Commonwealth Games: English standards - 75/54

[Administrator]

Just seen that the qualifying standard for England's team at the commenwealth games has been provided.

For men the distance is 75m, for women 54m - there are further selection criteria which are mentioned in the following link:

www.englandathletics.org/news.asp?itemid=2226&itemTitle=England+Athletics+selection+policy+for+Commonwealth+Games§ion=42§ionTitle=England+Athletics+News

At the moment it would seem that Mervyn and Chris are in the hot seat for the men and Golide for the women. That said - I can think of plenty guys and girls who could reach those targtes, it would be great to see 6 English spear chuckers out there.

Of course I also expect we'll see James and Mike throwing too - not sure on the Scot/Irish/Welsh standards but would that put anyone else in the frame too?

[Administrator]

Intersting to see that the standards for most field events are lower in Scotland (including 4-5m less in the hammer) but also 75m for the jav which James has of course already surpassed.

[slinger]

The jav in the past has been 70 for Wales and Scotland, but seeing as Jimbo has already gone 75 plus it doesn't really matter now for Scotland at least.

I fully expect Nieland to have a go and get fit for this you know, after all he's reigning champ.

[H]

Team of roughly 100 would work out about two per event but obviously some will have more than others!!!!

Do the criteria and then they cant really say no!!

[slinger]

Are you eligable for wales H lad?

[H]

Technically yes, but i competed for England last yr and tbh England is where it's at!!

[nije]

Lee doran is welsh now so he will probably go so we could have 3 english, 1 welsh, 1 scot and possibly two irish which would be a great boost for the men. Women not looking so good though at the moment and could we possibly have a 16 year old qualify!

Chris - if I know selectors, if you have the qualifier and they need to drop people, they will do!!!! However, you should be safe as you are highly ranked where others may have the stndard adn ranked in the top 30.

A little concerning for my Welsh brother and sisters, very few (about 7 appear in the current rankings based on this year so a few of them have to pull their fingers - and nails out! However, as we all know, if you throw near or over your PB you will always finish much higher than rankings suggest.

There are still murmurings that Delhi wont be ready and that Australia are keeping their options open! Either way it would be great to see so many British jav boys out there - a real motivating factor I'd say for this winter!

[pj]

At least Delhi have got until October. I think they will sort it out.

Unfortunately sorting out the Health and Hygiene issues is a bigger problem altogether.

I foresee 'Delhi belly' on the horizon for many athletes and not just the British boys and girls.

[lusis]

Nige, who are the 2 Irish guys , Mike Allen and who else ?

[Caroline]

Nov 10, 2009 12:13:18 GMT 1 nije said:

Women not looking so good though at the moment and could we possibly have a 16 year old qualify!

I'm sure Goldie, Katie, Laura et al will be thrilled with your vote of confidence in their abilities.

[Administrator]

Lusis - I assume the other Irishman would be Ben Houghton - not registered a throw since 2006 but certainly one of the most naturally gifted throwers out there.

Caroline - There are 7 men (making assumptions on Nick, Lee and Ben) that have thrown far enough last year or in recent years to qualify so things do look a lot better on the men's side. So far only Goldie has the distance, again that's assuming the other home countries aren't a lot lower than the 54m mark for England.

That's not to say we don't hope that more women step up the extra 2-5 metres, there are plenty hanging around 50 who will fancy their chances I'm sure.

[Administrator]

Men's qualification standard for Wales is 71.00m and for women is 51.00m so that would count Lee in given that hes thrown over 71m on a large number of occasions. Not so well up on Welsh throwers on the female side but does that distance put anyone closer to being in the frame? Nige, guess you are best placed being based in Wales.

[slinger]

pj, I know alot of athletes have expressed concerns over the food situation for India when it was announced and one athlete I know who will/has qualified told me they simply wouldn't want to go!

Caroline, I agree. There is a whole host of girls around that 50 mark who all could step up and see that 54 as a realistic goal and inspiration - that could be a 16 year old like Freya Jones, or someone like Katy Watts, Laura Whittingham, Rosie Semenytsh etc - Personally I'd be inclined to say they have a better chance, as they were far more consistent, with Laura throwing 52 3 times over the year and Rosie's average throw must be a 48. and something I always thought was consistency leads to eventually a big throw - I found that when I got consistent at a certain distance I'd have a jump and smash my PB by 3 or 4 metres......I expect one of those girls to do something similar.

[nije]

Ben was the other guy - I heard he may be making a go of it. caroine - the people I mentioned have all qulalified already and the sate of the wome's event is still poor apart from one girl so i was not dissing goldie at all. I think the step to 54/55m in one year may be too much for the girls mentioned who have settled around 50-52m. Freya is a serious talent and I believe she will do something good over the next few years. KAty made some progress this year af ter a few lean years and I have great respect for her coach so she could get there perhaps, otherwise I cannot see anyone else from the current crop unles one of the juniors comes through or jade dodd comes back as she recently told me she was and then seee if she can sort her technique out.

Barring goldie, the men's is a lot more healthy state than the women. As for the welsh scene - you could argue that lee isn't Welsh but the men and women's javelin scene is poor and doesn't look as if it will catch up with the national scene for some time. We have one of two throwers who have a couple of good throws then get injured or just dissappear (into rugby probably). Our shot and disc, however, has never looked so good in depth apparently in the men's side and we have phillip and two good female hammer girls so things are looking good there. This is not being harsh but just stating where we are right now. I have little if anything to do with the javelin throwers at present for some reason, however, we are going to run another development talent scoop in cardifff soon and I'l hopefully pick some one's up from there.

[slinger]

I'm not sure nije.

I think if someone puts the work in and more importantly wants something enough then they will achieve. In the past qualification for majors tends to be around the 60 mark for our girls and those that are throwing around that 50 mark may see that too far and never even consider it, but 54 is a very realistic goal in a very competitive area of the event for the women with a good few who are all bunched together at the top of the rankings. Our event is notorious for people making big jumps and "getting hold of one" and who knows it could and probably will happen. I remember chatting to Nieland about his first 80m lob - his 83.06m at the AAA's in 1996. He said that in Halle that year he threw 79.96m and he nailed it in perfect conditions and thought that's it, that's his best and didn't think he'd throw 80.....low and behold he goes 83 when it mattered most ans out of the blue. He did the same with his 85. Rumps threw his 85 after "only" going 80 flat before that - it happens alot.

The girls if they want to qualify for a major games next year and have an amazing experience imo just need to knuckle down, focus and become involved in what they are doing and I have no doubts that we could have as many girls throwing for England as we do lads.