It's July 3. The good news is that 21 teams are within five games of a playoff spot (and 18 are within three games). The bad news is that only one division race is closer than 4½ games. We have good playoff races, but we won't necessarily have close division races -- although I predict that at least one of the other five division races will join the NL Central and go down to the wire.

It feels as if we have more teams in playoff contention than in recent seasons. But let's verify that and check the July 4 standings from the past five years:

2018: 14 teams within five games of the playoffs, five division races within 4½ games.

Check the margins of the division races: 1, 1½, 1½, 1, ½ ... much better than this year. Plus, the A's were seven games behind the Mariners and ended up winning a wild-card spot.

2017: 18 teams within five games of the playoffs, four division races within 4½ games

This was the year almost every team was in the battle for the second AL wild card -- the Twins ended up taking it with 85 wins. That meant 12 AL teams were in the race, although it wasn't really that interesting. Four of the division races ended up decided by at least 11 games, so a close race on July 4 doesn't mean a close race in September.

2016: 18 teams within five games of the playoffs, two division races within 4½ games

By the end of the season, 14 teams were within five games of the playoffs and the closest division races were four games.

2015: 20 teams within five games of the playoffs, five division races within 4½ games

A lot of teams were in the mix on July 4, but not many were in the mix late in September. The closest division race ended up being the NL Central (the Cardinals won 100, the Pirates 98, the Cubs 97) and that was the one division not close on July 4. The Astros beat the Angels by a game for the second AL wild card.

2014: 17 teams within five games of the playoffs, six division races within 4½ games

Two division races ended up going down to the wire (Tigers over Royals by a game, Cardinals over Pirates by a game, although it was the Brewers who led on July 4). The A's edged out the Mariners by a game for the second wild card.

Biggest division lead for a team that ultimately missed the playoffs: The 2015 Nationals were 4½ games up on the Mets on July 4. They went 38-43 after that and the Mets went 49-31 to win the division by eight games.

Biggest lead for any playoff spot for a team that missed the playoffs: Those 2018 Mariners who were up seven on the A's for the second AL wild card. Seattle went 34-41 the rest of the way while Oakland went 49-26.

Biggest lead for a team that blew a division lead: The 2016 Giants were up five on the Dodgers, but the Dodgers ended up winning the division by four games. The Giants did get a wild-card spot.

So, bottom line: We might end up with only one close division race. If that's what develops, the baseball gods better gift us with a seven-team tie for a couple of wild-card spots in the National League and a five-way tie for the NL Central.

But where does your team stand? Let's break the league into five playoff tiers, with playoff odds courtesy of FanGraphs (entering Tuesday):

Jump to ... Other favorites | Still in it | Hopes are slim | Plan those October vacations

LOOKING LIKE LOCKS

Los Angeles Dodgers (100%): It feels as if one of the most underappreciated stories of the season is the Dodgers being on a 107-win pace. I get it, the Red Sox won 108 last season. But the Red Sox did it in a sad-sack American League where three teams lost 100 games and two more lost 95-plus. The Dodgers are doing it in a much more balanced league from top to bottom. Of course, the bullpen remains flawed and maybe that's why we don't think of the Dodgers as a superteam.

Houston Astros (99.5%): That recent seven-game losing skid erased some of their invincibility, but the Astros are just getting their full lineup back together, Yordan Alvarez has added a booming left-handed stick and the bullpen depth is excellent. On paper, they should still rule the West: FanGraphs projects 100 wins and a 15-win edge over the A's in the final standings. Still, I would suggest they're more vulnerable than the 98.6% odds to win the division that FanGraphs gives them. The Rangers and A's aren't as strong on paper, but they're close enough that stranger things have happened.

New York Yankees (99.2%): Even with the concerns about the starting rotation, it's starting to look as if the Yankees might run away with the AL East as the Rays staggered in June and the Red Sox -- as we saw in London -- continue to have major pitching issues.

