Day 1, Part 3

:00:18. > :00:21.World Championships, live from Roscoe. -- Moscow. The Kremlin

:00:21. > :00:25.looking resplendent, the women's marathon runners are in the early

:00:25. > :00:32.stages, running through this very welcome missed that has been

:00:32. > :00:35.provided to try and call them down on a very hot afternoon -- mist. It

:00:35. > :00:41.is a course which will not exactly inspire them to run QuickTime is

:00:41. > :00:45.under the conditions are not going to help that at all. It is a warm,

:00:45. > :00:50.humid afternoon in Moscow and this world championship marathon, with

:00:50. > :00:55.Straneo of Italy leading it, and the main contenders in a big group back

:00:55. > :01:00.there, starting to break up a little bit in these early stages. The

:01:00. > :01:06.Olympic champion is in that group and Kiplagat, the defending world

:01:06. > :01:10.champion, as well. Brendan Foster and Paula Radcliffe are alongside me

:01:10. > :01:14.and we made the point, Brendan, that these aren't really good

:01:14. > :01:19.conditions, but interesting that a solid pace has been set at this

:01:19. > :01:22.early stage despite the heat. looks like a solid pace and you're

:01:23. > :01:27.absolutely right, this afternoon the temperatures are predicted to go

:01:27. > :01:29.over 30 degrees. It is two o'clock in the afternoon, you can see by the

:01:29. > :01:33.shadows that the sun is almost directly overhead but the

:01:33. > :01:40.interesting thing is that these athletes were not happy when they

:01:40. > :01:43.found out it was a 2pm start and when they saw the weather forecast,

:01:43. > :01:45.they were even more dismayed. Some of them feel they have been shown a

:01:45. > :01:48.lack of respect but there are some demands from television,

:01:48. > :01:54.particularly in Japan. But the Olympic champion from 2004, isn't

:01:55. > :01:58.running here today, when she won the Olympic Games, massive audiences in

:01:58. > :02:06.Japan were gathered, and you can perfectly understand why they want

:02:06. > :02:09.to show off their best athlete. So a little bit understandable, but a bit

:02:09. > :02:11.unfortunate for these athletes. I don't think they are very happy

:02:11. > :02:15.about it at all, but they are getting on with the job and the

:02:15. > :02:21.pace, I would have guessed early on, they would have set off really

:02:21. > :02:26.slowly, but they have actually begun at a reasonable pace. We will give

:02:26. > :02:35.the split times around the 5,000 metre point, the information will be

:02:35. > :02:44.coming from the side of the course. But 30 years on from Greta Weiss

:02:44. > :02:48.winning the first world championship in 1983, 30 years ago, the pioneer

:02:48. > :02:52.of women's distance running and these athletes are following in the

:02:52. > :02:56.footsteps of the first-ever world marathon champion, who died three

:02:56. > :03:01.years ago of cancer. I was speaking to her husband Jack earlier and he

:03:01. > :03:05.was saying that her foundation has now raised �7 million to build

:03:05. > :03:10.activity centres in cancer hospitals all around Norway, that is going

:03:10. > :03:17.really well, and they are saying that exercise is really helpful in

:03:17. > :03:21.treatment, and that was the great legacy she left behind. Really,

:03:21. > :03:27.Paula, it has changed a lot. Imagine if the only distance you could have

:03:27. > :03:32.run was 1500m. I wouldn't have been very good at all, I might have stuck

:03:32. > :03:35.with the judo. I think I would have tried to have raced 1500m but I

:03:35. > :03:39.wouldn't have been quiet about lobbying for women to run further,

:03:39. > :03:43.because there is no reason why we shouldn't and in fact, women's

:03:43. > :03:46.endurance is probably stronger than men's if you go really long. So

:03:46. > :03:52.there is no reason that women cannot run really well and running

:03:52. > :03:56.conditions like this. We can see there, one technical point to tell

:03:56. > :03:59.you, the yellow line replaces the blue line, marking the shortest

:03:59. > :04:09.point on the course and sometimes it is very close to the curb and very

:04:09. > :04:10.

:04:10. > :04:19.difficult to run. You can see that Yaguchi is trying to run around the

:04:19. > :04:22.others. -- Noguchi. And we have seen the Ethiopian trio being

:04:22. > :04:30.instrumental in closing the gap up and making it more of a one pack

:04:30. > :04:35.race. You just said women can go further than men, can you expand on

:04:35. > :04:39.that point? Women are stronger, aren't they, in the long run?

:04:40. > :04:44.on, you too. I want to talk about this monument, this is a monument to

:04:44. > :04:49.Peter the Great, theoretically. It has been voted in the top ten

:04:49. > :04:53.ugliest in the world. And apparently, the guy who made it, it

:04:53. > :04:58.was originally Christopher Columbus and some town or city in America

:04:58. > :05:03.pulled out and he chopped the head off and put the head of Peter the

:05:03. > :05:06.Great on it and the Mayorova Moscow thought it was brilliant. We have a

:05:06. > :05:11.casualty already in the marathon, we will try and let you know who that

:05:11. > :05:15.is. Anyway, I will come back to that maybe later on, because we need lots

:05:15. > :05:25.to talk about on the course, but it is interesting because you run past

:05:25. > :05:26.

:05:26. > :05:30.it and you think, what on earth is that? 17: 06 for the first part,

:05:30. > :05:37.that is pretty low, setting out with real intent. And you can see that

:05:37. > :05:40.what it has meant is Straneo is a really experienced runner, but the

:05:40. > :05:45.Ethiopians have got in there. Kiplagat is the only one who has

:05:45. > :05:49.really sat off, the defending champion, and that might not be a

:05:49. > :05:52.bad move. She has not sat off too far, she is certainly within

:05:52. > :05:58.covering distance, but she seems to be letting them get on with it.

:05:58. > :06:03.Here, we see the athlete either slip or be pushed. Then her team-mate has

:06:03. > :06:11.actually gone to see if she is OKed. I am not sure what happened, it is

:06:11. > :06:16.very early in the race for it to be any kind of dehydration or fatigue,

:06:16. > :06:21.so it is more likely she tripped on something or was pushed. I think it

:06:21. > :06:26.was one of the Namibian athletes. We will try and give you an update on

:06:26. > :06:36.that, if we get any news on the course. In terms of the all blue, it

:06:36. > :06:40.

:06:41. > :06:49.certainly looked like the Namibian strip. I will check on that. It

:06:50. > :06:52.might have been Naigambo. This is the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour,

:06:52. > :06:56.one of the reconstructed religious buildings that was destroyed under

:06:56. > :07:00.the communist regime and was rebuilt. You would think it had been

:07:00. > :07:05.there for a couple of hundred years but it has not been. 1 million

:07:05. > :07:10.people in Moscow in the 1990s contributed to the fund to rebuild,

:07:10. > :07:14.in fine style as well. It certainly looks as though it was never... It

:07:14. > :07:21.was actually blown up and a lot of the white marble, and some of the

:07:21. > :07:26.Underground stations here are quite spectacular, and some... It is quite

:07:26. > :07:30.disorientating, isn't it? Yes, we got lost. And a lot of the buildings

:07:30. > :07:36.that were blown up got used to make some of the underground stations,

:07:36. > :07:40.and they ask quite spectacular. -- they are quite spectacular. And they

:07:40. > :07:44.will turn around now for the first time just beyond the Cathedral.

:07:44. > :07:54.Straneo is not letting up here, and I think one or two others, if you

:07:54. > :07:57.have joined that group, and you would think Melkamu, she doesn't

:07:57. > :08:04.have a lot of marathon experience, but she has won a lot of races in

:08:04. > :08:07.hot weather, they are following the Italian so far. Melkamu has a vast

:08:07. > :08:12.amount of experience, something like 70 medals at the world cross-country

:08:12. > :08:17.championships, so certainly she is used to covering moves -- 17

:08:17. > :08:24.medals. She is new to the marathon, so probably not used to sitting back

:08:24. > :08:27.and letting people push on in the early stages and letting them get in

:08:27. > :08:31.the way -- getaway, the cross-country mentality is to move

:08:31. > :08:35.up there. She looks to me as if she is not in the best shape coming into

:08:35. > :08:38.this, certainly as she would have been a few years ago but she is

:08:38. > :08:48.putting yourself in the right place and making sure her team-mates have

:08:48. > :08:50.

:08:51. > :08:54.stayed with her. The long straight here, you can see everything that is

:08:54. > :08:58.going on, they are coming to the turn, they are able to look across

:08:58. > :09:07.and see exactly what is going on around them. You begin to get a

:09:07. > :09:15.feel. That looked to me like the Olympic champion, way down the field

:09:15. > :09:25.and not looking as though she is going at all well. Sonia Samuels is

:09:25. > :09:28.way down the field. You can tell the athletes have run just over five

:09:28. > :09:33.kilometres. Already some of them are looking a little bit tired and to be

:09:33. > :09:37.honest, this is going to be a long, gruelling afternoon. It is getting

:09:37. > :09:43.warmer and as they go further and as they keep going at this pace that

:09:43. > :09:53.has been set by Straneo Italy, things are going to change and

:09:53. > :09:55.

:09:55. > :09:59.things are going to happen, but I noticed Gelano was way off the lead.

:09:59. > :10:03.She was run into by wheelchair in London and took the month of

:10:03. > :10:07.training and has only got into training in the last four weeks. She

:10:07. > :10:10.came because there is a strong Ethiopian team come which is at the

:10:10. > :10:14.front, but does not include the Olympic champion, which is the first

:10:14. > :10:19.shock of the race, unless she is calculating and working it out, but

:10:19. > :10:24.you would wonder about that. She has had a rough year, and today we will

:10:24. > :10:27.find out if she is back to shape. I'm going to throw something out.

:10:27. > :10:33.The defending champion, the world champion and the Olympic champion

:10:33. > :10:39.are running together, 13 or 14 seconds behind this quite quick

:10:39. > :10:44.early pace. You wouldn't expect that and you can see as they go down the

:10:44. > :10:50.list, they will, on the third page, but they are maybe just playing a

:10:50. > :10:53.smart game here, maybe Kiplagat and Gelano know what is going on and

:10:53. > :11:00.they say they are going too fast, too soon and they are going to sit

:11:00. > :11:04.back. That is an interesting point, but you know, Gelano has run eight

:11:04. > :11:08.or nine marathons, so she has got experience. Kiplagat is the world

:11:08. > :11:12.champion, so she has plenty of experience. Straneo is really

:11:12. > :11:15.setting a decent pace and a bunch of the top athletes have gone with

:11:15. > :11:20.them. 14 seconds, you would wonder why they would let them go 14

:11:20. > :11:24.seconds. But they are going to work out the conditions as they are

:11:24. > :11:27.today, they will work on that, and you may think there is safety in

:11:27. > :11:31.numbers and if you are running next to the world champion, and the

:11:31. > :11:34.Olympic champion together, at least you're going to get the confidence

:11:34. > :11:39.that you are doing something right, so you could be right. Just to bring

:11:39. > :11:43.you up to date, we are checking and we have a computer that tells us,

:11:43. > :11:53.they are wearing chips, and I think it was Naigambo, she hasn't got

:11:53. > :11:55.

:11:55. > :11:59.through the five K point. She was in real distress. Sonia Samuels just

:12:00. > :12:09.ahead of Susan Partridge, around 35 seconds behind. Sonia is 30 Ninth

:12:10. > :12:12.

:12:12. > :12:15.Place, Susan 43rd. -- 39th place. Already some intrigue in this race,

:12:15. > :12:20.the world and Olympic champions sitting off what is a steady pace

:12:20. > :12:24.given the conditions being set by the Italian. The other Ethiopians

:12:24. > :12:31.and Kenyans are in there. Noguchi is in there, the former Olympic

:12:31. > :12:37.champion. So interesting decisions are being taken, interesting tactics

:12:37. > :12:42.already coming to the fore, already at this early stage. Straneo has led

:12:42. > :12:47.this from the beginning and she has obviously come here with a plan in

:12:47. > :12:56.mind. 37 years of age, we have seen other older athletes do this sort of

:12:56. > :13:00.thing, of course the Olympics in 2008. The winner was 38. Age is not

:13:00. > :13:04.such a barrier in the women's marathon, but that group is pulling

:13:04. > :13:08.quite a way ahead. If you look at the cadence of these athletes, the

:13:08. > :13:12.positioning, you wouldn't think that they were running and had another

:13:12. > :13:16.two hours ahead of them. They look almost as though they are racing. If

:13:16. > :13:23.you took a snapshot of this, you would think it was a ten mile race

:13:23. > :13:25.or a half marathon. It is a bit too competitive early on Ferrera race

:13:25. > :13:30.being run in such oppressive conditions and with the talent in

:13:30. > :13:40.the race and we know things will dramatically change over the next

:13:40. > :13:44.

:13:44. > :13:48.two hours. Melkamu is the second fastest 10,000m runner ever and she

:13:48. > :13:53.has been a talent over many distances. She has never been the

:13:53. > :13:58.best in the world at any distance and is trying the marathon. Her run

:13:58. > :14:03.for the 10,000m, there is only yourself, Paula, to run the marathon

:14:04. > :14:13.at that kind of pace and ability. She is very much, I would say, the

:14:14. > :14:26.

:14:26. > :14:30.ten K calibre athlete in the field today. In terms of experienced

:14:30. > :14:34.marathon runners in that pack, there is probably Noguchi and Straneo,

:14:34. > :14:40.they would be the two that are really experienced and have run a

:14:40. > :14:43.lot in these kind of conditions and know how to pace themselves. It puts

:14:43. > :14:49.you in a difficult position because I personally would not be happy

:14:49. > :14:54.allowing that much of a gap, but if you are very confident that they

:14:54. > :14:57.cannot maintain that pace, you had to choose the middle ground and

:14:57. > :15:02.cover close enough to be able to close the gap if they start to die,

:15:02. > :15:05.and if they don't and are moving away, you need to work hard to get

:15:05. > :15:11.back to them. We will pan back there from the massive, modern city of

:15:11. > :15:15.Moscow, lots of buildings being put up recently, changing face of

:15:15. > :15:18.Moscow. But the Moscow River, as they run alongside, you would hope

:15:19. > :15:22.there is a little bit of relief and a bit of a breeze, and these

:15:22. > :15:25.athletes are strung out in this race. If you look at that group

:15:25. > :15:33.there, there is some talent in there, but there is some talent on

:15:33. > :15:43.the road further along to. About two hours of running left. The heat is

:15:43. > :15:54.

:15:54. > :15:59.increasing. And the pace is running aggressively, for my money.

:15:59. > :16:04.next group going through has Deena Kastor, the Olympic medallist in

:16:04. > :16:14.2004 coming right past the camera. She is a very experienced American,

:16:14. > :16:14.

:16:14. > :16:20.a veteran. This is the interesting bit now. Kiplagat, who might just

:16:20. > :16:23.be starting thinking about pushing on. I am just looking for Tiki

:16:23. > :16:29.Gelana. Kipper go -- Kiplagat is think about pushing on but where is

:16:29. > :16:33.Tiki Gelana? I think Tiki Gelana is in trouble here. I would not let

:16:33. > :16:39.this much of a gap opened up on the lead group. Even if you think they

:16:39. > :16:47.are going too fast and they can't maintain net. That Lithuanian won

:16:47. > :16:52.the European Championships in 2010 and then failed a drug test so this

:16:52. > :17:00.is her first trip back. I can only imagine Tiki Gelana has not

:17:01. > :17:04.recovered from her for in London and the damage to ankle. The

:17:04. > :17:09.Kenyans have a lot of choice about whether they can come and racier

:17:09. > :17:13.but the Ethiopian still not know -- do not have so much choice. Why

:17:13. > :17:16.would she come if she was injured? It could be because she does not

:17:16. > :17:26.have too much choice Auric could be something that has happened in the

:17:26. > :17:40.

:17:40. > :17:45.race so far with Valerie Straneo not relenting a tall. She is just

:17:45. > :17:55.looking at her watch and wondering what case she is on. They have just

:17:55. > :17:59.

:17:59. > :18:08.gone past at km mark. Lucy Kabuu 0 and young Valentine Kipketer, after

:18:08. > :18:11.her horrendous journey to come here, is in the lead pack. They are

:18:11. > :18:16.stretched out. This is not their lead pack that is comfortably

:18:16. > :18:19.running together. They are stretched out. There is Mizuki

:18:19. > :18:24.Noguchi. And there is the Turkish record holder looking as though she

:18:24. > :18:29.is struggling already. Some of the other Ethiopians are disappearing

:18:29. > :18:33.off the lead pack. Valerie Straneo, whatever damage she is doing to

:18:33. > :18:43.herself, she is certainly cutting it up in the lead group and making

:18:43. > :18:45.

:18:45. > :18:48.a really hard and we are not at the 10 km point yet. One thing you can

:18:48. > :18:52.say about Valerie Straneo is that she is very good at coming back

:18:52. > :18:56.from adversity. She had a big operation to remove her spleen and

:18:56. > :19:06.gall bladder but says that she does feel 100 times better after having

:19:06. > :19:09.

:19:09. > :19:17.it removed and it seems to show in her running here today. That little

:19:17. > :19:22.group there is being read -- led by the best chance of for the Russians.

:19:22. > :19:25.Kiplagat is moving through there. She has decided it is too much of a

:19:25. > :19:29.gap and she is trying to close up on Deena Kastor. It is hard to

:19:29. > :19:34.close the gap when they are moving at a pace ahead of you. You have to

:19:34. > :19:39.pick your time. You have to get into the right pace. If the pace

:19:39. > :19:43.effect at the front you have to at least compete with that pace.

:19:43. > :19:47.Obviously you will assume that some of them are going to come back to

:19:47. > :19:52.you and you will pick up as you go through the race so let us wait and

:19:52. > :19:55.fit. Edna Kiplagat could be playing a good game here. A if you look at

:19:55. > :19:59.the positions now and make a note of them, the difference between the

:19:59. > :20:02.positions now and there positions at the finish of this race will be

:20:02. > :20:07.staggering. Some will come from behind and some from this pack will

:20:07. > :20:12.disappear or even drop out. There is a bunch of athletes there,

:20:12. > :20:16.including Melkamu, who is keen to be competitive, it is being run

:20:16. > :20:21.strangely because normally this kind of group would stay together

:20:21. > :20:25.for at least the halfway point or maybe a later stage. Here we after

:20:25. > :20:31.33 minutes of running and they are already being competitive. It is

:20:31. > :20:37.very interesting to look at Mizuki Noguchi who is running between for

:20:37. > :20:41.a yellow line that marks the short is part of the course and the white

:20:41. > :20:46.line at the edge of the road. Strictly speaking you are not --

:20:46. > :20:49.strictly speaking you're not supposed to do that. You can his

:20:49. > :20:53.athletes, they are moving along nicely together in a competitive

:20:53. > :20:57.race that has drama ahead of it. They are turning and heading back

:20:58. > :21:02.down the road. They will start to look across and calculate who is

:21:02. > :21:07.not in the group that I was worried about. Who are the dangers? Where

:21:07. > :21:12.are the dangers coming from? That is a small but select lead grew.

:21:12. > :21:19.Mizuki Noguchi, the former Olympic champion at the 10 km point, that

:21:19. > :21:23.is a pretty steady 10 km. It is around 2.24 pace for the marathon

:21:23. > :21:26.so they are on her a decent pace. Information will start to come in

:21:26. > :21:29.and we will start to get information that will tell us

:21:29. > :21:34.exactly what is happening right down the field. We are interested

:21:34. > :21:39.in the Olympic champion, Tiki Gelana, from Ethiopia. We are also

:21:39. > :21:42.interested in Kiplagat. She seems to be judging it. She is 13 seconds

:21:42. > :21:46.behind the leader. That is about the same as it was before and she

:21:46. > :21:51.has the confidence of big-time performance. She also knows what it

:21:51. > :21:54.is like to run in a championship. The athletes are checking the times

:21:54. > :22:00.and checking their split than getting the information that they

:22:00. > :22:04.need. We are still looking for the Olympic champion. You are right,

:22:04. > :22:07.Kiplagat has picked a Perth pace but I think the pace at the front

:22:07. > :22:11.has picked up as well so the gap stays the same. We will just

:22:11. > :22:16.watched his see as many of these athletes coming through as possible.

:22:16. > :22:21.We are watching for Susan sat -- Susan Partridge and Sonia Samuels,

:22:21. > :22:25.the British athletes. Tiki Gelana, we have not seen her at all just

:22:25. > :22:29.recently. All the report, I was chatting to one of the journalists

:22:29. > :22:33.who is close to the Ethiopian team who was telling me that Tiki Gelana

:22:33. > :22:37.was the big favourites and we should expect a big performance

:22:37. > :22:43.from her. There is Sonia Samuels. She is running a pretty solid pace

:22:43. > :22:47.at this point. I know that Paula was watching her now and she did

:22:47. > :22:51.some really good sessions and she did a great qualifying time in

:22:51. > :22:55.Berlin last year and her husband that she is in great shape and

:22:55. > :22:59.better prepared to. It is really a question of what will happen in

:22:59. > :23:02.these conditions. You can never quite tell. You can stand at the

:23:02. > :23:06.start line with the best training you have ever done and if you judge

:23:06. > :23:09.it a bit wrong it can go pear- shaped. But she should get a good

:23:09. > :23:16.performance out of this today and there will will be -- there will be

:23:16. > :23:22.plenty of casualties ahead of her. There are only decent -- there are

:23:22. > :23:24.only five decent female distance runners. They have got an

:23:24. > :23:29.opportunity to prepare for this event and they knew the pitfalls

:23:29. > :23:33.that were ahead and they knew the preparation they needed. It is a

:23:33. > :23:36.great opportunity for an athlete and hopefully Sonia Samuels and

:23:36. > :23:39.Susan Partridge will acquit themselves well and move on from

:23:39. > :23:43.here because next year, Commonwealth Games, European

:23:43. > :23:47.Championships, Susan Partridge will be drawn to the Commonwealth Games

:23:47. > :23:57.in Glasgow with of the marathon in Glasgow. You would like to bet that

:23:57. > :23:59.

:23:59. > :24:03.that will be slightly cooler! be a little bit. I will keep an eye

:24:03. > :24:09.on the athletes going through the split but our computer has gone

:24:09. > :24:16.down as far as 25th place at 10 km and it does not quite have the 10 K

:24:16. > :24:26.for everybody yet. As soon as it update itself we will have a better

:24:26. > :24:33.

:24:33. > :24:39.indication of who is still out did run a personal best for 10 km

:24:40. > :24:43.on the road in in the race in Maine last week, she was racing fast

:24:43. > :24:47.coming into the championships and she was in very good form and

:24:47. > :24:53.looking forward to hopefully a top- five finish here today but she has

:24:53. > :24:57.had difficulty holding on to Edna Kiplagat as she has come past her.

:24:57. > :25:00.For me now, Edna Kiplagat is definitely trying to close the gap

:25:01. > :25:05.and move forward towards the Leeds pack, but not too much. The trick

:25:05. > :25:09.is not to put too much effort in and close the gap too fast. She has

:25:09. > :25:13.a long way to go and she can afford to do a very gradually. It is an

:25:13. > :25:16.advantage when they have the turn around. When they can see the state

:25:16. > :25:21.of play ahead of them and look across and they are also very

:25:21. > :25:27.trusting here. There are just a few cones in the middle of the road to

:25:27. > :25:31.stop someone cutting out the corner at the end! Are, now we know how

:25:31. > :25:35.you think. That was a terrible suggestion from a world record

:25:35. > :25:43.holder! Her I wasn't suggesting it, I was suggesting I would watch and

:25:43. > :25:51.others who were doing it! They are loving rabbit with a shower. I bet

:25:51. > :25:58.they could do with a few more of those. -- they are loving that bit.

:25:58. > :26:02.I think Kiplagat is playing a canny game. Tiki Gelana is a long way

:26:02. > :26:08.behind the so obviously there is something wrong with her. Susan

:26:08. > :26:13.Partridge has just gone past her. Paula was right, the Ethiopians

:26:13. > :26:20.have no choice. They basically say, you have to come here. The Kenyans

:26:20. > :26:24.pick 10 or 12 people and ask them if they would like to run. Some of

:26:24. > :26:30.them have decided to come. This is a look at the current standings.

