Inside Osaka: The Editor's Cut

The female elite battle it out in the 4x400m relay

Sunday 2 September, 9.20pm

Well, that's all folks. The Championships concluded with some memorable performances, not least from Christine Ohuruogu, Marilyn Okoru, Lee McConnell and Nicola Sanders, who won bronze in the 4x400m relay, setting a new British record of 3:20.04 in the process. Both 4x400m relays were won with ease by the USA, confirming their overall dominance in the relays after their double 4x100m success on Saturday night.

Britain's Mara Yamauchi finished a creditable ninth in the women's marathon this morning with a time of 2:32.55. The Oxford-born athlete, who now resides in Tokyo, actually led the race at 30km, but she was cut adrift from the leading pack of eight in the closing stages. Tracey Morris came in 19th with a season's best 2:36.40. Thousands of supporters lined the route in this marathon-mad country, and home fans were well rewarded with Reika Tosa finishing third to secure Japan's first and only medal of the Championships.

America's Bernard Lagat added the 5000m crown to the 1500m gold he won earlier in the week, outpacing Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge with a powerful sprint finish. He is the first athlete to win the both titles in Championships history. Britain's Mo Farah led at the bell but didn't have the kick of his rivals, eventually finishing 6th. Many commentators' pre-race favourite, Craig Mottram from Australia, looked out of sorts over the last two laps and finished a disappointing 13th. The men's 800m final provided surely one of the closest 800m finishes of all time. Alfred Kirwa Yego of Kenya nicked it on the line from Canada's Gary Reed, winning gold by just one-tenth of a second in 1: 47.09. All eight finalists finished within less than half of a second of each other.

As for Britain's overall performance, tonight's women's 4x400m bronze, added to the bronze our men's sprint relay team won last night, means that we collected five medals (three in individual events) in total, putting us 10th in the medals table. We fare slightly better in the placings table - 13 top-eight places putting us sixth.

The plaudits will rightly go to our medalists, but notable mentions should also go to Jo Pavey, who just missed out, finishing fourth in the women's 10,000m, and Jessica Ennis, pipped to bronze by teammate Kelly Sotherton in the heptathlon. Her time will surely come. On the down side, both Chris Tomlinson and Goldie Sayers, in the men's long jump and women's javelin respectively, will be disappointed not to have made it into their finals, while Phillips Idowu was a pre-event medal hope, but didn't really look sharp after his recent injury problems.

All in all, it was a pretty decent showing, and pretty much dead on what Dave Collins, UK Athletics performance director, had demanded. There's still more work to do of course, but when you compare the haul to the single medal we won in Helsinki two years ago, you'd like to think a corner has been turned. Let's hope for even better when the Championships return, in Berlin, in two years' time. Arigato for reading!

Sunday 2 September, 6.30pm

World Championships awards
With just the final evening of competition left, it seems like an appropriate time to look back on what have been a thoroughly enjoying and engrossing Championships, and hand out a few awards for the good, the bad, and the mildly amusing goings on here in Osaka over the past nine days.

Athlete of the Championships
Has to be America's Tyson Gay. Three events entered, three gold medals. Enough said.

The dealing with pressure award
This one goes to long jumper Irving Saladino from Panama. Trailing Italy's Andrew Howe with just one, final jump remaining, Saladino was forced to wait for the women's 400m hurdles final medal ceremony before taking to the runway. Added into the pressure cooker was the fact he had fouled his previous two jumps. But he flew to a personal best 8.57m to win at the death, becoming his country's first-ever gold medallist in the men's long jump.

The best in-and-out job
Last Tuesday night the American 110m hurdler David Payne was watching the Championships at home, having failed to qualify for the American team. But when Dominique Arnold had to pull out of the event through injury, Payne was told to jump on the next flight to Osaka. Three days later he had a bronze medal round his neck, having run a personal best of 13.02 seconds when it really mattered.

The golden oldie award
An honourable mention must go to Mozambique's Maria Mutola, 34, who might have won a medal in the women's 800m but for a leg injury forcing her withdrawal in the final straight. Then there’s our own Tracey Morris, 39, who finished 19th in the women’s marathon. But for sheer longevity it's hard to beat Jamaican-born Merlene Ottey, who now competes for Slovenia. She became the oldest women's competitor ever at a World Championships when she ran the 200m heats here at the grand old age of 47. Ottey made her Worlds debut in 1983, when Ronald Reagan was President of the USA.