Minnesota Twins (97.3%): They haven't just beat up on the AL Central, as they're 17-9 versus the AL East and 14-6 versus the AL West. Their seven-game lead over the Indians appears safe as FanGraphs gives them a 92% chance of winning the division. They lead the majors in home runs and batting average as the week kicks off, so any trade additions will probably come on the pitching front.

Atlanta Braves (94.1%): Where's this four-team NL East bob and weave we expected? The Braves pulled away with a 20-8 record in June, and the promotion of Austin Riley and addition of Dallas Keuchel have given them even more depth. Like seemingly every other team, they'll be on the prowl for bullpen help, but after hitting .277/.352/.520 in June, this lineup looks very deep and very scary.

THE OTHER FAVORITES RIGHT NOW

Tampa Bay Rays (77.7%): As the Yankees surged in June, the Rays went 13-16 and fell from 1½ games out of first to seven games behind. They need to get Blake Snell rolling again and maybe his Sunday start (12 K's, three hits in six innings) will get him back to Cy Young form. Rookie call-up Brendan McKay looked terrific in his major league debut Saturday and All-Star Charlie Morton and Yonny Chirinos have been excellent. It will be up to the offense for the Rays to get back to the postseason for the first time since 2013.

Chicago Cubs (75%): They entered the week tied with the Brewers, but FanGraphs likes the on-paper Cubs more than the on-paper Brewers, giving Chicago 61.4% odds to win the division compared to 26.3% for the Brewers. The Cubs do have a big advantage in run differential (plus-64 runs to minus-4), but these teams feel much closer in talent. The Cubs also continue to struggle on the road, with a 16-25 record and 4-14 over their past 18.

Washington Nationals (61.8%): FanGraphs projects a .555 winning percentage the rest of the way, second best in the NL behind the Dodgers. Those playoff odds include a 19% chance of winning the division and a 42.8% chance of a wild-card berth. They have the stars, but the bullpen continues to be one of the worst in MLB history with a 6.30 ERA. Fix that -- somehow -- and maybe they find a way to sneak into October.

Boston Red Sox (57.3%): How many times have we said "bullpen" so far? The Red Sox have 17 blown saves (at any point in the game), second worst in the majors behind the Mets. Amazingly, they actually lead the majors in bullpen strikeout rate -- which proves that there's more to pitching than strikeouts.

Milwaukee Brewers (54.7%): The Cubs and Brewers still have 13 games left against each other -- six games in 10 days in late July/early August, three games at Wrigley at the end of August and a four-game series at Milwaukee the following weekend. But they don't play the final three weeks and both teams finish with season-ending road trips. I think the NL Central goes down to the wire once again.

DEFINITELY STILL IN IT

Cleveland Indians (44.2%): A lot can go wrong in a baseball season. On Opening Day, FanGraphs pegged the Indians as a 97-win team with an 89% chance of winning the division and a 95% chance of making the playoffs. Then Francisco Lindor missed the start of the season, Corey Kluber got hurt, Mike Clevinger got hurt, Jose Ramirez went from MVP candidate to hitting like Rafael Ramirez, and Carlos Carrasco came down with a blood condition. Oh, and they don't score enough runs. Yet somehow the Indians began the week just a half-game out of a wild-card spot. Give a lot of credit to Terry Francona, pitching coach Carl Willis and the organizational pitching depth (and an 8-1 record against the Tigers).

Colorado Rockies (25%): The Rockies have four All-Star position players, so the offense is great and the pitching is mediocre, right? Not so fast. The Rockies are actually second in the NL in road ERA, but they are just 20-23 away from home. As always, scoring runs on the road remains on issue. The other issue is the back of the rotation. Kyle Freeland, fourth in last year's Cy Young voting, struggled so much he's back in Triple-A (with a 11.12 ERA). German Marquez and Jon Gray have been terrific, but Colorado certainly could use another starter, although it hasn't been in the Rockies' DNA to make a big midseason trade even as they made the playoffs the past two seasons.

