Olympics 2008

It's good to be back in Birmingham, where we've had some great domestic championships and trials over the years.

I think we'll be in for a good weekend of athletics. In almost every event, there are little stories going on and there aren't too many events where things look to be straightforward.

Those who come in the top two in their event in Birmingham and have reached the Olympic qualifying standard (and there is still just a little time left for them to achieve that) know that they are going to Beijing.

Undoubtedly all the focus will be on Dwain Chambers, who runs in the 100m before his High Court hearing next Wednesday on his lifetime Olympic ban.

It's a shame he's going to take all the attention because the 100m would have been interesting anyway.

None of the guys will realistically think they have a chance of being medal contenders in the 100m but the 4x100m relay is another story.

Both the men's and women's team will go to Beijing with high hopes.

So the sprints in Birmingham will be crucial when it comes to deciding who gets in the team.

In the men's event, there are so many guys who already have the Olympic qualifying time of 10.21 seconds.

So it will be a big test for the likes of Craig Pickering and Simeon Williamson in the semi-finals and final on Saturday.

They need to step up and show, if nothing else, they are worthy of a place in the relay.

In the women's event, Emma Ania, Jeannette Kwakye, Emily Freeman and Anyika Onuora Abbey are all vying for places.

So that's a subtext to the sprints where there is a wealth of talent - and I'm not even going to try and predict who's going to win them.

Away from the sprints, the women's 400m looks like it could be a very interesting race.

World 400m champion Christine Ohuruogu is not doing the 400m in Birmingham but is focusing on the shorter sprints instead.

So it's really a case of who will finish second behind Nicola Sanders, the world silver medallist? Well, it would have been had she not pulled out with a slight thigh injury.

The reason this race is interesting is because the women's 4x400m squad are a big British medal chance at the Games.

Somebody has a huge opportunity to step up at the trials and potentially grab a place in the individual 400m and in the relay too.

The women's 800m has been an ongoing saga for the last two years really and you can probably expect more of the same at the weekend.

Jenny Meadows is fit and in form but she is ill and will not be taking part in the trials.
Marilyn Okoro and Jemma Simpson have run quicker than Jenny this season while Vicky Griffiths and Amanda Pritchard are also running close behind.

If three women run really well and Jenny's not there then that puts real pressure on the selectors.

In the men's 800m, one-miler Andy Baddeley is taking part after he decided not to run in the 1500m at the trials, and that could cause a bit of an issue.

He's not trying to qualify for the 800m but if he comes in the top two what will the selectors decide to do then?

Michael Rimmer is slowly getting back to form but Richard Hill or James Brewer could have a big race on the day.

Andy's decision not to run the 1500m, where he already has the Olympic standard, also opens the doors for Tom Lancashire and Michael East in that event, so they are set to be a couple of very interesting races.

You can never guarantee conditions will be helpful in the long jump and in the men's event you just wonder which of them is going to come out with a big jump first.

Greg Rutherford is struggling to get back to the sort of form he had in 2006 when he won European bronze.

Chris Tomlinson has found his run-up tricky all season long, but he is convinced he has some good jumps in him.

I expect UK Athletics to announce 75% of their team on Monday depending on what happens over the weekend.

There are a few events, like the women's 800m, where selectors will give people a chance to recover from illness or take into account other people who are not at the trials.

I'm not quite sure if Paula Radcliffe will have made up her mind by the official Olympic deadline of 20 July. I doubt she will have decided to run the marathon by then.

So she will be pencilled in and then Hayley Haining could be named as a replacement at a later date if need be.

There might be some contentious issues come Monday but whether there will be any real shocks, well, I doubt that to be honest.

I'm not quite sure that we have anyone kicking around that is capable of an upset.

At the trials four years ago I absolutely castigated the men's 1500m field for not even trying to grasp the opportunity of an Olympic place.

They jogged round and none of them had a chance to qualify - and I hope we don't see a repeat of that in any of the events at the weekend.

The one positive out of what I said in 2004 was that Andy Baddeley and his coach got stung by the criticism and they wrote to me.

Andy then changed his perception of himself and here we are four years later and he's going to the Olympics as a world-class athlete.

All the athletes in Birmingham have got to accept that their chances are running out and if they really want to go to the Olympic Games then they have to produce this weekend.

They may even have to produce something better than they have ever have done before - or they'll miss their chance.