London 2012 Olympics: Adam Gemili confirms he will compete in 100m trials - Daily Telegraph
It is understood the exemption was extended to the whole weekend in Bedford but Gemili has decided to compete against his under-20 age group in the 200m on Sunday.
The decision on whether he doubles up at the senior trials and competes in the 200m on the Sunday will depend on how he recover from Sunday’s exertions.
UK Athletics head coach Charles van Commenee will be relieved that Gemili has chosen not to follow the path of Mark Lewis-Francis, who opted out of the 2000 Sydney Olympics to concentrate on the World Junior Championships in Chile that year.
After a lacklustre start to the season for British sprinting, Gemili’s breakthrough has been a welcome breath of fresh air. He heads the UK 100m rankings by a full 10th of a second from his nearest challenger, James Dasoulu, and the pair are the only athletes who have achieved the Olympic ‘A’ qualifying standard of 10.18sec this summer.
Gemili’s presence at the Olympic trials will heap further pressure on Dwain Chambers, who had been considered a shoo-in for selection in the individual 100m after he was cleared to compete at London 2012.
But, having led the UK rankings since 2008, Chambers is currently languishing in eighth place on this year’s UK list with a best time of 10.28sec.
Under UK Athletics rules, the first two athletes across the finish line will be guaranteed Olympic selection as long as they have run the ‘A’ standard since April 1 this year. A third place is available at the discretion of selectors.
After his stunning progress over 100m, all eyes will be on whether Gemili can reproduce the same kind of form over 200m today.
Earlier this season he set a lifetime best of 22.70sec in Florida but needs to find some extra speed if he is to reach the Olympic ‘A’ standard of 20.55sec.
Waving all the flags! London's Regents Street bedecked in national colours ahead of Olympics after ditching the Jubilee Union Flags - Daily Mail
Flying the flag: (Front row, left to right) Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, North Korea, Democratic Republic of Congo, (second row) Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, (third row) Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, (fourth row) Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, (fifth row) Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, South Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, (sixth row) Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, (seventh row) Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Macau, Madagascar, (eighth row) Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania
London 2012: Australia men's four shock GB Olympic rowing gold hopes - The Guardian
Britain's flagship crew, the men's four, have been fashioned by Jürgen Grobler into one of the strongest gold medal prospects for London 2012 in six weeks' time but on Saturday in the semi-finals of the final round of the World Cup, Andrew Triggs Hodge, Peter Reed, Tom James and Alex Gregory came up against Australia with the three-times Olympic champion Drew Ginn on board and lost.
It was agonisingly close but the Australians had too much pace in mid-race and Britain could not get past, finishing half a second adrift. The stroke man Triggs Hodge said: "Britain has made a habit of losing at the last World Cup before an Olympics ever since Sydney yet won the title."
Having beaten Australia by half a length in Lucerne three weeks ago the score is now one apiece and Sunday's final will be a cliffhanger. Triggs Hodge and Reed have been here before. Their close but unsuccessful 14-race rivalry since Beijing against New Zealand in the pair is a bruising and ever present memory and they must have hoped the four would have offered a less fraught option for gold on the Eton Dorney Olympic course.
The top two women's crews, Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins in the double and the pair of Helen Glover and Heather Stanning, both won comfortably through to Sunday's final and need to beat their main London opposition from Australia and New Zealand respectively to confirm their status as gold medal favourites.
Nothing else will satisfy Grainger, who has her sights set firmly on gold having finished in silver medal position at the last three Olympic Games.
Twelve crews race in Sunday's 14 Olympic event finals. The men's lightweight four, back at full strength with Pete Chambers now recovered from injury, look to have an edge against a very tight bunch of fine crews in this most competitive of events. The reigning Olympic and world champions Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter struggled against New Zealand in their lightweight double heat but won their semi-final.Alan Campbell looks set to win on Sunday in the absence of his three main rivals from New Zealand, the Czech Republic and Cuba, who all finished ahead of him in Lucerne.
The two eights events were also missing the worlds best rowers and both British crews should medal, while the two quad boats have both made good progress since Lucerne and could make the podium.
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