Philadelphia Phillies (24.9%): Other than a four-game sweep against the Mets last week, it has been a tough three weeks for the Phillies. They've given up five or more runs in 13 of their past 20 games. Don't put all the blame on the pitching, however, as the Phillies are eighth in the NL in runs and 11th in home runs despite their hitter-friendly home park. Offseason additions Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto and Jean Segura have been OK, but not as OK as expected. As they go in the second half, so might the Phillies' season.

St. Louis Cardinals (20.5%): The Cardinals are sitting at .500 and they're projected to finish at .500. Maybe this is just a .500 team -- especially when Paul Goldschmidt, Matt Carpenter and Yadier Molina are each sitting with below-average OPS. They'll have to figure out the back of games without Jordan Hicks and need better second halves from Jack Flaherty and Miles Mikolas, but the playoff hopes seem to rest on the expensive shoulders of their three 30-something veteran hitters.

Oakland Athletics (17.3%): Here come the A's, setting themselves up for another patented second-half run, a hallmark throughout the Billy Beane era. After going 14-18 through April, they went 15-10 in May and 17-11 in June with a plus-70 run differential those two months. Maybe the biggest surprise is that the A's are fourth in the AL in rotation ERA, although Frankie Montas (9-2, 2.70 ERA) is in the midst of an 80-game PED suspension. (He'll be ineligible for the playoffs if the A's make it.) It will be interesting to see what moves Beane makes. Last year, he traded for Jeurys Familia, Mike Fiers, Shawn Kelley and Fernando Rodney. Top prospect Jesus Luzardo is off the injured list and has made two starts in Triple-A, so he could help the rotation in a few weeks as well.

San Diego Padres (12%): Did we mention the NL wild-card race is crowded? Heading into Tuesday's games, seven teams were separated by only two games. In other words: Maybe this is the year the baseball gods give us that seven-way tie for two wild-card spots. In more words: Fernando Tatis Jr., Franmil Reyes, Manny Machado and Hunter Renfroe make this one of the most exciting lineups in the game. Not one of the best -- they strike out too much and don't walk -- but the first half has been intriguing enough and the farm system is so deep that maybe A.J. Preller makes a couple of additions at the trade deadline. The Padres haven't made the postseason since 2006, so they might have more incentive for a wild-card push than other organizations.

Arizona Diamondbacks (12%): The Diamondbacks lost Goldschmidt, Patrick Corbin and A.J. Pollock, but give them credit for not just tearing things down and rebuilding. They've remained competitive, in large part due to the continued excellence of Zack Greinke plus the breakout performances of Ketel Marte and Eduardo Escobar. They're in the same boat as the Padres: What do you do at the trade deadline when it's all about getting into a 50-50 coin-flip game?

Texas Rangers (5.4%): Those odds feel low given the Rangers entered Tuesday in possession of a wild-card spot (a half-game ahead of the Indians and A's). FanGraphs projects just a .463 winning percentage the rest of the way and it's certainly easy to see some regression here: Mike Minor and Lance Lynn will be hard-pressed to repeat their first-half numbers -- they rank first and fourth in the AL in pitching WAR. But maybe Minor and Lynn are just having career seasons.

NOT OUT OF IT, BUT HOPES ARE SLIM

Cincinnati Reds (7.2%): This is frustrating. The Reds finally have a good rotation (second-best ERA in the NL), but the offense has struggled and the bullpen hasn't been clutch (24th in the majors in the FanGraphs "clutch" index). The Reds are 39-44 and 4½ games out of a wild-card spot and just 5½ behind the Brewers, but they do have a plus-37 run differential, fifth best in the NL and are 39 runs better than the Brewers, which is why their playoff odds still hover this high. Still, they have a lot of teams to jump over and they could end up being sellers if they don't get on a hot streak soon.

New York Mets (6.6%): FanGraphs projects a rest-of-season winning percentage of .518 -- better than the Phillies, Brewers and Rockies -- so we can't count the Mets out just yet. Hey, it's not inconceivable for Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Zack Wheeler to perform much better in the second half. Still, it will take a 10-game winning streak just to get back over .500, and the bullpen is a complete disaster right now. I'll take the under on that 6.6%.

