I must first say unfortunately we haven't seen much live coverage of the field events on the television coverage. I have been staying up till 2-3am to catch a glimpse of what has been going on in the Bird's Nest. I believe track and field deserves to have better live coverage even though we don't have many Aussies competing. I know I would love to see more.

Today I am still very excited about the women's pole vault final and the 100m Hurdles. Sally McLellan was just unbelievable. She is a young athlete and in some ways inexperienced in her first Olympics. With a lot of pressure on her...what a gutsy performance! Last night she put all her nerves aside and ran a really good race. She knew what she wanted and that was a medal. She believed in herself and in her coach and made it not only into the final but in to the top two in the world.

Her performance reminded me so much of Sydney when I went in to the competition fairly unknown and without many expectations resting on my shoulders and I also believed that anything was possible regardless of peoples opinions or the field I had to go up against. So last night was a bit of deju vu! I saw her so excited after the race and at the medal ceremony and it really took me back to eight years ago and it made me really happy. It just shows that anything is possible as long as you believe in yourself. No guts, no glory. But aside from that, an Australian athlete has never won a medal in the 100m hurdles. And just think about a 21-year old-girl who went out there with an unbelievable performance and put Australia back on the map in this event. I said previously that a new a star will be born at these Games and I think that is the case with Sally.

Watching Sally, I also started to think about why I love competitions so much. I was thinking whether it is the thrill of competing or the fact that you are proving to yourself and others that you can be good at something. Or the fact that during a competition you are forced to be in the moment as you can't afford to think about the future or about what has happened in the past...you have to be in the now. I have tried to master this feeling over the years and I think towards the end of my career I was able to control this feeling and switch it on for competitions. One step at a time, one jump at a time. It is such a great feeling because in normal life you are always thinking about what has happened in the past and what is going to happen in the future. 

To the women's pole vault and there were no surprises there as we all knew Yelena Isinbayeva would win. The question wasn't who would win but how high would Yelena jump! Again she proved she is the dominant performer with the second place getter jumping 25cm below Yelena. You can't ask much more of an athlete than to get a personal best and world record. We never had anyone like Yelena back when I was competing which is fantastic to see because it shows there really are no limits. She was just able to find the right formula and is a gutsy competitor and believes she can do something that no one has done before.

Well to tonight's track and field events are sure to make for an interesting night. First up, the 200m men's final. So how fast can Usain Bolt actually run? The Jamaican, who destroyed the field and the world record in the 100m final, is preparing to challenge Michael Johnson's 12-year-old world record at 200m. When Johnson ran his time of 19.32 at the Atlanta Olympics, people thought that the record would never be threaten in our lifetime but Bolt seems to have the necessary qualities to beat the time. When you consider Bolt didn't even run "flat out" in the 100m final, the possibilities seem extraordinary.

A few days ago the 200m was considered to be a highly competitive event but now the only discussion is how fast will Bolt run and what will the margin to second place be. Defending Olympic champion Shaun Crawford of USA seems powerless to even coming close to stopping Bolt.

And of course finally I have to mention the qualifying round of the men's pole vault tonight. There will be 19 guys in two pools and we have two Aussies in Steve Hooker and Paul "Budgie" Burgess. Budgie has jumped 5.70m as his personal best which could get him into the final. But I would really like everyone to watch out for Steve Hooker, Evgeny Lukyanenko from Russia and Brad Walker from USA.

Hooker is looming as one of the favourites to take the Olympic title. Since winning gold at the Commonwealth Games in 2006, he has successfully established himself as on of the top ranked vaulters in the world, winning many meets on the European circuit. 2008 has also proved to be a banner year for Hooker, not only did he achieve a new personal best of 6.00m but he also won bronze in the World Indoor Championships. By jumping 6m he joined a select group of 13 athletes in the history of the sport who have ever jumped such a height. To give you some idea of how high 6m is, it is like jumping clear over a London double-decker bus!

Hooker's two main rivals are Lukyanenko and Walker who have had successful clearances over 6m this season. There are obvious physical differences between the three guys. Hooker and Walker are both a little extroverted...Hooker favouring his long curly red hair held in place by a headband and Walker with a black and white Mohawk hair style. On the other hand Lukyanenko tends to have the look of a mild mannered "shop keeper". In the competition they are also completely different. Hooker with his fast-building approach and huge clearances. Walker charges in and takes "no risk" attempts and Lukyanenko with his measured run-up and consistent technique. The winner of the final will have to clear the bar 6m from the ground to lay claim to the title.

There will definitely be a battle behind these guys in the qualifying. Hooker is hungry and very competitive and has gained enough experience over the last couple of years to have a go.

Also up tonight is Craig Mottram in "his" event, the 5km and I believe he should make it in to the next round.

So here we go. I can't wait for it all to begin tonight!

T