Jon Mulkeen

The three big continental championships of this summer have been and gone already, which usually means just one thing for athletics fans – post-championship blues. So what better way to cheer yourself up (and kill time on your lunchbreak) than to play some track and field-themed games online?!

I do like to put together a good list, so I have ranked ten of my favourite athletics flash games. Please feel free to leave your comments below as to which one is your favourite, or mention what your best scores are in the various games. And be sure to bookmark this page so that you never lose track of where to find these games.

10. Pole Vault Game

Simple, to the point, and addictive. What more do you need from an athletics flash game? The controls are easy enough to get the hang of (bash the right arrow key to run, hold and release the space bar to plant the pole) and if you put it all together in a good vault, then breaking the world record is an easy enough task. As charming as it is though, the graphics look like pictures I used to draw in paintpot, and once you’ve broken the record then, much like a top athlete, there’s nothing left to do but retire.

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9. Sprinter

This game has been around for almost as long as Merlene Ottey, but the old ones are the best! Okay, not quite the best, but good enough to make it into this top 10. It simply involves pressing the arrow keys to sprint as fast as you can in order to progress through the rounds, starting off at school competitions, through to national competitions and then the Olympics. Win the Olympics, and you then race aliens. The thing I love about this game is the little touches like the way that female opponents run with flailing arms, and how in the Olympic final you’re racing against seven Jamaican athletes (even though their names are “M. Greene”, “C. Lewis”, etc).

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8. Minilympics

This has the feel of the early track and field games on the Play Station, which isn’t a bad thing. For an online game, it’s quite impressive and the animation makes you feel like you’re almost in the stadium. Well, kind of. But because this is a shockwave game, it may mean that your computer will struggle to load it. It also loses points for including sports like archery in what is supposed to be a track and field game – a pet peeve of mine.

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7. Hurdle race

Okay, so it doesn’t matter that there are 39 hurdles on the straight in this race (I’ve always felt that the 110m hurdles is too short an event), nor that the runner looks like Susan Boyle, but dammit this game is addictive! The opponent on the left hand side is a tricky one to beat, but once that has been achieved then the game gets a bit boring. It’s a gudden nevertheless.

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6. Trackstar

Select your country, choose your athlete, enter your name, and you’re good to go! It’s the same old principle – bash the arrow keys to build up speed, press space to jump. The graphics are aesthetically pleasing enough, but the drawback of this game is that it’s just not very challenging. It’s not that difficult to run sub-6 in the 100m, or to clock sub-10 in the 110m hurdles (knocking down barriers along the way) or to triple jump almost 40 metres. But everyone dreams of having super-human athletic ability and this game can help fulfill those ambitions – at least virtually.

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5. Summer Games

This game was created as part of the build up to the 2005 IAAF World Championships in Helsinki, so it’s no surprise that the javelin features as one of the four events. Start with the 100m, then the long jump, javelin and hurdles. If you make the qualifying mark in each event then you ‘win’ the opportunity to compete in a long distance race – which involves tapping your keys for 12 minutes. That element aside, this game is quite a lot of fun.

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4. You vs Bolt

Ever wondered what it’s like to race Usain Bolt? Well now you can find out. In this clever game from Puma, you are represented by a giant hand, which mimics the actions of your fingers as you tap away at your keyboard, trying to keep up with Bolt. What makes this game stand out is that you’re not simply racing a computer graphic – you see Usain Bolt in actual video mode. But if this game reaffirms anything, it’s that it’s tough to beat Bolt!

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3. Bear Square Track & Field

This is a real gem of a game and one of the most addictive. I dread to think just how many of my lunch breaks have been taken up by trying to get this line-drawing of a bear to break world records in the javelin or the triple jump. The graphics are simple to the extreme, but that’s part of the charm (see above for example of the bear looking drunk when he lands in the jumps pit). The other plus point is that you don’t have to bash keys to build up speed in this game (something your computer will thank you for!). It’s simply all down to strategic clicks and timing. The performances are realistic too – I mean, it would be stupid to think a bear could run sub-12 in the hurdles. But 12.95, now that I can believe.