Pittsburgh Pirates (6.2%): They're ahead of the Reds in the standings and have received a breakout season from Josh Bell, plus surprising rookie seasons from Bryan Reynolds and Kevin Newman, but they lack power. And with Chris Archer struggling and Jameson Taillon on the IL, the rotation -- supposedly the strength of the team -- has been a letdown. They have 27 games left against the Cubs and Cardinals -- 35% of their remaining schedule.

Los Angeles Angels (2.2%): The devastating death of Tyler Skaggs will be a difficult emotional hurdle to overcome. From a baseball standpoint, he'd also been their best starting pitcher (7-7, 4.29 ERA). The Angels have a tough schedule the rest of the way, including 17 games against the Astros -- somehow they've played them only twice so far. They also have two series against the Red Sox, one at Yankee Stadium and two games at Dodger Stadium. It looks like another season with Mike Trout watching the playoffs on TV.

Chicago White Sox (0.1%): The White Sox have probably overachieved just to be a few games under .500 as FanGraphs forecasts some big-time regression in the second half (.425 winning percentage the rest of the way). Lucas Giolito and James McCann have been two of the biggest surprises and made the All-Star team. Yoan Moncada has already surpassed last year's WAR, and Eloy Jimenez has shown why he'll be an elite slugger. At least they're interesting for the first time in a long time.

TIME TO PLAN THOSE CARIBBEAN VACATIONS FOR OCTOBER

San Francisco Giants: Thanks to one of the best bullpens in the game, the Giants haven't been a complete disaster in 2019, but the long rebuild is just beginning. Some of those relievers will be traded, Madison Bumgarner might be traded and six of the eight players with the most plate appearances are 30 or older.

Seattle Mariners: The season is disappointing only in the context of that 13-2 start. The Mariners didn't expect to contend and this is a bad baseball team, especially horrid on defense and in the bullpen. Jerry Dipoto has already churned through 32 pitchers (not including position players) and 15 of the 32 have an ERA over 6.00. Yuck. A few bright spots: Daniel Vogelbach hits bombs and draws walks; J.P. Crawford has hit since his call-up; the Robinson Cano/Edwin Diaz trade looks good with those two struggling and Jarred Kelenic and Justin Dunn making the Futures Game.

Toronto Blue Jays: The Jays' .372 winning percentage would be their first below .450 since 2004 and their worst since a .349 mark in 1981. That was one bad baseball team. They hit .226 and averaged just 3.1 runs per game. However, they had three 21-year-old outfielders named Jesse Barfield, George Bell and Lloyd Moseby who became the foundation of the 1985 playoff team, the first in franchise history. This Jays team will hope that Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Cavan Biggio and Bo Bichette (probably called up in the second half) will be this generation's version of Barfield, Bell and Moseby. Now they just need a Dave Stieb.

Miami Marlins: The Marlins actually have played respectable baseball for the past month and a half. Since a 10-31 start through May 15, they've gone 22-20. There isn't much offense here and it's not even a young lineup (the average position player age is older than league average), but the starting rotation is young and has been effective.

Kansas City Royals: The Royals are probably the most interesting of the bottom-feeders thanks to Adalberto Mondesi's all-world excitement, Hunter Dozier's breakout at the plate and Whit Merrifield's all-around excellence. They will be tempted to trade Merrifield -- he's a perfect fit for the Dodgers -- and given that he's 30 years old, they should at least listen very closely to offers for him.

Detroit Tigers: Well, the Tigers are last in the AL in runs, home runs, average, OBP and slugging. They've averaged 3.42 runs per game in a league that has averaged 4.81 per game. Put it this way: Their wRC+ (adjusted for league and park) of 75 would be the third worst since 2000, better only than the 2004 Diamondbacks (74) and 2013 Marlins (74). Their big question: Do they cash in on the strong seasons of starter Matthew Boyd and closer Shane Greene? I'd keep Boyd and hope for a future rotation built around him, Spencer Turnbull, Casey Mize and Matt Manning. That seems the best/only hope to get back into playoff contention by 2021 or 2022.