:26:30. > :26:38.That is the lead group which is being broken up. Mizuki Noguchi is

:26:38. > :26:44.at the back of that group and a few seconds adrift now. Deena Kastor is

:26:44. > :26:51.going backwards but Kiplagat is moving up through the field and

:26:51. > :27:01.Albina Mayorova is also moving up through. Sonia Samuels is the lead

:27:01. > :27:04.

:27:04. > :27:08.British athlete and in the 34th position. She is about right given

:27:08. > :27:18.the conditions. It looks as though there is some cloud out there at

:27:18. > :27:24.

:27:24. > :27:27.the moment and the sun is not shining as brightly. That is

:27:27. > :27:33.probably the second-string Russian coming into this, Tatyana Aryasova

:27:33. > :27:41.or. She was following right behind Albina Mayorova or so I do not know

:27:41. > :27:44.what is happening there. Albina Mayorova was in front of her and

:27:44. > :27:48.closing the gap. This is the first time for a while that we have seen

:27:48. > :27:52.them close up a bit. It looks as though the pace is just cloak --

:27:52. > :27:56.slowing a little bit. Whenever you see that happening, they were just

:27:56. > :28:06.stretched out before, the Ethiopians are in there. Melkamu is

:28:06. > :28:09.

:28:10. > :28:14.at the front, where she likes to be. Valeria Straneo is also leading. On

:28:14. > :28:18.his lap they will continue further up the river. They turned last time

:28:18. > :28:23.at the cathedral and this time they will continue right onto the walls

:28:23. > :28:27.of the Kremlin. We might get a view of that here and there is one view

:28:27. > :28:32.-- there is one bend where you cannot see the whole stretch ahead

:28:32. > :28:40.of you. When they go past backbench you can see the dome of the

:28:40. > :28:43.cathedral in the distance and then they go on another km or so before

:28:43. > :28:47.turning. I think they are all now just taking their time to look

:28:47. > :28:51.around and assess who else is in the group and even twist right

:28:51. > :28:54.around to see how big the gap is behind them. They will have got

:28:54. > :28:58.some information at the turning point and they will get information

:28:58. > :29:01.from the team coach that is allowed to be at the drinks station and

:29:02. > :29:07.handing the drinks out to them and tell them about that than things

:29:07. > :29:11.like that. I am just wondering what the sticking-plaster over the belly

:29:11. > :29:15.button of the Chinese athlete is and whether that is a technique for

:29:15. > :29:20.to keep cool or just summit to stop the number running. That can be a

:29:20. > :29:26.problem if the number is quite sharp. If you are wearing a crop

:29:26. > :29:31.top it can cut the stomach can stink as you start to sweat.

:29:31. > :29:41.might be something to do if you haven't in the or an out one.

:29:41. > :29:42.

:29:42. > :29:46.you care? No! This is the defending world champion who was moving

:29:46. > :29:49.really quickly. In looks as though she is putting some pressure on

:29:49. > :29:55.herself to get to this group. Moving nicely and having a little

:29:55. > :30:00.look around there. Edna Kiplagat and that is Mizuki Noguchi, the

:30:00. > :30:03.former Olympic champion that she is just passing. Mizuki Noguchi was in

:30:03. > :30:09.8th place but she has just dropped off the back of the group. Edna

:30:09. > :30:12.Kiplagat is giving chase. Valeria Straneo continues to set the pace.

:30:12. > :30:19.The Kenyan world champion knows that her two team-mates are in this

:30:19. > :30:25.group, the talented youngster, Valentin CAT glitter -- Valentine

:30:25. > :30:35.Kipketer who has improved a lot. She ran the fastest marathon ever

:30:35. > :30:41.

:30:41. > :30:44.because Columbus had three ships. You have just read the book which

:30:45. > :30:54.tells you the names of the ships and you are going to ask us and make us

:30:55. > :30:58.

:30:58. > :31:05.look foolish. Tell us the names. Santa Maria. Correct.You are next.

:31:05. > :31:10.The Pinto. And I can't remember the other one. One thing I am worried

:31:10. > :31:15.about, normally the lead car leaves the runners in front. At the moment,

:31:15. > :31:19.there is a car right behind the runners. I don't know if they know

:31:19. > :31:24.that Kiplagat is closing as fast as she is. It is not comfortable for

:31:24. > :31:30.her because she will be breathing in the fumes from that car and not

:31:30. > :31:35.particularly happy, but I am not sure if there is a point where he

:31:35. > :31:39.can get past those girls, unless they move the cones. She is I would

:31:39. > :31:47.suggest, within seven or eight seconds, not 13 or 14, as they come

:31:47. > :31:52.around this bend, the only one on the course. Tadese slowing, it is

:31:52. > :31:56.just the water station. At the last World Championships, we saw the

:31:57. > :32:05.Kenyan is trip each other up, it was Kiplagat, she got tripped by a

:32:05. > :32:11.team-mate -- the Kenyans. No issues there. Fukushi of Japan, the flags

:32:11. > :32:15.denoting which bottle it is, as Noguchi is taking hers. She has been

:32:15. > :32:21.passed by her team-mate. And look at Edna Kiplagat, she is pretty much on

:32:21. > :32:24.the back of that group, she has gone past the car. Yes, and passed both

:32:24. > :32:28.Japanese athletes. They have thrown those bottles away but I was going

:32:28. > :32:33.to say, the difference between the preparation of the Japanese athletes

:32:33. > :32:36.and some of the others. You see the Ethiopian girls come in and they

:32:36. > :32:38.pick up a regular bottles that were not particularly well marked. The

:32:38. > :32:43.Japanese coming and they have big hoops around the top of the bottle

:32:43. > :32:48.so they can slide their romp through and take the bottle with them,

:32:48. > :32:51.extremely bright colours, so they can pick it out -- slide their arms

:32:51. > :32:55.through. In conditions like this they would usually run with them

:32:55. > :32:59.through a lot further, to take in a fluid on board, but they did throw

:32:59. > :33:04.them away quite quickly. Straneo still has hers. You can run with

:33:04. > :33:08.them as long as you want, there is not a zone where you have to throw

:33:08. > :33:11.your bottle and today, early on in the race with a day like today, I

:33:11. > :33:21.would hold on for as long as possible, just to put small sips

:33:21. > :33:27.into my body. That group has just broken up a little bit. Kiplagat has

:33:27. > :33:35.joined them but Straneo has again put her foot down. That quiz

:33:36. > :33:39.question, the answer has come in. Venina, was the third of them. I got

:33:39. > :33:47.two out of three. You have them written down in front of you, I'm

:33:47. > :33:57.happy you got two out of three! But you are right, Kiplagat joining the

:33:57. > :33:58.

:33:58. > :34:07.Kenyan athletes. Lucy Kabuu, Kipketer and Kiplagat in the group.

:34:07. > :34:09.Two Ethiopians in the group, Tadese and Melkamu. Fukushi of Japan in

:34:09. > :34:19.that trailing group and the long-time leader, Straneo of Italy,

:34:19. > :34:21.

:34:21. > :34:26.in that group, that is the leading group. There is some championship

:34:26. > :34:29.talent in there, some athletes who have one big races in there. Then

:34:29. > :34:33.the road to me you consider Bangkok cameramen getting the photographs.

:34:33. > :34:41.The one they really want is when these athletes enter Red Square, the

:34:41. > :34:47.centre of Moscow. St Basil's Cathedral, you can see the shining

:34:47. > :34:53.spires, on the edge of Red Square. You consider red walls of the

:34:53. > :34:56.Kremlin. And these athletes are now heading there for the first time, 48

:34:56. > :35:02.minutes of running behind them and already we have seen a dramatic

:35:02. > :35:06.event here. We have seen big athletes, big reputations and big

:35:06. > :35:12.titles, not able to compete, even in the first half an hour of this

:35:12. > :35:19.event. The temperature is still rising and the athletes are

:35:20. > :35:24.contending with tough conditions and a course which, I think Paula said,

:35:25. > :35:29.was uninspiring. I think that is right. You also said the Kremlin

:35:29. > :35:34.wasn't very interesting, didn't you? No, I didn't, I said that was the

:35:34. > :35:42.interesting part of it! It is great if you ever get the chance, I don't

:35:42. > :35:45.know if you have, but I have done it on this trip and on previous trips,

:35:46. > :35:50.it is a good couple of hours. It used to strike fear into many parts

:35:50. > :35:54.of the world and was the symbol of a great superpower. We were in there

:35:54. > :35:59.the other day and about as dangerous as it gets is a policeman blows the

:35:59. > :36:05.whistle at you if you walk across the road in the wrong place inside

:36:05. > :36:10.the Kremlin. And beautiful shots of St Basil's Cathedral. That is just

:36:10. > :36:20.outside the Kremlin. What I think people don't realise is that the

:36:20. > :36:21.

:36:21. > :36:28.palaces and the churches were built inside. This was the home, on the

:36:28. > :36:34.Tsars -- of the Tsars. And St Basil's, the multicoloured Cathedral

:36:34. > :36:37.which we will see shortly, just sits outside those walls. Looking at that

:36:37. > :36:41.group of athletes, this now looks like a marathon race from the

:36:41. > :36:47.outside. They have settled then, they are running steadily in groups.

:36:47. > :36:50.The early part looks like a 10K race or a half marathon. Now they are

:36:50. > :36:54.settling down, running strongly and as you would expect them to do in a

:36:54. > :36:59.marathon, and that is wise. They are coming up to an hour's running

:36:59. > :37:03.behind them, soon coming to the halfway point, so the race is now

:37:03. > :37:09.beginning for real. It has been an interesting progress of art from the

:37:09. > :37:15.defending champion -- so far from the defending champion, Kiplagat,

:37:15. > :37:17.who let them set off and do what they wanted to do and has now joined

:37:17. > :37:24.the group and her Kenyan team-mate, so they look like they will feature

:37:24. > :37:28.in this event. And the Ethiopians, headed by Melkamu, an interesting

:37:28. > :37:31.athlete from every perspective. That is the leading group of eight

:37:32. > :37:38.athletes, lead as they have been from the start by Valeria Straneo

:37:38. > :37:46.Italy. And we have to hand it to her, she has come here with the

:37:46. > :37:52.plan, she has not been fazed by the conditions. Going past the 15km

:37:52. > :37:57.point. She has stuck to it and it is a brave plan. She will be aware of

:37:57. > :38:03.who is with her. Here they are at the bottom end of what is Red

:38:03. > :38:06.Square. St Basil's you can see it in the background. Some big crowds here

:38:06. > :38:14.finally, people out watching this marathon, as they take the turn

:38:14. > :38:19.through the 15km point. Straneo still leading and three Kenyans in

:38:19. > :38:27.that group, who are capable perhaps doing what they did in 2011, where

:38:27. > :38:33.it was a Kenyan one, two, three. Noguchi and Kizaki going through as

:38:33. > :38:36.well, that is three Japanese in the top ten. And Ethiopia, their big

:38:36. > :38:45.hope, their big challenge, would have been Dickie Gelano, they

:38:45. > :38:48.thought, but this is not to be heard they -- Tiki Gelano. That would be a

:38:48. > :38:52.massive surprise, to her team-mates as much as anyone else. The

:38:52. > :38:59.Ethiopians always look to their strong runners to inspire the others

:38:59. > :39:05.and when they see their big name not doing well, they may be affected.

:39:05. > :39:11.Deena Kastor just going through 15 kilometres. 16th century, St

:39:11. > :39:16.Basil's Brendan. Ivan the Terrible commissioned it, incidentally, as I

:39:16. > :39:21.continue my travails through the history of Moscow. It is a beautiful

:39:21. > :39:27.building, no longer a consecrated church, it is now a museum. But it

:39:28. > :39:33.is, of course, one of the iconic views of Moscow. So Straneo, Paula,

:39:33. > :39:36.what do you reckon? Are we doing her a disservice? Is this sort of

:39:36. > :39:41.tactic, keeping this pressure on when you have so many good people in

:39:41. > :39:46.the group, are we doing her a disservice and issue running a smart

:39:46. > :39:50.race? We will see as the race goes on, but she is certainly committed

:39:50. > :40:00.to it and believes she can run it like this and is attacking it. She

:40:00. > :40:02.

:40:02. > :40:05.is reminding me a little bit of Constantine -- Constantina Dita and

:40:05. > :40:08.how she would race in championships. She would attack early on and

:40:08. > :40:12.sometimes she would die and sometimes she would maintain it.

:40:12. > :40:15.Straneo is not an athlete you can just write off the bat says she will

:40:15. > :40:21.not be able to maintain it coming you have to make that decision to

:40:21. > :40:30.cover it, but it may be suicide, she may not be able to maintain it. One

:40:30. > :40:34.athlete we have not spoken a huge amount about is Fukushi of Japan.

:40:34. > :40:38.She has a history of attacking it too hard in the first part of

:40:38. > :40:41.marathons and not being able to finish, or blowing up very badly.

:40:42. > :40:45.She is caught a little bit, she doesn't have a huge amount of

:40:45. > :40:48.experience over the marathon so as to make a decision of whether to go

:40:48. > :40:52.with the lead pack or not and she will be hoping that they can

:40:52. > :40:58.maintain it in these conditions and it won't have been too much too soon

:40:58. > :41:01.for all of them. Not surprisingly, every opportunity they are taking on

:41:01. > :41:07.not only every opportunity for the feed station but also the water

:41:07. > :41:11.bottles, cooling themselves then, taking drinks. The heat is really

:41:11. > :41:14.getting to them because they are really frantic when it comes to any

:41:14. > :41:18.opportunity of taking on water. Like you said earlier, Paula, they are

:41:18. > :41:21.drinking a bit of it and throwing it away. You would have thought they

:41:21. > :41:27.would have been a bit more keen to just hold onto it and use the

:41:27. > :41:33.opportunity to call themselves down just for a few more kilometres. But

:41:33. > :41:36.they know what they are doing. Straneo was eighth in the Olympic

:41:36. > :41:42.Games last year in London, she ran really well bad day and she is

:41:42. > :41:47.experienced enough. -- that day. She beat the Italian record last year,

:41:47. > :41:55.so she knows what she is doing. She has been leading from the start, she

:41:55. > :42:03.has some talent with her from Ethiopia and Kenya. She has Jia are

:42:03. > :42:06.China, Fukushi a bit further back. The medals will come from that group

:42:06. > :42:16.of eight but someone will emerge from the group who are not too far

:42:16. > :42:25.behind. Straneo is leading, then. We haven't really talked about Chinese

:42:25. > :42:33.athletes Jia and being. -- Ding. Two of them ran in the Chinese trials

:42:33. > :42:40.and finished first and second. Ding has only run 2:30, it is only her

:42:40. > :42:44.fourth marathon, it is a high-risk strategy. Jia, she is back in the

:42:44. > :42:51.pack, she was keen to follow Straneo and is now realising, hang on, I am

:42:51. > :42:54.operating beyond what I should be capable of. Plenty of shots of the

:42:54. > :43:00.Olympic champion, I suggest for those watching a few hours to the

:43:00. > :43:05.east of us in Japan. The rumour is that this race is this time of the

:43:05. > :43:09.day because they are such a big marathon running country that they

:43:09. > :43:14.requested it and they will be delighted with Fukushi being in this

:43:14. > :43:19.leading group. Noguchi is a little bit further back. But Kiplagat, to

:43:19. > :43:25.me, looking comfortable, but so is this youngster, Kipketer. If you

:43:25. > :43:28.weren't with us earlier, just to tell us the story again. The Kenyan

:43:28. > :43:34.team had a disjointed journey ad, you may have read, and lack of fuel

:43:34. > :43:37.at Nairobi airport and she was left at the Hotel in Tuesday, -- on

:43:37. > :43:42.Tuesday, they thought she was on the flight but she wasn't and she could

:43:42. > :43:47.not get out because of the fire at Nairobi airport and had a convoluted

:43:48. > :43:55.journey through Uganda, through Amsterdam and eventually to Moscow

:43:55. > :44:01.and only arrived about 36 hours ago and she is in the leading group,

:44:01. > :44:09.with Kiplagat and Lucy Kabuu, the three Kenyans in this league group.

:44:09. > :44:14.-- leading group. Susan Partridge and Sonia Samuels are still going

:44:14. > :44:21.well. They are about three seconds apart. Sonia certainly started more

:44:21. > :44:26.quickly, Susan is just three seconds behind her. Sonia is 29th, Susan is

:44:26. > :44:31.33rd. They are moving through the field. But it may well be that that

:44:31. > :44:38.is going to be a British jewel going on. Susan started the more slowly,

:44:38. > :44:43.but close together at this point. can see Jia is now paying the price

:44:43. > :44:47.were trying to cover that small injection of pace that Straneo

:44:47. > :44:51.putting. Edna Kiplagat took her time when that happened, moved out wide

:44:51. > :44:56.and assessed whether she was going to close up or not and decided that

:44:56. > :45:06.she was and the rest of the group seemed to follow her in doing that.

:45:06. > :45:13.

:45:13. > :45:21.It is the first of the Spanish first of the Spanish athletes.

:45:21. > :45:25.Spanish athlete is just outside the top 10 at the 15km point. We're

:45:25. > :45:32.just trying to see what has happened to Ryoko Kikzaki who had

:45:32. > :45:36.moved up. There were three Japanese athletes in that top 10. This group

:45:36. > :45:43.Orrell little more tightly packed. Valeria Straneo has been there

:45:43. > :45:47.right from the beginning. Lucy Kabuu, Valentine Kipketer, Edna

:45:47. > :45:55.Kiplagat. They have all been training together. They were in the

:45:55. > :45:59.Kenyan camp for the last few days before they left. The men's

:45:59. > :46:04.marathon team are still yet to travel. Everything that happened

:46:04. > :46:12.last week with of the issues at Nairobi airport means it has been a

:46:12. > :46:17.difficult week for the Kenyan team management. Actually, we saw a

:46:17. > :46:24.couple of their 800m runners not perform very well this morning.

:46:24. > :46:28.Certainly one of them. You're never quite sure with the Ethiopian, they

:46:28. > :46:33.take the athletes away and get them into account and put them -- take

:46:33. > :46:38.them off the circuit. When you look at the likes of Lucy Kabuu and Edna

:46:38. > :46:48.Kiplagat, they are up so much experience on the world circuit for

:46:48. > :46:49.

:46:49. > :46:57.hopefully they have their planning right and so far, so good for them.

:46:57. > :47:03.Valeria Straneo has a very economic will style with very little me a

:47:03. > :47:08.lift. We had a clip from a man from 1983 his feet only seemed to come

:47:08. > :47:11.up couple of inches. A running styles are part and parcel. Some

:47:11. > :47:15.marathon runners really have that technique and its style and some

:47:15. > :47:19.athletes have a more springing style. You're never sure if they're

:47:19. > :47:22.going to translate their distance running performances to the track.

:47:22. > :47:26.Some can and some cannot. I remember Haile Gebrselassie telling

:47:26. > :47:30.me when he became the world record holder for the marathon after being

:47:30. > :47:35.the world record holder for 10,000m and is said it took him two years

:47:35. > :47:38.anti had to go into a gym and trade on a treadmill and here to look at

:47:38. > :47:42.himself in a mirror and he determined that his style was too

:47:42. > :47:46.bouncy and he had to flatten it a bit so he did not spring up off the

:47:46. > :47:49.ground so much because it is hard to sustain for 26 miles. He said it

:47:49. > :47:52.took a long time, like learning a new technique. It worked pretty

:47:53. > :47:56.well for him because he became the world record holder for the

:47:56. > :47:59.marathon so some athletes can do it but you have got to be an

:47:59. > :48:02.economical in the marathon. Some coaches said about some distance

:48:02. > :48:06.runners that were going to move up to the marathon that they could not

:48:06. > :48:16.do it because there are styles would not allow them to and you can

:48:16. > :48:20.

:48:20. > :48:27.understand that. We are watching Ryoko Kikzaki who seems to be going

:48:27. > :48:36.past Jia. What about that, Paula? Is that a marathon running action?

:48:36. > :48:45.That is a really good question about Mo Farah. His appearance on

:48:45. > :48:49.the track is an not about whether he should run a marathon or whether

:48:49. > :48:52.he would be good at it, the question is that he is so good at

:48:52. > :48:57.the distance is that he does do at the moment and he has demonstrated

:48:57. > :49:00.how quickly he can do 1,500m and I know he wants to run the marathon

:49:00. > :49:03.because the London Marathon is a huge attraction and he would

:49:03. > :49:07.desperately want to do it but I would be looking at the timetable

:49:07. > :49:10.and thinking, hang on a minute, I am not sure you want to do it yet

:49:11. > :49:16.because it is different and Paula knows as well as anybody, it is

:49:16. > :49:23.different from the 10,000m and 5,000m but I would suggest that if

:49:23. > :49:30.he can run three point to wait for the 1,500m, why bother running 26

:49:30. > :49:33.miles? Well, I think the point is that he wants to. Maybe that is the

:49:33. > :49:38.way to go. When I made the decision whether to move to the marathon or

:49:38. > :49:41.not, might be thinking point was that I have to feel like I really

:49:41. > :49:44.want to do it, not just to be told that I could physiologically be

:49:45. > :49:48.good at it or be frustrated because I did not get medals on the track.

:49:48. > :49:54.I have to feel that I am ready to attack it because the distance has

:49:54. > :49:58.to be respected and you have to be ready to go in and fully commit to

:49:58. > :50:01.it. I think we know does really want to do that as he have to think

:50:01. > :50:04.about whether his style is suited to it because he have a long and

:50:04. > :50:08.loping style whereas a lot of the marathon runners have more of a

:50:08. > :50:13.shuffle and more of a faster cadence with less than the left. He

:50:13. > :50:21.would maybe have to work on that a little bit and maybe he is, without

:50:21. > :50:26.the 1,500m times that he has shown, more of a 1,500m runner with a half

:50:26. > :50:29.marathon and that is one hell of a range already. I am sure he could

:50:29. > :50:33.have run well in a marathon straight off the bat but whether he

:50:33. > :50:36.could get down to the low points that the event seems to be going at

:50:36. > :50:41.the moment remains to be seen. A1 thing he can do is about Balcombe

:50:41. > :50:45.run on the track afterwards. There is no reason why you cannot run a

:50:45. > :50:49.marathon and a go back to the track, but whether he can do the Morning

:50:49. > :50:53.won championships is a different ask. For anybody who has been a

:50:53. > :50:59.national record holder for a big country at 1,500m, have they ever

:50:59. > :51:09.gone through an been good at the marathon? I am asking the question.

:51:09. > :51:16.Rob discs and. Walker was a record holder at 1500s. He was a good

:51:16. > :51:23.1500s. The Norwegian record holder went through. That was because her

:51:23. > :51:26.events was moving up as well. was unlucky enough when she was

:51:26. > :51:31.running in 1976 and a boycott in 1980, the further she could run on

:51:31. > :51:36.the track was 1,500m and she was honestly beside herself, she was so

:51:36. > :51:39.angry. She would come to the men's distance races and asked why she

:51:39. > :51:42.could not do that. She was the record holder for Norweb but only

:51:43. > :51:47.because she could not run any further than that. I would say that

:51:47. > :51:50.is slightly different. If I was Mo Farah I would honestly weight. You

:51:50. > :51:54.do not get the purple patch that he is going through right now many

:51:54. > :52:00.times in your life. He has got it right now and you would want to

:52:00. > :52:07.hang on to it. It is a pleasure to watch. Not only the 1,500m record,

:52:07. > :52:13.but what about the 50.80 second last lap in the 5,000m, I have

:52:13. > :52:19.never known anyone run that quickly. The air, that is the 1,500m at the

:52:19. > :52:23.pace. I did that when I was running. But at the end of the 5,000 it is

:52:23. > :52:29.another matter altogether. He is at at the top of his form. He is big

:52:29. > :52:36.business these days and that is a big part of people's lives and

:52:36. > :52:39.careers and how old is he now? 29 or 30? 30 I think.You have to plan

:52:39. > :52:43.your next few years, to championships next year,

:52:43. > :52:47.Commonwealth, Europeans, he could come back to the track and won the

:52:47. > :52:55.1501 of them if he wants to. He could become the European 1,500m

:52:55. > :52:59.champion, who knows? Is he serious about running the 1,500m here?

