challenge from Welshman Jimmy Watkins in the final 100 metres. "I had to go out and go through all the gears before the Europeans and I won't run again until then," said McIlroy. ''I though if I got lucky I'd get close to the British record but I blew up in the end.'' McIlroy has been in superb form at the start of the season and will now start his build-up for the European Indoors at Madrid on 4-6 March. Meanwhile, Paul Brizzel and Anna Boyle reached the semi-finals of the 60m hurdles with Boyle setting a season's best of 7.48. In the women's 60m final, Ailis McSweeney broke Michelle Carroll's long-standing Irish record by clocking 7.37 which left her in third place. David Gillick showed that he is a genuine medal contender in the European Indoor Championships by claiming an impressive 400m victory. Gillick was more than half-a-second clear when taking gold in 46.45 - .02 outside his personal best set in Saturday's semi-finals. |
The Irishman is now the fastest European this season. Derval O'Rourke broke her own Irish 60m hurdles record by clocking 8.06 which left her third behind new British record holder Sarah Claxton (7.96). James Nolan (3:46.04) took second in the men's 1500m behind Neil Speaight (3:45.86) but the Offaly man was outside the European Indoor standard. Colin Costello was seventh in the 1500m final in 3:48.82). Deirdre Ryan was second in the women's high jump with a clearance of 1.87m while Aoife Byrne took silver in the 800m in a personal best of 2:06.73. Lisburn's Kelly McNeice Reid (4:31.34) was seventh in the women's 1500m while Gary Murray (8:11.22) was 11th in the men's 3000m. Meanwhile, Stephen Cairns and Jill Shannon claimed the individual titles at Saturday's Northern Ireland Cross Country Championship in Coleraine. Cairns came in ahead of Paul Rowan and Allan Bogle in the men's race. Willowfield claimed their first men's team title in 72 years while Shannon helped Lagan Valley win the women's team honours. |
Johnson edges out rival Sotherton |
Jade Johnson edged out rival Kelly Sotherton with her last effort to claim the AAAs long jump title at the Norwich Union European Indoor trials. |
Olympic heptathlon bronze medallist, Sotherton, led the event with her first leap of 6.43m - a personal best. But Johnson, who has not competed indoors for five years, leapt to a life-time best of 6.50m in her last jump, after four fouls. Both Johnson and Sotherton passed the European Championships qualifying mark. Although Sotherton's main aim in Madrid next month will be the pentathlon where she will take on Olympic heptathlon champion Carolina Kluft. Ireland's |
delivered a shock in the men's 200m as he stormed to his first major title in 21.01 seconds. British favourite Chris Lambert had to settle for second place while defending champion Ireland's Paul Brizzel took third. There was some consolation for Lambert as he set a personal best of 20.94 in the first round - good enough to qualify for Europe. |
Two-time AAAs champion Allyn Condon and Ian Mackie had no such luck as they were disqualified in the heats. There was plenty of hot action in the men's 60m hurdles where Scotland's |
was vying for top spot with Olympian Andy Turner. Scott, 22, smashed his personal best on the way to the final, where he broke it again to win the AAAs title in 7.58 seconds. Turner finished second in 7.82 after previously setting a personal best on the 7.83 in the semi-finals, while Damien Greaves did not finish the final. The trio of athletes have reached the European qualifying mark this season though one of them is set to miss out on a call-up to the British squad. |
comfortably defended her 3,000m title, clocking eight minutes, 49.87 seconds to easily surpass the European qualifying mark. The European cross country bronze medallist is ranked number one in Europe this season and will go to Madrid with high hopes. Helen Clitheroe was agonisingly close to the 9:05.00 qualifying mark as she claimed the runners-up spot in a personal best of 9:05.73. In the men's 800m heats, |
qualified fastest in the 800m heats to lay down a challenge to in-form |
. The Welsh runner attacked the last 200m to come through ahead of James Thie in one minute, 49.87 seconds. McIlroy, who is third in the European rankings, eased across the finish in 1:50.87 to set up a showdown in Sunday's final in Sheffield. Both Watkins and McIlroy have already achieved the European qualifying mark. Scotland's Susan Deacon stole |
's thunder in the final of the women's 200m. Fraser became the fastest British woman over the distance this season when she qualified for the final in 23.68 seconds - though that time is outside the European standard. But Deacon claimed her first AAAs title over the distance, edging Fraser into second in 23.67. In the women's shot put veteran |
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