Baltimore Orioles: The 2002-03 Tigers went 55-106 and 43-119. In 2006, they were in the World Series. The 2012-13 Astros went 55-107 and 55-111. In 2015, they were in the playoffs and in 2017 they won the World Series. Don't give up, Orioles fans!

How difficult is it to combine a top-level athletics career with being a hands-on dad? Katy Barden talks to the European medallist about balancing fitness and family life

Chris O’Hare was trying to finish his session. Or, more accurately, he was trying to get it started. His four-month-old son Ronan, however, had a different plan.

“I had 4×1 mile then some fast stuff after,” he says. “I was only halfway through the first mile rep and he woke up screaming …”

O’Hare – who was preparing for the 2017 indoor season at the time – wasn’t just doing his wife Meredith a favour, or having a day of dad-son time. This was his new normal.

Meredith had returned to work after three months, by necessity rather than choice, and his athlete-husband role had evolved to include a full-time dad dimension.

“Other than track sessions, I did all my running on a treadmill in the living room with Ronan in his little seat next to me on the floor,” he explains.

“At first it was great because the noise of the treadmill put him to sleep and it was no problem, but within a month of me doing that and getting used to it, it became significantly harder because he was like ‘I’m awake, I don’t want to sit in this chair, I want to be with you, or I want out on the floor’, and he would just cry.

“I was often turning a double day where I’d do 8am and 4pm into one 11/12 mile run in the evening when Meredith got home from work.”

O’Hare’s track sessions, in the company of his training group and coach Terrence Mahon, took place once a week at Harvard indoor track, but he was soon left to train alone – with Ronan in tow – when they departed for an altitude camp.

Things were working well between father and son, though, and their respective routines appeared complementary.

“Ronan would always fall asleep in the car on the way there,” he explains. “I’d get him into his pram and, if I was lucky, I’d finish my session by the time he’d wake up. I’d change him, feed him his bottle, and then we’d go to the weights room to do lifts and I’d let him watch me in the gym.

“He was happy enough to watch me, until he wasn’t…”

His mile reps session already interrupted, O’Hare had picked his son up, settled him and figured he’d start again when the track’s janitor stepped in and offered to help.

“At first, I was like ‘no’, then I thought, ‘I really do need your help’, so he pushed him round the indoor track for the next 40 minutes or something.”

Life for O’Hare had definitely changed.

“Yes, being a dad is hard and being a dad as an athlete is hard, but that shouldn’t take anything away from what mums do,” he says.

“For a dad, for instance, when I think about women runners who come back from having children, I never had to sit out any time from my running. Yes, it made it inconvenient, slightly more difficult, but if I was motivated to do it, it was doable.

“My preparation in 2017 was more difficult than most other western world athletes, but my difficulties – they weren’t struggles – my hurdles to overcome were nothing compared to what female athletes, and even women who are not athletes, have to go through in bringing up children.”

O’Hare is a doting dad and acknowledges that his parents played a significant role in his own upbringing, instilling strong family values from a young age.

“Growing up, I never once thought, ‘where is dad, where is mum?’ They were always there,” says the 28-year-old.

“Sure, dad might have missed putting us to bed, coming home late from work, meetings and stuff like that, but he was always there all weekend and without fail to take me all over the country for track and cross country. I never once thought growing up, ‘oh, I don’t know if dad will be able to make it’.

“It’s only now I realise it’s because he made it that way, not because that’s how it was – and to do that for four children is no easy feat. And not just my mum and dad, but both sets of grandparents were always there, were always supportive.

“I never questioned their love or questioned their being there for my siblings or for me, so it’s never even crossed my mind that anyone would be any different to that, which is how it should be.”

“My preparation in 2017 was more difficult than most other western world athletes, but my difficulties – they weren’t struggles – my hurdles to overcome were nothing compared to what female athletes, and even women who are not athletes, have to go through in bringing up children”

At the end of 2017, when their son was a little over a year old, the O’Hares made the decision to relocate from Boston back to Tulsa to be closer to Meredith’s family.