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2. SPAR Ultimate Athletics Game

This is a relative newcomer on the athletics flash game scene, and my what an impact it has made! Tap the arrow keys as fast as possible, just like previous games, but the skill here is to press the space bar as the white outline circle reaches the smaller green circle. Compete in the 100m, 110m hurdles, javelin, triple jump and pole vault. The field events are probably more fun and all of the events (bar the hurdles) is easier to play on a PC than a mac. It’s a great game, but not quite the ‘ultimate’ athletics game as its title suggests – that accolade belongs to…

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1. Denise Lewis Heptathlon

The original and the best! This game was one of the earliest athletics flash games I can remember and was created in the lead up to the 2002 Commonwealth Games at which Denise Lewis was planning to compete (before she fell pregnant). But the fact that she wins gold and smashes the world record every time this game is played goes some way to making up for her absence in Manchester that year. This game was quite ahead of its time and many other games have tried to imitate it, but not come close in terms of overall enjoyment. Sure, it’s impossible to run 8.43 seconds in the hurdles or to throw 36.82m in the shot, but that is all part of its charm. It’s fun to see how those other-worldly marks translate into a heptathlon score. And the better you perform, the better your opponents perform, so it’s not unusual to see an athlete from Papua New Guinea (all the random Commonwealth nations feature in this game – another plus) break 7300 points to finish runner-up – behind your 18,194 winning tally!

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There is an old law in Vermont that states women must obtain written permission from their husbands to wear false teeth. No one ever sticks to that rule of course, but it exists nonetheless.

It’s a bit like the Euro Meetings recommendation not to invite athletes who have tested positive to their meetings – none of the meeting organisers seem to be applying that rule to their competitions. Or they uphold the rule for some athletes, while letting the majority of other drug cheats compete in their meeting without even a second thought.

Tomorrow 2004 Olympic champion Justin Gatlin will be making his comeback to competitive athletics. Because of the Euro Meetings ruling, Gatlin’s first race back will not be in the Samsung Diamond League series, nor will it be in any of the World Challenge grand prix competitions. Instead he will be lining up at a low-key meeting in Rakvere in Estonia.

In theory, the Euro Meetings decision makes sense. Many fans feel that a two-year ban is too short and isn’t enough of a deterrent. If potential dopers know that it will be nigh on impossible to make a living after coming back from their ban, then maybe it will be enough to steer them from going over to the dark side in the first place.

On the other hand, there is probably a strong legal argument to be had on the basis of restraint of trade. If an individual’s ability to earn a living – especially in a niche industry – is overly limited, then the individual will usually have a strong case in an employment tribunal. But at the same time, grand prix competitions are invitational meetings and meeting directors are entitled to invite any athlete they want.

However, if meeting directors are prepared to invite some drug cheats, then why not others?

The Euro Meetings agreement originally came about in the winter of 2007, when Dwan Chambers was preparing his second comeback after temporarily trying to forge a career in rugby. Even though he actually returned from his drugs ban in 2006 and competed in some of the biggest meets on the circuit that year, for some reason his return in 2008 was met with much more stern opposition (no doubt in part due to the way he conducted himself in some interviews around that time).

Initially it seemed as though the ruling was some sort of personal vendetta against Chambers – especially when just months later other drug cheats popped up in the indoor season competing in Euro Meetings competitions. But later that summer even Chambers found a lane in one of the Euro Meetings competitions in Kalamata, Greece. Of course, drug cheats of lower ability than Chambers have competed in much higher level competition in the Euro Meetings competitions, but it was a break in consistency nonetheless.

At the Golden League and Samsung Diamond League competitions, meeting promoters are a bit more strict in trying to abide with the Euro Meetings decision, but high-profile drug cheats have still managed to get in. Perhaps the most notable – and farcical – example of this happened last summer when American hurdler Damu Cherry snuck into the Berlin Golden League and was a surprise winner. Such was the nature of the Golden League – where athletes tried to remain undefeated across the series – Cherry’s victory in Berlin earned her a lane in the following competition in the series. And so Cherry was given a lane in Oslo, and duly won again. It was third time unlucky for her though as she finished sixth in Paris, her third Golden League meeting – by which time she had doubtless earned thousands of dollars in prize money; thousands more than what the other drug cheats earned who were blocked from competing in Euro Meetings competitions.

But Cherry is not alone. Despite this ruling, there have been dozens of appearances by drug cheats on the European circuit between 2008 and 2010 – more than 150, in fact. The tables at the bottom of this page show a list of Euro Meetings competitions that have featured drug cheats. The ones highlighted in gold are Golden League or Samsung Diamond League meetings. With so many athletes slipping through the net, it begs the question – what is the point in having this Euro Meetings recommendation?