:52:59. > :53:07.he wasn't serious. The trouble is he says things and immediate rabbit.

:53:07. > :53:11.We were talking about inviting Amir Khan today. Please! He is having a

:53:11. > :53:16.bit of fun. That is great and so he should but at the moment he is in

:53:16. > :53:20.the form of his life. By the way, you sit and talk to him this

:53:20. > :53:27.morning, as he has nervously waiting for his 10,000m race

:53:27. > :53:30.tonight and you tell him, or ask him if he was seriously thinking

:53:30. > :53:34.about three races at these championships. He will only be

:53:34. > :53:39.thinking about the race tonight. Exactly. Probably if he wins

:53:39. > :53:49.tonight he will tell us he is going to play for Arsenal as well! Then

:53:49. > :53:58.he will come and commentate on a marathon. Some wonder that in 1976.

:53:58. > :54:03.He ran two races and then went and run the marathon. And he came 5th.

:54:03. > :54:07.Actually he won the 10,000 and then he ran to feeds -- to the sin the

:54:07. > :54:12.final of the 10,000 and then he ran the heats and the final of the

:54:12. > :54:16.5,000 and then the next day we were sitting watching the marathon and

:54:16. > :54:22.after 25 km he hit the front of a marathon and we could not believe

:54:22. > :54:32.it and he went on to finish 5th. Times have changed. Let us hope

:54:32. > :54:36.

:54:36. > :54:42.that Mo can mac -- run the marathon as well. Well, we shall see. I am

:54:42. > :54:50.looking forward to that 10,000m tonight at about 4:00pm UK time. It

:54:50. > :54:53.is a big race in prospect. The Kenyans and Ethiopians and Mo Farah.

:54:53. > :54:57.I think we should stop talking about that now because I am getting

:54:57. > :55:00.nervous and there are still hours to go. This is an exciting race and

:55:00. > :55:06.has been so far. Look at it now, it is completely different in its

:55:06. > :55:10.nature to what it has been for the last 50 minutes. They are settling

:55:10. > :55:16.down together. Valeria Straneo has done her part and they are

:55:16. > :55:22.approaching the halfway point. Two Ethiopians, three Kenyans, Japanese

:55:22. > :55:26.athlete and the Italian leader. Valeria Straneo has definitely

:55:26. > :55:30.backed off a little bit in the last couple of km. You have seen her

:55:30. > :55:33.leaning headed down with a forward lean the whole way and not

:55:33. > :55:38.relenting at all but now she seems to be easing back a little bit and

:55:38. > :55:41.looking round to say, does anyone else in that group have any

:55:41. > :55:44.interest in taking over the pace. You can see the bunch up there but

:55:44. > :55:49.that is partly because they are all trying to take the best line

:55:49. > :55:51.through that turning point and come out the other side. I could see

:55:52. > :55:55.Edna Kiplagat gesturing to the other runners there, I am not sure

:55:55. > :56:02.if she was just trying to get through for a better line around

:56:02. > :56:12.the corner or if she was communicating with her team mates.

:56:12. > :56:14.

:56:14. > :56:22.The gap back to Ryoko Kikzaki and Jia has closed a little bit. That

:56:22. > :56:28.was by far the slowest five case split. Up until that point they had

:56:28. > :56:35.gone faster. That is Mizuki Noguchi, still going very strong. She then

:56:35. > :56:45.about 9th place. She is on her own. It is 10th place. Rare Keat

:56:45. > :56:50.

:56:50. > :56:54.Hezakiah is in the 9th place. The first Spaniard is now coming

:56:54. > :56:58.through. She will be 11 as she crosses the timing that. There is

:56:58. > :57:07.still plenty of running to do. The lead group are slowing and I am

:57:07. > :57:12.pretty sure everybody is probably slowing a little bit. These

:57:12. > :57:15.conditions are certainly going to continue to take their toll. The

:57:15. > :57:19.Koreans have got a young and experienced squad and that is the

:57:19. > :57:27.first of them we have seen coming through. Yes, she is moving through

:57:27. > :57:31.the field a lot. She was back in about a 16th or 17th place. You can

:57:31. > :57:41.see going back down the other side of the road the two Russian

:57:41. > :57:52.

:57:52. > :57:58.athletes. That is how Biedermeier Rolph -- Albina Mayorova or. Alida

:57:58. > :58:04.be to break again at the lead group. That often happens at the water

:58:04. > :58:08.stations. -- a little bit of a break. There is an opportunity and

:58:08. > :58:12.you look for the places where you can ask a couple of questions. If

:58:12. > :58:17.you want to make a break there are not many opportunities, the

:58:17. > :58:27.turnaround points and the water stations and one person is falling

:58:27. > :58:39.

:58:39. > :58:49.off that gripper little bit. The Japanese and Chinese athletes are

:58:49. > :58:51.

:58:51. > :58:55.trying to hang on a little bit. Perez is in 14th place. You say

:58:55. > :58:58.this many times, and we have listened to you say it, and it is

:58:58. > :59:03.absolutely right, there are all sorts that can happen. Even at this

:59:03. > :59:09.early stage we have a long way to go. That is a nice picture there,

:59:09. > :59:15.coming through the mist. The Russians absolutely have such

:59:15. > :59:25.experienced athletes. None of them have been able to make any

:59:25. > :59:26.

:59:26. > :59:31.impression so far on this world championship. Tatyana Aryasova is

:59:31. > :59:41.behind the leading group at the moment. This group has been almost

:59:41. > :59:44.since the first steps led by Valeria Straneo of Italy. She is

:59:44. > :59:48.giving herself a very good chance of being in the top rate of even

:59:48. > :59:53.higher. She had approached the race with a plan. The plan was to run

:59:53. > :59:58.steady and they must be through the halfway point now. Looking at the

:59:58. > :00:02.times, they have gone through the 20km point. As we look down the

:00:02. > :00:12.field it is interesting and great to see Mizuki Noguchi back running.

:00:12. > :00:29.

:00:29. > :00:33.runner amongst these athletes. an update on Susan Partridge, 3:26

:00:33. > :00:38.behind the leaders. Sonia Samuels is three places behind in 25th, 22

:00:38. > :00:48.seconds behind Susan Partridge. So Susan looks like she may have judged

:00:48. > :00:49.

:00:49. > :00:59.things pretty well. About a 2:30 pace. Straneo has not relented at

:00:59. > :01:02.

:01:03. > :01:09.all. We know that five kilometres picked up a bit and may be able to

:01:09. > :01:13.get back to that group and Jia has rallied with her. So they are within

:01:13. > :01:17.striking distance still, Paula. There is Noguchi. Sometimes you go

:01:17. > :01:21.through patches, you go through patches in the marathon where you

:01:21. > :01:25.think you can't do it and then it starts to come back and people come

:01:25. > :01:29.back toward you and you are back in the race. Definitely. There are lots

:01:29. > :01:35.of rough patches in any marathon, even in very fast marathons, there

:01:35. > :01:40.will be periods where you are not clicking, it is not flowing and it

:01:40. > :01:44.feels a lot harder and what you have got to be careful about is letting

:01:44. > :01:49.your mind panic. It is techniques to keep your mind here and now, one

:01:49. > :01:53.foot in front of the other. Look at Melkamu, the me she is looking

:01:53. > :01:56.dangerous. She is looking comfortable, although that can be

:01:56. > :02:00.deceptive with the Ethiopian girls because they often do look as though

:02:00. > :02:04.they are very comfortable and easy and suddenly they are just gone, but

:02:04. > :02:09.she is just focusing pretty much on the shorts of Straneo, thinking

:02:09. > :02:14.about one foot in front of the other. I used to count a rhythm,

:02:15. > :02:20.which would help take my mind away from any panic about how bad I was

:02:20. > :02:24.feeling, how far to go, how hot it was, just tuning in to one thing. I

:02:24. > :02:28.think that is what a lot of these girls will be trying to do now.

:02:28. > :02:32.Straneo has been pouring a lot of water over herself, I was noticing

:02:32. > :02:37.how much she was poring over her lower legs. For me now, her shoes

:02:37. > :02:43.have got to be heavy and squelchy. I don't know if she has practised with

:02:43. > :02:47.that and she is comfortable with it, but it is not a nice feeling. I know

:02:47. > :02:50.you focus on a lot of other things on the race, but if you notice the

:02:50. > :02:53.others, they are trying to cool their upper bodies and not pouring

:02:53. > :03:00.it down their legs. Are you saying I should practice running in wet

:03:00. > :03:07.shoes? Well, just pouring that amount of water into your shoes.

:03:07. > :03:11.Well, it is working. It is also getting rid of one or two from this

:03:11. > :03:19.pack. Kiplagat looked wan rubble for a second but she has locked onto the

:03:19. > :03:23.back of the group. It is Lucy Kabuu who is struggling. Straneo, it is

:03:23. > :03:27.like for the first time she has looked around and said, does anybody

:03:27. > :03:33.else want to do this because I have done it all myself so far? Every

:03:33. > :03:37.time she surges a little, it only needs a little bit little change in

:03:37. > :03:42.cadence, and the group gets stretched dead. Kiplagat immediately

:03:42. > :03:48.dropped onto the back of Straneo. Lucy Kabuu looked as though she was

:03:48. > :03:52.struggling, as did Fukushi, and here we go again. Straneo gave them the

:03:53. > :03:58.invitation, nobody took it and she is doing it herself and the lead

:03:59. > :04:02.group stretches out once more. as a cloud comes over, I was about

:04:02. > :04:06.to say there is absolutely no shade on a lot of the stretches of this

:04:06. > :04:10.course. You can look at the trees, there is very little breeze, and

:04:10. > :04:14.they will be looking for some to call them down. When they go under

:04:14. > :04:18.the bridges, that is the only real respite from the direct sun they are

:04:18. > :04:22.getting other than when the cloud comes over. That was a great picture

:04:23. > :04:28.of Kizaki, she must be getting very encouraged, because she can see Lucy

:04:28. > :04:31.Kabuu coming of this group and maybe all of a sudden there is a little

:04:31. > :04:39.gap there. Kiplagat is aware of it and it does not want Melkamu to get

:04:39. > :04:46.away. She has understood that and is not going to let those two open up

:04:46. > :04:51.any gap. Kizaki of Japan closes in on those leaders, she can focus on

:04:51. > :04:56.the back of Lucy Kabuu. Who ran such a fast half marathon at the

:04:56. > :05:04.beginning of the year in February, many people's picture, and run well

:05:04. > :05:11.here, Lucy Kabuu. -- many people's pic to come and run well here, Lucy

:05:11. > :05:19.Kabuu. It is the first time Kipketer has dropped off this lead group as

:05:19. > :05:24.well. Getting into racing mode now, well into the second half of the

:05:24. > :05:29.marathon. The defending champion is well positioned. And the Japanese TV

:05:29. > :05:35.viewers are getting a run for their money, number 535, Kizaki of Japan

:05:35. > :05:39.moving close to the leading group. This event is being televised on

:05:39. > :05:43.prime time on a Saturday night in Japan. We have seen the former

:05:43. > :05:47.Olympic champion Noguchi, one of the most popular athletes in the history

:05:47. > :05:50.of Japanese sport, we have seen her give a little bit of an account of

:05:50. > :05:55.herself and now they are seeing a Japanese athlete becoming

:05:55. > :05:59.competitive in this race. Straneo has done a really good job of

:05:59. > :06:03.keeping this place going. The defending champion looks determined

:06:03. > :06:08.now, she is better business. Melkamu is the outstanding distance runner

:06:08. > :06:14.amongst these four. And in second place, looking like she is ready to

:06:14. > :06:20.get competitive. So Straneo doesn't want anybody around her, just once

:06:20. > :06:25.to get her head down, face the road ahead -- just wants to. She is an

:06:25. > :06:30.experienced athlete, the Italian record-holder, eighth place in the

:06:30. > :06:38.Olympic Games last year. Melkamu has promised a lot in her career, never

:06:38. > :06:43.quite delivered to the levels of her incredible ability. 14:31 for 5,000

:06:43. > :06:52.metres, 29:53 for 10,000m, that is a read and agree to take from the

:06:53. > :06:58.track onto the roads. -- a rare pedigree. We now see Kizaki moving

:06:58. > :07:03.into that area for the top five. Once again, the feed stations, a

:07:03. > :07:08.very important part of the race. Past the halfway point. Edna

:07:08. > :07:13.Kiplagat was determined to get that one, so she raised to get the

:07:13. > :07:17.drinks. -- raced. She didn't want to be in the lead, but she grabbed the

:07:17. > :07:22.drink, took a sip out of it and threw it away. Paula, can you

:07:22. > :07:27.explain those labelled drinks? They are personalised drinks. They have

:07:28. > :07:30.recovery material in, they are not just water. They have basically got

:07:30. > :07:35.whatever the athletes want to put into them, their personal drinks

:07:36. > :07:39.that they can put out every five kilometres at the drinks station.

:07:39. > :07:45.You can fill your bottle with whatever you are used to drinking in

:07:45. > :07:51.training. It is normally some kind of carbohydrate drink. Anything you

:07:51. > :07:54.might want to take, like a gel pack or some extra carbohydrate. I think

:07:54. > :07:58.you are even allowed to take an asthma inhaler in case you might

:07:58. > :08:02.need it. Something we have not talked about today, but it is quite

:08:02. > :08:07.polluted on some stretches of this course. So that is possible. And at

:08:07. > :08:13.the later tables, interspersed along the route, you can pick a plain

:08:13. > :08:16.water or the sponges and squeeze that over yourself to keep yourself

:08:16. > :08:20.refreshed. But certainly Edna Kiplagat did not hold onto that

:08:20. > :08:27.drink very long, she couldn't have taken more than two sips, and she

:08:28. > :08:32.probably poured more over herself and she got inside her, but is --

:08:32. > :08:36.that is probably how she has trained. What impressed me was the

:08:36. > :08:39.pace at which she went to get the bottle, she surged up easily,

:08:39. > :08:45.whereas you saw the others maintain their rhythm to make sure they get

:08:45. > :08:49.their bottles. I think it was the last World Championships, the water

:08:49. > :08:53.station, where she tripped. So I think she is conscious about,

:08:53. > :08:57.concerned about it, so she raced up to get her drink and settled back

:08:57. > :09:02.down. She paid more attention to getting the drink and actually

:09:02. > :09:05.drinking it. She did but she also cut in a lot for somebody who is

:09:05. > :09:11.worried about taking a tumble. Cutting in front of someone is

:09:11. > :09:19.dangerous as well. I think she was involved in the fall in London as

:09:19. > :09:26.well. She is no stranger to bust ups. Some athletes attract that and

:09:26. > :09:33.all of the other athletes go to stay away. They say stay away, because

:09:33. > :09:43.they get in trouble and cause falls at these stations. Do you want me to

:09:43. > :09:44.

:09:44. > :09:49.name a few on the track? Right, Kizaki now moving through that field

:09:49. > :09:52.to the lead group of four, the Kenyan athletes have fallen away

:09:52. > :09:59.rather quickly. Edna Kiplagat the only representative in the lead

:09:59. > :10:06.group. An Italian, Straneo. Kiplagat at Kenyon. Melkamu of Ethiopian and

:10:06. > :10:11.Fukushi of Japan and her team-mate Kizaki is not too far behind. The

:10:11. > :10:15.Kremlin, as Paula was saying, the occasional bits of cloud cover, but

:10:15. > :10:25.predominantly hot and sunny and quite humid, and that is why the

:10:25. > :10:28.pace is slowing. It was a fairly blistering start, really, setting

:10:28. > :10:33.out at 2:24 kind of pace in this heat was a strategy which has put

:10:33. > :10:37.paid to a lot of people behind, so you have to hand it to Straneo, she

:10:37. > :10:41.has whittled this field then, she has seen the Olympic champion go and

:10:41. > :10:46.plenty of people who would have been named as contenders disappear from

:10:46. > :10:54.this group and she has got it down to four. One is chasing and one or

:10:54. > :10:57.two to keep an eye on, Kim of Korea is moving into the top ten. Along

:10:57. > :11:02.the river bank, along the Moscow River. Between the river and the

:11:02. > :11:08.walls of the Kremlin. They will not be noticing the sites, just focusing

:11:08. > :11:14.on the tarmac ahead, that yellow line is that died. Not the most

:11:14. > :11:21.inspiring cause, as we have said, in terms of the athletes going up and

:11:21. > :11:28.down that same road. The latest addition to the Kremlin, Brendan,

:11:28. > :11:31.inside, in terms of structures? What do think it might be? I haven't got

:11:31. > :11:37.your book that you are reading from. I had a wander around the

:11:37. > :11:44.other day, it is a new helicopter pad that Mister Putin had built for

:11:44. > :11:48.dignitaries, etc, to have a quick route in, because there are too many

:11:48. > :11:52.cavalcades. I think he just decided the traffic takes too long in

:11:52. > :11:59.Moscow, which wouldn't be a bad judgement. Just in this bottom

:11:59. > :12:05.corner where we are, a new helipad. See you have taken over as Question

:12:05. > :12:11.Of Sport now? You know how Michael Portillo does those travels around

:12:11. > :12:16.the world? Just chipping in for that sort of job. I could see that.The

:12:16. > :12:19.great American courses that I haven't run, how about that? -- the

:12:19. > :12:25.great marathon courses. There are some nice ones. This isn't one of

:12:25. > :12:29.the best, but there are some good ones. You could probably have made

:12:29. > :12:33.one that is beautiful around Moscow but this one is working for the

:12:33. > :12:41.championships and it is definitely a tough test for all of the runners

:12:41. > :12:45.out there. I saw a clip of 1980, and they did run along this road quite a

:12:45. > :12:55.lot but they must have done a loop around in the city because they came

:12:55. > :12:55.

:12:55. > :13:04.down through the cobbles past St Basil's. Those cobbles are not nice

:13:04. > :13:11.to run on. The early cause did include the cobbles but I think the

:13:11. > :13:15.athletes' strength overcame the decision. And there is the beautiful

:13:15. > :13:22.cathedral that Steve described all the history of earlier, St Basil's

:13:22. > :13:27.Cathedral. And there is the turning again. And now there is a group of

:13:27. > :13:32.four athletes. And a chance to see how big that gap is back to Kizaki.

:13:32. > :13:36.She seemed to be closing more than that, I don't know if they have

:13:36. > :13:40.upped the pace. Certainly Straneo put her head down and pushed it on

:13:40. > :13:44.and seemed to be encouraging the others to pick it up a bit more. I

:13:44. > :13:51.have been impressed with Fukushi and how patient she has been so far.

:13:51. > :13:54.From what I have seen of her in previous tracks and on the roads, I

:13:55. > :13:58.would have expected her to be more aggressive at the beginning, but she

:13:58. > :14:03.has been very watchful and covered what she needed to do and not

:14:03. > :14:06.expended more than she needed to do. I wonder if she has benefited

:14:06. > :14:11.from advice from somebody like Noguchi coming into the race. We

:14:11. > :14:21.also have the Olympic champion from 2,000 somewhere here in the media,

:14:21. > :14:29.commentating on the race for Japanese media. Maybe that has

:14:29. > :14:33.helped as well. We have talked about the effect of Mo Farah, but

:14:33. > :14:39.endurance running generally, we are disappointed there is nobody else

:14:39. > :14:42.apart from him in the 5K and the 10K and the marathon. When you look at

:14:42. > :14:46.how Japan had targeted the marathon, I was just going through the results

:14:46. > :14:52.here, no wonder the television are interested. Since 1991, in the

:14:52. > :15:00.women's race. They were second in 1991, third in 1993, nobody in the

:15:00. > :15:07.top ten in 1995, third in 97, second, third and fourth in 03.

:15:07. > :15:11.Second in 09, it is no wonder. This is an event where they have their

:15:11. > :15:15.athletes to target the World Championships. That is right, the

:15:15. > :15:21.thing is they do prepare assiduously to these events. The preparation is

:15:21. > :15:26.often down to the really fine details and Fukushi, who we are

:15:26. > :15:29.looking at, she has got the pedigree. She was in the 10,000m in

:15:30. > :15:35.the Olympics last year, she was 10th, so she has the track running

:15:35. > :15:38.ability and she ran the heats of the 5,000 metres, so she is a good

:15:38. > :15:41.athlete and in preparing for the marathon, she has got herself ready

:15:41. > :15:45.and the marathon for Japanese athletes is where the glory is, and

:15:45. > :15:48.at the end of the day, it is sensible for these athletes to

:15:48. > :15:52.prepare in this manner and they focus on the events they can do well

:15:52. > :16:02.at and clearly, the women's marathon is an event they have done well at

:16:02. > :16:15.

:16:15. > :16:23.because she, when she hits the wall, she hit it with a big bang and she

:16:23. > :16:29.doesn't quite late on. For cushy. Top three would be a huge success

:16:29. > :16:33.for her. It would be her big success. It would. I know the world

:16:33. > :16:36.championships prior to the Olympics, the first Japanese finisher in that

:16:36. > :16:44.event is guaranteed selection for the Olympics the following year so

:16:44. > :16:50.they definitely do put a focus and a reward on running and the World

:16:50. > :16:56.Championships. Their shears, in world place, the defending champion

:16:56. > :16:59.moves closer to the front now and they are running in single file.

:16:59. > :17:09.Now, looks as though she wants to be competitive and Valeria Straneo

:17:09. > :17:20.

:17:20. > :17:25.has done a fabulous place job of. - - job of setting this pace. The

:17:25. > :17:35.lead cars show exactly how far ahead everybody years. There is

:17:35. > :17:38.

:17:38. > :17:46.their leading a group of four and then Ryoko Kikzaki just behind that.

:17:46. > :17:56.For a little bit further back they are just struggling a little bit.

:17:56. > :17:59.

:17:59. > :18:04.There is a Korean athletes that we mentioned earlier heat Yong Kim --

:18:04. > :18:08.Hye-Gyong Kim, she has just moved into the top 10 and is closing on

:18:08. > :18:12.Ryoko Kikzaki. There is a footbridge across to an island, it

:18:12. > :18:18.does not go to the other bank. We have not mention that yet. I think

:18:18. > :18:28.the locals call it Balcombe Ireland. There is a canal on the other side

:18:28. > :18:32.

:18:32. > :18:35.but they have created a canal on the other side. -- Bog Island.

:18:35. > :18:40.Daria Straneo is never letting it drop. Even when the pace has

:18:40. > :18:45.dropped a little bit she is always keen to move it on a little bit.

:18:45. > :18:49.She has put in a lot of hard work and invested a lot of energy into

:18:49. > :18:55.breaking this a very talented field up and she has been very successful

:18:55. > :19:01.at that so far. She is trying to continue with that process. She is

:19:01. > :19:08.trying to break three very good athletes, Melkamu with a bat raised

:19:08. > :19:12.track and cross country pedigree and Kiplagat, the defending

:19:12. > :19:19.champion. The gap and now to Ryoko Kikzaki seems to be getting a bit

:19:19. > :19:25.bigger. Her cadence has changed. Her style is definitely slowing.

:19:25. > :19:32.There are only a few now who are moving through behind. I am not

:19:32. > :19:42.sure that anyone else is moving at a pace that the fund grew apart. --

:19:42. > :19:54.

:19:54. > :20:00.There was a split on our computer that goes from the halfway point.

