Shock! Horror! I had a text mid afternoon today (timed 2.45am Oz time) saying "Mark and Colin have split up. Mark is very drunk and making no sense"
Basclub buddy Ali was probably pretty drunk herself at the end of swim party; but that is quite a shock. Mark Foster and Colin Jackson have allegedly been a couple for many years and a good few hours after the text Sharon Davis was discussing Mark's training on the Clare Baldwin/Steve Ovett evening review saying "Mark is trained a lot by Colin Jackson and that is all gym-based training." Well, I guess she couldn't say "Coo guess what" to all the world watching BBC2 at peak viewing time!
But back to the real action: so England got three golds today, two largely unexpected; a silver and four bronzes, two of these unexpected as well.
I was SO impressed by Mara Yamauchi. It just shows that having a brain can actually be an asset. She worked out months ago that she stood a better chance in the 10,000 than in the marathon, checked up on her rivals and did speed-training specifically for the "new " event. Well, blow me down, it paid off--her first major track race and she got a massive pb and a bronze medal!
And good for the young triple-jumper,too. Never heard of her before, but Nadia Williams shares a coach with the champion Trecia Smith and says there is much more to come from her.
I was so delighted for Chris Baillie who has lived in the shadow of his dead brother Ross for so long. His Scottish record and silver medal was utterly deserved. I'm not so sure about Andy Turner's bronze. He has so much natural speed and obviously zero application. With some of Chris Baillie's technique and hard work he could really advance. But he's just so unreliable it seems unfair he should even have won the medal, somehow.
Isn't the heptathlon fun? That young Jessica Ennis has promised much for a couple of years now and she is delivering immediately. And Kelly Sotherton is doing good, too; as is Julie Holman. So we've three Englishwomen in the top five at the end of day one.
I'm really sad that Beatrice Faumouina's reign as Commonwealth discus champ is over. I was in New Zealand just after she won her first bold and there she was on telly dancing traditional dances and enjoying every minute of her celebrity. Such a sunny lady!
And those two women's gold's: hoorah for the next generation! Both Christine and Lisa ran such great races, brilliant. And Lisa's open and delighted grin and her happy chatter threatened, well, not really, to outdo Deano...all the world must be happy for him, after all his injuries.
And more of the next generation: Martin Rooney's through to the final of the 400m, pity about Rob Tobin, it's that haircut. Someone tell him, it's really holding him back.
I hope I stay awake tonight, I haven't managed to grab any zizztime today.