“When Ronan was a baby it was fine, but once he was moving around he required more from us, it was almost impossible with running and Meredith working full-time.

“Moving has helped. The fact that it benefits Mere makes me happier. It’s also huge knowing that when I leave for training or racing that she’s got her mum and dad nearby for support.”

2018 was a big year for O’Hare with the World Indoors in Birmingham and the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, but it was, by his own admission, a disappointing one.

In spite of running some quick times, including breaking his own Scottish national 1500m record in the Monaco Diamond League meet with 3:32.11, he says he messed up.

Being a husband and father had changed things.

“I’ve always wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing for my running, to make sure that I was ready for races, and in an attempt to make sure everything was physically 100% right as well as mentally in terms of being prepared for a race, we overlooked the general happiness level,” he continues.

“Last year was tough. I had injury issues at the start of the year that knocked on through the whole year. My foot injury that had ruined the World Indoors carried on and ruined the Commonwealths and, while being away is hard, it makes it harder when you’re not achieving what you went out to achieve, when you’re not justifying it.

“Collectively, I was away for almost seven full months last year. That’s too much.

“When I was in Berlin for the Euros I’d been away at that point for two and half months and we had another two weeks to hang around in Europe until the Birmingham Diamond League. By the time I got home I’d been gone three months.

“When you’re younger you just absorb all of these things, but you can’t possibly comprehend – or I couldn’t – how difficult it would be to be away from my son; it’s a totally different ball game when it’s your own baby.”

In addition to the strain of being away, O’Hare was also worrying about things he’d previously never had to give a moment’s thought to, like that fact Ronan was now spending more time in daycare rather than with him. That, he says, was tough for his wife, so in turn it was also tough for him.

“It’s those tiny little things that people don’t think of, they add up to being so emotionally stressful,” he says.

“While last year’s track season was somewhat successful in terms of running fast, in my book it was still a disappointment, an unsuccessful year, and I think it was because I was drained, as well as having been injured.

“That was kind of hard to grasp for me, for someone who prides themselves on just getting it done, toughing it out, to fail because I was emotionally stressed or emotionally tired. It seemed like such a pathetic reason to fail, but I’m not 18-19 years old anymore and I have the experience to be like ‘now we’ve identified the problem we can make sure it’s not a problem anymore’”.

As he prepared for the 2019 indoor season O’Hare adopted a new approach – one which saw him, as well as his training partners, skip their traditional altitude camp.

“I spoke to Terrence and said I honestly didn’t think it was worth going because the thought of leaving at that point was exhausting,” says O’Hare. “A couple of the other guys said the same thing, so the whole team decided to give altitude a miss and when I got to Glasgow for the European Indoors I was fresh as a daisy.

“I’d been away from home at that point for about two weeks rather than six weeks, and it was so refreshing to go into a major champs excited about competing and not just being excited to get home.”

The decision paid off, with O’Hare splitting the Ingebrigtsen brothers Jakob and Henrik, to clinch 3000m silver.

His year is now geared towards this October’s World Championships in Doha.

“I’m confident we can make it work outdoors as well,” says O’Hare, who opened his outdoor track season with a run of 13:48.66 over 5000m at the Payton Jordan Invitational and improved to 13:33.99 in Los Angeles last month before a win at the Vitality Westminster Mile (pictured above).

There will be challenges to overcome, of course, not least the late summer peak and the highly competitive nature of the men’s 1500m in the UK currently.

He also believes he has more to come in that event, but for now O’Hare is keen to keep his options open and hints at potentially doubling up in the 1500m and 5000m in the British Championships if he feels strong enough.

Arguably, however, his biggest challenge this year will be the arrival of his second child in July; “it’s going to be mayhem,” he laughs.

Tactically, though, he’s got the move covered.

The IAAF World Championships will be the climax to a packed summer and for athletics fans, the signs are that a trip to Qatar will be very worthwhile

The past few months have given a few clues as to what we might be able to expect from this summer’s IAAF World Championships in Doha. First, the host venue of the Khalifa Stadium staged the Asian Championships as a test event in April before May saw the annual Diamond League meeting taking place on the pink track.