Whether drug cheats should be allowed – or even invited – to compete in the biggest athletics meetings in the world is a debate in itself that could rumble on forever. I still don’t know where I personally stand in the debate. As I said earlier, I think it’s a good deterrent, but at the same time if I were a meeting director I wouldn’t want to find myself in a legal battle.

Part of me thinks that if the likes of Chambers or Gatlin were to compete in lower-profile events, then they would probably have an easier time finding their way into the higher tier competitions, in the same way that Olympic long jump champion Maurren Higa Maggi has, or former European 400m champion Vania Stambolova.

But my main gripe is that there should simply be some consistency with the application of the Euro Meetings recommendation. If they’re going to stop the high-profile drug cheats, then they should stop the lower-profile cheats too. Similarly, if they are going to let some cheats compete and not others, then they should explain why they choose to do so.

Given the sheer number of former drug cheats who find their way into competitions, perhaps it is easier to simply scrap the ruling altogether? Either way, a little consistency would go a long way, because at the rate things are going, there will soon be more men in Vermont giving written permission for their false-teeth-wearing wives than Euro Meetings directors refusing to allow drug cheats into their competitions.

Ever since striking it lucky on a 50-1 bet backing Christine Ohuruogu to win the 2007 world 400m title (and subsequently winning a few bob at recent championships), after each championships my friends and family tend to say to me: “you should have given me some tips!” So the purpose of this blog post is to share some advice on athletes I think are good value to back for a medal at this week’s European Championships in Barcelona.

Truth be told, I have had a fair few losses (although the bookies didn’t learn their lesson with Ohuruogu and I enjoyed a similar healthy payback when she won gold in Beijing in 2008). I am not perfect and sport is unpredictable. The very nature of betting means that it is always tricky to make a decent return, and I will not accept any responsibility for any losses you may make on the back of my advice. But should you make any profit, by all means feel free to send me a 10% commission

With rank outsiders, it’s usually best to back them alone. But if you’re confident that a handful of favourites are almost certs to win, then stick them in an accumulator, mix them up a bit and see what happens. Websites like Odds Checker allow you to compare the odds on events across a range of bookies (and if you’re new to it, be sure to take advantage of the free bet offers for new registrations).

So, without any further ado, here are some events that might be worth betting on.

Women’s 100m

This is a classic example where bookies simply glance at ranking lists and pick out the favourites from there. But the ranking lists in this event do not tell the whole picture. Alena Neumiarzhytskaya supposedly leads the European rankings with a 11.05 clocking in her home country of Belarus. But outside of that competition, she has been nowhere near that form, following it up with a 11.74 in Barcelona. Some may argue she could be the next Yuliya Nesterenko (2004 Olympic 100m champion from the same country), but Nesterenko was at least able to replicate her form on the circuit and had some good victories against quality opposition. Neumiarzhytskaya simply competed in one extremely dodgy race.

As much as I would love Laura Turner to win gold for Britain, her 11.11 (for second place in the European rankings) was set at altitude with maximum wind. So the next likely candidate appears to be Veronique Mang of France. She set a PB of 11.20 in almost still conditions and backed it up with a few more 11.2 clockings. She also won the European Team Championships 100m, so has already proved herself against the best in Europe.

Some betting sites have Mang down as just the third favourite with odds as good as 9/2. Her odds are shortening though, so get in there quick.

Men’s 200m

Christophe Lemaitre tops the European rankings in this event, but he will be doubling up in the 100m. The 200m final will potentially be his sixth race in four days, so the big question is will he be able to bring his best form (20.16) to the final, or will he be tired?

Personally, I think Norway’s Jaysuma Saidy Ndure could be the one to back here. He is doubling up too (so may also be tired), and can be inconsistent. But the plus side of inconsistency is that he could be having a good day – like the time he ran his surprise 19.89 in Stuttgart three years ago.

He has not since matched that form, but this season I have seen flashes of brilliance from Ndure (a windy 9.98 in Doha, his 20.31 into the wind in Gateshead, finishing a whisker behind Walter Dix and Wallace Spearmon, guys who have dipped well below 20 seconds this season) that tell me he could just return to his best. And at 4/1 he is worth a few quid.