The most impressive return
Jana Rawlinson. The Australian, who is married to British 400m hurdler Chris Rawlinson, won gold in the women's 400m hurdles just eight months after giving birth to a son, Cornelius. "There is some truth in the saying that mommies come back strong," she said.

The athlete most in touch with his emotions
Australian race walker Nathan Deakes, who celebrated winning the 50km walk by crossing the line and having a good old fashioned, face-melting cry. Good on ya, sport!

The oops! award
The race official during the men's 50K walk who miscalculated the number of laps of the 2km street circuit Japanese competitor Yuki Yamazaki had completed. He was told to enter Nagai Stadium for what he thought was the end of the race, he crossed the line, elated to have finished ninth, and collapsed with exhaustion. Imagine how he felt to be told that he actually had come in one lap early and would be marked down as a Did Not Finish on official records.

The foregone conclusion award
Swedish heptathlete Carolina Kluft. She won gold here, extending a winning streak that stretches back seven years, and set a new personal best of 7032 points in the process.

The sounds familiar award
Alberto Juantorena of Cuba, who finished 18th in the men's decathlon. The 30-year-old is the son of the similarly-named track legend, who is connected by many to David Coleman's memorable commentary line: "And Juantorena opens his legs and shows his class!"

What you don't see on TV: the visual and audio effects

Sunday 2 September, 6.15pm

It's been the big talking point among athletics journalists this week. No, not whether golden girl Christine Ohuruogu should be allowed to compete at next year's Beijing Olympics, but the pros and cons of having sound effects during Championships events.

In case it hasn't come through on the TV at home, these Championships have been an audio spectacular, with a huge range of tunes and effects accompanying various parts of the proceedings. Some are undoubtedly atmosphere-inducing. A kind of Alpine horn sound announces the next event is about to get underway - handy when you're in the concourse buying a beer. Then there is the tense, low thrumming - uncannily similar to the background music from Who Wants To Be A Millionaire - that plays when the competitors are in the blocks. I don't know what effect it has on them, but it even makes me feel nervous sat up in the stands.

More controversially, there is the music and effects that play during the events themselves. One hardened athletics hack I spoke to called it "scandalous". But I rather like them, particularly the way they have matched various styles of music to different events according to the intensity. So for the sprints there is an urgent drum and bass workout, while the longer events get a bit of generic guitar rock. Most amusing of all, however, are the sound effects for the throwing events. Once the hammer is airborne, for example, we are treated to a whistling sound, like when a cannonball flies through the air in a cartoon. Then at the moment of impact there's an explosion sound. I listened and laughed my way through the men's hammer, and concluded that because the impact sound was pretty much synchronised to each throw, they must have a sound man in the stands pressing a button to set it off. Imagine if that was your job.

When all's said and done, anything that adds atmosphere is fine by me, even though occasionally the sound effects, together with the computer animated bits on the scoreboard, made me feel like I was sitting in a real-life version of the old arcade game Track & Field.

Friday 31 August, 10.50pm

It's been a day of mixed fortunes for British athletes. Michael Rimmer went out in the semi-final of the 800m having gone out fast in his opening lap and then fading badly to finish 7th in 1:47.39 - more than two seconds off his personal best. Abby Westley and Lisa Dobriskey both went out in the semi-finals of the women's 1500m. Dobriskey can probably feel a little hard done by despite finishing tenth in her semi-final as it was such a fast race - her time of 4: 08.39 was actually six seconds faster than the winner of the other semi. But I suppose you have to run the race you are in.

On the up side, our men's 4x100m relay team are in tomorrow evening's final having come through their heat behind Brazil with relatively little fuss. With the other finalists including the USA, Jamaica and dark horses Brazil, Poland and the home nation (who raised an ecstatic cheer when they qualified in their semi), we're all set for a classic.

A quick British progress report with two days of competition still remaining. We currently sit joint seventh in the medals table, with one each of gold, silver and bronze. We're also seventh in the placings table - which takes into account top-8 finishes in each event in addition to medals.

