The first day of track and field brought mixed performances for the Australians. Our men in the shot put event didn't make the top 12 and so have no chance to compete in the final.

Tamsyn let her performance do the talking. She had a good race progressing in to the next round in the 800m so well done to her.

Our youngster of the team Danny Samuels left us a bit worried with her first two failures in the discus qualifying round but was able to put her nerves aside and produced a throw just a little bit short of her PB of 62.95m. That throw got her through to the final.

Perth-based heptathlete Kylie Wheeler completed the first day of the gruelling marathon of four different events and will have to complete another three today. Good luck to her as she is going really well. They are unbelievable athletes having to perform in such different events. 

The first medals have been won on the first day of the athletics competition and we also had the chance to see the women showing superb endurance in the 10km race as well as arguably the strongest men of track and field in the shot put event.

We also had a chance to see the fastest men on the planet in the 100m race. For some of them the first round of the competition looked like a warm up and they still managed to break the 10 second mark. The final will be a superb race to see. It really is the greatest show on Earth!

Never in the history of sport has such a final been so eagerly anticipated. It has all the ingredients and intrigue of a prize-winning novel - the World Champ Tyson Gay of the USA who is returning to clarify unfinished business. Asafa Powell of Jamaica. And the three veterans Kim Collins of St Kitts, "Doc" Patten of the USA and Francis Obikwelu of Portugal. The new kid on the block who has taken all before him world record holder Usain Bolt of Jamaica. The upstart youngster who is only interested in the prize Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago and Walter Dix of the USA.

It will be a race full of pressure. Look for the body language of these athletes prior to the final and see if you can evaluate who is handing this moment of pressure with clarity and belief. It always happens that some athletes handle the circumstances better than others.

The whole moment will take less than 10 seconds and with it comes the unofficial title of world's fastest human. I can see a real break with tradition with athletes from the Carribean taking all three medals and Usain Bolt breaking 9.70 seconds and establishing a new world record to secure Olympic gold. This is the race to watch and I am certainly looking forward to it. Do not blink!

Well there is no surprise that I'm waiting in great anticipation for the qualifying round of the women's pole vault that will take place today. It will be a usual lay out - two identical set-ups, sitting parallel to each other. Each will have around a 45m run up lane and 6x6m landing pit for each set up. Athletes will be divided into two pools with an equal number of athletes in each.

This time around there is 18 girls in each pool which is quite a large number and will make the competition quite long. Both pools will start the competition at the same time and the bar will be raised to the next progressing height in unison. All of this ensures that all of the athletes are given an equal chance and no one has an advantage of knowing what height it will take to make the final. However, the girls won't have to jump every height. The opening height may be 4.20m, which doesn't mean you have to jump it. You might come in at 4.40m but each pool has to wait for the other to finish before going to the next height, meaning the girls could be out there for up to three and half hours.

I know many girls that will start today and I have had the pleasure of competing against the majority of them. There will be 36 girls from 24 countries competing for the right to be in the top 12 who will come out again for the final on 18 August?. Only one third of the athletes will go through, and with names like Yelena Isinbaeva, Svetlana Feofanova, Monika Pyrek, Vanessa Boslak, Silke Spiegelburg, Fabiana Murer, Jennifer Stuczynski, Yuliya Golubchikova, Carolin Hingst and Anna Rogowska, it will be a battle just to make the final.

All of the girls are very experienced and have been around for a while. They are no strangers to big competitions and will know exactly what needs to be done. All of them have jumped 4.60 or higher this European summer.

Of course Yelena Isinbaeva of Russia is the hot favourite with two world records this season and a 12cm lead ahead of the next best result of the season of 4.92 by American Jennifer Stuczynski. Both of these athletes will cruise through the qualifying round.

It also won't be a problem for the other two Russians, Svetlana Feofanova and Yuliya Golubchikova. Both of them have already cleared the bar at 4.75 and this should be enough to take them to the final.

Fabiana Murer is a brilliant pole vaulter from Brazil and she is coming into the competition with a clearance of 4.80. I personally really like her technique.

The German girls - Silke Spiegelburg (4.70), Carolin Hingst (4.65), and my very good friend  Nastja Ryjikh-Reiberger (4.50) - have been leaders of the pole vault in the past and are still going strong. Poland will be represented by Monika Pyrek (4.70) and Anna Rogowska (4.66). For these girls it's not only the placing at the Games that is important, but also who will finish closer to the medals as they are known for their rivalry.

It's great to see the girls from Cuba, Argentina, Malaysia and Cyprus making it to the Games also. Pole vaulting in these countries doesn't have a long history and so they have no footprints to follow.

And finally...Australia will be represented by 24-year-old Alana Boyd from the Sunshine Coast. Alana started pole vaulting in 2003 and is coached by her father. Her PB is 4.56 which she jumped in Monaco this year. I saw her jumping in Brisbane a few months ago at the Australian Championships and she is definitely in the best shape of her life.  I really hope Alana will be able to produce another PB today and make it to the final.

So good luck to all of the girls. I can't wait to see the competition.

T