:20:00. > :20:05.The previous one was 17.34. That is a little quicker than the previous

:20:05. > :20:10.one which was 17.38 but that is nothing like the pace they were

:20:10. > :20:14.operating -- operating at an earlier round. When you trot these

:20:14. > :20:20.numbers out to people watching, they do not see what difference it

:20:20. > :20:25.makes but 10 seconds over five km is huge, isn't it? If somebody

:20:25. > :20:34.opened up a 10 thermometer -- ten- second gap, it is a massive

:20:34. > :20:37.injection. It is. It is huge. When you think about the man to read it

:20:37. > :20:41.represents, it is passed that bank and going ahead. A course like this

:20:41. > :20:44.it is a distance that can look very doable and very approachable if

:20:44. > :20:48.someone opens up that gap because it is a straight road and it does

:20:48. > :20:51.not saying that far ahead but when you are pulling away and you think

:20:51. > :20:56.you have raised your pace and you are trying to close that gap and it

:20:56. > :20:59.is not closing, it can be very demoralising. Some of these goals

:20:59. > :21:02.further down are just looking at the backs of the runners ahead of

:21:02. > :21:06.the marriage can be deceptive as to whether they are closing in or

:21:06. > :21:09.falling back and in the end you just have to close at your own

:21:09. > :21:13.rhythm and run like that. Any of the goals that are moving through

:21:13. > :21:22.the field will just be very much focused on themselves rather than

:21:22. > :21:25.trying to mark of people ahead of them. To make, there always seems a

:21:25. > :21:30.point in the race where this happens, where the leader has three

:21:30. > :21:34.or four in a line. As she drifted across the whole line drifted

:21:34. > :21:37.across. They are not going to do anything else except for a step-by-

:21:37. > :21:42.step behind a, doing exactly what you said, looking at the back of

:21:42. > :21:46.the person in front and nothing be on that. Settling into a rhythm,

:21:46. > :21:50.there they are. Settling into a rhythm and focusing on the person

:21:50. > :21:55.at front. They do not want to lead or go to the front. They are happy

:21:55. > :21:59.for the Italian to do as she has done all the way. They are more

:21:59. > :22:03.than happy to follow directly in her footsteps. When you are tired,

:22:03. > :22:07.it is much easier to run like that and almost slot into that rhythm

:22:07. > :22:11.and let your legs carry on with it and let your mind, not drift away,

:22:11. > :22:16.but not have to think about it. Even for Valeria Straneo in the

:22:16. > :22:20.front, that is what she's doing, she is just focusing on the spot on

:22:20. > :22:23.the road in front of her and just letting the memory from him out of

:22:23. > :22:28.my van miles they have run in training just take over and carry

:22:28. > :22:31.them along. That is why you see them all following each other.

:22:31. > :22:34.Sometimes it is because they are going into a headwind and they are

:22:35. > :22:38.trying to get shut on the road but I don't think that is the case

:22:38. > :22:42.today. I don't think there is any noticeable wind that would make a

:22:42. > :22:49.factor but certainly it is much easier to run in someone's

:22:49. > :22:53.slipstream, if only because you do not have to think about it. You can

:22:53. > :22:57.see, with the trees there, there does not seem to be a breath of

:22:57. > :23:00.wind there. At certain points when we were running along, if you were

:23:00. > :23:04.right on the edge close to the river on the footpath you could

:23:04. > :23:09.feel some breeze coming off the river but where they are on the

:23:10. > :23:13.road, that will be even less. the pace I was struggling along

:23:13. > :23:19.with with my bad hamstring, I was feeling no wind. Did you get this

:23:19. > :23:23.far? I got most of the way along. It was just stupid, I should have

:23:23. > :23:27.turned around and come back but I did not or Paula to get lost! I

:23:27. > :23:31.tried to struggle along behind her and keeper insight and when most of

:23:31. > :23:36.the way to the Kremlin and turned around and hobbled back as well. I

:23:36. > :23:41.could not feel any breeze whatsoever. The first time there is

:23:41. > :23:45.a little bit of daylight that is a opening up there. The Japanese

:23:45. > :23:50.athlete is struggling. When you saw her face it looked as though she

:23:50. > :23:55.was starting to get into a bit more difficulty and she looked more 32

:23:55. > :24:04.and she had done earlier on in the race. That is the length of the gap

:24:04. > :24:11.there. As you can see, that is a big gap to think about making up. I

:24:11. > :24:17.think that is the gap from a Mizuki Noguchi. I think that might

:24:17. > :24:20.actually have been a big gap between them and Jia. Bad is a gap

:24:21. > :24:26.of at the 30 seconds to the leaders so what is a substantial gap. You

:24:26. > :24:34.can see that they have picked up the sponges we picked up -- we were

:24:34. > :24:41.talking about. We will see if they hold on to their drinks for a bit

:24:41. > :24:45.longer. A think Kiplagat has been listening. She is holding on to it.

:24:45. > :24:48.Melkamu have thrown her as a way that the others seem to be holding

:24:49. > :24:51.on. Valeria Straneo has been holding hers for a long time and

:24:51. > :24:58.making sure she gets her fully designated a man that she has been

:24:58. > :25:04.advised by her support team from a bottle. The Japanese athlete is

:25:04. > :25:11.just setting in behind those. Rare Keat Hezakiah have thrown her drink

:25:11. > :25:15.away and taken a bottle of water as well. -- Ryoko Kikzaki. It shows

:25:15. > :25:20.how hot it is out there. There is a lot of work being done there to

:25:20. > :25:23.keep them cool. It is essential to keep your head cool. If you look at

:25:23. > :25:27.what she did there, she picked up her main bottle with a small bottle

:25:27. > :25:31.stuck to the side. The main bottle would be the carbohydrate drink and

:25:31. > :25:37.I did not see if she took a gel as well but it seemed to be water as

:25:37. > :25:43.she was squeezing. Who is that? seemed to be going all right but

:25:43. > :25:48.all of a sudden... It looks as though it is cramped. Is that Jia?

:25:48. > :25:54.That is a shame. She obviously fell off the group as she had got

:25:54. > :25:57.herself back together for a bit. She was running in 6th place. A bit

:25:57. > :26:01.of cramp and she needs to get plenty of that water and she is

:26:01. > :26:08.taking the sponges there and she is moving a little better than she was

:26:08. > :26:14.a couple of hundred metres ago. She is still in 6th place. That is a

:26:14. > :26:18.bad sign go when the cramps starts. To be fair, it is only heading in

:26:18. > :26:20.one direction. Yes, when you get a crumb passed that stage in the

:26:20. > :26:25.marathon, you are really just thinking about whether it is

:26:26. > :26:31.possible to finish without doing serious damage to where it is that

:26:31. > :26:35.is cramping because without being able to get any type of stretching

:26:35. > :26:38.of electrolytes to that area in time, it is pretty much impossible.

:26:38. > :26:43.She may be able to stop and stretch and get started again but she seems

:26:43. > :26:47.to be really favouring trying to run it off and get back into a

:26:47. > :26:52.rhythm. News of the British athletes, Susan Partridge has moved

:26:52. > :26:57.into the top 20. She is a in 19th place. Sonia Samuels is still

:26:57. > :27:01.moving through the field. She is a little bit further back and in 24th

:27:01. > :27:07.place. There are going to be more people dropping out in these latter

:27:07. > :27:11.miles and the British athletes... There is Jia, she is the coming.

:27:11. > :27:18.That crumple not go away, it will just get worse and it will be a

:27:18. > :27:21.struggle for her to finish this. -- that cramp will not go away. You

:27:21. > :27:25.throw your lot in and you go for it, that is what happens with the

:27:25. > :27:31.marathon. There are not really too many half-measures. It works and it

:27:31. > :27:33.comes off or you end up breaking down like this. You can see her

:27:33. > :27:37.looking back because she just came through the drinks station and

:27:37. > :27:42.there would have been a team official their aura team coach and

:27:42. > :27:45.she is looking to see what she can do about it. I guess for the good

:27:45. > :27:49.thing about doing a loop course is that she does not have to worry

:27:49. > :27:59.about recovery vehicles and how to make it back to the medical areas

:27:59. > :28:07.and the team areas. Our long-time leader, Valeria Straneo of Italy.

:28:07. > :28:11.There is Kiplagat and Melkamu as well. They are clear of the field.

:28:11. > :28:18.There is a little group started to move through, you saw a quick

:28:18. > :28:23.glimpse of them in that group. They include a Spanish athlete and a

:28:23. > :28:33.Korean Afellay it. They are chasing a Ryoko Kikzaki who is a fifth-

:28:33. > :28:36.

:28:36. > :28:44.place and she is struggling now. -- a Korean athletes. This Korean

:28:44. > :28:54.athlete has started pretty slowly but she has done very well. Very

:28:54. > :28:54.

:28:54. > :28:59.slowly indeed and she now, I suppose with that group, they might

:28:59. > :29:03.suppose -- hope, you never know, you have talked about this a lot,

:29:03. > :29:07.people can just complete the stop. They can be in the lead group and

:29:07. > :29:10.then know where. We just saw the lead group now and it looks as

:29:10. > :29:14.there were tears down to three athletes because the Japanese

:29:14. > :29:18.athlete is going through a bad patch and losing ground. The

:29:18. > :29:24.reigning champion in third place. Melkamu is the class athlete in

:29:24. > :29:28.this field in terms of regular distance running. You would bet on

:29:28. > :29:32.her to win this race if it was any of her other distances but she has

:29:32. > :29:35.never really distinguished herself in a marathon yet. I really am

:29:36. > :29:40.beginning to hope that Valeria Straneo can win a medal here. It

:29:40. > :29:45.would be a real step up for her. She got eight in the Olympic Games

:29:45. > :29:52.last year and she has gone into the race with Pugin tent and she led

:29:52. > :29:55.from almost just outside the stadium -- huge intent. She has

:29:55. > :29:59.been pulling them along at a regular place and the conditions

:29:59. > :30:03.are really against fast times but she has not approached fast times

:30:03. > :30:09.but she has really towed them along at a good pace. They have been

:30:09. > :30:13.operating at a 2.26 rate, but it will probably speed up in the late

:30:13. > :30:16.stages. The crowds of coming out to support these athletes. If you look

:30:16. > :30:21.at them, there is the physical battle of keeping going, keeping

:30:21. > :30:25.the pace going, there is also the battle against the heat. It really

:30:25. > :30:29.is warm. There is also a mental battle. Sometimes in the marathon

:30:29. > :30:31.you feel good and you are striding out and other times you are going

:30:31. > :30:35.through a bad patch and you are struggling and you just have to

:30:35. > :30:42.keep going. Valeria Straneo has managed to do that, keep herself

:30:42. > :30:45.going, lead this group. They you can see her and their Karmel and

:30:45. > :30:52.Kiplagat all three are turning. Then across the road they will see

:30:52. > :30:55.a gap to fourth place now. -- Melkamu. Can these three hang on to

:30:55. > :30:59.medal conditions? There will be a lot of questions in the last part

:30:59. > :31:09.of the event? Who will come out on top? Will these three get the

:31:09. > :31:15.

:31:15. > :31:24.Looking down the road, we have seen four of them go through. Here is

:31:24. > :31:28.Kizaki of Japan. She can see her team-mate, Fukushi, who has just

:31:28. > :31:33.dropped off the group. He will be the first Japanese? We know that

:31:33. > :31:37.this event is being televised and has huge interest in Japan. It is

:31:37. > :31:45.popular there because they are outstanding in the women's marathon.

:31:45. > :31:53.There is the lead group. Kizaki is in fifth place. The pace is

:31:53. > :31:58.relentless, and still they are running now. 17.24, that was quicker

:31:58. > :32:05.than the last few kilometres. You can see that is the damage done.

:32:05. > :32:15.There is Kizaki turning. How far behind is she? Kizaki is only six

:32:15. > :32:17.

:32:17. > :32:25.seconds behind. What is the gap? Cannot be changed in the later

:32:25. > :32:35.stages? 1.21, there is a bit to do there. 35 minutes ago in the

:32:35. > :32:45.marathon. It can all change. It is a big Mac -- a big cap. She is not

:32:45. > :32:55.moving forward in the field. I think she is maintaining. She was about

:32:55. > :32:57.

:32:57. > :33:02.1.30 down at the last five K. The big job now is for Fukushi to

:33:02. > :33:05.maintain herself, as she is very succeed and is watching the medals

:33:05. > :33:10.when away from her up the road. Can she maintain the spot to be the

:33:10. > :33:20.first Japanese finisher? Lucy Kabuu is falling off this little group of

:33:20. > :33:37.

:33:37. > :33:42.three. It is a long way at this stage. People can define one-minute

:33:42. > :33:47.and then be stopping by the side of the road the next. It is not just a

:33:47. > :33:52.case of closing the gap, it is about whether people last the course. Lucy

:33:52. > :33:56.Kabuu was going through in eighth place. The gap now is two minutes

:33:56. > :33:59.and 30 seconds. I do not think we are seeing any dangers from further

:33:59. > :34:09.back down the field. I think we are seeing carnage from the pace that

:34:09. > :34:15.

:34:15. > :34:22.Valerie Straneo has set. It has been relentless. She started with the

:34:22. > :34:31.first splits about 17.07, setting the tone for the race and dictating

:34:31. > :34:41.how people would come and -- would contend with these conditions. Then

:34:41. > :34:43.

:34:43. > :34:45.we had a stretch that was slower, and now she has picked it up again.

:34:45. > :34:55.We have moved more quickly through the most recent five kilometre

:34:55. > :35:00.

:35:00. > :35:05.section. In front, it is Kiplagat, Melkamu and Straneo. At the moment,

:35:05. > :35:10.it is between these three. They are three very good athletes. Straneo is

:35:10. > :35:15.the least known on the world circuit. She is a good athlete, but

:35:15. > :35:25.not of the same calibre as Melkamu and Kiplagat. But she is the one who

:35:25. > :35:28.

:35:28. > :35:32.has dictated everything so far today. One thing about Straneo

:35:32. > :35:36.coming into this race today, I am not sure where they were held, but

:35:36. > :35:39.she did well in the half marathons recently. It would have been in

:35:39. > :35:43.similar conditions to what we are experiencing today. She is showing

:35:43. > :35:46.that she can handle the conditions well. She has prepared all year

:35:46. > :35:49.knowing that she would be facing these conditions it and she wanted

:35:49. > :35:59.to be sure that she could come here and attack is an attack -- execute

:35:59. > :36:01.

:36:01. > :36:05.her race plan. She will be planning her nutrition and fluids she is

:36:05. > :36:15.taking on as well to mature that she is hydrated both before and during

:36:15. > :36:19.the race, by what she has practised in training. Deena Kastor is moving

:36:19. > :36:29.through the field as well. She is doing well in 11th place, in a

:36:29. > :36:37.

:36:37. > :36:40.little group that are running together. Noguchi's team-mate,

:36:40. > :36:48.Noguchi going back through the field. I will give you an update as

:36:48. > :36:52.soon as I can. Susan Partridge has moved into the top 20. Sonia Samuels

:36:52. > :36:56.is not too far behind. Difficult conditions for the British

:36:56. > :37:00.athletes, who have trained hard for this, trained hard for their chance

:37:00. > :37:04.to come and contest the World Championships. They will be hoping

:37:04. > :37:14.that they can finish strongly and survive what has become a real test.

:37:14. > :37:14.

:37:14. > :37:23.This is always an injury test. Today, even more so. What is going

:37:23. > :37:28.on here? We might have lost Melkamu. She is signalling, trying to get a

:37:28. > :37:33.gap, an idea of the distance that she has over Fukushi. Or maybe she

:37:33. > :37:37.is trying to get advice, or maybe she missed a drink. I think that was

:37:37. > :37:44.the drink station going in the direction. I don't think it was the

:37:44. > :37:52.one going in this direction. But she has lost a large amount of ground

:37:52. > :38:02.quickly there. Yes, some of her team winner -- Werther -- some of her

:38:02. > :38:05.

:38:05. > :38:10.team were there. It may be that she was asking for a drink. Stride here

:38:10. > :38:17.is shaking out her arms again, a forward action, with a low knee

:38:17. > :38:22.left. Kiplagat is gliding along behind her. It is beginning to look

:38:22. > :38:25.better and better for the defending champion. She now just has Straneo

:38:25. > :38:31.to contend with. Given the work she has done, you would hope that

:38:31. > :38:36.Straneo can master this out and had towards a medal. Italy have only

:38:36. > :38:42.ever once won a medal, bronze medal, but Straneo is doing a great

:38:42. > :38:49.job here. She is doing a great job, certainly, keeping the race going.

:38:49. > :38:55.The defending champion now looks as though there is one main obstacle to

:38:55. > :39:01.her defending her title. Stripey oh-today like we have never seen her

:39:01. > :39:05.run before. Melkamu, if this had been a half marathon race, you would

:39:05. > :39:15.have bet on her when she was travelling at the halfway point. She

:39:15. > :39:16.

:39:16. > :39:20.is a class athlete. She has an awful lot faster at 5,000m and 10,000m

:39:20. > :39:26.than these others. She has promised such a lot in her career and has had

:39:26. > :39:33.good performances in her career. She has been second in the World

:39:33. > :39:37.Championships at 10,000m. You would have thought an athlete of this

:39:37. > :39:41.ability would come into the marathon well prepared. Can she make it? It

:39:41. > :39:46.does not look as though today will be her day. The thing is as well

:39:46. > :39:51.that she has left it late in her career to move into the marathon.

:39:51. > :39:54.She has had a couple of children and come back, but she has been

:39:54. > :39:58.competing for a long time and I don't know if she has the pace. The

:39:58. > :40:00.other thing I would question is she looks like she is running in a

:40:00. > :40:06.pretty heavy vest, and the other girls are running in lightweight

:40:06. > :40:09.crop tops, which by now I would imagine are pretty soaked and

:40:09. > :40:12.cooling their skin. I can imagine the best is quite heavy after you

:40:12. > :40:18.are carrying it around for a long time, and that could be causing

:40:18. > :40:24.fatigue. She is also looking around quite a lot, she pretty much stopped

:40:24. > :40:27.to look down the road behind, which will probably give Fukushi some

:40:27. > :40:34.encouragement that she is not that far away and can win some ground

:40:34. > :40:39.back. Once you start to lose it, you can lose it in many directions.

:40:39. > :40:43.Melkamu has to gather herself and clear her mind. She is clearly going

:40:43. > :40:48.through a bad patch, but she needs to think about, can she keep it

:40:48. > :40:52.going, can she keep the pace true and honest? Can she keep in

:40:52. > :40:56.contention here? And of course, the nature of this course is that they

:40:56. > :40:59.can see it. The others chasing will be aware that all of a sudden, think

:40:59. > :41:03.when you are bringing you see a group of three working together and

:41:03. > :41:06.next time you do the turnaround, you think, hang on a minute, if you are

:41:07. > :41:10.in sixth or seventh place, even two minutes behind, you can be

:41:10. > :41:15.reinvigorated, thinking that matter someone who looks in trouble and

:41:15. > :41:22.they might not make it to the finish line. Susan Partridge is through the

:41:22. > :41:26.30 kilometres point and has moved to 16th place. Five minutes and 46

:41:26. > :41:30.seconds behind the leaders, continuing to move through the

:41:30. > :41:34.field. Sonia Samuels is also picking up a couple of places, now in 20th

:41:34. > :41:42.place, 17 minutes behind the leaders. Both of the British

:41:42. > :41:51.athletes are in the top 20. It is looking difficult for Melkamu. She

:41:51. > :41:54.now has to hope that she can take a drink on board from the station.

:41:54. > :41:59.think that maybe was the source of the confusion when the gap was made.

:41:59. > :42:05.I think she genuinely believed she could take a drink and she was

:42:05. > :42:09.trying to see -- to say to her team members that she wanted a drink, and

:42:09. > :42:15.they were going to give her one. She was struggling and in need of

:42:15. > :42:21.getting some kind of energy into, more than fluids at that point. That

:42:21. > :42:26.has thrown her. Whether she will be able to recover or whether that will

:42:26. > :42:36.develop into a battle, because Taguchi is not far behind her. --

:42:36. > :42:53.

:42:53. > :43:00.because fugu she is not far behind still be up for grabs for Fukushi.

:43:00. > :43:07.The front two are still doing well. You have got to admire what Valeria

:43:07. > :43:12.Straneo has done. I am not sure it was the game plan for her to lead,

:43:12. > :43:15.but she obviously came here thinking she could run a hard race in these

:43:15. > :43:20.conditions. It is sometimes a strategy that you can look at the

:43:20. > :43:26.conditions and think, either everyone is going to run slow, or,

:43:26. > :43:31.come on, I know that I could do this, see if I can break it up and

:43:31. > :43:36.have a go and lasted through. she has obviously conditioned

:43:36. > :43:40.herself to run in these hot conditions. She trains a lot in

:43:40. > :43:44.Italy. This has been warm and hot and she has been training and

:43:44. > :43:49.getting ready for this. Is Melkamu in third place. She trained at

:43:49. > :43:56.altitude. Sometimes the transition from altitude quickly to sea level

:43:56. > :44:00.and then running in hot weather is a bit difficult. There is Fukushi, who

:44:00. > :44:06.is really having a hard time now. But she can see Melkamu ahead of

:44:06. > :44:13.her. Which way are they going? Is she fading as quickly as Melkamu

:44:13. > :44:16.is? But these two met in the front, she knew what she wanted to do, and

:44:16. > :44:22.the athlete spent a lot of time in the last couple of days complaining

:44:22. > :44:26.about the weather and the heat. But Straneo said, we can't do anything

:44:26. > :44:30.about it, we can't do anything about the time or the heat. I know I can

:44:30. > :44:36.run well in these conditions and I know how to do it. She has done it

:44:36. > :44:41.at a strong and sensible place -- pace. Melkamu is going through a

:44:41. > :44:45.really bad patch in third place and she now has to concentrate. She

:44:45. > :44:49.wants a medal. She has had a medal in the World Championships in the

:44:50. > :44:53.past. She wants a medal in the marathon today. The leading

:44:53. > :44:57.Ethiopian team are really confident about their performances here. They

:44:57. > :45:07.are confident about Edie Gelana, the Olympic champion, coming back. There

:45:07. > :45:08.

:45:08. > :45:12.is too she -- there is Fukushi in fourth place. She is the one that

:45:12. > :45:18.has an opportunity for a medal. But these two are racing for first and

:45:19. > :45:22.second place. The champion clearly wants to defend her title. Straneo,

:45:22. > :45:27.has she got the mental power and the desire to win the gold medal? Or is

:45:27. > :45:37.she going to be settling happily for a silver medal? That mental battle

:45:37. > :45:38.

:45:38. > :45:41.will unfold in the next half an hour. She has the mental power and

:45:41. > :45:46.determination. That is reflected in the way she has attacked the race

:45:46. > :45:51.and taken it to them. She has laid everything on the line to win. She

:45:51. > :45:56.knows she can handle these conditions, and she has rightly

:45:56. > :46:00.assessed that a lot of the other athletes will struggle. It is

:46:00. > :46:04.whether she has expended too much in leading on the race, and will it be

:46:04. > :46:09.that be able to hang on and cruised past her in the final few kilometres

:46:09. > :46:17.on the race, which is when it be that likes to wind it up and move

:46:17. > :46:24.through? Her analysis of others not being able to compete in these

:46:24. > :46:29.conditions has been right. She has tested them all. The ones who could

:46:29. > :46:36.not handle the heat have fallen by the wayside. So from step one, she

:46:36. > :46:41.has really done well. It is sapping, running in conditions like this.

:46:41. > :46:47.When you have got the heat combined with humidity, we are sweating even

:46:47. > :46:57.though we are in the shade in the stadium, and that can be a big

:46:57. > :47:01.

:47:01. > :47:05.factor. It pulls away at you all the time. Melkamu looks as though she is

:47:05. > :47:10.still maintaining her style and rhythm, but that gap is closing back

:47:10. > :47:15.to Fukushi behind her. I have just had a piece of paper from our

:47:15. > :47:25.statistician. Let me ask you, Steve. The last Italian woman to win

:47:25. > :47:25.

:47:25. > :47:33.a world gold medal was in the long jump in 2001. That is cheating.

:47:33. > :47:41.Fiona was a Brit who married an Italian. I mentioned earlier that

:47:41. > :47:51.they have only won a bronze medal in the marathon. This is a significant

:47:51. > :47:57.performance from Straneo. Albini, on the men's side, they have had plenty

:47:57. > :48:00.of good runners, but they have not done well on the women's side.

:48:00. > :48:06.are obviously Italian is in the crowd, and she had the wherewithal

:48:06. > :48:10.to wave to her friends. That was interesting. That tells you that

:48:10. > :48:14.mentally, she is in good shape. Welcome to looks across the road.

