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Matt Yates
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 This month’s opinion comes from Betfair’s own Matt Yates. Prior to joining Betfair, Matt was a top class 1500m athlete winning a Commonwealth Bronze Medal and representing Britain in 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
“For those unaware, the inaugural IAAF World championships were held during 1983 in Helsinki, the venue of this summer’s offering. The nostalgic will remember the 1983 games for one of the great men’s middle distance finals, contested by Steve Cram and Saïd Aouita, both of whom went on to dominate the middle distance scene for much of the 80s. That was then however, and like many Athletics enthusiasts I can’t wait for this year’s World Champs (6th – 14th). Many people (including some pushy characters in Marketing) have been badgering me to collate my thoughts on what’s in store this year. So for what it’s worth here’s my view...
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Paula Radcliffe is an asthmatic, she’s in good company as well, other prominent sports stars to have asthma include Manchester United’s Paul Scholes and England Cricket legend Ian Botham.
Matt Yates is affectionately nicknamed “Denver Mills” around the Betfair office after the said character in cult TV show Little Britain.
Controversially Qatar’s Saif Saeed Shaheen used to be known as Stephen Cherono and ran for Kenya prior to changing country allegiances.
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A big leveller that could turn out a few freak results is the Helsinki weather. Like soft ground is to horses, rain is to athletes and the forecast is to be cool with some rain on the week of the games. Naturally, I would expect these conditions to suit the European athletes. These conditions would typically mean that track times would be slower and field event distances/heights lower than expected. This may also mean that statistics will have less bearing in the Olympic stadium compared to previous games.
One person who should enjoy the Northern European conditions is Britain’s Paula Radcliffe. After suffering from the heat in the Olympics last year Paula has seemingly bounced back and looks ready to strongly challenge in both the 10k and the marathon.
Recently Paula has been receiving treatment in Ireland and I expect she will use the 10k race as part of her warm-up to her favoured marathon event (which is seven days later). Given that she will approach the 10k as a secondary priority Paula might not necessarily be the “cert” that the UK press will build her up to be ahead of the race. However, in the marathon she has some three minutes on her nearest rival, and given the favourable conditions, she has to be regarded a strong favourite to win the race (and a good bet if you can get the right price!).
Whilst there is media talk of a Paula double, it is the Ethiopian, Kenenisa Bekele, who takes to the track in the 5k and 10k. He looks a great prospect to win the 10k but in the 5k he will meet another man chasing a double, Qatar’s Saif Saeed Shaheen. Shaheen is the world record holder for the 3k steeple chase and more than handy over 5k. The Men’s 5k race could well be a showdown to replicate the 1983 Cram vs. Aouita battle and it will certainly be one of the races to look out for in the Championships.
The Men’s 100m was looking to be a fantastic heavyweight epic until Asafa Powell injured himself at Crystal Palace. Given the Jamaican’s absence many (including myself) expect to see Justin Gatlin standing on top of the podium come the medals ceremony. Although, given a class line up, nothing is entirely certain!
British hopes don’t end with Paula Radcliffe and the whisper in UK Athletic circles is that a new star could be born in the Olympic stadium on the 11th August. Triple Jumper Nathan Douglas has a great chance to take the gold in an event that can be very dependent on the right weather conditions. He went to Athens last year but has this season quite literally come on ‘leaps and bounds’. (Sorry.)
I will of course be watching the men’s 1500m (which I competed in a few times). I was a few pounds lighter in those days and today would need no more than an 800m start on the field but I have high hopes for Britain’s Mike East to get in the medals. In all honesty though, I’d struggle to predict a winner ahead of the gun and will wait until the race is in-play before I take a position. I’d expect that if the boys go through the 800m in 1.58 to 2.03 then the honours will end up going to a fast finisher, such as Ivan Heshko.
Whatever happens, I predict the 10th IAAF World Championships will mark the start of a new generation of athletes that will dominate the sport for the next six years, as they did in 1983.”
Links
http://www.helsinki2005.fi
http://www.iaaf.org
http://www.ukathletics.net/
http://users.rcn.com/bricklan/athletic/athletic.html
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