Only a medal will do for Katarina Johnson-Thompson at this year’s World Championships and Mo Farah is ready for action at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon. Here’s our review of the last 24 hours.
It’s a new dawn for Katarina Johnson-Thompson who says anything but a medal at this summer’s World Championships in Beijing will be a disappointment.
The last couple of years have seen a shift in the balance of power as Johnson-Thompson stepped into the void left by Jessica Ennis-Hill’s absence and has established herself as the world’s foremost heptathlete.
And she says she is in the perfect place to take the world by storm ahead of the trip to China.
"I feel ready now as an athlete to take on these challenges. I think I'll be disappointed if I don't come away with a medal,” she told BBC Sport.
"I should be able to - not like when I was 19 just going for the experience.”
Double Olympic champion Mo Farah will be the star attraction in the 10,000m at this year’s Prefontaine Classic in Eugene.
Farah ran a European record time of 26:47.57 at the even in 2011 in a race which saw nine athletes dip below the 27-minute mark.
The Briton will head into the race as favourite and has the luxury of not having to worry about Olympic silver medallist Galen Rupp who will go in the 5,000m.
However, Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworor will go along with Canada’s Cam Levins and Diego Estrada.
Andy Murray admits there were a few hairy moments as he booked his place in the third round of the French Open with a four-set victory over Joao Sousa 6-2 4-6 6-4 6-1.
Murray was comfortable in the first but dropped the second after some impressive play from the Portuguese.
But the Olympic champion came back strong to book his spot in the third round at Roland Garros.
“I realised towards the end of the second set and the beginning of the third that he raised his level a lot,” said Murray.
“He was putting a lot of pressure on me and I just had to tell myself to try and get through it and weather the storm a little bit.”
Elsewhere Heather Watson was beaten 6-2 6-4 by American Sloane Stephens.
Dina Asher-Smith is hoping she can build on her 100m British record when she takes to the track for the Birmingham Grand Prix in June.
The 19-year-old will line up for the 200m against some of the world’s best including Allyson Felix and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.
After a sensational start to the season which saw her win silver at the European Indoor Championships in Prague, Asher-Smith last week clocked a new British record of 11.02 over 100m.
And she says that the run in Hengelo is the perfect preparation for a highly-competitive field in the Midlands.
“I was surprised to run a British record over 100m last week but I was really happy with it and hopefully I can convert it into a good 200m in Birmingham,” said Asher-Smith.
Double Olympic silver medal-winning slalom canoeist David Florence admits he is ready and raring to go as he looks to add to his international medal collection at this weekend’s European Championships in Markkleeberg.
Florence has medalled at every single major championships during his career but while climbing the podium in both the C1 and C2 classes at Olympic and world level, he is yet to do the same in Europe.
The event is also the next step on the road to qualification for Rio 2016 and Florence, who will compete individually as well as alongside Richard Hounslow in the C2 races, admits preparations have been progressing strongly.
“The British Trials went well for me and training has been going well since then,” he said.
“It'll be great to be racing Europe's best athletes again and is both an important championship race and a factor in Olympic selection for Rio.”
The countdown to Rio is continuing at pace for Great Britain’s rugby players after details of the sevens programme for the 2016 Games was announced.
England were nominated ahead of the recently completed season as the designated home nations team to contest qualification – something they successfully achieved with top-four finishes in the respective Sevens World Series.
Players will however be selected from across England, Wales and Scotland with Great Britain Rugby Sevens Limited now officially ratified by the British Olympic Association and World Rugby.
“We are delighted to formally welcome Great Britain Rugby Sevens Limited to our National Olympic Committee and British Olympic Family,” said Lord Seb Coe, chairman of the British Olympic Association.
“We very much look forward to supporting rugby sevens and their athletes on their journey to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.”
Rajiv Ouseph and Chris and Gabby Adcock successfully booked their spot in the Australian Open quarter-finals after solid performances on Thursday.
Men’s singles player Ouseph battled hard against number seven seed Tien Chen Chou to triumph 21-17, 12-21, 21-16 and book a last eight encounter with Houwei Tian.
While the Adcocks, seeded sixth, recorded a straight sets win over Nipitphon Puangpuapech and Puttita Supajirakul and will next play number two seeds Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir.
© Sportsbeat 2015