Lyon, France
4-16 August 2015
For me personally, this was a very busy, and occasionally very exciting two weeks in Lyon. As one of very few photographers there who were also competing in events on the track, I had a very full programme indeed. I'm delighted to say that I came away from Lyon not only with some really good photos, which you can access by the links below, but also a share of a World Masters title. Our Great Britain M60 4x100 metres squad won gold on the final day of the Championships. Here is my blog about that day.
The organisers of the Lyon Championships chose to spread the events around four different stadiums, and a number of other venues too. All were several miles apart and took time to reach, either by road or by public transport. This made it simply impossible for me to cover anything like all of the events taking place. On five days I was competing, and I obviously had to be where my own events were taking place on those days. The timetable included two "rest days" which account for the gaps in the days below.
Tuesday 4 August 2015
I opted to cover the first day of the heptathlons And a couple of decathlons) , taking place at the Bron stadium, because there were a good number of British athletes taking part there, including several with great medal chances. They are, therefore, very much the focus of this gallery.
Photos here.
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Wednesday 5 August 2015
I moved to the Parilly stadium for this roasting hot day, but found the events were so scattered about that eventually, I was missing more photos than I was getting. An unsatisfactory day, photo-wise, although I hope you enjoy what I did manage to shoot. By the way, the sequence of the long jumper in red in this gallery is of my incredible Swiss friend, Pino Pilotto, who chose to celebrate his return from a long battle against cancer by entering the decathlon. Like you do!
Photos here.
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Thursday 6 August 2015
I was at the Duchere stadium for some of the day, because my own 100m heats took place quite early in the morning. I qualified for the next day's semi-finals and chose to return to the air-conditioned temptation of my hotel for a restful day. You would have done the same, as a heatwave moved in and temperatures crept towards 40C in the shade.
I have no photos from this day.
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Friday 7 August 2015
I ran my 100m semi-final and very narrowly failed to make it to the final later in the day. I spent the rest of the day at Duchere, mostly shooting the 100m finals, plus the Opening Ceremony for the Championships, which the organisers strangely decided to hold on this day.
Photos here.
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Sunday 9 August 2015
I was ill, partly from spending too long in the heat, and partly from something I had eaten or drunk. I ran surprisingly well nevertheless, in my 200m heat, to qualify quite comfortably for the next day's semi-final. However, afterwards I had no option but to return to my hotel, for a very unpleasant day in bed.
Unsurprisingly, I have no photos from this day.
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Monday 10 August 2015
I had not slept, or eaten proper food, for 24 hours when I ran my 200m semi-final, and although it started well, I was not too surprised not to make it to a place in the final. However, after the race, I began to feel better, and managed to spend the rest of the day photographing events at Duchere stadium. I still ranked 10th fastest overall. World Top Ten? I'll take that! The photos today included some great high jump finals and an evening of the best Masters 200 metres finals it's possible to get!
Photos here.
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Tuesday 11 August 2015
Not having fully recovered from illness, I opted for the short day on offer at the Duchere stadium, photographing the long hurdles finals taking place there. Here's a story about this day, from Ken Stone's Masterstrack web site, which made me blush.
Photos here.
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Wednesday 12 August 2015
I covered a variety of events at the Parilly stadium over a long, hot day, in which I worked almost without a break for 10 hours. Most of the action is from the first qualifying round of the 400m. There are also a number of jumpers and throwers in this gallery.
Photos here.
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Friday 14 August 2015
Probably my longest working day of the whole Championships, I spent the whole of the day at Duchere, partly because there were too many events happening simultaneously at Parilly, and I could not have done them justice.
I have split the photos into two galleries, one covering the sprint hurdles heats (there are also three long jump shots in there!), and the other covering the 1500m finals that too place in the afternoon and evening.
Hurdles photos here.
1500m photos here.
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Saturday 15 August 2015
I had commitments this day that required me to again be at the Duchere stadium, where the short hurdles finals and the 400m finals were taking place.
I have again split the day's photos into two groups:
Hurdles and jumps photos here.
400m photos here.
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Sunday 16 August 2015
Relays day at Duchere. I became a World Champion, running the lead off leg for the Great Britain M60 4x100m relay squad (click that to see video!). A satisfying end to my Championships.
I photographed some of the steeplechase events early in the day, and a few medal ceremonies later (these include our own gold medal presentation - thanks Vic!) and I've put these in a separate gallery here. The rest of the long day was 4x400m relays and the mass medal presentation that came after them.
Steeplechase and a few medal presentation photos here.
4x400m Relay photos here.
And then we all went home.
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My Pick of Lyon Photos
A few people asked me to make a selection of my personal favourites of my photos from Lyon. I've selected 50 photos here The selection might surprise you at times. These are favourites for several different reasons. Some have great memories attached to them, others are just very satisfying photos to have taken. Several are both of these things. You can scroll through the photos one at a time, or click on the "slideshow" option and sit back and enjoy….
I also wrote this blog entry about what it was like working as a photographer in Lyon.
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Finally, here's a photo from Lyon that I really like. I was sent it by my long-time World Championships photo compadre Doug Smith, though I don't know who actually took it, because Doug is far right in the photo and is still holding his camera. That's me, with the white hat, holding my camera, third from right. The others were part of the typical bunch of paparazzi to be found at one or more of the stadiums on any given day!
