ALMOST 24 hours after she earned Great Britain’s first athletics gold medal of the Olympic Games, Kelly Holmes ran another faultless race in the opening round of the 1,500 metres last night. If her opponents were looking for a chink in her armour, they would not have found one. The battling Briton may be only three days away from an historic double.
As Holmes’s name was announced at the start of her heat, so the applause rang out around the stadium, accompanied by much waving of Union Jacks. She followed the tactics that are fast becoming her trademark, taking up a position near the back, picking her way through as the race progressed and finishing strongly. It was the method she had employed in the 800 metres on Monday and it served her well again.
After a rest day today, Holmes returns tomorrow for the semi-finals, with the final on Saturday. “It was really hard to focus,” she said. “I was waving to the crowd, then remembered that I was there to race. I had to come back on the start line and pretend I hadn’t won a gold. I am realistic enough to know that what happened in the 800 metres is going to take it out of me adrenalin-wise.”
From the gun, Holmes took a position towards the rear of the main pack in a field of 16. After the first lap she was 15 metres down on the leaders and, with 600 metres remaining, was still only twelfth. Tenth at the bell, the time for stalking was over.
Holmes moved into sixth position with 200 metres to go, accelerated on the crown of the bend and drew alongside Natalya Yevdokimova, from Russia, to share the lead. A glance over her shoulder 30 metres from home told Holmes that she was safely through and she eased off, content to concede victory to Yevdokimova. Her job done, Holmes was first off the track and down the tunnel, extremely business-like.
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Should she succeed, she would become the first Briton for 84 years to achieve an Olympic double in track and field. The last was Albert Hill, at 800 and 1,500 metres, in 1920. No British woman has achieved an Olympic athletics double. It was a challenge that even Sebastian Coe was unable to overcome. Although Coe won the 1,500 metres twice, in 1980 and 1984, he had to settle for double silver over two laps and he paid tribute yesterday to Holmes’s effort, describing her display as “the perfect 800 metres”.
Holmes is coached by Margo Jennings, who also trains Maria Mutola. The Mozambican, the favourite and defending champion, finished fourth and, although not complaining, she may recall how, when Holmes approached her and Jennings for help in 2002, it was on the understanding that she would not do the 800 metres. Holmes and Mutola trained together last year but have kept apart this summer.
Hayley Tullett, Holmes’s fellow Briton, who was third at the World Championships in Paris last year, progressed last night only as a fastest loser. At least she did not suffer the fate of Chris Rawlinson, Britain’s No 1 400 metres hurdler, who was taken off the track on a stretcher having finished last in his semi-final. Rawlinson burst from his blocks, lost balance, ran out of his lane, clattered the first hurdle and never recovered.
Chris Tomlinson made a better job of qualifying for the final of the long jump, producing a leap of 8.23 metres, the equal second farthest distance recorded by a Briton. Only his national record of 8.27 metres exceeds it, while 8.23 is also the mark of Lynn Davies’s former British record. If Tomlinson repeats the distance in the final tomorrow, he should be in medal territory.
For the first time in 20 years, a British woman has reached an Olympic sprint final. Abi Oyepitan, having narrowly missed out on a place in the 100 metres final, qualified for the 200 metres and, although she remains very much an outsider for a medal tonight, travelling this far is a feat last achieved by Kathy Smallwood and Sonia Lannaman in 1984.
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Britain’s men do not look like following suit. Darren Campbell, struggling with a hamstring injury, and Christian Malcolm have reached the 200 metres semi-finals, but only as fastest losers. The United States appear poised to sweep the medals after the three second-round races were won by Shawn Crawford, Justin Gatlin and Bernard Williams.
Gatlin, having won the 100 metres, is going for the double. Like Holmes, his mind is on the job. “I wrapped my gold medal up in a towel, put it in my suitcase and I haven’t looked at it since,” he said.