Women’s hammer

It looks as though the bookies are backing Anita Włodarczyk, which on the surface seems fair enough. She is, after all, the world champion and improved her own world record to 78.30m earlier this year. But perhaps the bookies are not aware that Włodarczyk has been injured, to the extent that her participation in Barcelona has been in doubt.

She may well be able to get one big throw out there and it could be enough to win gold. But if you’re after a safer bet, then look elsewhere. Former world record-holder Tatyana Lysenko is next in the rankings, but she is nowhere near as consistent as she used to be. And she is a drug cheat, so I’d rather she didn’t win.

So the best option here may be the uber-consistent Betty Heidler. She has several 75m+ throws to her name this year and threw a season’s best of 75.82m in her last competition before Barcelona, so could be coming into form at the right time. Some bookies are currently offering odds of 11/2 for her.

Men’s discus

Another event where windy conditions skew the rankings. Gerd Kanter is a renowned wind-hunter and tops the world rankings with 71.45m. But take away his marks set at wind farms in the furthest corners of the USA, and the Estonian’s best is 68.76m, which immediately puts him on a par with the other leading contenders. He is no longer the athlete he was a year or so ago when he notched up a 28-competition winning streak, but similarly he has medalled at the past five major championships, so can never be completely discounted.

If I had to pick a winner, though, I’d look no further than last year’s gold and silver medallists from the World Champs. Robert Harting (currently 7/2) has this year produced two of his best ever three throws so is clearly in good form. Piotr Malachowski (15/8) meanwhile recently set a national record of 69.83m in Gateshead and is a good championship thrower.

Women’s 400m hurdles

This is shaping up to be one of the most competitive events of the championships. There are six or seven athletes who have a genuine chance of winning gold. Because it is so competitive, even the favourite’s odds can be decent value.

Russia’s Natalya Antyukh is currently the favourite at 15/8. The likes of Zuzana Hejnova and Angela Morosanu have SBs just a fraction behind Antyukh, which perhaps makes the event appear more competitive than it actually is. But in terms of head-to-heads, Antyukh has not been beaten by any European athletes this year. Plus, she is known for bringing her best to championships, so will likely run faster than her 54.00 season’s best.

Her odds might not be tempting enough to back her alone, but if you’re looking for an event favourite to mix in an accumulator, then Antyukh is a great one for this.

Men’s 5000m

I would love for Mo Farah to win the 10,000m and return later in the week to take the 5000m title too. His best chance of doing the latter would be to take it out hard, stick to Alemayehu Bezabeh (the only other guy capable of near-13:00 pace) and try out-kicking him at the end.

But as this will potentially be Farah’s third race of the week, he will likely be too tired to run at near-PB pace meaning the 5000m will become a kicker’s race. On the European scene, the Spaniard distance runners are known for being the best kickers, so perhaps defending champion Jesús España could be the guy to back here. He recently won the Spanish title, beating all of his kick-finishing compatriots. With current odds of 4/1 he is only the third favourite, but España is better than that.

Women’s 1500m

I have not yet seen any odds for this event, but if I had any advice it would be to back Natalia Rodriguez. The Spaniard crossed the line in pole position at last year’s World Championships, but was later disqualified for pushing another athlete. She bounced back earlier this year to take World Indoor silver, proving that she is still a danger.

Her season’s best (4:06.7) ranks her outside the top 40 in the world this year, but don’t be fooled as she is undefeated on the European level this year. Rodriguez may not run fast times in pace-made races like this year’s top three in Europe (Anna Alminova, Hind Dehiba and Lisa Dobriskey), but she is at her best in tactical races with a last-lap burn up – which is exactly what most championship races are like. And never underestimate the benefit of home-crowd support.

This could be one of the highest-quality events of the week, but when odds do appear for the 1500m, if Rodriguez is listed as being anything other than the favourite, then she is worth backing.

I was as pleased as the next person to see that young Frenchan Christophe Lemaître became the first white man to legally run under 10 seconds for the 100m. I find it interesting when there are cultural outliers in sport, but I try not to give too much credence to such things.

Hopefully this distinction can finally be laid to bed and Lemaître can get on with the rest of his career without having to carry a burden on his shoulders that has seemingly got in the way of previous talented white sprinters progressing.