The situation regarding the performance targets set by UK Athletics performance director Dave Collins before the tournament is finely balanced. He demanded at least 14 top-8 finishes from our athletes, and within that at least three medals. Our girls have helped us achieve the medals part with two days to spare. However, with only eight top-8 finishes so far, we're some way off the placings target.

Of the remaining events, we have medal potential in the women's 4x400m and the men's 4x100m relays, while Jo Pavey and Mo Farah are both set to run in finals. Then there's Oxford-born Tokyo resident Mara Yamauchi running on home turf in the women's marathon. It's possible that our athletes might miss Collins' placings target but exceed the medals target. But somehow I don't think there'll be any complaints if that proves to be the case.

On a wider scale, three peerless champions performances illuminated the Nagai Stadium tonight. These were Americans Allyson Felix in the women's 200m and Jeremy Wariner in the men's 400m - who both set the fastest times in the world this year in their respective finals - and Liu Xiang of China in the men's 110m hurdles. Wariner in particular power, elegance and coolness personified in his trademark shades and Michael Johnson-esque gold shoes. I realised when he crossed the line to celebrate victory it was the first time I'd ever seen him smile.

Thursday 30 August, 11.20pm

Gay becomes the third male athlete to win the sprint double

A fantastic performance from America's Tyson Gay an hour ago to add 200m gold to the 100m title he won on Sunday. The man from Kentucky did it in style, his time of 19.76 breaking Michael Johnson's 12-year-old Championships record by three-hundredths of a second.

"This victory means a lot to me," he said. "I never won a 200m race, even in high school. It was a very exciting race, and I was just glad to come out the winner at the end of it." Despite his impressive feat, Gay cut a sombre figure as he spoke afterwards, explaining that six days of competition in the Osaka heat has taken its toll. "I was extremely tired," he said. "I couldn't even put my arm up to celebrate." The men's 4x100m relay heats begin tomorrow evening, but Gay revealed he will be sitting them out. The Americans have plenty of strength in depth when it comes to sprinters so barring a catastrophe we'll probably see Gay again in Saturday's relay final.

Just a quick follow-up to what I wrote earlier this week about Kenenisa Bekele's superb win in the 10,000m final. I wagered that at the end of the race he was probably running about as fast as I could sprint. Well, thanks to the efficient wonders of the IAAF biomechanics team, I've been able to see the 100m splits for his last 1000 metres of the race. His last four 100-metre splits in 14.28, 13.75, 13.43 and 14.05 seconds; a final lap split of 55.51. Phenomenal. I haven't timed myself in the 100 metres recently, but my money would be on him.

Time for the sports journalists to show the world what they're made of

Thursday 30 August, 6.20pm

The omens in the build-up to the race were good. The pizza I picked at random for lunch, in a cafe that had a Japanese language menu only, came with a raw egg on top of it - a great pre-race boost, by accident. Then as I tried to get 'into the zone' by listening to my iPod, the first tune that came up at random was the classic theme tune to old TV show Sportsnight - a cacophony of jazzy 70s sax, drums and trumpets. If that doesn't get you going then nothing will.

By now fully focused, I changed, pinned my numbers on and warmed up down by the long jump runway in front of the main stand. From track level the enormous stands look even more imposing. They then tested the starting 'gun' (it's actually more of a simulated 'beep') without warning. It was absolutely ear-splitting and I physically flinched. I just hope no one noticed.

I scanned the start list for my heat, which was fourth out of seven races. There was a couple of Poles, two Americans, a Japanese, sure to have the 100 or so spectators on his side, and assorted others.

At 4.37pm local time, we assembled on the start line in 29 degree heat and 68% humidity. The great thing about all of the heats was that the organisers treated them like Championship races proper. That meant a gyrocam swept across me on the line and I saw my face 10-feet high on the video screen behind one stand. I must admit to feeling a rush of pride at seeing my name and number next to a small Union Jack and 'GBR' on the big screen as the announcer read out my name.

After taking our marks, we were away. My plan was to run steady within sight of the pace-setter, then hope that I had something left coming round the final bend to sweep to a glorious victory for Britain. Everything was going to plan - after 200m I was in third and feeling comfortable, behind the Italian Davide Scardeoni and Greece's dangerous-looking Giorgos Manoudis. I settled into my stride and sat on the Italian's shoulder through 400 metres, perhaps a second behind Manoudis, whose split was 1:12.57.

