Athletics

Men's Euro sprint relay blunder "must not happen again at home Games", says Van Commenee

By Mike Rowbottom at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki

July 1 - Britain's male sprint relay team crashed out of their European Championship final here as, just a day after the women's sprint team had been disqualified from their semi-final for running out of their lane, Christian Malcolm and Dwain Chambers made an embarrassing mess of the first changeover.

Bolt beaten again by Blake in Jamaican Olympic 200m trial

By Emily Goddard

By Mike Rowbottom

July 1 - Triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt suffered his second defeat in three days at the hands of his training partner, Yohan Blake, when he was beaten into second place in the 200 metres final at the Jamaican Olympic trials in Kingston.

GB women's 4x100m relay team will miss out at London 2012 after being disqualified

By Mike Rowbottom at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki

June 30 - Britain's women's 4x100 metres relay team saw their prospects of appearing at the London Olympics disappear here at the European Championships today as they were disqualified from their semi-final, thus failing to satisfy the international criteria for qualification at the summer Games.

Blake runs 9.75 to shock below-par Bolt in Jamaica Olympic trials

By Mike Rowbottom

June 29 - Reigning Olympic champion Usain Bolt has been dramatically beaten over 100 metres in the Jamaican Olympic trials by his younger training partner, Yohan Blake.

Grabarz and Williams grab golds for Britain as Sharp matches dad's silver in Helsinki

By Mike Rowbottom at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki

June 29 – Britain earned two golds here tonight – through Robbie Grabarz in the high jump and Rhys Williams in the 400 metres hurdles – plus an unexpected 800m silver from Lynsey Sharp, matching the performance of her father, Cameron, who was second in the 200m at the 1982 European Championships.

Pistorius misses out on 400m individual spot at the Olympics

By Emily Goddard

By Tom Degun

June 29 - Four-time Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius has missed out on his dream of competing in the 400 metres individual event at the London 2012 Olympic Games after he failed to better the 45.30sec Olympic A qualification standard required for the event.

No disrespect meant, says Farah after latest track antics

By Mike Rowbottom at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki

June 28 – Mo Farah, who retained his European 5,000 metre title here last night, has apologised to spectators who may have hoped to see him running in the 1500m final at last weekend's Olympic trials in Birmingham.

Lemaitre retains 100m crown amid Helsinki track chaos

By Mike Rowbottom at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki

June 28 - The only European sprinters to reach the 100 metres finals at last year's World Championships in Daegu underlined their Olympic ambitions here as they took the major medals in the European Championships, with golds going to Christophe Lemaitre of France – who finished just ahead of his fellow Frenchman and Daegu finalist Jimmy Vicaut – and Ivet Lalova of Bulgaria.

British 400 metres relay women "need to find eight seconds" for London 2012, insists coach

By Mike Rowbottom at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki

June 28 - Lloyd Cowan, in charge of coaching the British women's relay teams, believes his 400 metres world indoor champions are still eight seconds away from where they need to be at London 2012.

Farah retains 5,000m European Championship title and makes history in London 2012 warm-up

By Mike Rowbottom at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki

June 27 - Mo Farah was, as predicted, a one-man show here in the 1952 Olympic Stadium this evening as he defended the European 5,000 metre title he had won amid such emotion in Barcelona two years ago.

Onuora shrugs off setbacks to predict a "great" Olympic year

By Mike Rowbottom at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki

June 27 - British sprinter Anyika Onuora, who is preparing to run in the relay at the European Athletics Championships in Helsinki, which started today and run until Sunday (July 1), ahead of London 2012, believes she is due "a great year" after a long series of testing setbacks and heartbreaks.

Emerging sprint star Gemili reveals twin sprint goals

By Mike Rowbottom

June 26 - Adam Gemili, the 18-year-old Briton who ran the Olympic A qualifying time for the 100 metres earlier this month, has confirmed that he will compete in the event at London Olympics – as well as at the World Junior Championships.

Chambers set to become second British doping offender allowed back into Olympic team

By Emily Goddard

By Mike Rowbottom in Helsinki

June 26 - Dwain Chambers is set to become the second British competitor to regain a place in the London 2012 Olympic team following the overturning of the British Olympic Association's (BOA) bylaw banning serious doping offenders from the Games for life.

World junior champion Hitchon hammering on Helsinki door ahead of Olympics

By Mike Rowbottom in Helsinki

June 26 - Sophie Hitchon, Britain's fast-rising world junior champion in the hammer, is determined to try and bridge the gap to the world's top performers when she competes in the European Athletics Championships here, which runs from tomorrow until July 1.

Helsinki-focused Lewis-Francis urges Gemili to shoot for home Games

By Mike Rowbottom in Helsinki

June 25 - Mark Lewis-Francis, who is looking ahead to another significant career relay marker at the European Championships here this week, from Wednesday (June 27) to July 1, believes he made the right decision 12 years ago in choosing to run at the World Junior Championships rather than the Olympics – a choice currently facing emerging 100 metres star Adam Gemili.

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Fact of the day

When British skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean won the Olympic gold medal in ice dance at Sarajevo 1984 with 12 perfect 6.0s from every judge, for their interpretation of Maurice Ravel's Boléro, an important member of their team was singer-actor Michael Crawford. Crawford, who had played Frank Spencer in British sitcom Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em and the title role in the musical The Phantom of the Opera, had become a mentor to the pair in 1981 and went on to help them create their Olympic routine. Crawford said he “taught them how to act". He was present with their trainer Betty Callaway at the ringside at Sarajevo as they created one of the most iconic moments in Olympic history.

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