Before today, there had been 446 legal sub-10-second performances in the men’s 100m; all of them achieved by 69 different sprinters of African-Caribbean descent and one of Aborigine descent. Lemaître has become the 62nd fastest athlete of all time with his performance of 9.98 at the French Championships.

It’s not racist to acknowledge the difference between the number of African-Caribbean sprinters and white sprinters to run sub-10 seconds for 100m. Racism is discriminatory or abusive behaviour towards members of a particular race. Realising that athletes of African-Caribbean descent have historically been more successful in the 100m is simply being observant, and we shouldn’t be afraid of noticing that.

People took note when Tiger Woods broke out onto the international golfing scene because very few black golf players had reached such a high level in that sport before. The Williams sisters also garnered a lot of attention when they first made an impact in the tennis world as it had mainly been a sport in which many white people had previously succeeded.

What we should be afraid of, however, is getting carried away with such accolades and recognising them as an athlete’s greatest achievement. Winning a medal at a global championships or setting a world record should far outweigh any arbitrary achievement. I’m sure Dieter Bauman values his 1992 Olympic gold medal more than his achievement of being one of the fastest white men over 5000m.

It begs the question – does Lemaître have the potential to become an Olympic champion? While it’s impossible to predict who will win gold at future championships (especially while Usain Bolt is still around!), we can compare Lemaître’s times to what other sprinters ran at the same age, in their first year of being a senior.

Jamaica’s Yohan Blake, who is one year older than Lemaître, last year clocked 9.93 seconds for 100m to set a world age-19 best. Before that Nigeria’s Seun Ogunkoya possessed the fastest time by a 19-year-old with 9.97. After that, Lemaître is the next fastest with his 9.98, closely followed by Samuel Francis (9.99) and Carl Lewis (10.00).

Put simply, Lemaître is the third fastest sprinter ever at age 19/20. Faster than Carl Lewis, faster than Dwain Chambers, and significantly faster than what former world record-holder Asafa Powell and former double world champion Tyson Gay achieved at that age. See the diagram on the right for a visual indication of how Lemaître compares to other sprinters at age 20. (In case you’re wondering, Usain Bolt didn’t attempt the 100m until he was 21 years old; it was a 10.03 clocking).

On pure potential alone, Lemaître could become one of the greatest sprinters ever. Of course he could fade away and never again improve on his PB, but all the signs are pointing towards him having a pretty successful career. What I like about Lemaître is that he is looking beyond being the first white guy under 10 seconds and wants to achieve tangible success – namely championship medals.

Lemaître is still some way from being the next Usain Bolt, but he is already well on his way to being an accomplished elite sprinter. Similarly, we should also have just as much anticipation for the future achievements of the likes of Yohan Blake, Ryan Bailey, D’Angelo Cherry, Ramil Guliyev and all the other talented young sprinters emerging right now, regardless of their skin colour.

Tiger Woods went beyond simply being ‘the best black golfer’ and became arguably the greatest ever in his sport. The Williams sisters didn’t stop at being the best ever black tennis players; they transformed the game and have now secured their place in the tennis hall of fame. Now that Lemaître has this sub-10 clocking to his name, he (and we) can move on from him being ‘the fastest ever white man’ and look forward to him potentially becoming one of the greatest sprinters, period.

In a couple of decades’ time, we could be looking back on what Lemaître has accomplished during his career; recalling a handful of championship medals (some gold maybe), a European record, and then somewhere towards the end there will be a recollection of: “oh, and remember that time when he first broke 10 seconds?” If that were to become the defining moment of his career, it would quite simply be a travesty.

Last weekend I went to the UK Championships & European Trials at my ‘home track’ of Alexander Stadium in Birmingham. Going back there always brings back memories as it’s the track I used to train at throughout my teens. But last weekend the only running I was doing was from the finish line to the long jump pit to the water jump, camera and monopod in hand.

As a spectator/photographer, it was my first outdoor athletics event of the summer, and despite some high-profile withdrawals it was a pretty good weekend all in all. Here’s hoping that some of the winners last weekend go on to replicate those victories on the bigger stage at the European Championships in Barcelona next month.

I have posted below a selection of some of my shots from Birmingham. More can be seen here.

Men's 5000m

Rhys Williams

Andrew Steele

James Dasaolu and Dwain Chambers

Hatti Dean

Emma Jackson

Men's 200m

Phillips Idowu

Freya Murray

Ezekiel Ewulo