| 2008-07-13 09:45:16: | Rachael Elder GBR leads heat A with 11.53, Linnea Gustafsson SWE time 11.28 in C. |
| 2008-07-13 09:44:32: | Linnea Gustafsson finishes in another fast time in her heat, followed by Kathryn Ewels AUS in heat B about 10 secs slower than Friedrich whose confirmed time is 11.46 |
| 2008-07-13 09:42:00: | Rahel Friedrich SUI first into finish after a good run for the Swiss debutant, less than 12 minutes, finish time 11.50. |
| 2008-07-13 09:41:06: | Rachael Elder GBR quite a good time at radio control. |
| 2008-07-13 09:40:15: | First runners in the finish in about 2 minutes! |
| 2008-07-13 09:39:56: | One of the last 3 starters today is Dana Brozkova, local big hope, so it should be an interesting climax to the women's qualification. |
| 2008-07-13 09:38:45: | Linnea Gustafsson SWE fastest so far at the radio. She started at 9.31. |
| 2008-07-13 09:38:13: | 9.38 and Heli Jukola FIN starts now. Just getting first reports from the radio control about halfway round |
| 2008-07-13 09:36:53: | Now 9.36, so 21 runners out on the course. |
| 2008-07-13 09:36:18: | WOC News is for sale at 1 Euro at the entrance gate and looks good. It contains interesting interviews with Matthias Merz and Dana Brozkova and has the start lists for today's race inside the back cover. |
| 2008-07-13 09:34:48: | Jorn Sundby is now getting into good voice with the sound commentary along with a Czech speaker. This afternoon at the finals you should be able to hear this live. |
| 2008-07-13 09:33:44: | We can see the last control, and also a spectator control, the second last on all the women's heats. The finish is along about 2/3rds the length of the track. |
| 2008-07-13 09:32:41: | Runners are split into 3 groups in each heat, with the team leaders deciding which of their 3 start in which group. Most put their best runners in the lat group. |
| 2008-07-13 09:31:40: | And the first runners have now started, with more spectators gathering in the middle of the athletics track here. |
| 2008-07-13 09:25:17: | The first CZE runner to start will be the experienced Eva Jurenikova, now 30, at 9.34. The first really well known name is Heli Jukola FIN at 9.38. She has been recovering from a shoulder problem and her participation at WOC has been uncertain right up to the last miinute. |
| 2008-07-13 09:22:36: | Eight minutes to the first start! First off are Uschi Polzer AUT, Ji Li CHN and Rahel Friedrich SUI. There are 3 heats and the first 15 from each heat go through to this afternoon's final. |
| 2008-07-13 09:04:57: | The finish here is sited on an athletics track in the small town of Prostejov, and test runners are just completing the courses. This looks like a typical Czech town with a very old town centre, areas of mixed park and blocks of 4 storey high flats, and urban roads and houses. It is almost entirely flat, and so times are sure to be fast and close. |
| 2008-07-13 09:01:05: | Good morning everyone and a warm welcome to the WOC 2008 online text commentary. This morning the sprint qualification races take place, with the first women's start at 9.30. The weather at the moment is cloudy but dry with little wind, but thunderstorms are forecast for later in the day, and temperatures could get up to the high 20's. |
| 2008-07-12 11:38:19: | Warm weather with some sunshine but also some heavy showers is forecast for the first day of WOC, Sunday. Temperatures could reach the high 20's, and there should be a pleasant SW breeze. |
| 2008-07-12 10:26:12: | Welcome to on-line text commentary of WOC 2008. The first races are the sprint qualifications which take place on Sunday morning with the women's races between 9.30 and 10.30 and the men's between 10.30 and 11.30. Live on-line text commentary will start about 15 minutes before the first start time, that is at about 9.15 Czech time. The sprint finals are also on Sunday and start with the women's race at 16.45, just after the Opening Ceremony. |