Yesterday I brought you my account of the opening day from behind the scenes here at the IAAF World Championships in London. My second day was no less exciting!

The action in the morning session started at a blistering pace with the Women’s Heptathlon 100m Hurdles heats on the track and Men’s Shot Put qualification on the field. I then made my way back across to the warm-up track to spend a little while observing the warm-up routines used by athletes of different disciplines.

Amazing couple of days at the #iaafworldchamps here in London! The incredible performances so far in the stadium have been fantastic to witness, with many more to come no doubt! I've really enjoyed hanging out by the warm-up track observing how athletes of different disciplines prepare to perform. • I'm here partnering with @skype and their SPIKES bot which provides a great resource for updates and highlights from here at the #athletics! #ad

A post shared by Running Motivation & Tips 💪 (@kineticrev) on Aug 6, 2017 at 3:21am PDT

As you would expect, lots of dynamic mobility work, and gradual build-up of intensity depending on the event that lies ahead. It was interesting to see lots of resistance band work in various athlete’s warm-up routines, and pre-performance glute activation exercises like our hip circles drill.

The timing of an athlete’s warm-up at an event like this must be so critical… which in retrospect must be a big part of why it’s so important the organisers manage to stick to the published schedule of events so incredibly accurately. I’ve been to a few events recently where the published timings have completely gone out of the window.

It’s a well oiled machine here at the championships.

I made the ‘well oiled machine’ remark to one of the IAAF committee later in the day. Awkward laughter… I can’t imagine how many moving parts there are to keep the slick impression held-up!

The Women’s 100m and Men’s 800m heats were the last couple of events on the track before lunch and a chance to prepare for a big evening session at the stadium.

Well! @usainbolt qualifies 2nd in his men's 100m semi final. Building drama for later… Latest athletics info on @Skype's SPIKES bot 🥇#ad pic.twitter.com/oQdHaVGCla

— James Dunne (@KineticRev) August 5, 2017

I felt like there was a slightly different atmosphere in the stadium going into the afternoon session, a bit more of a buzz! Usain Bolt fans didn’t have to wait long to see their hero in action as the Men’s 100m semi final was early in the session.

Looking back, I wonder if the writing was on the wall given his second place finish in the semi final. Despite the fairytale last individual race not coming to fruition in the final later in the evening, it was incredible to witness the whole spectacle.

I really enjoyed watching the Men’s Long Jump Final. Not a sport I’m super clued-up on. A unique experience watching the final alongside Dwight Phillips from our viewpoint directly across the stadium from the Long Jump pit. It’s incredible; that Dwight was able to accurately call out the distances jumped within a few cm, before they were even announced – THAT is how you spot a real student of their sport… and the multiple gold medals!

An incredible performance that still blows my mind came from Almaz Ayana in the Women’s 10,000m. She ran a world best time this year and finished the best part of a lap ahead of the next finisher, Tirunesh Dibaba.

All in all, another fantastic day at the championships in partnership with Skype and their SPIKES bot. I’ll be back at the stadium again on Thursday this coming week, and will bring you more thoughts from my day 🙂

Speak to you then!

Last updated on March 2nd, 2021.