Team England hurdler Richard Yates has insisted that Niall Flannery and Seb Rodger have bright futures ahead of them despite missing out on a place in the final of the 400m hurdles at the Commonwealth Games today.
Flannery and Rodger finished fourth and fifth fastest in their respective heats, with Yates's time of 49.8s in the final round enough to knock Flannery out of contention as fastest loser.
Yates, who finished fifth four years ago in Delhi, was pleased with qualifying despite considering himself "rusty", and told Sports Mole after the race that he has no worries about his two teammates' performances.
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You're through as fastest loser. Are you content with that?
"Yeah, I got to hurdle eight and I felt good, then the last two hurdles my legs tired up a bit, but I'm hoping that's just because I haven't raced for a while. I'm a bit rusty."
How do you feel you performed on the whole? Is there more to come in the final?
"I'm just happy to have got in the final at this stage. That was a very tough heat to get out of. I'd have taken that at the start of the day, definitely."
And tactically, did it all go to plan?
"Yeah, I nailed my stride pattern. I just felt a bit tired in the home straight but it's another day tomorrow and we'll see how that goes."
As it transpired, your time actually knocked teammate Niall Flannery out of the fastest loser spot. How do you approach a situation like that?
"I guess that's the nature of 400m hurdles really. It's a strong event in this country. Niall ran very well at the start of the season. He's made the European team as well. Because it's such a strong event, you're kind of trying to peak four times in the season, which is tough. I think I'm actually coming into good shape now and he was probably in a lot better shape a month or so ago."
Niall and Seb were fairly disappointed with their performances. As the more experienced of the trio, do you have a role in picking them up?
"Well yeah, I'll give them encouragement but they're both big enough guys to deal with it themselves and move on. They're a bit younger than me as well so they've probably got a lot more races in their legs than I have further down the line. They're both good lads."
The men's 400m hurdles final will take place tomorrow evening.
Barney Corkhill