:48:14. > :48:22.She sees the first two doing the other way. She knows what is

:48:22. > :48:26.happening. There are the first two, and there is Melkamu in third place.

:48:26. > :48:31.We are still looking for the athlete in fourth place, Fukushi of Japan,

:48:32. > :48:39.being chased down by her team-mate. Is third place going to change in

:48:39. > :48:48.the next 25 minutes? Or will Melkamu settle for another medal? She looks

:48:48. > :48:54.over her shoulder. She is being chased around the turn by the

:48:54. > :49:01.Japanese athlete, Fukushi, who looks as though she is going strong.

:49:01. > :49:07.have just got the maths out. It is two hours, one and five seconds.

:49:08. > :49:11.That was the fastest five kilometres of the race so far since the first

:49:12. > :49:16.five kilometres. That is one reason why Melkamu is behind now. She ran

:49:16. > :49:21.as well as she could. And Straneo, imperceptibly, has been forcing the

:49:21. > :49:27.pace. Kiplagat has been there all the time and you know she is working

:49:27. > :49:32.hard. You cannot not be working hard, because as Paula will tell

:49:32. > :49:37.you, when the pace drops and then builds again, that is hard work.

:49:37. > :49:43.Fukushi closes in on Melkamu for third. It is hard work and it is

:49:43. > :49:49.very impressive running at this stage from Straneo and Kiplagat. I

:49:49. > :49:52.can see the strain starting to show an Edna Kiplagat's face. Melkamu is

:49:52. > :49:59.certainly paying the price for trying to go with the injection of

:49:59. > :50:02.pace. Fukushi is gaining in confidence, because she is able to

:50:02. > :50:07.get closer. Straneo has been gesturing every time she comes

:50:07. > :50:11.around the corner, and I have been trying to watch the guys on the

:50:11. > :50:17.bikes who are cycling alongside. I am sure there must be a coach or

:50:17. > :50:22.team manager who has been following her and giving information on the

:50:22. > :50:25.gaps, although on this course, it is easy to see for yourself. If he was

:50:25. > :50:32.giving her good information, he would be telling her, you are

:50:32. > :50:37.testing Kiplagat now. Kiplagat just grabbed this bunch. I don't know if

:50:37. > :50:40.if Melkamu is getting information, but the information that should be

:50:40. > :50:50.coming her way is that she is going to be joined by the Japanese

:50:50. > :50:54.

:50:54. > :50:58.athlete, Fukushi. Fukushi looks to be going stronger than Melkamu.

:50:58. > :51:02.Melkamu looks over her shoulder and then started to feel her leg. She

:51:02. > :51:07.has started to slow down dramatically. She saw she was being

:51:07. > :51:14.challenged, and suddenly, is this Melkamu pulling out of the race? She

:51:14. > :51:21.is not happy. She quickly slowed down and then let Fukushi takeover.

:51:21. > :51:26.She felt her hamstring. We don't know if there is a problem. The

:51:26. > :51:33.moment, she is giving up the third base to let Fukushi take the

:51:33. > :51:43.initiative. Interesting move. her hands kept going to the side of

:51:43. > :51:48.her leg. And then as soon as she gets passed, she slots in behind

:51:48. > :51:50.Fukushi. Mental problems, Paula? For me, that is not necessarily

:51:50. > :51:56.physical. That is somebody struggling with what is going on in

:51:56. > :52:00.her head. Absolutely, and controversially, it is a bit of an

:52:01. > :52:06.Ethiopian mentality to just slipped behind. She might just sit on the

:52:06. > :52:11.back of the cushy for a bit and try and regroup. If she is able to hang

:52:11. > :52:17.in, she will be a danger coming into the stadium, because she might

:52:17. > :52:22.muster up a finish that will be better than Fukushi's. So Fukushi

:52:22. > :52:28.needs to focus on making sure she keeps working. I don't think she

:52:28. > :52:31.will make any inroads on these two. They are moving away now and they

:52:31. > :52:41.are clearly the gold and silver medallist, it is just a question of

:52:41. > :52:45.

:52:45. > :52:53.which way round. Straneo is in good spirits. Her gestures to the crowd

:52:53. > :53:02.tell you she is in control. She was waving and smiling. Melkamu has

:53:02. > :53:08.settled down in the wake of Fukushi. Fukushi has a slight mental

:53:08. > :53:12.advantage, because she has been coming strongly from behind. Now she

:53:13. > :53:17.is leading Melkamu, who you would imagine has a better sprint finish

:53:17. > :53:23.than Fukushi. And of these two, the question is, who will make the move

:53:23. > :53:30.first? Straneo wants to wear down the opposition. She whittled the

:53:31. > :53:36.group down from a sizeable number. The inches are beginning to move.

:53:36. > :53:44.Just a bit of an advantage. Would you want to be on the shoulder of

:53:44. > :53:48.Straneo at this point? She is certainly testing the champion. She

:53:48. > :53:51.is running herself into a medal position. Fukushi is running into

:53:51. > :54:01.the bronze medal position. And we were right about Melkamu. She was

:54:01. > :54:06.

:54:06. > :54:13.struggling, and she is not going to go any further. Fukushi is running,

:54:13. > :54:20.and the Japanese viewers at home will be seeing. The Italian Leeds,

:54:20. > :54:29.with the Kenyan in second place. Straneo is the athlete who anybody,

:54:29. > :54:33.even watching in Japan, once Straneo to win, the way she has been going.

:54:33. > :54:38.Melkamu is now walking in fourth place, and Fukushi of Japan has

:54:38. > :54:43.moved into third. If you are just joining us, this is the women's

:54:43. > :54:48.world championship marathon, live from Moscow, the Moscow River on the

:54:48. > :54:52.left-hand side of these leaders. That is the defending champion, Edna

:54:52. > :55:00.Kiplagat. Nobody has ever successfully defended this title.

:55:00. > :55:04.One person won it twice, but there was a gap between the two wins. No

:55:04. > :55:09.woman from Italy has ever won this title. Straneo has set the pace from

:55:09. > :55:13.the beginning. It was a hard place in these tough conditions for

:55:13. > :55:17.marathon running, and it has put paid to some big names. The Olympic

:55:17. > :55:21.champion has gone. Now her team-mate, Melkamu, who for a long

:55:21. > :55:31.time was in a medal position, is also now walking and watching the

:55:31. > :55:32.

:55:32. > :55:38.medals disappear in the distance. We have two British athletes, Susan

:55:38. > :55:44.Partridge now moving into the top 15. Sonia Samuels is still going in

:55:45. > :55:50.19th place at the moment. This is where these races are won and lost.

:55:50. > :55:56.With all this hard work, Paula, what is going through their minds 's you

:55:57. > :56:01.are a committed front runner. On the track, there must have been times

:56:01. > :56:07.when you were thinking, there are still somebody there, can I find a

:56:07. > :56:10.bit extra? Shall I say the bit for the end? What is she doing now?

:56:10. > :56:18.Those are the questions she will be asking. It is difficult when there

:56:18. > :56:21.is that much noise, but she will be tried to see if she can hear Edna

:56:21. > :56:25.Kiplagat and try and calculate anything from that. Is she close to

:56:26. > :56:31.breaking point? She will have got some of that information from the

:56:31. > :56:37.people on the side. She doesn't need to panic yet. She has at least 20

:56:38. > :56:41.minutes of running ahead of her, if not more. So she has got time to

:56:41. > :56:47.keep drying it out, and the marathon is different to wonder track. On the

:56:47. > :56:51.track you know that if you are coming into the last two laps and

:56:51. > :56:55.people are stored there, you are struggling to sprint around the last

:56:55. > :57:03.lap. On the marathon, it is difficult is it, even if you get

:57:03. > :57:07.into the last 400 metres. It is more about trying to change the cadence.

:57:07. > :57:11.I have been able to outsprint people at the end of a marathon where I

:57:11. > :57:17.couldn't on the track, because it is different. She may feel better about

:57:17. > :57:20.that fact, but the danger is more the way it at has run her

:57:20. > :57:27.championship races in the past, and that is by really winding it up in

:57:27. > :57:33.the last five kilometres. A quick update. Susan Partridge is now into

:57:33. > :57:40.12th position. She is closing down on Deena Kastor, who is about 30

:57:40. > :57:45.seconds ahead. Susan Partridge finished in the top ten in the

:57:45. > :57:49.Commonwealth marathon in Delhi, not to similar conditions. If you came

:57:49. > :57:56.top ten in the World Championships, that would be a great performance.

:57:56. > :58:00.That is terrific, because the one she is aiming for next is the

:58:00. > :58:08.Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next summer. A top ten place in the World

:58:08. > :58:14.Championships would stand her in good stead. Sonia Samuels is in

:58:14. > :58:24.18th place, which is good as well. Hats off to the pair of the British

:58:24. > :58:24.

:58:24. > :58:30.athletes. Here is the feed station. Straneo again gets her drink. Edna

:58:30. > :58:39.Kiplagat gets her drink and holds onto it for a while. We were talking

:58:39. > :58:42.about the finish of a race. Last year, Edna Kiplagat almost

:58:42. > :58:47.outsprinted Tirunesh Dibaba. And Tirunesh Dibaba is the best in the

:58:47. > :58:54.world at a finish. So I was impressed last year. I wonder if she

:58:54. > :59:02.will wait, because we know she has a sprint finish. We are not sure about

:59:02. > :59:06.Straneo. But at the end of the day, if you are confident you can win in

:59:06. > :59:10.a sprint, why would you go early in a hard run like this? It might not

:59:10. > :59:15.be a question of waiting, it could be a question of whether she can

:59:15. > :59:21.hang on. She needs to be within striking distance to do that, and if

:59:21. > :59:25.Straneo is able to turn the screw a lot, she has turned it a lot

:59:25. > :59:35.already. It is how much more she has left to keep putting the pressure

:59:35. > :59:40.on. Paula, you must really be wanting Straneo to win. Absolutely,

:59:40. > :59:43.because she has done all of the front running and put the work in.

:59:43. > :59:53.You want to see her get some reward for that. It is certain that she

:59:53. > :59:54.

:59:54. > :59:59.will get at least a silver medal, but you would like to see her win.

:59:59. > :00:06.This is a war of attrition now, all whilst -- miles they have run as

:00:06. > :00:13.well as the ones in front. Conditions are starting to take

:00:13. > :00:19.their toll. Straneo forced it on again and picked up the pace. She

:00:19. > :00:24.put in a big five kilometres between 30 kilometres and 35 kilometres,

:00:24. > :00:28.running the fastest stretch of the race so far. Now we have just a few

:00:28. > :00:32.kilometres to go. She knows this is the last time they will come down

:00:32. > :00:35.this section. When they get down to the turn point at the bottom of

:00:35. > :00:41.because this time they will carry straight on and then they will have

:00:41. > :00:44.a couple of kilometres to go to the stadium. I would love to say there

:00:44. > :00:52.will be a big crowd in the stadium to welcome them, but that is not the

:00:52. > :01:02.case. That is a shame. Fukushi is looking good and strong in a bronze

:01:02. > :01:07.

:01:07. > :01:11.medal position. Alessandra Aguilar is behind them. The weather hasn't

:01:11. > :01:19.changed. There is the stadium. You just got a glimpse of it in the

:01:19. > :01:29.background there at the top of the picture. And this is a race, a great

:01:29. > :01:30.

:01:30. > :01:38.race. There is a great champion behind Straneo, Edna Kiplagat is a

:01:38. > :01:44.great runner, a great marathon runner in her own right. She had a

:01:44. > :01:54.poor Olympic Games, but has obviously prepared well for this.

:01:54. > :01:56.

:01:56. > :01:59.She looks more relaxed now. They have put out the kilometres signs as

:01:59. > :02:03.they have been running along, and I am not sure whether that is a good

:02:03. > :02:13.thing or a bad thing. She has been religiously checking of her

:02:13. > :02:17.kilometres spits -- splits. If you are used to seeing that, it might be

:02:17. > :02:22.what you expect and what you want to see. But for us, we are used to

:02:22. > :02:26.seeing them marked out in miles. So to get them marked out in

:02:26. > :02:31.kilometres, it seems to make it longer because it seems like you

:02:31. > :02:34.have 42 targets out there instead of 26. In reality, it is good to

:02:34. > :02:38.another checking point. And she will now know that she's getting closer

:02:38. > :02:48.and closer to the finish. That will be a welcome sight for both of them,

:02:48. > :02:49.

:02:49. > :02:52.to the bulk -- the distance market -- marker get closer to 42. The

:02:52. > :02:57.Japanese athletes are definitely taking two bottles at each station.

:02:57. > :03:07.I am not sure if that is allowed, if there is a limit. They are bidding

:03:07. > :03:09.

:03:09. > :03:14.up a hoop with two bottles on it and seemed to be mixing the two.

:03:14. > :03:20.different bottles with two different things in. Kiplagat, it is

:03:21. > :03:24.interesting, because she has never been as concerned with issues of

:03:24. > :03:31.water stations and feeding stations in the past. They will have down and

:03:31. > :03:38.go under that bridge, and head towards the stadium towards the

:03:38. > :03:45.right of the picture. It is not far now. Straneo is not letting up. She

:03:45. > :03:55.drops arms and tries to relax a bit if she can and see if she can muster

:03:55. > :03:59.

:03:59. > :04:02.something. The men's decathlon is going on in the stadium. There has

:04:02. > :04:07.been nobody on this course to support these athletes, and given

:04:07. > :04:12.that it is a very easy course to spectate on, it is a shame, and they

:04:12. > :04:15.will be heading into a very empty stadium. A disappointing turnout,

:04:15. > :04:19.but apparently it is the big summer holiday in Moscow jury in this

:04:19. > :04:23.period, which is why a lot of people aren't here. It has been a

:04:23. > :04:30.disappointing turnout. One of the big attractions of these marathons

:04:30. > :04:37.is that they are free to watch. But there is no crowding the stadium, no

:04:37. > :04:41.crowd in Red Square, a little bit of a crowd on the road. But we are

:04:41. > :04:47.seeing a real traditional challenge. The champion is being

:04:47. > :04:51.tested by the long-time leader Straneo. She has been happy to

:04:51. > :04:58.lead. Edna Kiplagat, the reigning champion, has been happy to run

:04:58. > :05:02.behind. But now she moves along -- alongside. He has got the

:05:02. > :05:12.determination and this print finish? Straneo is in territory she

:05:12. > :05:12.

:05:12. > :05:16.has never been in. This is the best run of her life. She finished eighth

:05:16. > :05:21.in the Olympic Games last year, but this is a new level for her. Edna

:05:21. > :05:27.Kiplagat, the reigning champion, twice second in the London

:05:27. > :05:31.Marathon. They have just gone through 40 kilometres. 2.2

:05:31. > :05:41.kilometres remaining. The race is on now. We have had a great race in

:05:41. > :05:49.every sense. We have a frontrunning champion. Fugu she in third place --

:05:49. > :05:54.Fukushi in third place. She ran the 10,000m and has moved up to the

:05:54. > :06:00.marathon. She was 10th in the big Games in the 10,000m. And now the

:06:00. > :06:06.champion for the first time, and looking over her shoulder, Straneo

:06:06. > :06:10.senses that Kiplagat is strong enough and good enough to defend her

:06:10. > :06:14.title. Just over one mile to go here in Moscow. They are approaching the

:06:14. > :06:20.Olympic Stadium here, where we are sitting and commentating, having

:06:20. > :06:23.witnessed this race unfold. Straneo laid out for them and ran very

:06:23. > :06:29.quickly in nearly stages. She whittled down the field and used her

:06:29. > :06:36.strength and power, but suddenly the class marathon runner here, the

:06:36. > :06:44.proof Marathon motor -- runner, Kiplagat, she has less than ten

:06:44. > :06:49.minutes remaining. She is only about one mile away from the finish. Her

:06:49. > :06:55.stride is smoother now. She will not need a sprint finish, we don't

:06:55. > :06:59.think, but there is the complex, where we are sitting in nearly big

:06:59. > :07:06.stadium, and you can see an entourage of bikes and cars, turning

:07:06. > :07:11.as they near the Olympic Stadium. The gold medal will almost certainly

:07:11. > :07:15.be presented to Edna Kiplagat. Paula, this was the point almost

:07:15. > :07:23.exactly, at about 40 kilometres, two years ago, where she did exactly

:07:23. > :07:27.this. She had one little dab along the side of Straneo, painted a bit,

:07:27. > :07:30.and a next time it was more decisive. Straneo immediately looked

:07:30. > :07:40.behind, and you know when somebody does that there is only one thing

:07:40. > :07:40.

:07:40. > :07:45.they are thinking. OK, second place, thank you very much. Kiplagat did

:07:45. > :07:49.inject fast. She moved away quickly. The gap is not now growing as fast,

:07:49. > :07:53.but it grew quickly. And immediately, Straneo looked right

:07:53. > :07:56.behind her to see how safe she was in that position. And now she has

:07:56. > :08:04.realised that she is maintaining fairly well, she's not moving away

:08:04. > :08:08.as fast as she thought would happen. Those are the tactics that she is

:08:08. > :08:18.employing. She will keep pushing on now into the finish and she went

:08:18. > :08:19.

:08:19. > :08:24.need to use the surging pace again. -- the surge in place again. She is

:08:24. > :08:34.looking behind. She knows she has made a big effort. She wants that

:08:34. > :08:39.gap to continue. She won't want to come into the stadium... When you

:08:39. > :08:42.get on the track, three or four seconds doesn't that very far.

:08:42. > :08:46.Straneo, if she can hold it there, you never know, we were talking

:08:46. > :08:50.about sprinting at the end and Kiplagat's ability to do that. But

:08:50. > :08:53.that is a margin that is not getting any bigger at the moment. And one

:08:53. > :08:57.thing I would say that, as they came through the gates there on the

:08:57. > :09:04.corner, one thing I did always like to do, no matter how much of the

:09:04. > :09:07.course you were able to get over, Kiplagat did not know where she was

:09:07. > :09:12.going when she came to that date there. She did not follow the line

:09:12. > :09:19.even, and took a really wide berth, and Straneo was able to close up her

:09:19. > :09:22.epic there. I would say that Straneo has run this bit before. I think the

:09:22. > :09:27.break has been decisive. I am not sure that she will be able to get

:09:27. > :09:30.that back. The picture there is deceptive, because it makes Straneo

:09:30. > :09:34.look as though she's closer to Kiplagat and she is. Although

:09:34. > :09:44.Kiplagat is looking behind a lot and giving a lot of fuel to the belief

:09:44. > :09:48.

:09:48. > :09:53.on her way to defending her title. She is still a little concerned,

:09:54. > :09:57.still aware that Straneo is not far behind, but she was happy to follow

:09:57. > :10:02.Straneo. When they were running in the later stages, you sensed that

:10:02. > :10:07.Edna Kiplagat was the athlete he was expecting to win this one and

:10:07. > :10:12.Straneo was exciting to run a good race, which she did. But Straneo is

:10:12. > :10:19.still working hard. Edna Kiplagat is not miles clear. This shot we are

:10:19. > :10:21.looking at here just for short the perspective a little bit. But Edna

:10:21. > :10:31.Kiplagat from Kenya, twice runner-up, disappointment last year

:10:31. > :10:34.

:10:34. > :10:44.at the Olympic Games after winning the title in die do in 2011. -- in

:10:44. > :10:46.

:10:46. > :10:55.Daegu. Paula you experienced this once when you are running into the

:10:55. > :11:01.stadium in Helsinki. She's looking behind a lot. Two welcome signs

:11:01. > :11:05.along that is the maximum amount of shade that she has been able to

:11:05. > :11:08.benefit from along this stretch. She's pretty much now into the last

:11:08. > :11:14.three minutes of racing here today. She is able to gain something from

:11:14. > :11:17.that. I still can't believe how much she is looking behind. Even if you

:11:17. > :11:21.are tired at this stage, don't give them any belief that they can come

:11:21. > :11:25.back to you, because Straneo has shown how tenacious she is and how

:11:25. > :11:29.hard she has worked today. She will work to get back into this. I

:11:29. > :11:34.witnessed about to answer my other question, is it a rant or does she

:11:34. > :11:39.run down? She did get a nice downhill. There is the bit you dream

:11:39. > :11:44.of. You would like a bigger crowd. She has got 300 metres remaining.

:11:44. > :11:48.The first athlete ever to defend a title. Edna Kiplagat of Kenya, now

:11:48. > :11:51.opening that gap, a comfortable winner after all, even though she

:11:51. > :11:58.has been anxious, she's running strongly and she deserves this

:11:58. > :12:02.victory. It has been hard out there, tough race. The marathon always is.

:12:02. > :12:07.But in these conditions, it has been a real test and she has stood up to

:12:07. > :12:14.it in fine style. Two years ago, she did not necessarily start the race

:12:14. > :12:18.as a favourite. She led a Kenyan one, two, three, on that occasion.

:12:18. > :12:22.She felt twice in that race, overcoming a different type of

:12:22. > :12:28.adversity, but she came through their arm and she will be the first

:12:28. > :12:32.woman to successfully defend the title. Her team-mate has won it on

:12:32. > :12:40.two occasions. But Edna Kiplagat of Kenya defends her world title in

:12:40. > :12:46.brilliant style, just inside 2.26. And then, Straneo of Italy, who led

:12:46. > :12:52.for so long, he took the field apart, and one by one they fell

:12:52. > :12:56.away, but she could not quite get rid of Kiplagat. And that, for

:12:56. > :12:59.Straneo, is the race of her life, to take a silver medal, the best result

:13:00. > :13:04.ever by an Italian in the World Championship Arifin. I think the

:13:04. > :13:09.difference is that, as they embrace one another, Straneo hoped to win

:13:09. > :13:16.this race, Edna Kiplagat expected to win this race, and that is the

:13:16. > :13:23.difference between a champion and a running out -- and a run-up. Edna

:13:23. > :13:33.Kiplagat is a deserving champion. Weird -- we now await the third

:13:33. > :13:34.

:13:34. > :13:37.place, he we expect to be temporary as Mike Fukushi of Japan. She was

:13:37. > :13:43.looking back to see if she could afford to celebrate as much as she

:13:43. > :13:46.did when she got into the arena. Straneo deserves that. We can now

:13:46. > :13:50.see Fukushi coming in. She can be very proud of her bronze medal

:13:50. > :13:54.today, because there was a big point in that race when it really came

:13:54. > :13:58.down to a crunch time, how much she could keep our focus and keep

:13:58. > :14:02.working hard to be able to pull back to that group. She wasn't to know

:14:02. > :14:07.that Melkamu was going to drop out, and she did all her in before that.

:14:07. > :14:10.She kept her focus very well, and she has overcome her own personal

:14:10. > :14:20.Demons as well, giving a previous marathons and how much she has

:14:20. > :14:24.struggled. So, Fukushi, the best of the Japanese, and that is always a

:14:24. > :14:28.best thing to be, because they have such a good pedigree. Look at that

:14:28. > :14:33.wonderful smile! She is so happy to have taken the bronze medal in the

:14:33. > :14:42.world Championships, in an event that the Japanese hold so dear.

:14:42. > :14:44.Fukushi, after a tough race, and in their and watched others fall away.

:14:44. > :14:54.Melkamu, who looked as though she may have been in the bronze medal

:14:54. > :15:04.position, she finally stopped once Fukushi has to. It is Kenya first,

:15:04. > :15:04.

:15:04. > :15:07.Italy second, and Japan in third place. An that is Edna Kiplagat's

:15:07. > :15:13.manager, Brendan Reilly. It was lovely to see Fukushi get a medal,

:15:13. > :15:18.because she has placed ninth, 10th, 11th and 11th at previous World

:15:18. > :15:27.Championships. She was 11th in Beijing. So for her, to finally

:15:27. > :15:33.conquer that distance, she has got her reward. That was a brilliant app

:15:33. > :15:43.unease record. Only when you sit and go through the stats and look, -- a

:15:43. > :15:46.