Dixon v Manoudis: a nail-biting finish

With 250 metres left it was time to make my move. I eased past Scardeoni and could hear him puffing heavily. I knew he had no more to give. Now for Manoudis. I eased out onto his right shoulder as we entered the final straight and asked my legs for whatever they had left to give. With 50 metres left I edged ahead and I could hear the crowd roar (okay, maybe clap a little bit). But then the Greek started to come back and suddenly he was asking the questions as he inched into the lead with 20 metres left. Alas, I didn't have the answer - the tank was dry and he pipped me to the line, beating my time of 2:29.46 by .32 seconds.

It was a thrilling experience, and it has only upped my respect for the elite athletes who do this kind of thing properly, rather much slower and a lot less elegantly. They might make it look easy as they seem float around the track, but it's not, it's bloody hard. During the victory ceremony afterwards I thought I my legs were about to give way.

The final media race results list has just been distributed, and my time put me 21st out of 58 competitors. A reasonable result, but I'll be looking to increase the speedwork to fix my final kick. Then the hard work begins for Berlin 2009!

Wednesday 29 August, 11.30pm

Christine Ohuruogu greets the media after her gold in the women's 400m

It was Britain's first 1-2 since Colin Jackson and Tony Jarrett in the 110m hurdles in Stuttgart in 1993 and a victory so unexpected that the British team behind the finish line had to fish around for a few minutes to dig out a couple of Union Jacks for the girls' laps of honour.

For Ohuruogu, whose winning time of 49.61 was a personal best, it was the most remarkable of comebacks. She only returned to competition earlier this month after a one-year ban for missing three out-of-competition drug tests - a ban which "almost destroyed" her, according to her coach Lloyd Cowan.

Needless to say she was ecstatic as she spoke about coming through the dark times in style shortly after her victory. "This is what I've been working towards," she said. "I'm very surprised, because when you don't race you don't know what's there, but I kept my head down and worked hard. I believe no matter what rubbish happens to you, somewhere down the line things will turn out for the better. When you've done nothing wrong and you're an honest person, God will smile on you and make something happen.

"It's not so much the winning, if I had come second or third or fourth, I'm just glad to have got to the final like I planned, to make everything that happened in the last year worthwhile."

Asked whether she had considered quitting, Ohuruogu - who became the first British woman to win a World Championship track event since Sally Gunnell's 400m hurdles gold in Stuttgart in 1993 - admitted: "There were many moments of despair, but I don't think I would have ever forgiven myself if I hadn't stuck it through.

Ohuruogo said she was still not totally happy with her run, despite the result: "I didn't run it as I should have. I don't know whether it was nerves, but my coach and I had a race plan and I was a bit behind. I was thinking I'd settle for third! But as I started coming down the home straight the words of my coach flashed into my head: 'Don't leave anything on the track'. That's when I realised I had a little bit more to give.

Of her tears as she received her medal on the podium, Ohuruogo said: "I know it sounds really cliched, but it's just nice to have a happy ending." Silver medallist Nicola Sanders, who time of 49.65 was also a personal best, said: "This year it's really come together. Being injured was probably a blessing in disguise because I'm feeling really strong at the moment. I've got two days off now, so I've got a chance to get over the shock and the adrenaline, then build myself up again for the relay."

And with both the new World Champion and silver medallist getting ready to race together in the women's 4x400m relay on Sunday evening, we can reasonably hope for a successful finale. You never know, our men's 4x100m relay team might even manage not to drop the baton. After watching what happened here tonight, you have to believe that anything is possible...

Wednesday 29 August, 7pm

The Japanese athletes may have been a flop but the street art has attracted attention

On Monday Kumiko Ikeda flopped out in qualifying for the women's long jump, her longest effort of 6.42 metres leaving her 25th out of 29 entries. That effort was nearly half a metre shorter than the national record she herself chalked up only last year and 31cm shy of her best this season. Later that evening Japan's top medal hope and reigning Olympic Champion Koji Murofushi could only manage sixth place in the men's hammer. No wonder one local paper dubbed it "Black Monday".

And just when it seemed the catastrophe in Kansai couldn't get much worse, along plodded sprinter Shingo Suetsugu, the 2003 world bronze medallist and Asian record holder. Yesterday he was eliminated in the second round of the men's 200m after sleepwalking to a time of 20.70, finishing sixth. All of which means the hosts don't have a single medal to their name so far. Even we've done better than that (thanks Kelly!).

