By the sixth heat of the men’s 400m, the commentator in the Olympic stadium had decided this was a young man’s event. It certainly seemed that way as South African Olympic champion Wayde van Niekerk, 25, had already won his heat comfortably in 45.28 sec to start the defence of his world title and his quest to achieve the 200m and 400m double.
Among the other qualifiers for the semi-finals were 22-year-old Fred Kerley of the US, Baboloki Thebe of Botswana, aged 20, and 21-year-old Steven Gardiner of the Bahamas. No one had bothered to tell Britain’s Dwayne Cowan that the over-30s were no longer welcome.
Cowan only took up athletics seriously at the age of 27 and yesterday at the stadium where he had watched Usain Bolt win the 100m five years ago he made his debut in a major championships at the tender age of 32.
He ran coolly too, qualifying third in his heat to reach the semi-finals along with Matthew Hudson-Smith. For a man who was playing non-league football for Fisher Athletic and Sevenoaks not that long ago, Cowan’s third place in a respectable time of 45.39 sec was the highlight for the home crowd who, as at London 2012, filled every seat in the stadium for the morning session.
“When the crowd heard my name, there was a big roar and I was like ‘Wow, I have to turn up and do something here,’” said Cowan.
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He is coached by his father, Lloyd, who coached Christine Ohuruogu to Olympic 400m gold. Quite why Lloyd had let his son play football for so many years is a question someone at British Athletics might need to answer, but Dwayne is certainly making the most of his late conversion.
“I was playing football, bit of non-league, a few trials with professional clubs,” he said. “The first day I stepped on the track, a coach said: ‘You’re not an athlete and you’ll never make an athlete’. Well, look at me now.
“I came and watched Usain Bolt here in 2012 and that made me want to do athletics. I did it just to keep fit and I was winning training sessions at my local track so I just started from there.”
For such a newcomer, Cowan ran like a seasoned veteran, keeping the leaders in his sights and easing through the gears down the home straight to ensure automatic qualification. Hudson-Smith, hugely talented but fragile in mind and body, ran quicker in a sharper heat but qualified as one of the fastest losers.
In total, nine British athletes came through their heats, including all three of the women’s 100m sprinters. The highlight was Daryll Neita’s win in the final heat of the women’s 100m. Neita, who will turn 21 at the end of the month, was the youngest member of the GB track team in Rio and returned home with a bronze medal in the sprint relay. With an Olympic medal in her pocket, Neita’s growing confidence has been transferred into the individual event and the British runner showed composure and consistent pace to win in a time of 11.15 sec. Asha Philip ran a season’s best of 11.14 while Desiree Henry also qualified.
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In the men’s 800m, Elliot Giles, Guy Learmonth and Kyle Langford all came through their heats, though the latter had to wait to claim his place as a fastest loser.