:15:46. > :15:52.brilliant Japanese record. They won it in 1993 and 1997. Then there was

:15:52. > :15:58.a silver medal in Burlington in 2009. Great record for them -- in

:15:58. > :16:03.Berlin. Just rewards today for Fukushi. But let's not take anything

:16:03. > :16:08.away from Edna Kiplagat. We saw her yesterday, and she looked fairly

:16:09. > :16:13.relaxed. Today, she did everything right. People will say they feel

:16:13. > :16:19.sorry for Straneo, but that is what racing is about. You don't need to

:16:19. > :16:24.go to the front if it is not your job to do that. You want to win the

:16:24. > :16:28.race. You do the plan which you set out, and for her that just involves

:16:28. > :16:36.getting into the last couple of long it is. And then if she has it in

:16:36. > :16:39.her, to push on. So, smiles all round. There will be some very tired

:16:39. > :16:47.athletes among those who finish. There are plenty who will not

:16:47. > :16:52.finish. The first casualties at the beginning was the Olympic champion.

:16:52. > :17:02.But the defending world champion came through, looking at two in a

:17:02. > :17:11.

:17:11. > :17:15.row. Kizaki will come in next in fourth place. Two hours and 30

:17:15. > :17:20.minutes. Only three athletes finished under that, and that tells

:17:20. > :17:28.you everything you need to know about the conditions here. The

:17:28. > :17:38.winner was 2.25. Only three athletes were within five minutes of the

:17:38. > :17:47.

:17:47. > :17:53.winner. The champion celebrates. So dry Neo, a brilliant performer. She

:17:53. > :17:56.made this a great race -- Straneo. And a great performance, to run the

:17:56. > :18:06.best race of your life in a championship. She had to settle for

:18:06. > :18:06.

:18:06. > :18:12.second. And here is Kizaki from Japan in fourth place. The clock is

:18:12. > :18:15.at 2.31. There is no one else in the stadium, so the field has blown

:18:16. > :18:21.apart in the second part of the race. Quite a few will have dropped

:18:21. > :18:26.out. Hopefully, Susan Partridge and Sonia Samuels will have been working

:18:26. > :18:36.their way through. At the last check, Susan Partridge was in 10th

:18:36. > :18:44.

:18:44. > :18:54.position. Kizaki finishes fourth and is welcomed in by her team-mate, the

:18:54. > :19:04.bronze medallist, Fukushi. Aguilar is now in the stadium. It has been

:19:04. > :19:04.

:19:04. > :19:11.really hard out there. That was not about time in these conditions. It

:19:12. > :19:17.is a very good time. Aguilar stuck to her plan as well. She was quite a

:19:17. > :19:24.way back early on and moved through the field almost relentlessly at one

:19:24. > :19:33.point. She will be rewarded with a top five finish. This is good to

:19:33. > :19:38.see. You have to be putting people in the team. You have to inspire

:19:38. > :19:41.others to take it up. Articulate in Europe, we have got to have the

:19:41. > :19:45.French and the Germans and the Spaniards and the Brits picking

:19:45. > :19:53.people up. This is what happens. You would not have put her in the top

:19:53. > :19:56.five coming into this. Questions sometimes get asked in selection

:19:56. > :19:59.meetings about whether this person can finish in the top eight or the

:19:59. > :20:09.top ten. In distance races, you cannot say that, because you don't

:20:09. > :20:10.

:20:10. > :20:14.know. In Daegu, for the Americans, their athlete placed seventh. But on

:20:14. > :20:19.paper, she would not have been down to finish in the top ten. But she

:20:19. > :20:24.ran really well and did it. So bring the athletes here. Give them a

:20:24. > :20:34.chance of getting into that final. Anything can happen out there,

:20:34. > :20:35.

:20:35. > :20:38.especially in conditions like this. Edna Kiplagat stuck to her race plan

:20:39. > :20:46.in the beginning. I was worried by how far back she was, but then she

:20:46. > :20:54.moved through and did not do anything until the closing stages.

:20:55. > :21:04.That was her race plan. This is Kim, who at one point was moving through

:21:05. > :21:07.

:21:07. > :21:17.the field. Sorry, it is another athlete. Kim will be behind her. Two

:21:17. > :21:20.

:21:20. > :21:27.Italians in the top ten. Then Perez of Mexico. I can see him on the far

:21:27. > :21:37.side, who has just come in. She will be in eighth place. They are about

:21:37. > :21:38.

:21:38. > :21:43.ten minutes behind the winners. We are going to try and wait to see the

:21:43. > :21:49.two British athletes. The great news is that Susan Partridge is

:21:49. > :21:53.approaching the stadium. We were talking about African dominance, but

:21:53. > :21:57.only one African has finished in this race so far. The Ethiopians

:21:57. > :22:05.have not figured at all. There have win athletes from South America,

:22:05. > :22:12.Japan, Europe. And I think Deena Kastor from the USA as well. This is

:22:12. > :22:19.Kim, 20 years old. There is Susan Partridge, just coming in. Between

:22:19. > :22:23.her and Kim is Deena Kastor. What a well judged race by Susan Partridge.

:22:23. > :22:30.As Brendan was staying, she will be aiming for the Commonwealth Games

:22:30. > :22:36.next year in Glasgow. Scottish athlete. This is now a top ten

:22:36. > :22:42.finish in the World Championships. Well judged. Her team-mate Sonia

:22:42. > :22:46.Samuels left a bit quicker, but this is a strong finish. After this

:22:46. > :22:52.performance, you can guarantee her a better day out in Glasgow next

:22:52. > :22:56.summer. It will not be as hard as this. Well done, Susan Partridge.

:22:56. > :23:01.She has paced herself well. And she is finishing with running left in

:23:01. > :23:05.her. She looks as though she could keep going. She is not exhausted

:23:05. > :23:08.coming in. She's probably thinking that if she had known Deena Kastor

:23:08. > :23:13.was only that far ahead, she might have enabled the close on her

:23:13. > :23:21.sooner. But she will be proud for running an excellent race and it

:23:21. > :23:24.will give her a boost going into next year. Just shaking the hand of

:23:24. > :23:31.Deena Kastor, who finished one place ahead of her, the medallist from

:23:31. > :23:39.2004. Susan Partridge and Sonia Samuels, Sonia is still out there.

:23:39. > :23:46.They have both done very well. Susan Partridge finishes in 10th place.

:23:46. > :23:56.She can be proud of her performance. That was the Australian just coming

:23:56. > :24:07.

:24:07. > :24:17.in. We think Sonia is about 15th or 16th place. The 12th and 13th

:24:17. > :24:21.

:24:22. > :24:26.athletes are in the stadium. 14th now. The Lithuanian is coming round.

:24:26. > :24:29.To reiterate what I was talking about earlier about the selection,

:24:29. > :24:35.you have got to give people something to aim at. Training for

:24:35. > :24:40.the marathon is tough. You have got to give up chunks of your life to

:24:40. > :24:42.train for it, and you want the chance to represent your country at

:24:42. > :24:48.the major championships. Susan Partridge and Sonia Samuels have

:24:48. > :24:55.done that William J. Sonia worked so hard to be here. She qualified in

:24:55. > :25:03.Burley in last year. And she came to what was always going to be a tough

:25:03. > :25:09.race in these conditions. I think Sonia Samuels is 15th or 16th. Well

:25:09. > :25:11.done to both of them. If nothing else happens in your career, you can

:25:12. > :25:16.say you have gone to the World Championships and finished in the

:25:16. > :25:21.top 20, and that is something to be very proud of. Going back to

:25:21. > :25:28.selection, Alison Dixon missed that qualifying time by a few seconds. So

:25:28. > :25:32.could she have come here and run just as well? There is also the

:25:32. > :25:37.World Cup for the marathon going on here, so we could have entered up to

:25:37. > :25:44.five athletes. I think they have scrapped the World Cup as a

:25:44. > :25:50.competition. Not enough countries were interested, and it is a shame.

:25:50. > :25:56.Sonia Samuels performed very well indeed. She and her team-mate should

:25:56. > :26:06.be happy with their performance. I would have loved for it to have gone

:26:06. > :26:07.

:26:07. > :26:17.better, but in these conditions, not everyone will finish. So this is

:26:17. > :26:19.

:26:19. > :26:28.testimony to their preparation, conditioning and fortitude. Her

:26:28. > :26:34.husband Nick is here to watch. All those hours and Miles Susan and

:26:34. > :26:39.Sonia have put in, it has all come to this. In the World Championships,

:26:39. > :26:45.anything can happen. Susan Partridge must be feeling tired, but delighted

:26:45. > :26:50.with her top ten finish. Susan, congratulations on a

:26:50. > :26:57.wonderful performance. How tough weather conditions? Pretty brutal. I

:26:57. > :27:02.am getting used to it now. You learn how to handle them, how to cool

:27:02. > :27:07.down, how much water to take on board. But I would still rather have

:27:07. > :27:15.had a cooler race. How does a top ten finish please you? Over the

:27:15. > :27:22.moon. That is better than I thought I could do, or as good as I thought

:27:22. > :27:29.I could do. When I heard I was in the top ten, I thought, I don't even

:27:29. > :27:37.remember passing those people ! I just got my rhythm going. I kept

:27:37. > :27:43.picking people of. I was not really paying attention to the kilometre

:27:43. > :27:49.markers or the lapse. Each time, it was just, right, get the next

:27:49. > :27:52.person. It gave me something to focus on. We have spoken about

:27:52. > :27:56.African domination in the marathon, but in the top ten, we have seen a

:27:56. > :28:00.winner from Kenya, but also European athletes and an American and a

:28:00. > :28:05.Mexican. Changing the shape of women's marathon running? Everybody

:28:05. > :28:11.is getting tough. People get as good as they have to be. Somebody is

:28:11. > :28:21.always looking to see what they can do to be a world beater. It can be

:28:21. > :28:22.

:28:22. > :28:29.done. Well done. Very well done indeed to the pair of

:28:29. > :28:36.them. As Phil was saying, it is interesting that there was only one

:28:37. > :28:40.African athlete in the top ten. It was full of Europeans, Japanese,

:28:40. > :28:44.Korean athletes. Only Edna Kiplagat came here and produced that sort of

:28:44. > :28:51.form. It should be argued that if you come to a big race like this and

:28:51. > :28:53.you take the conditions on, it is a high risk strategy, but it is

:28:53. > :28:58.evident to me that the Ethiopians were not as well-prepared as should

:28:58. > :29:05.have been. They should be content with this. There is a lot of

:29:05. > :29:11.experience in their team. You have got to judge it right and make the

:29:11. > :29:20.right decisions. Let's not forget, Edna Kiplagat, in the first five

:29:20. > :29:29.kilometres, was about 14 seconds adrift. She was a worthy winner, and

:29:29. > :29:34.defended her title with grace. She still has a big career ahead of her

:29:34. > :29:37.in the marathon. Phil spoke to her. Congratulations

:29:37. > :29:44.on the victory in defending your title. Can you describe your

:29:44. > :29:53.emotions as you crossed the finish line? Yeah, I am thankful and happy

:29:53. > :29:58.that I managed to defend my title successfully. I was so happy that my

:29:58. > :30:07.body started reacting well after the first five kilometres. I had in my

:30:07. > :30:17.mind to keep an being persistent. So when I arrived at 40 kilometres, I

:30:17. > :30:19.

:30:19. > :30:23.started to push a bit harder and found that I was getting stronger.

:30:23. > :30:27.So when I came into the stadium, I started going hard, because I know I

:30:27. > :30:30.am going to win. What is it like when you crossed the line and they

:30:30. > :30:36.give you the Kenyan flag and you can go and celebrate with the crowd?

:30:36. > :30:39.Yeah, I was so excited and so happy. There is nothing I can say. I am

:30:39. > :30:49.very happy and grateful. You have done Kenya proud. Wonderful

:30:49. > :30:58.

:30:58. > :31:02.title. Valeria Straneo of Italy, the title. Valeria Straneo of Italy, the

:31:02. > :31:12.best result ever by anyone from her country, and by far the best race on

:31:12. > :31:14.

:31:14. > :31:23.a big stage. A brave run for Kayoko Fukushi of Japan. She stuck to her

:31:23. > :31:29.task well, and came to the head of her team-mate Ryoko Kizaki. A top-10

:31:29. > :31:33.finish for British runners Susan Partridge. A well judged race. Sonia

:31:33. > :31:43.Samuels did well to stick to her task as well, finishing in the top

:31:43. > :31:50.

:31:50. > :31:58.congratulations to Edna Kiplagat. It has been difficult conditions, and

:31:58. > :32:02.it really is hot here in Moscow. In this Luzhniki Stadium, gentle

:32:02. > :32:12.breezes -- breeze is running through. So many fantastic events

:32:12. > :32:22.

:32:22. > :32:29.have happened here and there is a Steve Ovett coming home to take the

:32:29. > :32:39.gold medal! He takes the gold medal! The greatest all-round

:32:39. > :33:09.

:33:09. > :33:15.She is the world champion! these days, the Skyline punctuated

:33:15. > :33:20.with historic and iconic buildings and modern skyscrapers dotting up as

:33:20. > :33:24.well. But it is not all progressives here, as you will probably have

:33:24. > :33:28.heard. Controversial legislation patio regarding gay rights have

:33:28. > :33:31.thrown human rights issues into the spotlight globally. While some

:33:31. > :33:35.Russians look West, there is an element of looking back to the days

:33:35. > :33:40.of when the Olympic Games were held here in 1980. They themselves were

:33:40. > :33:44.shrouded in controversy, with boycotts and huge political issues

:33:44. > :33:49.globally. I am delighted to say that the superpowers of the sport are

:33:49. > :33:56.definitely for this championship, not more so than in the studio here.

:33:56. > :34:01.Denise Lewis and Colin Jackson are here. We were talking earlier on

:34:01. > :34:04.about where World Championships sit in people's four-year cycles, and

:34:04. > :34:11.you made the point earlier that you and Paul have had years where you

:34:11. > :34:16.felt you had underperformed, and following years redeemed yourselves.

:34:16. > :34:22.I was lucky that I started my real big international career at the

:34:22. > :34:27.world Championships, and I have to say this, Denise, it was in 1987. It

:34:27. > :34:31.was a long time ago! I picked up a bronze medal. I was used to

:34:31. > :34:36.embracing the World Championships as an event, and I love them. You were

:34:36. > :34:46.still winning gold medals in 1999, said that its longevity. Sometimes

:34:46. > :34:50.

:34:50. > :34:54.you are lucky. They certainly have their place. All the athletes

:34:54. > :34:59.participating, it is important to win the title. You want a global

:34:59. > :35:04.title behind your name. I agree with you. World Championships do have

:35:04. > :35:08.their place. It is tough, after such an iconic Olympic Games, like we had

:35:08. > :35:12.last year, do sometimes get it right. Do you compete very early?

:35:12. > :35:16.Many athletes have done indoors, which has surprised me, but it has

:35:16. > :35:20.always had an important role in my career, and I have always enjoyed

:35:20. > :35:24.it. Especially for multi-event athletes, there are big markers

:35:24. > :35:29.through those cycles when you can't compete in all your events all the

:35:30. > :35:33.time. We have seen many Diamond League events before we get here for

:35:33. > :35:42.some athletes. Yes, and you have to be clear about what your intention

:35:42. > :35:47.is. Each year, have your old set insight. You need a strategy behind

:35:47. > :35:52.you. But a title is a title and this is not to be sniffed at. Absolutely

:35:52. > :35:56.not, it is an important position amongst some of the negative

:35:56. > :36:02.headlines surrounding the sport this year. This is a place that is a

:36:02. > :36:06.launch pad for positivity. With so many athletes struck off from

:36:06. > :36:11.nations like Turkey and Russia, athletes here winning medals with

:36:11. > :36:14.clean performances, that is what the sport celebrates. That is what we

:36:14. > :36:18.celebrate. We want those kind of athlete out of the sport. We train

:36:18. > :36:21.very hard for opportunities like this, and athletes here are saying,

:36:21. > :36:31.yes, I will take those opportunities and Windows medals which are the

:36:31. > :36:38.grabs. Some of the favourites are not here. It is a chance for some of

:36:38. > :36:42.the younger athletes to come and take the global title. The seats at

:36:42. > :36:46.the moment are not exactly full! We had a morning session with a few

:36:46. > :36:51.people in, and the main action on the track doesn't start for a little

:36:51. > :36:55.while yet. You may notice behind as a spaceship. It is not the way that

:36:55. > :37:01.Colin travelled to the Championships! This is to do with an

:37:01. > :37:07.opening ceremony which is placed after the events on the track at --

:37:07. > :37:11.later today. But we would like to see some full houses during this

:37:11. > :37:14.event. We have been used to seeing stadiums packed out, and it is

:37:14. > :37:23.important to get those bums on seats. Yes, you expect the Russians

:37:23. > :37:29.to be able to deliver this. We hope that world athletics will attract a

:37:30. > :37:35.global audience. This is an exciting time for us, and still promising.

:37:35. > :37:40.is early days. And we will have more action later on on the track which

:37:40. > :37:50.will draw in those crowds. We have some big names appearing later on,

:37:50. > :37:54.

:37:54. > :38:03.non-less than some British medal Christine Ohuruogu straightening

:38:03. > :38:09.out, this is her part of the race. She takes the win. Mo Farah was

:38:09. > :38:16.pipped at the post by the Ethiopian competitor two years ago, that you

:38:16. > :38:26.will be hoping to stand on top of the sodium -- podium again tonight.

:38:26. > :38:28.

:38:28. > :38:32.It will be a glorious win! Mo Farah American Brittney Reese is looking

:38:32. > :38:42.for her third consecutive World Championship gold medal to add to

:38:42. > :38:44.

:38:44. > :38:47.the Olympic title. Shara Proctor James Dasaolu has been running well

:38:48. > :38:55.this season, but he has stiff competition here from the former

:38:55. > :39:02.Olympic champion Justin Gatlin and this man. Usain Bolt finally gets

:39:02. > :39:12.it! That's more like it! Usain Bolt is coming up just as we hit dusk

:39:12. > :39:15.

:39:15. > :39:21.is coming up just as we hit dusk Christine Ohuruogu is on at five

:39:21. > :39:31.minutes past three. Mo Farah is the jewel in the crown today on this

:39:31. > :39:33.

:39:33. > :39:43.programme, and the 10,000m final is on at 3:55pm. Leading CE Usain Bolt

:39:43. > :39:52.

:39:52. > :39:56.and James Dasaolu in the 100m heats happen. His heat is the last one of

:39:56. > :40:01.the evening. I like the fact he is the last one. It gives all the

:40:01. > :40:05.athletes the opportunity to see. mean they are fans as well?

:40:05. > :40:09.Absolutely! He is the best sprinter we have ever seen on this planet,

:40:09. > :40:14.and you want to be rubbing shoulders with him. I can imagine that there

:40:14. > :40:23.are some people who will secretly be wanting to do some strides next to

:40:23. > :40:30.him. It happens. The global stars on the warm up track trying to take in

:40:30. > :40:37.what the this might be doing and mini ten -- and mimicking them.

:40:37. > :40:44.am I right in thinking that, for us, Mo Farah is one of the drawers of

:40:44. > :40:47.this evening? There is no doubt about it. I think Denise and

:40:48. > :40:53.myself's performance after his Olympic success... I will promise to

:40:53. > :40:58.stay in my seat! It is exciting. There is a real battle going on out

:40:58. > :41:08.there. I always describe the 10,000m runners as the chess of track and

:41:08. > :41:12.

:41:12. > :41:15.field. And it is a big field tonight, because there is no heat or

:41:15. > :41:17.semifinal. It is a straight race. There is a lot in there tonight.

:41:17. > :41:20.When we think about the British team in its entirety, there are not too

:41:20. > :41:24.many medal opportunities, and Mo Farah has a good chance tonight.

:41:24. > :41:27.Tactically, he can show that -- he has shown that he can run his race

:41:27. > :41:33.the way he wants, and it is a do the rest of the field to decide whether

:41:33. > :41:38.they will take this chess game to know tonight -- to Mo Farah tonight.

:41:38. > :41:44.This is only day one of the Championships, but it could be a

:41:44. > :41:46.golden open. Things got cooking here at 6am your time, see you are

:41:46. > :41:52.forgiven if you missed some bits and pieces. Don't worry. We have summed

:41:52. > :41:57.it up for you. The last time a major international

:41:57. > :41:59.decathlon was held in this stadium, it was Daley Thompson who dominated

:41:59. > :42:05.it was Daley Thompson who dominated proceedings. But for old Ashley

:42:05. > :42:09.Bryant has had to withdraw due to a hamstring problem. It is left to

:42:09. > :42:13.defending champion Trey Hardee from the United States and Ashton Eaton

:42:13. > :42:20.to dominate the first event, the 100m. It was first blood to Ashton

:42:20. > :42:23.Eaton, 10.53 seconds, and over 1000 points at the first event. In events

:42:23. > :42:28.in the two, Ashton Eaton holds the world record for a decathlon long

:42:28. > :42:36.jump, that he was around 50 centimetres off the pace. Still, it

:42:36. > :42:40.was one of the best jumps that we saw. 7.73 metres. Also off the pace

:42:40. > :42:47.was Trey Hardee, trying to go for a hat-trick of decathlon title. He was

:42:47. > :42:52.way below his best at 7.35, but he was losing ground on Ashton Eaton.

:42:52. > :43:00.It was United States in first and second. Ashton Eaton started in the

:43:00. > :43:03.shot put with a modest 14.19 metres. He got together a little bit. Having

:43:03. > :43:08.said that, he is a 15-metre shot putter, so he should have gone

:43:08. > :43:18.further. He has been having some problems with his ankle which may

:43:18. > :43:20.

:43:20. > :43:30.have affected him. Then it was the 800m. The appearance of the Olympic

:43:30. > :43:35.

:43:35. > :43:38.finalist Andreas ID. He qualified with ease. Then it was Michael

:43:38. > :43:45.Rimmer's turn. He looked comfortable. After ain't early pace

:43:45. > :43:53.which was slow, he managed to carve his way through the field. Michael

:43:53. > :43:57.Rimmer is through to the semifinals as well. Some bad news in the men's

:43:57. > :44:01.pole vault. Steve Lewis, Britain's number one, failed his opening

:44:01. > :44:06.height in the pole vault, 5.40 metres. He has had problems all

:44:06. > :44:12.year. He was open to come here to make a hat-trick of World

:44:12. > :44:15.Championship finals. Unfortunately, Steve Lewis will not take any

:44:15. > :44:24.further part in this competition, and it is expected to be dominated

:44:24. > :44:28.by the brilliant Frenchman, Renaud Lavillenie, he qualified with ease.

:44:28. > :44:33.Christine Ohuruogu is already out on the warm track. In just over one

:44:33. > :44:37.hour's time, it is the seeds of the 400m, and Christine is a lady who

:44:37. > :44:43.knows how to perform on the big stage. Four times she has run under

:44:43. > :44:53.50 seconds in her career. She ran 50 dead in London at the Anniversary

:44:53. > :44:53.

:44:54. > :44:55.Games in London a couple of weeks Games in London a couple of weeks

:44:55. > :44:57.ago. It looks as though she is timing has eaten to perfection once

:44:57. > :44:59.more. Very excited about her performance today. We will hear from

:44:59. > :45:01.Games in London a couple of weeks ago. It looks as though she But we

:45:01. > :45:10.can now reflect on this morning. It is very as appointing for Steve

:45:10. > :45:14.Lewis. He has been looking good all season. Inexplicable, really.

:45:14. > :45:18.difficult when an athlete is possibly bringing personal issues.

:45:18. > :45:23.He has lost his mum, it has been difficult for him. Yet he has

:45:23. > :45:28.performed well this season. You don't know what is going on inside

:45:28. > :45:31.his head. You need a clear run. The pole vault is tricky as an event

:45:31. > :45:37.anyway, and if something creeps into your mind, that can affect the

:45:37. > :45:44.results. He is well within his capabilities. He even came lower to

:45:45. > :45:48.make sure he would be safe, but it did not work out. Sad to lose a

:45:48. > :45:54.contender for a top eight finish here so early on in the

:45:54. > :45:59.championships. But positives from the 800. Firstly, our guys, their

:45:59. > :46:07.performances looked like they were running very sensible races. We had

:46:07. > :46:11.a professional performance from both athletes. Both Michael and Andrew

:46:11. > :46:16.were dominant in their own way. They were not into minuted by the field.