Tyson Gay celebrates his dramatic win in the men's 100m

It's the kind of vocal backing our athletes will be hoping for when the Olympics come to London in five years time, but let's hope that it inspires them to greater things, rather than make them "underperform like a mechanical crab" as The Daily Yomiuri newspaper so devastatingly put it.

Tuesday 28 August

It was surprising afterwards was to learn that the great man had found the going tough. "It was very tough, very hard, especially with three laps left when I was very tired," he said. From the stand it looked like a largely flawless race - he ran most of it looking comfortable in second or third, and when he others tried to break away he responded. Perhaps that's a mark of the truly great athlete, whether sprinter, high jumper or long-distance runner - they seem to have an economy of movement that makes everything look easy, even when they might be hurting inside.

What was particularly breathtaking, and something which it's hard for TV to convey, is the speed he reached with his final kick, about 200 metres from the finish line. After 25 laps in stifling heat, this was probably faster than the speed most of us could sprint for 100m. The crowd roaring its approval as he sped to victory down the home straight was scalp-tinglingly exciting.

In the mixed zone afterwards, a delighted Bekele was happy to spend plenty of time talking to journalists (the athletes don't have to do so, and many whizz through the maze-like area so quickly it's as if it's set up on a bed of hot coals), particularly to a colourful group of his countrymen [see pic]. The fact that Ethiopia's ambassador to Japan was waiting to hug him like an old friend should tell you of the high standing he has in his home country. For his part he is clearly proud of it, as he made sure he carried a placard announcing the approaching Ethiopian millennium, which begins on 12 September, all the way through the mixed zone.

The other highlight was the women's 100m final, a classic sprint race so close it took around 10 seconds to run and 10 minutes to pick a winner. Jamaica's Veronica Campbell eventually got the nod and the gold, compensating for compatriot Asafa Powell's surrender (according to the athlete himself) in the men's sprint on Sunday. It's always slightly odd when a race is so close no one knows who has won at the finish - all of the competitors just hang around looking up at the screens, not quite knowing what to do with themselves. Of course, the fact that the scoreboard - clearly short-circuiting itself with excitement - first displayed the USA's Lauryn Williams and then Torri Edwards as the winners didn't help matters.

It was a good night for Britain on the track. Nicola Sanders and Christine Ohuruogo made the women's 400m final, the first time the country has had two athletes in the final of the event. And Andy Baddeley took advantage of a final straight pile-up of two rival runners to sneak in fifth and edge into the men's 1500m final.

Monday August 27

50,000 fans pack the Nagai Stadium

Immediately afterwards she had the challenge of another event, specific to Osaka - the press conference endurance test. It's somewhat bizarre in an otherwise-flawlessly organised and executed Championships that the press conference 'room' has been located beneath one of the grandstands of the cavernous Nagai Stadium. I put room in quotes as essentially it's just a part of the stadium concourse that has been separated off by partition boards.

You've probably read about the heat and humidity here - the must-have fashion accessories for spectators and media alike are a fan and a wet towel - so someone wasn't thinking straight to site the press conference room in a non-air-conditioned room that doesn't get any breeze. Add to that the heat generated by spotlights and TV arc lamps, and the result is, quite simply, an unpleasant sauna filled with heavily perspiring, mildly odour-inducing international journalists.

To her credit, Sotherton kept her cool through the conference as Carolina Kluft - whose medal, hair and even her Sweden strip are all golden - was repeatedly asked about her future as a heptathlete. But judging by the look on her face as the silver medallist Lyudmila Blonska spoke, there is clearly no love lost between the two of them. Ukrainian Blonska served a two-year ban after testing positive for steroids in 2003, during which time she gave birth, but on her return to major competition here she set a new national record. Sure enough, Sotherton later said: "In that time (she was banned) she had a baby, so she put her body through that and then comes back and performs out of her skin. I don't know how that's possible."

The heptathletes are a close group, as you could see from their shared lap of honour at the close of the event, but the rumour is that many of them refuse to speak to Blonska because of her doping past. But sadly, while such behaviour is entirely justifiable, you have to wonder whether it would have any effect on someone who has already shown the lengths - fair or foul - she will go to to secure athletic success.