Given the fact that around 13,000 people turned up to the latter and that there were impressive early season performances from athletes such as Hellen Obiri, Dina Asher-Smith, Caster Semenya and Daniel Stahl, the signs have been very encouraging ahead of the global event.

David Barnett of Track and Field Tours (trackandfield.co.uk) has attended and organised tour parties for every World Championships to date since the inaugural event took place in 1983. He will be leading a tour for the 2019 edition, too, and travelled to the Qatari capital to see the Diamond League action and gain a perspective of the set-up ahead of September’s showpiece.

He was left impressed and enthused by what he saw and experienced. Here he gives a few of his thoughts.

The Khalifa Stadium

I think the venue is really good. It’s very comfortable. People have been sceptical that it’s going to be too hot but it does have this air conditioning system that really does work. When I was there it was 35 degrees outside the stadium at around five o’clock but inside it was only 24 or 25 degrees.

The acoustics in the stadium are also very good so if you’re a fan going to an event and you want to hear the announcements then they were clear and easy to follow.

The atmosphere

There are over two and half million people in Qatar now – it’s ever-expanding – but there are only 400,000 Qataris in the whole country. Most of the population, therefore, is international or multi-national, so the audience at the Diamond League was a cross-section of people from all over the world. It felt automatically very international, as does most of the city.

At the Diamond League there were Kenyans, Ethiopians, Jamaicans… all jumping up and down and waving flags. There was almost a football supporting kind of fervour.

The women’s 3000m (which saw Kenya’s Hellen Obiri beating Ethiopian Genzebe Dibaba) was brilliant.

Coping with the heat

Everyone says how hot it’s going to be and if they held it in the usual period of August then it would be pretty horrible. But,
having the championships at the end of September means that the outside ambient temperature will be 32-33 degrees during the day.

By the evening it will only drop to around 30 but there will be that air conditioning at the stadium and because it will already be dusk when the sessions start at 4:30, there will be no issues about sitting in the sun for anybody. As a fan, I found it very, very pleasant.

The reality is that in Berlin it got up to 39 degrees on a couple of days during the European Championships last summer, while I remember the 1999 world championships in Spain was also very hot, with people being physically unable to sit in their seat due to the heat at some points.

One session per day should work well

From our experience of looking after thousands of fans for the last 30-odd years, going backwards and forwards to the same place twice a day is sometimes not ideal. For most people who attend major championships it can be like a mass commuting exercise.

However, with Doha having just one session a day, you’re going to get to the stadium around 4:30pm, having had the chance to relax, to do a bit of tourism – and there are a number of things to do.

The stage is set

I’ve attended and organised people at every single world championships since 1983. If the athletes are looked after properly then they are going to compete to the best of their ability regardless of where they are.

The quality of the competition will be great and recent world championships have shown it’s also really good value for money.

I think it’s going to be a really good championships.

The GB international is both organising and competing in the new 5000m Track Challenge

The phrase ‘doubling up’ is becoming increasingly common as more and more athletes tackle multiple distances at major championships. Next month, however, GB international Sam Stabler will be facing a multi-tasking challenge with a difference, writes Lewis Moses.

Rather than tackling two different races, Stabler and his younger brother are part of a small team of event organisers who are hosting the 5000m Track Challenge on July 27 at Nottingham’s Harvey Hadden Stadium. Stabler will not only be working at the event but also racing in the elite men’s field that same evening.

Events such as the 5000m Track Challenge are providing more opportunities for British athletes to chase down fast times.

Asked what motivated Stabler to set up the meeting, he said: “I remember being in Belgium in 2017 and thinking why have we had to travel here (there were about 150 Brits abroad) to race?

“I thought surely we could get our heads together at home and put on a race where people don’t have to travel all over Europe?

“It seemed like a good idea at the time and I thought that even if it costs me a couple of hundred pounds to set up the race then it would be the same as paying to go to Belgium whilst hopefully saving other people a lot of money, too!”