:46:16. > :46:20.They did what was necessary. It is always difficult with heats for the

:46:20. > :46:25.800 metres, because it is tough, and you are always wondering, how much

:46:25. > :46:30.do I need to push myself to make sure I qualify? They did their job

:46:30. > :46:36.very well. They can go back to their village and put their feet up and

:46:36. > :46:42.think of the semi next. The top three podium finishers from London

:46:42. > :46:45.are not here. It is quite open this year. Will we get some surprise

:46:45. > :46:50.metals? I never like to discount anyone, but they still have their

:46:50. > :46:56.work cut out. We know Michael is coming back into form again. I

:46:57. > :47:02.thought he ran a good race. Tax decay, sometimes he does get it

:47:02. > :47:06.wrong -- tactically. It is important that he puts himself in the right

:47:06. > :47:11.position to strike and make sure he proceeds to the final. I have high

:47:12. > :47:17.hopes for Andrew, despite his injury earlier. It cost him a bit of

:47:17. > :47:23.preparation, but he has a great racing brain. He is confident.

:47:23. > :47:28.said earlier, with the post-great interview with Phil Jones, he has

:47:28. > :47:34.that championship mentality. It is when you come on the big stage that

:47:34. > :47:40.you come alive. But not everyone does. He has done it. At the

:47:41. > :47:45.Olympics last year, it was frustrating. It was bittersweet. You

:47:45. > :47:50.run well and finished last. It was an uncomfortable position to be in.

:47:50. > :47:57.I asked for his thoughts and he said, you don't know anything until

:47:57. > :48:02.after the semi. I will predict the final for you then. We will take you

:48:02. > :48:06.up on that. We have touched upon the drug

:48:06. > :48:14.stories of this summer, the high-profile failed test that have

:48:14. > :48:18.affected sprinting and their nations. It is a dark cloud over the

:48:18. > :48:21.sport, but the sport is fighting back. In the attitude from those who

:48:21. > :48:25.care and love about the sport is that it is better to catch the

:48:25. > :48:32.cheats than have them affect the competing.

:48:32. > :48:40.If you love the sport, you will hate this topic. Doping, blight on the

:48:40. > :48:47.athletic hi bloom. The urine sample of Ben Johnson was found to contain

:48:47. > :48:53.a band substance. Ben Johnson was the most infamous culprit a quarter

:48:53. > :48:58.of a century ago. Other back page headliners have been tempted by the

:48:58. > :49:02.dark side through those 25 years and made and paid scandal. Clearly, some

:49:02. > :49:06.blows to the sport's reputation are more punishing than others. Asafa

:49:06. > :49:11.Powell and Tyson Gay, two of the fastest men of all time, have failed

:49:11. > :49:17.drugs test. Once again, the spectre of doping cast a shadow over this

:49:17. > :49:26.showpiece. Gay and Powell worthy biggest names to top -- test

:49:26. > :49:33.positive in a negative few months. There was a Jamaican who failed the

:49:33. > :49:38.tests as well. It was a shock to the country. I always wanted to help the

:49:38. > :49:42.country will stop Turkey is another country in need of a lift.

:49:42. > :49:45.Olympic 1500 metres champion is serving a provisional suspension

:49:45. > :49:48.because of abnormalities found in her blood. And on the eve of these

:49:48. > :49:54.championships, 31 of her fellow Turks were banned for doping

:49:54. > :49:59.violations. Volume, rather than profile, is the problem here. The

:49:59. > :50:01.biggest offenders of all are our hosts. Russia Turkey has 44 athletes

:50:01. > :50:07.serving doping bans, more than any other nation, leading some to

:50:07. > :50:14.question if they should be staging these championships. Surely there

:50:14. > :50:20.are more countries that obey the rules. Why can't they championships

:50:20. > :50:26.be held there? I don't think one could argue that it is a good place

:50:26. > :50:31.to be doing it, but what are the alternatives? It is important to go

:50:31. > :50:36.and show that what we do is clean and good. I would prefer it if we go

:50:36. > :50:44.somewhere else, from an athlete who wants the sport to be cleaner than

:50:44. > :50:48.it is. We choose Moscow, we choose Russia. We see it as ready for a

:50:48. > :50:58.great, successful championships. These steps will bring positive

:50:58. > :51:03.change. The doping agencies are doing a lot of tests. They work to

:51:03. > :51:06.clean and protect the clean athletes. The president of the

:51:06. > :51:10.Russian athletics Federation concurs, saying he is not unduly

:51:10. > :51:15.concerned by the number of his athletes currently serving bans,

:51:15. > :51:19.claiming the more that you test, the more people are likely to be caught.

:51:19. > :51:23.Regardless of who the persons are, it seems like more names will come

:51:23. > :51:26.out. It will send a strong message that the sport is really trying to

:51:26. > :51:32.be clean. We have to welcome that and look on the positive side that

:51:32. > :51:36.the testing is working. If I am being realistically, I would be

:51:36. > :51:41.wrong if I said it is a fight we have won or are ever likely to

:51:41. > :51:44.totally win. You always have to be one step ahead. We have got more

:51:44. > :51:48.aggressive with the testing recently. When you aggressively

:51:48. > :51:53.target something, you also have to recognise that you take some water

:51:53. > :51:57.on board reputation in weeding out the cheats. Those cheats will now

:51:57. > :52:00.face a more severe penalty. After the IAAF announced that athletes

:52:00. > :52:06.found guilty of doping will be handed a four-year ban from 2015,

:52:06. > :52:12.two years greater than at present. This is a big step, because I

:52:12. > :52:16.believe it will be a strong message to athletes to consider that after

:52:17. > :52:21.four years, it is not possible to be back. What has happened recently has

:52:21. > :52:26.been a shame. And because of the high-profile of the individuals, it

:52:27. > :52:31.draws attention to it. But I understand human nature. I don't

:52:31. > :52:35.think it is a sport specific trouble, it is a human nature

:52:35. > :52:39.problem. So now it is to the better side of human nature that we turn,

:52:39. > :52:46.as the villains are vanquished. The world needs reminding that athletics

:52:46. > :52:49.heroes still exist. I don't care about the cheats. It is about

:52:49. > :52:53.creating a platform where young athletes think this is something

:52:53. > :52:58.worth doing with integrity. If we ever lose that, we might as well all

:52:58. > :53:06.pack it in. The athletes who do these things have been told everyone

:53:06. > :53:10.is doing it. But everyone is not doing it. We have been under some

:53:10. > :53:14.dark times, but I think there is always a brighter light at the end

:53:15. > :53:18.of the tunnel will stop you just have to stay focused and positive on

:53:18. > :53:24.the athletes that are doing things the right way. I have been doing

:53:24. > :53:29.this since I was 15. I have broken every record there was to break

:53:29. > :53:35.since I was growing up. I want to keep it up. This is just me. I have

:53:35. > :53:41.the talent that I was put on this earth to inspire other people.

:53:41. > :53:45.Will Sharman made a great point. He said it was a human nature problem,

:53:45. > :53:51.and not specific to the sport. With the announcement of the 2015

:53:51. > :53:54.decision to go back to a four-year ban, is it doing enough? I think the

:53:54. > :53:58.evidence is here. When you catch 40 athletes from one country and

:53:58. > :54:05.another 40 from another, yes, the sport is trying to change its

:54:05. > :54:12.image. As was highlighted by Kim Collins so eloquently, that attitude

:54:12. > :54:16.that everyone is doping is not true. But a lot clearly are.But it

:54:16. > :54:20.is not the way forward. It is not how we want to be perceived. There

:54:20. > :54:29.are a a lot of clean athletes working hard the right way. We

:54:29. > :54:33.should not all be tarnished by those who cheat. Having the blood testing

:54:33. > :54:38.introduced sends a strong message to say whatever you're thinking going

:54:38. > :54:43.forward, we will catch you. To make positive roles of those like Aries

:54:43. > :54:48.Merritt, who wears a badge saying, test me, I'm clean, and speaks about

:54:48. > :54:53.it all the time, he is an Olympic champion. Those athletes need the

:54:53. > :54:57.spotlight on them, those who are prepared to talk out. We always end

:54:57. > :55:00.up talking to the athletes who are clean. Let's get interviews with the

:55:00. > :55:06.people who were banned. They are the ones who have to make it clear that

:55:06. > :55:13.this was a big mistake. You always leave the people to mop up for you.

:55:13. > :55:16.Good quality athletes always have to defend the sport. That is wrong.

:55:16. > :55:20.Some could say, don't give any more publicity to those who have chained

:55:20. > :55:25.the sport. The good guys will shine, we hope.

:55:25. > :55:29.There is one man who always makes us smile and definitely a good guy, Mo

:55:29. > :55:33.Farah. It seems the experience he had in Daegu two years ago,

:55:33. > :55:43.outsprinted on the line, is one of those that does not kill you and

:55:43. > :55:45.

:55:45. > :55:50.definitely makes you stronger. Since then, everything has been up.

:55:50. > :55:55.I am very excited to be racing in Moscow. I have been working hard and

:55:55. > :56:03.training is going well. I want to get on the start line healthy and

:56:03. > :56:08.enjoy it. Farah goes again ! Look at this. What really drives you is

:56:08. > :56:14.thinking about your opposition. As an athlete, when you are at the

:56:14. > :56:20.top, it is so easy to get knocked down. But that confidence and

:56:20. > :56:30.belief. You have to work extra hard. This year, I have worked twice as

:56:30. > :56:35.

:56:35. > :56:40.hard as last year. The Ethiopian gets their ! He denies Farah the

:56:40. > :56:44.medal that he so dearly cherished. Ireland a lot. It gives you that

:56:44. > :56:51.drive to work even harder. You don't want that feeling again, so you do

:56:51. > :56:56.whatever to block that. It was great for me. I would not change anything.

:56:56. > :57:04.If anyone asked me if I had rather have a medal in Daegu or London, I

:57:04. > :57:09.would choose London. Beautiful to that was the biggest year of my life

:57:09. > :57:15.in terms of winning two gold medals and twin girls. As an athlete, I

:57:15. > :57:21.have definitely improved one or 2%. And that can mean winning a gold

:57:21. > :57:29.medal, or coming sixth or seventh. I am quite laid back and I chill out,

:57:29. > :57:33.but at the same time, I want to win the race. It is a pleasure to watch

:57:33. > :57:40.the double Olympic champion striding out in all his glory down the

:57:40. > :57:46.finishing straight. Ever since I was a kid, I always had that fight. You

:57:46. > :57:53.fight to cross the line all the way. I had that drive. I don't like

:57:53. > :58:01.to lose. It is going to be a glorious win ! Mo Farah ! It is

:58:01. > :58:05.doled ! I want to collect as many medals as I can. I give 100% and

:58:05. > :58:11.enjoy it and hopefully make my country proud.

:58:11. > :58:15.We hope to see some mobots. If not one tonight, there's definitely a

:58:15. > :58:21.couple during the week. He has had any credible season. I am not sure

:58:21. > :58:24.there is anything left to say about how hard he has worked. If we refer

:58:24. > :58:29.back to that 1500 metre record he took in Monaco from our very own

:58:30. > :58:35.Steve Cram, the fact that he would be a contender arguably in that

:58:35. > :58:37.event, he really has put in the extra work this year that some

:58:37. > :58:43.people might have thought they could have had a breather after winning

:58:43. > :58:47.two Olympic golds. If you take the success of last year, plus the

:58:47. > :58:52.commercial responsibilities he has had to endure, how has he managed to

:58:53. > :59:00.do it? And having twins. That little job as well ! You know about that.

:59:00. > :59:02.It is remarkable how he has remained so level-headed. He has managed to

:59:02. > :59:06.improve his performances and still dissect every element of his

:59:06. > :59:09.training regime to make sure he leaves no stone unturned. It shows

:59:09. > :59:16.you, talent is one thing, but a strong work ethic will deliver

:59:16. > :59:23.results. With the two gold medals in London and the experience he has had

:59:23. > :59:30.since, do you think it has followed the -- validated that it is worth

:59:30. > :59:36.working hard? What is positive from Mo is that he has this desire to win

:59:36. > :59:41.medals. That makes you likely to work hard to achieve that goal. It

:59:42. > :59:46.is a target that he personally set. If we look at the times for the

:59:46. > :59:51.10,000 metres, Mo has run quick, but he is still not one of the quickest

:59:51. > :59:55.in that event. So yes, accumulating medals gives one thing, but as an

:59:55. > :59:59.athlete, you want the times as well. He has not run a ten kilometre race

:59:59. > :00:03.this year. But he is doing one in a couple of hours time.

:00:03. > :00:08.Well, Christine Ohuruogu is one of our most consistent athletes over

:00:08. > :00:11.the last few years. Always peeking at the right time around the major

:00:11. > :00:21.championships. She has been rewarded with the captaincy of the British

:00:21. > :00:25.

:00:25. > :00:32.Christine Ohuruogu takes the gold medal! Christine Ohuruogu is

:00:32. > :00:40.coming! A sterling effort to get the silver. I have been doing this for

:00:40. > :00:45.ten years. I cannot fly under the radar any more, like I did in

:00:45. > :00:49.Beijing. 2012 showed people that I can form and I can deliver, despite

:00:49. > :00:54.what has happened in the past. I know that I will be targeted,

:00:55. > :00:59.unfortunately, but I am willing to accept that responsibility. That is

:00:59. > :01:06.what happens and I cannot run away from it. Congratulations on being

:01:06. > :01:13.named team captain. That is a great honour. I really am honoured. I have

:01:13. > :01:18.never had this big role in British Athletics before. I am very proud

:01:18. > :01:22.and I am really relishing the responsibility. It will be tough

:01:22. > :01:26.trying to juggle the two, but I do care about how the team members get

:01:27. > :01:33.on, so I will try my hardest and keep an eye on how the team members

:01:33. > :01:37.perform. Has your Diamond League performances benefited you? It has

:01:37. > :01:44.been a great experience and it has released helped me to calm down and

:01:44. > :01:53.appreciate the event. I think we have all been doing this long enough

:01:53. > :01:59.and we are all old girls. I think in terms of just having a general, nice

:01:59. > :02:04.and professional understanding, it has been helpful. This is her home

:02:04. > :02:08.patch. Christine Ohuruogu takes the win. In the championship, everybody

:02:08. > :02:12.stepped up their game. Everybody knows this is the one they can't

:02:12. > :02:16.mess up. You see a spike in performances. Sometimes you can be

:02:16. > :02:26.lurid into a false sense of security by becoming too friendly, and you

:02:26. > :02:26.

:02:26. > :02:31.forget that your components I had to beat you. -- are out to beat you.

:02:31. > :02:38.She didn't seem to care so much about winning all the Diamond League

:02:38. > :02:44.competitions. For her, it really is about success at Championships. That

:02:44. > :02:48.is part of the beauty of being a successful athlete, you know when to

:02:48. > :02:52.peak. You get it right and you discuss it with your coach. You make

:02:52. > :02:55.a plan and get a race schedule and make it happen, and you deliver on

:02:55. > :03:01.the track of the Championships. And she is just exquisite at that.

:03:01. > :03:04.Despite what has gone on before, I mean, we spoke to her in the season

:03:04. > :03:09.when she had just run really badly and she could not put her finger on

:03:09. > :03:12.why, but she just tosses that aside. She knows that, come the

:03:12. > :03:17.Championships, I am going to do the business. I really respect. What a

:03:17. > :03:26.great captain to have, because she is so level-headed and inspiring in

:03:26. > :03:32.her delivery. Apparently she gave an incredibly inspiring speech was well

:03:32. > :03:36.-- as well, already. You have some big store bought on the team, and

:03:36. > :03:40.you hope that their success will lead the squad. I think that is what

:03:40. > :03:46.a lot of people rely on. It does happen. When established stars

:03:46. > :03:51.deliver, you believe in yourself. When we have great ones like that,

:03:51. > :04:01.it bodes well for the team. The mechanic both have read stories to

:04:01. > :04:02.

:04:02. > :04:12.tell. Christine knows disappointment. In Daegu, she forced

:04:12. > :04:12.

:04:12. > :04:22.our did. -- she falls started. We about to get some action with the

:04:22. > :04:27.

:04:27. > :04:31.Our first two races on this track this evening, the first round of the

:04:31. > :04:41.steeplechase. The first five and the five fastest losers will make it

:04:41. > :04:42.

:04:42. > :04:50.through, so 15 in all. Milcah Chemos Cheywa, as we know her, she has been

:04:50. > :05:00.the number one this year, with Sofia Assefa. There are plenty of other

:05:00. > :05:01.

:05:01. > :05:11.athletes with chances to go through. This event is without, surprisingly,

:05:11. > :05:11.

:05:12. > :05:21.the Olympic and defending champion. Yuli is Arab over was accepted to

:05:22. > :05:31.come here in the world student Games recently. It was a couple of days

:05:32. > :05:44.

:05:44. > :05:49.ago that we heard she was pulling to see her. She is one of the big

:05:49. > :05:52.stars. Yes, she was talking only about five days ago and at how great

:05:52. > :05:59.her chances were here and how she was looking forward to coming and

:05:59. > :06:04.running. She certainly would have changed the style of the races at

:06:04. > :06:09.here today, because she is keen on setting out the pace from the

:06:09. > :06:19.beginning. She is always trying to run away from the African runners,

:06:19. > :06:19.

:06:19. > :06:22.the likes of Sofia Assefa and Milcah Chemos Cheywa. She was in very good

:06:22. > :06:31.shape community, but has picked up some sort of injury at the last

:06:31. > :06:36.minute. In her absence, Natalya Aristarkhova has led this very

:06:37. > :06:40.quickly. If you come in the top seven or eight here, you have every

:06:40. > :06:50.chance of going through as the fastest loser, Sosa Natalya

:06:50. > :06:52.

:06:52. > :07:02.Aristarkhova, Russian, leading. Milcah Chemos Cheywa is very happy

:07:02. > :07:04.

:07:04. > :07:08.to carry on behind the. Eilish McColgan is going in the second of

:07:08. > :07:11.these two races. She has had a troubled time, and we both have more

:07:11. > :07:21.of that when they come round to it. She might be happy to be in the

:07:21. > :07:41.

:07:41. > :07:46.second race, but they are setting a heat have an advantage in that they

:07:46. > :07:49.can usually watch from the tunnel, or certainly from televisions, and

:07:49. > :07:52.know the pace of the first heat, and that gives them a good idea of what

:07:52. > :08:02.they need to do to have a better chance of being a fastest loser

:08:02. > :08:31.

:08:31. > :08:38.recently seen the reigning Olympic champion, Chris Harmse. Nobody has

:08:38. > :08:42.got the automatic qualifying is in so far, which is 77 metres. Lukas

:08:42. > :08:50.Melich looks as though he is the first to go over that qualifying

:08:50. > :08:58.line. Indeed he is. 78.52, a big lead, and he is in the final.

:08:59. > :09:07.Back with the steeplechase, Natalya Aristarkhova is still leading, with

:09:07. > :09:17.Chemas still that behind. Hyvin Kiyeng Jepkemoi is there on the

:09:17. > :09:19.

:09:19. > :09:25.outside as well. Now they are starting to bridge a little. -- to

:09:25. > :09:28.bunch a little. I always get worried in the Championships, because they

:09:28. > :09:32.are so bunched and they are not used to taking barriers when they are in

:09:32. > :09:35.a tight bunch like that. It is stating the obvious, but it is

:09:35. > :09:40.dangerous in the steeplechase if you are very bunched up like that and

:09:40. > :09:43.you can't get a clear view at the barriers. The women pass the

:09:43. > :09:48.barriers are lower than the men's barriers, but they are still a

:09:48. > :09:53.formidable block in your way and it changes the style of your race. You

:09:53. > :09:56.cannot run a steeplechase the same way as you do run on the flat. You

:09:56. > :10:02.have to clear these barriers the whole way, so you have to maintain

:10:02. > :10:11.some energy and momentum to make sure you can get safely over the

:10:11. > :10:14.barriers in each lap. Cirstea asset is keeping out of trouble. -- Sofia

:10:14. > :10:24.Assefa is keeping out of trouble. She was the bronze-medallist last

:10:24. > :10:31.

:10:31. > :10:41.year in London. She will be looking the Olympics is also absent. Yes,

:10:41. > :10:45.

:10:45. > :10:55.you are right. She finished second behind Yulia Zarapova. I am just

:10:55. > :11:01.

:11:01. > :11:11.watching Gesa Felicitas Krause of Germany. You really want them to get

:11:11. > :11:14.

:11:14. > :11:21.into good times more regularly. The tall figure in the red and black,

:11:21. > :11:31.Jepkemoi of Morocco, it is taking a look around her. Sofia Assefa is

:11:31. > :11:32.

:11:32. > :11:40.coming off the curb. Balancing, Zhudina -- Valentyna Zhudina, a

:11:40. > :11:45.Ukrainian... We can see Chemos starting to spread out a bit. They

:11:45. > :11:50.are coming through the water. You can see the different styles and

:11:50. > :11:54.how, as they get further back into the race, they definitely are more

:11:54. > :11:58.fatigued as they come up the slope and out of the water jump. We can

:11:58. > :12:08.see whether some of them start to put more feet on barriers and

:12:08. > :12:15.

:12:15. > :12:20.stutter as they come into them. We talked about the French athletes who

:12:20. > :12:23.have made a transition between 5,000m and the steeplechase, and

:12:23. > :12:33.they say that the big difference is that you don't have to keep the

:12:33. > :12:33.

:12:33. > :12:39.energy in the 5,000m. Looming up on the outside, the tall figure of

:12:39. > :12:46.Salima Elouali Alami. Jepkemoi is not happy about that at all. She is

:12:46. > :12:54.the lead experienced. Sofia Assefa is coming up as well. Only five will

:12:54. > :12:59.go through, remember. So the six, just with a bit of a gap now, and

:12:59. > :13:03.they will be happy about that. It means that you can start to relax.

:13:03. > :13:07.They start to accelerate, and that is the penultimate water jump for

:13:07. > :13:17.them. Next time round will be the last. It is the Moroccan Salima

:13:17. > :13:24.

:13:24. > :13:34.Elouali Alami in the lead. She is looking comfortable. Krause is the

:13:34. > :13:38.

:13:38. > :13:42.one who needs sustained to cheer. -- who needs to stay in touch her. They

:13:42. > :13:49.will be watching what position they need to coming to have a fastest

:13:49. > :13:52.loser spot. Just as you were talking, Chemos put her hand down by

:13:52. > :14:00.her side as if to say to her team-mate, you should be year beside

:14:00. > :14:10.me. Jepkemoi fitted in there as quickly as she could. Jepkemoi

:14:10. > :14:12.

:14:12. > :14:18.actually take the barriers a bit better than Chemos. Valentyna

:14:18. > :14:23.Zhudina, the Ukrainian in the blue, and then Salima Elouali Alami. They

:14:23. > :14:33.will be the top five, with Sofia Assefa, if nothing dramatic happens

:14:33. > :14:34.

:14:34. > :14:40.in the final stretch. This is reasonably quick in the winning's

:14:40. > :14:44.steeplechase. The two Kenyans, Chemos and Jepkemoi, cross the line

:14:44. > :14:49.practically together. Valentyna Zhudina, Salima Elouali Alami and

:14:49. > :14:59.sincere asset of the other three -- and Sofia Assefa are the other three

:14:59. > :15:02.to go through. 9.37, that is not bad. And if I told you that Eilish

:15:02. > :15:12.McColgan has not run that quick this year, it gives you an idea of where

:15:12. > :15:12.

:15:12. > :15:22.she is at. That is something which she will have to be aware of. There

:15:22. > :15:28.

:15:28. > :15:31.are five fastest losers spots The decathlon has been continuing

:15:31. > :15:36.throughout the afternoon after a busy morning of events. Three events

:15:36. > :15:46.have finished. The high jump is proving to be a dramatic

:15:46. > :15:47.

:15:47. > :15:51.competition. Ashton Eaton, the Olympic champion, was in the lead.

