All I want for Christmas: A Column By Len Johnson

We’ve ticked into December, so talk about Christmas is no longer the sole province of the commercially voracious.

So let’s start this ‘all I want for Christmas’ list with a wish for a couple of Olympic 10,000 metres qualifiers on 10 December to celebrate the opening of Melbourne’s new Lakeside Stadium.

The chances that we will get them have just been enhanced with the announcement that Beijing 2008 Olympic bronze medallist Micah Kogo will run the men’s race. Kogo is the sixth-fastest man all-time with his personal best 26:35.63 set in winning at the Van Damme Memorial in Brussels in 2006.

With Kogo – plus a couple more yet to be announced – helping drive the pace, Ben St Lawrence and Craig Mottram will have every opportunity to run the 27:45 Olympic A-standard.

Something similar in the women’s race looks beyond even the most optimistic Christmas wish-list, but if the likes of Emily Birchacek, who had a great run in the Chiba Ekiden Relay, and Jess Trengrove can get down into the 32-minute range there will at least be a platform to build on.

Speaking of Mottram brings me back to one of last year’s wishes. Back then, I was speculating on the comeback prospects of Mottram, dual 400 metres hurdles world champion Jana Pittman and 50km walk world champion Nathan Deakes.

Mottram certainly made a big step back in 2011. Deakes got half-way there, completing his first 50km since Osaka 2007 and then leading the world championships race in Daegu for over 30km before succumbing to hamstring cramps. Pittman took one step forward – beating Lauren Boden in 55.75 in Perth – before taking one back almost immediately.

So it would be great to see all three up and firing again in 2012.

Our 2009 world champions – Steve Hooker and Dani Samuels – were also down on form in 2011, so a return to previous performance levels is also on the wish-list for them. Hooker is approaching – but, crucially, not yet at - that stage of his career at which anything further is a bonus. Samuels, though, the youngest ever world champion in her event, surely has plenty more to give.

Speaking of world champion curses – if there is such a thing, may Sally Pearson avoid it in her build-up to London.

Another high performer who has been on the injured list is national shot put record holder Scott Martin. The big fellow is listed to compete at the Zatopek meeting, along with Dale Stevenson, so let’s hope he gets there and gets going.

Fingers crossed, too, for Ryan Gregson, who managed to progress to the semi-finals of the 1500 in Daegu despite significant injury worries for the second year in a row. Gregson is a major talent, but it is hard to do much if you cannot get to the line fit and in good shape.

What about from an international perspective? The most fervent wish, I guess, is that Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, Tyson Gay and, now, Yohan Blake, all get to the line in London fit and running well. On recent history, it is probably a forlorn prospect.

Can Kenenisa Bekele build on his late-2011 return in the long-distance track events, to regain the form and fitness to not just run fast, but also to do it in a championship race. He’ll need to be at his best to withstand Mo Farah, Ibrahim Jeilan, Galen Rupp and whatever new talent comes forward.

Ethiopia also needs an injection of fresh talent, or a revival of the existing talent, to challenge Vivian Cheruiyot and Linet Masai in the women’s distance events.

I hope, too, that David Rudisha can add an Olympic title to his world record and world title in the 800 metres.

I hope that the Polish revival in men’s pole vault and the emergence of a couple of Cuban stars continues.

Finally, let’s hope the wonderful blossoming of marathon talent we have seen through 2011 comes together for a pair of memorable Olympic marathons in London.

If all those Christmas wishes are granted, it is going to be a grand Olympic year.