18.08.2009

McLellan set for hurdles heats

Event coach Sharon Hannan previews tonight's heats of the 100m hurdles, featuring Australia's own Sally McLellan, live from Berlin.

Berlin – Monday August 17, 2009. It’s another day virtually quarantined in my room for me. I have sinus or hayfever or similar, so no real worry for the athletes but better to be safe than sorry. Having someone blow their nose continually nearby would be very unsettling for an athlete who is yet to compete. It’s not only my nose that’s running, but my eyes are as well. Great look... NOT!

How good was Usain Bolt last night? I’m very disappointed I wasn’t there to see it live, but hopefully I’ll be at the track for his 200m. He is an amazing athlete and he will still go much faster. The in-room live coverage is extremely good and the picture is awesome. The TV in my room is a Sony Bravia, so very easy on the eye.

I volunteered to head off to the laundromat this morning and felt useful. Interesting exercise trying to get messages across to people who don’t speak any English.  Anyway, task accomplished and the walk in the sun was good for me. Set the nose itching and running though.  I’ve filled some gaps in my day with ironing and am all prepared for tomorrow. Clothes all clean, pressed and hanging around waiting.

I also resorted to heading downstairs to the athletes' internet room because I cannot get ANY reception in my room or in the lobby. It’s very frustrating. The connection there is guaranteed, but the room gets extremely hot.

The start lists are already out for tomorrow. Sally will race in heat three from lane two at 6:24pm, which is 2:24am your time. Michelle Perry (USA) is in her heat, running from lane six.

Sally has painted her nails green and gold. It’s a tradition for her. I remember when she used to paint them maroon and white for Queensland at the Australian championships. She’s a team player Sal, always represents our country with a great deal of pride. She loves to go to the track and support her teammates as well and was very vocal on day one.

The trip from the hotel takes 20-25 minutes. Sally’s warm-up takes 70 minutes. The first call room is 40 minutes, and the athletes are taken through a 500m tunnel to call room two at 30 minutes. So I’ll suggest we catch the 3:50pm bus, to allow for any hiccups. That should get us to the warm-up track by 4:15pm, which would allow Sal to start her warm-up at 4:34pm. We’ll talk about it tonight and make final plans, as she may want to catch the 3:30pm bus.

I mentioned in my report yesterday that we’d need some 'traffic cops' at the warm-up for the heats to help ensure people don’t walk across the track between the hurdles. There shouldn’t be any problem recruiting for this role because there aren’t any other Aussies competing tomorrow night.

Sal thrives on routine but we’ve changed her warm-up during the past week for various reasons. She seems happy with it, and we’ll at least run through this one for the heats. She may very well go back to her normal competition warm-up for Wednesday night. By then, she’ll know whether she needs to do an extra rep or two, due to the 40 minute call room and 500m walk through the tunnel.

Some of the girls I’ve been watching over here on the European circuit do very little of their warm-up with actual hurdles, but almost all of our warm-up is with hurdles.  Some don’t go over hurdles until they’re ready to start out of blocks. Some do all of their warm-up over lower hurdles. It’s all very interesting.

Just a short one today, but I’ll get another report done before the semi's and finals. I hope you’re still enjoying the chat.

Cheers from me again.

Sharon

The heats of the women's 100m hurdles will be held at 2:10am AEST tonight.

Read previous instalments of Sharon's exclusive online diary here.