Flash Quotes - Aviva London Grand Prix, London
Flash Quotes from the first day of the Aviva London Grand Prix, part of the Samsung Diamond League Series.
Yarelis BARRIOS (CUB) - Discus Women - Winner:
"I'm happy to win but not with my throws today. It's a shame because of the weather. It's been a fantastic season and I've really enjoyed the Diamond League competition."
Bernard LAGAT (USA) - 3000m Men - Winner:
"I definitley didn't want to go with the pace makers at the start. My plan was just to hang back a little bit because I knew I hadn't raced in three weeks. I wanted to see how I felt, and I felt good. My aim was run well today and I wanted to get another win in another different discipline here at Crystal Palace and I got it. Mo is a great athlete and I knew he was running strongly and I'm glad I was able to run with him really well today."
Mohammed FARAH (GBR) 3000m Men - Second:
"I didn't want to go with the pace at the start, I wasn't going to go with them, but it was a good race. Bernard Lagat is a great athlete. It was awesome competing here in front of a home crowd; the atmosphere here is incredible and they really get behind you."
Nadezhda OSTAPCHUK (BLR) - Shot Put Women - Winner:
"I'm very tired because we got warmed up and ready for competition and then the rain came so we sat down and got cold. The circle was very slippy which made it hard but I'm happy overall. I really like this competition, there are lots of people here and the crowd was even cheering when the rain stopped!"
Bershawn JACKSON (USA) - 400m Hurdles Men - Winner:
"I'm happy, that was a really good race. It wasn't fast but the position was good. This has been a really good year for me, in 2005 I was number 1 in the world, in 07, 08, 09 I was injured and now I'm back running well. This is going to set me up for next year, I want to be world champion. I love coming to London, I've been racing here for years and I can't wait to come back here for the Olympics."
Lukasz MICHALSKI (POL) - Pole Vault Men - Winner:
"I am totaly surprised. That,s my first time I have won in such a big meeting. I don´t know what to say. I hope in the next Diamond League meeting it´s going to be the same. I think the weather was really difficult with the wind and rain and Renaud and Steve had to adjust their run-ups. But they will be back to their big heights next time I am sure."
Steven HOOKER (AUS) - Pole Vault Men - Ninth:
"A little bit of everything was wrong today. It doesn´t help when you have to sit in teh grandstand and watch the rain for 20 minutes. For the first two attempts my run-up was off. The third was close but you can´t only have one good attempt. I gues I´ve just got to put it down to bad day. I´m confident there´s nothing serious wrong and I´ll bounce back. I´ve done that a few times this season already."
Renaud LAVILLENIE (FRA) - Pole Vault Men - Tenth:
"I can´t really explained what went wrong. It was a bit cold and wet for me and I made some mistakes with my run-uzp. I was sleeping a little and I had to wait for Steve to jump. I lost a bit of the pressure after Barcelona. But that´s life, that´s pole vault."
Paul Kipsiele KOECH (KEN) - 3000m Steeplechase Men - 1st:
"I was very pleased with the race, I went out and controlled it from the start. Winning here at Crystal Palace means that I am now leading the Diamond League points and I am very much looking forward to my next race in Zurich."
Chaunte LOWE (USA) - High Jump Women - Sixth:
"I am disappointed cos obviously I wanted to jump higher. But sometimes it´s just not your day.This is a great place and such a great crowd it´s a shame I couldn´t put on a better show. I´ve had such good battles with Blanka this season. There is a little reason but I don´t want to make excuses. Let´s just say it was a little cold."
Nancy LANGAT (KEN) - 1500m Women - Winner:
"It was a bit slow at the start and also because of the weather. It's hard when you run in a big group because you push each other so it's difficult. You try to go and they knock you, it's tiring."
Lisa DOBRISKEY (GBR) - 1500m Women - Third:
"I've had such great support and I was only third! I used to do my county champs here so I think a lot of peple have come up from home to watch me. I'm really lucky and I really do appreciate it especially when I didn't win. It was a really strange race and I got myself in such an awful position. I got out there and then I just got caught up and I wasn't sure what I was doing. After a slow start it ended up being pretty quick."
Abubaker KAKI (SUD) - 800m Men - Winner:
"It was not such a fast pace today. In Stockholm I had a problem with my spike so I just wanted to get it right today. Every race this year has been 1:43 so thiswas a little slow. Next year I think with David Rudisha and me in the same race we can chase the world record. 1:41 maybe? Now I will rest for 11 days before my last Diamond League."
Michael RIMMER (GBR) - 800m Men - Eighth:
"I wasn´t happy at all with that. I don´t know what happened because I felt phenomenal, I really thought I was going to win it. But with about 100 to go someone cut in front of me and I had to chop and go round them. Maybe it was a bit of come down after barcelona but I raced in Stockholm and had a great race, so who knows. I have a couple of weeks rest now so I´ll come back stronger."
Lolo JONES (USA) - 100m Hurdles Women Final - Third:
"That was a good race considering me and Priscilla hit in both the prelims and the final. I tried to adjust after the heats but we still clashed. There´s not much you can do when that happens. But she ran a great race."
Priscilla LOPES-SCHLIEP (CAN) - 100m Hurdles Women Final - 1st:
"You never know whats going to happen in hurdles, you can't worry about anyone else, so I just went out there focused on myself and tried to get out strong I knew I had to lead in between and that's what I did. My college room mate is from England so I always feel like I have support here, its almost like having a home crowd. My personal best is the rain so come rain or shine I know that I can perform, I don't worry about the weather. I feel that my mental strength gave me the edge. I just felt very good, my warm up
went good, I just knew it was going to be a brilliant day."
Blanka VLASIC (CRO) - High Jump Women - Winner:
"I was so worried when I came here because it was bad weather and cold and everything. I have a fear of wet surfaces to jump on so I'm happy I beat that field today. It was a big challenge for me, you saw those girls out there - it wasn't easy, but the crowd really helped me a lot. I'm so happy, but by the end I couldn't feel my legs it was so cold."
Allyson FELIX (USA) -200m Women - Winner:
"That was good, I was really just focussing on excecuting the race and not so much on time because the conditions weren't that great. It's been abit of a strange season and I found out that I'm a better Championship runner. You lose the motivation not having those people to run against but I just had fun with it and enjoyed the season. I'm really looking forward to the next two years. It's great competing here, knowing that 2012 is just around the corner."
Tirunesh DIBABA (ETH) - 5000m Women - Winner:
"I've been preparing very much for this competition so I'm very happy."
Phillips IDOWU (GBR) - Triple Jump Men - 6th:
"I was just tired today, running was good but I just couldn't get my phases together. I would of liked to of put in a good performance for the home crowd, I would of loved to perform for them like in Barcelona, so they could of seen me do my thing."
Tyson GAY (USA) - 100m Men Final - Winner:
"I wasn´t expecting to go that fast in these conditions but I knew I was in good shape and was going to go fast. I was hobbling a bit at the end - my groin is a little sore but I´m sure it´s OK. I wasn´t necessarily sending a message to Asafa and Usain, I was just running my own race. I think there´s more to come. It´s great to be on top of the world, that´s important to me. This is not the best shape I´ve ever been in because I´m still dealing with a few little injuries. My coach said that I can run 9.7 in any conditions and I
think I showed that tonight."
Christian OLSSON (SWE) - Triple Jump Men - Winner:
"That was good, it's always good to win a competition on especially in the highest level at the Diamond League. I was expecting tougher competition here today but these guys have just come from the European Championships so their shape is on it's way down. I feel motivated to keep pushing."