:15:52. > :15:56.The German was having a very good second place. But the high jump has

:15:56. > :16:00.proved to be the undoing of quite a few prominent athletes. First of

:16:00. > :16:04.all, Ashton Eaton, world record holder, Olympic champion and the big

:16:04. > :16:11.favourite to take decathlon, had cleared one metre 87 here, went on

:16:11. > :16:17.to clear one metre 92 for more points, but then he got three

:16:17. > :16:22.failures at his next height. And he looked injured. That is going into

:16:22. > :16:26.the 400 metres, the last event on day one. So Ashton Eaton is under

:16:26. > :16:29.allsorts of pressure going into that last event, where he was expected to

:16:29. > :16:35.lead the field comfortably after the first five events and the first

:16:35. > :16:41.day. But Trey Hardee, his team-mate and defending champion, a man going

:16:41. > :16:45.for a couple, has looked in terrible shape in terms of his run up and

:16:45. > :16:54.take off. I would suspect at this point that he was injured. Probably

:16:54. > :16:57.on his take-off leg, the left foot. So his opening height was a total

:16:57. > :17:07.disaster and it looks as though the American will not take further part

:17:07. > :17:16.

:17:16. > :17:22.in this decathlon. But the high jump continued. Schrader cleared 1.90

:17:22. > :17:25.nine, one of his best high jumps ever. Continuing a tradition of

:17:25. > :17:29.excellent German performances. He was putting pressure on the rest. He

:17:29. > :17:39.was amassing a considerable number of points, but there were still some

:17:39. > :17:41.

:17:41. > :17:44.very good high jumpers to come. Schrader Damian Warner will be one

:17:44. > :17:48.of the big favourites to take the Commonwealth Games title in Glasgow

:17:48. > :17:53.next year, but he is concentrating at the moment on trying to win a

:17:53. > :18:02.world championship medal, and he was going very well indeed. 2.05 was the

:18:02. > :18:08.target for the Canadian. 850 points. Going very well indeed.

:18:08. > :18:18.Aiming to go higher, but that sort of height in this competition is an

:18:18. > :18:19.

:18:19. > :18:23.excellent performance. He is in good shape for a top three finish. Just a

:18:23. > :18:26.glimmer in the middle of the screen of the blonde hair of Eilish

:18:26. > :18:36.McColgan, who goes in the next heat of the women's 3000 metres

:18:36. > :18:37.

:18:37. > :18:42.steeplechase. Earlier in the week, she spoke to Phil Jones. The fact

:18:42. > :18:45.that I have managed to make this team is all I could ask for this

:18:45. > :18:51.year after the injury I have had and the disruption to my training over

:18:51. > :18:56.the past seven weeks. Even for me to get to the trials and be on the

:18:56. > :19:01.starting line for that was a shock. So the fact that I have managed to

:19:01. > :19:07.still make the team, considering the setbacks I have had, I could not ask

:19:07. > :19:16.for more. As for the experience of going to Moscow, are you relishing

:19:16. > :19:20.that? Yeah, mentally, I am a lot calmer than I was last year. Jumping

:19:20. > :19:26.from university events to the London Olympics was a huge step up. I had

:19:26. > :19:32.never been so nervous in my entire life. This year, I am a lot calmer

:19:32. > :19:39.about it. I know what to expect. There is no point being so nervous.

:19:40. > :19:45.That was what led me down a bit last year. Obviously I have not had the

:19:45. > :19:49.best preparations, but I am in a better place than I was last year.

:19:49. > :19:52.Every year, I am making improvements, and if I can continue

:19:52. > :20:02.to do that, with the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next year, that is

:20:02. > :20:03.

:20:03. > :20:07.a huge aim for me. I would love to be there on home soil.

:20:07. > :20:12.I am sure she would be delighted to be on home soil right now, to be

:20:12. > :20:20.honest. It has been a struggle for her. She has been hampered with a

:20:20. > :20:25.shin injury. Hats off to her. She has done a lot of work on bikes and

:20:25. > :20:29.in the pool. She has not been able to do normal running. She did some

:20:29. > :20:33.track work, but not the ideal preparation. But she has not let

:20:33. > :20:39.that faze her. She is not negative in the slightest about her chances

:20:39. > :20:49.to go through here. Eleanor Steer of Ethiopian will certainly be

:20:49. > :20:49.

:20:49. > :21:40.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 51 seconds

:21:41. > :21:45.that 9.41 clocking, anything quicker than that or around that, you have a

:21:45. > :21:50.good chance of finishing in the top ten. That was a bit of a race to

:21:50. > :21:55.that first barrier. Cause the water jump is on the outside, they run

:21:55. > :21:59.less than seven and a half laps and it means they have to take the first

:21:59. > :22:09.barrier after only about 60 metres. But thankfully, all over the first

:22:09. > :22:11.

:22:11. > :22:19.one and the second one safely. They are all striding out. Bobocel has

:22:19. > :22:25.taken this out pretty quickly. And the US champion is following.

:22:25. > :22:29.pair of them seem committed to taking the race at a good pace. They

:22:29. > :22:35.will have calculated the times they need to run. At the moment, I have

:22:35. > :22:45.got the fifth fastest loser at 9.49, the Puerto Rico, from the first

:22:45. > :22:53.heat. They need to be looking at nine point 43 to be sure of going

:22:53. > :23:03.through if they don't place in the top five. Bobocel leading. Then

:23:03. > :23:19.

:23:19. > :23:28.Bush. The American champion. One or two gaps are already beginning to

:23:28. > :23:32.appear. It is a good pace being set by Bobocel. Eilish had a good

:23:32. > :23:38.winter. Although she could not do all the preparation she wanted to

:23:38. > :23:41.do, she is certainly not lacking in endurance. She ran a PB over 3000

:23:41. > :23:46.metres flat in the Anniversary Games in London. So she knows she is in

:23:46. > :23:51.good shape, and happy to be here, given what she has been through. To

:23:51. > :24:01.be at the championships that she has been working so hard for, that puts

:24:01. > :24:11.her in a good position. She has got herself placed well in the race. She

:24:11. > :24:24.

:24:24. > :24:32.can just stay calm at this point, because the pace is pretty decent.

:24:32. > :24:35.The defending champion is not here. Just to reiterate the point we were

:24:35. > :24:44.talking about earlier today, if you were with us this morning, you can

:24:44. > :24:50.have as much as five competitors. You could have a defending champion

:24:50. > :24:53.and three others. Now I am getting confused ! It has been a long day.

:24:53. > :24:59.You could have five, but you have to choose between your defending

:24:59. > :25:04.champion and your Diamond League champion. The Kenyans, in a couple

:25:04. > :25:09.of events, had five eligible athletes. Have you heard about

:25:09. > :25:16.Ezekiel Kemboi? He made his own travel arrangements for the men's

:25:16. > :25:19.steeplechase. There was that rumour that he made his own individual

:25:19. > :25:24.travel arrangements, and that angered the Kenyan team, so they

:25:24. > :25:27.were going to drop him. I am not sure what happened, because a lot of

:25:27. > :25:37.13 were stuck in transit with the fuel problems and the fire in Arabia

:25:37. > :25:39.

:25:39. > :25:44.as well. Two Canadians, two -- two Kenyans, two Ethiopians. The falloff

:25:44. > :25:54.in pace is suiting the British athlete. You want to end up

:25:54. > :25:58.

:25:58. > :26:05.comfortable on the last lap. Five go through, and five fastest losers.

:26:05. > :26:11.This heat, so far, is quicker. Bobocel doing a good job of

:26:11. > :26:15.leading. It is slowing down a bit, but Bobocel stuttered into that last

:26:15. > :26:25.barrier. She may be looking for someone else to come around and take

:26:25. > :26:33.

:26:33. > :26:39.up the pace. There is a fall. Kemp boy she is now a long way behind,

:26:40. > :26:45.the one who fell. She did not negotiate the jump well. She looks

:26:45. > :26:53.injured. She was limping coming out of the water. Eilish negotiated her

:26:53. > :26:59.way around that. Others could have gone down. We have seen the

:26:59. > :27:06.Ethiopians having to run up -- having to make up with their running

:27:06. > :27:12.ability, not their steeplechase ability. Eight are pulling away, but

:27:12. > :27:16.it looks like two groups within that might break up. If Eilish can latch

:27:16. > :27:19.herself onto the back of the leading group, that would give her a good

:27:19. > :27:25.chance of qualifying, even if she was not able to break into the top

:27:26. > :27:31.five. She is hurdling really well and looking comfortable. I will be

:27:31. > :27:38.interested to watch her over the water jump this time and see how she

:27:38. > :27:42.feels on that leg when she lands on it. There is the fall. She is moving

:27:42. > :27:46.OK now. When she came out of the water jump after she had crashed

:27:46. > :27:56.over the barrier, she looked as though she was limping, but she is

:27:56. > :27:58.

:27:58. > :28:03.moving OK now. It is her team-mate who leads it, Chepkurui. Eilish

:28:03. > :28:06.McColgan has got to concentrate here now, leading that second group. She

:28:06. > :28:10.is effectively in qualifying position, but any of these could

:28:10. > :28:19.finish fifth. If these four work together, they could take four

:28:19. > :28:24.fastest losers spots. Two to go. laps to go, and tempt two needs to

:28:24. > :28:29.look at this as her final. She needs to give it everything she can --

:28:29. > :28:35.Eilish needs to give this everything she can. If she does manage to pull

:28:35. > :28:41.away with Bobocel from the other two athletes, that gives her a better

:28:41. > :28:46.chance. She looks comfortable. Eilish can finish well. She knows

:28:46. > :28:55.she has to keep working, not leave it to the last lap. She is not far

:28:55. > :29:05.off personal best territory. 9.41 was her best this year. That is all

:29:05. > :29:05.

:29:05. > :29:10.you can ask. I think she's going fast enough. These four will come

:29:10. > :29:20.under some pressure. The Russian is catching up. She needs a big, strong

:29:20. > :29:20.

:29:21. > :29:27.last 500 metres. Eilish takes the water jump well. This time, she has

:29:27. > :29:32.to dig deep. Can't let this group get away from her. She is starting

:29:32. > :29:38.to hurt now, it is showing on her face. We talked about her clearing

:29:38. > :29:43.the water jump by hurdling it. I think that is to relieve the

:29:43. > :29:47.pressure on her leg as she lands rather than to gain time. You know

:29:47. > :29:51.that that impact will bother her, but she seems to be able to rally

:29:51. > :29:55.back from it down the home straight each time. Now she has got to keep

:29:55. > :29:59.it together and grit her teeth on this final lap. She is going to be

:29:59. > :30:04.right on the margin. She will be very close to the fastest losers

:30:04. > :30:08.spots. If she doesn't finish in the top five, she is still close to that

:30:08. > :30:18.fifth spot. She is currently in seven. The Spaniard just ahead,

:30:18. > :30:20.

:30:20. > :30:26.holding her off. It is all about the clock now. The three African

:30:26. > :30:36.athletes are clear. They are leading this one. Moldner-Schmidt will

:30:36. > :30:40.

:30:40. > :30:47.qualify. McColgan goes past Martin. That is one gone. She takes it well.

:30:47. > :30:52.Danekova kicking away. She might well get the fifth spot rights.

:30:52. > :30:59.McColgan has not given this up. She could yet be close to fifth, in the

:30:59. > :31:06.fastest loser spot. I think she is going to run her personal best. A

:31:06. > :31:12.fight to the line and Hammock over just gets it. Eilish with a personal

:31:12. > :31:15.best, probably a couple of seconds. That is a gutsy run. You bring your

:31:15. > :31:21.final to get to the final and it takes a lot. She has been through so

:31:21. > :31:25.much. I am sure she will be thanking people who have helped her do that,

:31:25. > :31:33.but that is a real gutsy run, not only here today but also gutsy in

:31:33. > :31:38.the last few weeks, for Eilish. The race of her life, just to get to the

:31:38. > :31:44.final, running her personal best. Well done. But was hard. That was

:31:44. > :31:51.hard but she dug deep. She was rewarded with a personal best. To

:31:51. > :31:55.rent a personal best in a hit coming in, that is one thing, but to run it

:31:55. > :31:59.after the preparation she has had this year, that really shows she is

:31:59. > :32:03.a better athlete this year on top of last year, given all the problems

:32:03. > :32:11.and cross training she has been doing. She was in pain when she

:32:11. > :32:15.finished. Hopefully not too much of it was from her leg. The big

:32:15. > :32:18.question, whether or not the leg... She has been in a lot of pain with

:32:18. > :32:25.that and has not been able to do a lot of the work she would normally

:32:25. > :32:30.do. It attests to her fortitude that she then turned it into a stunning

:32:30. > :32:38.performance, really. I think those who know what this takes, to rent at

:32:38. > :32:45.this level -- to run at this level, when you have been deprived of

:32:45. > :32:48.running, is remarkable. Look how she run up right to the line. Almost

:32:48. > :32:55.took an automatic qualifying spot that she will be in the final and

:32:55. > :32:58.she has run her personal best. -- but she will be in the final.

:32:58. > :33:05.is down the last home straight and you can see the concentration on her

:33:05. > :33:10.face. The runners either side of her are all digging deep and hard. I do

:33:10. > :33:14.not know if they have calculated with the time to go. They are

:33:14. > :33:24.clearly in the fastest loser time but it does look like they are

:33:24. > :33:25.

:33:25. > :33:33.fighting for the automatic, fastest loser spot. She deserves a personal

:33:33. > :33:40.best. Hopefully she can recover and come back and run in the final and

:33:40. > :33:50.enjoy it. A new Scottish record and personal best, well done, Eilish

:33:50. > :33:51.

:33:51. > :33:58.whether she has made the final or not, and you definitely have, with

:33:58. > :34:06.your personal best. Steve Cram has just confirmed it. Oh, my God. I am

:34:06. > :34:14.so happy. I could not have asked for any more. I thought it was out of my

:34:14. > :34:18.reach this year with everything I have had. I cannot complain. It was

:34:18. > :34:24.worth flying around for all of those days. You ran a final to make the

:34:24. > :34:29.final. That determination in the last lap especially was so

:34:29. > :34:34.commendable. I felt a bit tired in the middle and that is mainly be bit

:34:34. > :34:40.of training I have missed. I always come back strong at the end. I was

:34:40. > :34:48.counting the girls, Dicks, 5... I thought I had just missed it. --

:34:48. > :34:55.six, 5... I will go and kick Steve if he has told me the wrong thing!

:34:55. > :34:58.No, you have made the final! Thank you. Thanks to everyone back home.

:34:58. > :35:07.The support I have got the year has been amazing.

:35:07. > :35:16.She doesn't trust Steve, for some reason! You are definitely through,

:35:16. > :35:20.Eilish, and what a gutsy run. superb. And the testing situation

:35:20. > :35:26.she has been through this season. It is what you were talking about

:35:26. > :35:32.earlier, successful athletes come back and inspire other athletes to

:35:32. > :35:37.believe in themselves. A new Scottish record. And through to

:35:37. > :35:42.Tuesday's final. I love to see someone digging deep. You could see

:35:42. > :35:48.she was hurting, two laps to go. But in that home stretch... She found

:35:48. > :35:52.something. And sometimes athletes have to realise you do not come to

:35:52. > :35:59.championships having rate preparation that it is what you

:35:59. > :36:06.leave on the track in terms of your 100 or send commitment. -- having

:36:06. > :36:11.rate preparation. We should just talk a little bit about the absolute

:36:11. > :36:17.quality in almost every hit. You have 50 runners, runners with

:36:17. > :36:25.medals. This 400m is a really strong event. It is probably shaping to be

:36:25. > :36:28.one of the guest. Christine is right at the heart of that. She has a

:36:28. > :36:33.great opportunity to regain that world title again, which would be

:36:33. > :36:38.fantastic. She has put a lot of effort into their, but Natasha

:36:38. > :36:43.Hastings also a supreme athlete, from the USA. But the name that

:36:43. > :36:49.shines out is in heat five, Amantle Montsho, the defending champion. How

:36:49. > :36:59.many times how she run under 50 seconds? But Christie knows she can

:36:59. > :37:08.

:37:08. > :37:12.beat her. She beat her at this year how far down she is, miles down,

:37:12. > :37:16.coming into the home straight. She thinks, I can do this, and she

:37:16. > :37:21.drives, she works, she believes in herself. When you are chasing

:37:21. > :37:29.someone, you get inspired, and when it is the world champion, it makes

:37:29. > :37:39.you feel so good. You were saying about the crowd, that really spurs

:37:39. > :37:41.

:37:41. > :37:47.main rivals. It looks like tactics will come into play as we move

:37:47. > :37:52.through the round. She cannot afford to make mistakes. She is very quick

:37:52. > :37:57.but she knows someone like Christine will run a perfectly judged race and

:37:57. > :38:05.close her down. How did you approach the Keats? You have the semifinals

:38:05. > :38:10.to come, you have got to get through safely. -- the heats? I was always

:38:10. > :38:16.told, make sure you win it. That is all you need to do. Do not worry

:38:16. > :38:23.about the time, just win it. Your position judges which blamed you are

:38:23. > :38:28.in. It is important that she takes the event. And to get going on the

:38:28. > :38:33.first day in a championships. That must be a nice thing. I know they

:38:33. > :38:38.have been training in Barcelona but to get going early on must be a

:38:38. > :38:43.great feeling. It is a great relief. Sometimes when you are in the Hotel

:38:43. > :38:48.or athletes' village, you have to much time to think. Coming out early

:38:48. > :38:55.is great so you get rid of all that nervous energy. You can absorb some

:38:55. > :39:00.of that atmosphere and it is a great addition to be in. I used to hate me

:39:00. > :39:04.on at the end of the championships. Disconcerting. We want more people

:39:04. > :39:13.in. They are slowly coming. They are probably enjoying the Moscow

:39:13. > :39:23.sunshine. There is a river near us here. And a lido.Let's get out and

:39:23. > :39:27.

:39:27. > :39:34.have a look at how the decathlon is the decathlon is not going well

:39:34. > :39:43.because Hardy, the defending world champion, failed. He only cleared

:39:43. > :39:48.1.92, but Nixon here, 20 years old... That is 2: 14. Massive points

:39:48. > :39:58.for the young American. So an understated start to his decathlon

:39:58. > :39:59.

:39:59. > :40:04.campaign here. Nixon, 10.8 four on the 100. Pretty solid performances

:40:04. > :40:11.and now he has produced something special. Big points for Nixon. He is

:40:11. > :40:17.only 20 years old. That was the best jump that we saw in the decathlon

:40:17. > :40:24.high jump competition. All change at the top of the table. Nixon came

:40:24. > :40:34.here as the second string and that was because Hardy got a while, entry

:40:34. > :40:44.-- a wild card entry. And the German trader is now in second place but

:40:44. > :40:49.some way behind the young American place. Krisztian Pars almost had the

:40:49. > :40:52.perfect season last year. He won the European Championships and the

:40:52. > :40:58.Olympic final. He is trying to qualify for the World Championship

:40:58. > :41:04.final here and then go for gold tomorrow. That could be the longest

:41:04. > :41:08.we have seen throwing so far. The Hun Carey and have done well in

:41:08. > :41:18.hammer throw ring in recent years. It is probably their strongest

:41:18. > :41:19.

:41:19. > :41:29.event. But only Lukas Melich of the Czech Republic has qualified

:41:29. > :41:30.

:41:30. > :41:40.automatically so far. Krisztian Pars 379.06. He is through to the final.

:41:40. > :41:47.

:41:47. > :41:53.McColgan's mother. Eilish is relaxed about the race. She has had a tough

:41:53. > :42:03.line to even stand on the start line. Post race she's cheering! She

:42:03. > :42:07.did it! I knew she could! Gutsy, gutsy girl! Be proud mother. It is

:42:07. > :42:11.lovely to see. Can you imagine if you have worked with somebody it can

:42:11. > :42:16.be held. She has seen it right the way through and she is a proud

:42:16. > :42:21.mother. Are great Britain performance director, Neil Blackett,

:42:21. > :42:26.reckons the squad of athletes might just be as strong and well prepared

:42:26. > :42:35.as the athletes were in London last year. He has beans begin to Phil

:42:35. > :42:40.Jones. There is that great mixture of experience and youth. Yes, that

:42:40. > :42:44.is good. It is a great mixture of experience and youth. It is great to

:42:44. > :42:51.see that kind of mix. It is great to see people like Christine kind of

:42:51. > :42:55.embracing being become in and supporting in a really kind of

:42:55. > :42:59.comforting and directive way with the younger kids. It is good to see

:42:59. > :43:04.their excitement. It is good to see them interacting and gelling with

:43:04. > :43:11.each other. It feels like a nice blend. Last year there was so much

:43:11. > :43:15.intense pressure just to make the team in the London 2012 team. This

:43:15. > :43:20.year there is that ramping down a little bit, in pressure terms. Do

:43:20. > :43:25.you get a sense of that? I think that is there. We have going to call

:43:25. > :43:30.it a transition year or a post-Olympic year. The targets feel

:43:30. > :43:40.a little bit different. National lottery, in terms of funding the

:43:40. > :43:48.program... Be long-term target is Rio 2016. And also a target of 6-8

:43:48. > :43:53.medals for these athletes. How do you view that? We will never get

:43:53. > :43:58.away from the performances being the measure of what we are doing. It is

:43:58. > :44:03.one of the criteria that everyone uses relative to doing well. We are

:44:03. > :44:12.looking at the attitudes of the athletes, the support staff, the

:44:12. > :44:16.coaches. We have made a decision not to set a specific target.

:44:16. > :44:19.fundamental end is everyone is looking to improve their game and

:44:19. > :44:27.performance, to do as well as they can but everyone will always be

:44:27. > :44:30.measured on the number of gold medals and comparison with the past.

:44:30. > :44:38.How important is it for athletics to have the post-Olympic success

:44:38. > :44:43.maintained? In terms of the Super Saturday it is a tragedy that

:44:43. > :44:49.Jessica is not going to be there but I know it was essential not to take

:44:49. > :44:57.that unnecessary risk. Greg, we are optimistic and open-minded. The fact

:44:57. > :45:01.that money is performing as he is -- Mo Farah is performing as he is

:45:01. > :45:04.shows as he can be even better. All things going well, there is a

:45:04. > :45:09.reasonable number of potential medals that that will keep this kind

:45:09. > :45:15.of where we should be in this transitional year.

:45:15. > :45:23.So not committing to specific numbers, although UK Sport have said

:45:23. > :45:28.6-8. Is that realistic? Wherewith they come from? We can be happy with

:45:29. > :45:33.five. Eight is probably stretching it but you think of the likes of

:45:33. > :45:43.Perri Shakes-Drayton, Christine, the women's four x four, Mo Farah, maybe

:45:43. > :45:44.

:45:44. > :45:48.two for him. Shara Proctor, and outside in the women's long jump...

:45:48. > :45:53.A bit light on the ground but it is a transitional year and what you

:45:53. > :46:01.want from 18 coming to Moscow is building for the future. He is right

:46:01. > :46:06.to say that. -- the team coming to Moscow. You have come out of juniors

:46:06. > :46:09.and the under 23 is and this can be very shocking for you. It can be

:46:09. > :46:17.different with the senior athletes and you have to get used to that

:46:17. > :46:20.different climate. So you need time to grow in it and if you are just on

:46:20. > :46:30.the fringes and able to perform under the circumstances, it goes

:46:30. > :46:34.well for you in the future. There is always a surprise, I know it won't

:46:34. > :46:40.be a surprise if you tell us! But where would that come from, do you

:46:40. > :46:43.think? I was looking at some of the predictions and in the women's four

:46:44. > :46:48.x four, a really strong chance for not just getting a medal, they may

:46:48. > :46:55.be able to win it. The predictions are not even in, they go in US,

:46:55. > :47:01.Jamaica, Russia. I am thinking... I think Team GB will put on a good

:47:01. > :47:05.performance. One of them is about to go in the heats, not in the first

:47:05. > :47:11.heat but very strong line-up for the heats now in the 400m. Let us join

:47:11. > :47:20.Steve Cram and Andrew Cotter. COMMENTATOR: The first round coming