Nick Symmonds, who won a silver in the 800m last night, is one of the sport’s most colourful characters. The 29-year-old American was famously timed running a mile on the track while stopping to down a beer every lap. No such tactic was employed last night but afterwards he joked that he was hoping to break his current personal best for the “beer mile” of five minutes 15 seconds. Symmonds, known as “the Brad Pitt of runners”, once went on a date with Paris Hilton after asking her out via her dad, Rick.
That sinking feeling
Just outside the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow stands the Olympic pool where Duncan Goodhew won 100metres breaststroke gold and Sharron Davies took silver in the 400m individual medley. And for a trip down memory lane, you too can swim there but trying to do so is like taking a jump into the deep end. You have to get a doctor’s note and pass a ‘stringent’ medical and that entails having your wrists tightly grabbed until it feels like blood will never circulate into your hands again. And for this, you are fleeced the equivalent of a fiver.
Yelena's head over heels
What’s the best way to celebrate World Championship gold? There’s the Mobot and the lightning Bolt plus there’s discus champion Robert Harting’s trademark move of ripping open his German vest as he did once more on taking the title. But perhaps most impressive of all was Yelena Isinbayeva’s cartwheeling (above) down the home straight after clinching the pole vault crown amid much delirium in the stands. The Russian is quite well versed in such moves having been a gymnast until the age of 15 when she was told she was too tall to make it to the top.
Jesse shown no mercy
There have been some interesting trackside interviews inside the Luzhniki Stadium, with some journalists more sympathetic with athletes than others. Take the case of America’s defending high jump champion Jesse Williams as he stood in front of the Eurosport cameras after just missing out on qualifying for the final. “How is your state of mind after this disaster?”, was the first question from his inquisitor. Nice.
