Of all sports, athletics is, ounce for ounce, inch by inch, my favourite to watch. Not my favourite as a sport in toto, that's cricket, but as a watching experience, it's athletics that I am gripped by, that I cannot turn away from. Literally. If I'm sat down to watch a session of Championship athletics, my eyes do not leave the screen.
It combines two things I love a great deal - lots of stories, and lots of numbers. Unlike a cricket or football match, where you'll see 22-30 people, in a session of athletics, you see 100s of competitors, all with their own achievements and ambitions.
So, all that in mind, I've tried to make a list of the most poignant sights in athletics.
1. The sprinter from a small nation lining up for his 100m heat on the first morning of the Games who false starts. Nothing tops that for sheer pathos. I'd give up my life for this poor unfortunate in that moment.
2. The runner in an 800m who takes the lead with about 170 metres to go and is leading and going all out and you can just see they're at their edge, but as far as they know, everyone else might be at their edge, but as a viewer you can see, everyone else isn't at their edge, and you know they're doomed and will come 7th and will look like they're going backwards for the last 70m, but at that moment, they're still holding a tiny hope they might win.
3. The 400m runner or 400m hurdler pulling a hamstring. Of course, Derek Redmond is the ultimate example, but it doesn't have to go full Derek Redmond to rip those heartstrings.
4. The javelin thrower who's 4th and has one more throw to try to get into the medal positions and they let the throw go and, though the commentator's excited, the thrower knows instantly they haven't caught it, and they step over the line to void the pointless measurement.
5. The 10,000m runner who leads from about 4000 metres, and drives the race on and is good enough to get nearly everyone off his/her tail but three hang on, and they inevitably go past him/her on the last lap. and they go home empty-handed. This is pure late 90s Radcliffe/mid 2000s Pavey.
6. The two 4x100m runners for USA or Jamaica who are brought in for the heats to save the legs of the superstars for the finals and who drop the baton. They look at each other and they've got nowhere to hide.
7. The long jumper who does a monster leap but they've set off 25cm behind the board and they're off the gold by 15cm.
8. The 110m hurdler who's leading from the start and hurdling beautifully but just clips the second last hurdle, imperceptibly, and, tired, that makes the clip the last a bit harder, they don't exactly stumble but their momentum's gone, and they come 5th.
9. The 1500m runner who's good enough for a medal, and believes they can win gold even though bronze is more realistic and they go with the surge at 600m to go and they get swallowed up with 50m to go by those who ran more conservatively.
10. The 200m runner who is leading their heat from a centre lane and eases off, not seeing a couple of runners in outside lanes, tearing past them in the last 10 metres, meaning they don't qualify.
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