Stabler’s enthusiasm for the event to succeed is clear and he has been helped by figures such as former GB athletes Lewis Moses and Tom Boardman, who have been working in the background, his younger bother Olly as well as James Ecklestan to try and create a night to remember.

“Seeing the success of Highgate (Night of 10,000m PBs) as well as other events and realising what an impact that has had on our sport, made our decision much easier,” adds Stabler. “That, coupled with the fact we have like-minded, enthusiastic people helping with the event has made it much easier to work on and balance my time.”

The elite men’s entry list currently includes 19 athletes with sub-14 minute personal bests, including Stabler, Luke Caldwell, Dewi Griffiths, Philip Sesemann and Alex Teuten.

The women’s field features 11 sub-16 minute runners, including Kate Avery, Sarah Inglis, Calli Thackery, Verity Ockenden and Emily Hosker Thornhill.

Elite entry lists can be found here, while further details on the meeting are at 5ktrackchallenge.co.uk

Watch the quirkier moments from day two at Wimbledon as Angelique Kerber returns to Centre Court and the Duchess of Cambridge makes an appearance.

WATCH MORE: Shocks, slips & a ball to the face - day one funnies

WATCH MORE: Watch the best and worst of Kyrgios as he wins five-setter

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Yorkshire 327 (Fraine 106, Clark 5-77) and 303 for 9 (Lyth 68) lead Surrey 362 (Stoneman 100) by 268 runs

Surrey are back at Scarborough for the second successive season and those Yorkshire spectators who like their Championship cricket hard-bitten might be in the mood to book them in for the next decade. This was the antithesis of the Festival cricket that was once the soul of the town. It was Division One cricket, it mattered and everybody knew it. And a compelling finale could be in prospect as Yorkshire resume with a lead of 268 with the last pair at the crease.

This match has felt too close to call from the outset, but at no time was the contest keener than in a wary fifth-wicket stand of 57 in 26 overs between Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Johnny Tattersall on either side of tea. Yorkshire's lead when they came together was 133, Rikki Clarke having removed Adam Lyth, driving at one angled across him on 68, and Jack Leaning in successive overs.

Spectators dwelt upon Leaning's pair in the match - lbw this time to Clarke as he got too far across to one that swung back a shade - and wondered with good reason if his middle-order place might be vulnerable to Harry Brook. But while they chatted they watched intently, as they always watch. A Scarborough spectator on the popular banking can surreptitiously check their change at the bar and criticise a bowling change at the same moment.

It while attention was at its height that Gareth Batty added his own personal brand of spice; he should come in a little jar with refills available. Batty is Bradford born, educated at Bingley Grammar, but that is no protection from occasional barracking and every time the crowd did so they sharpened him. They would have been better yawning with a faked lack of interest.

Batty is so stingy at giving away the slightest advantage that if he managed one of the amusement arcades on North Bay you would be best advised to visit the one next door where you would lose your money more slowly. His return of 1 for 75 in 30 overs suggest that Yorkshire dealt with him competently enough, but it was a close-run thing.

He possessed two warm-up acts in medium-pacers Ryan Patel and Rikki Clarke. Patel appealed for a catch at the wicket when there was daylight between the ball and Tattersall's outside edge; the crowd's derision was sparked. Clarke followed up with a series of lbw appeals against the same batsman, the slips taking their cue and hamming it up in turn; the derision level went up a further notch.

When the cricket is consequential, Batty comes alive. His face creases with exasperation, making use of every one of his 41 years, he puffs out his cheeks meaningfully in disbelief at a rejected appeal and he considers the minutiae of every delivery as if the world might suddenly end if he moved square leg in the wrong direction. The unsupportive umpire, Ian Blackwell, the same age as Batty, at 41, but a considerably bigger figure than when he retired seven years ago, moved slowly to square leg at the end of the over as if in search of a bit of peace.

"Tek 'im off," came the cry as the new ball loomed. But Batty wasn't takken off. He negotiated two more overs and got his wicket, switching around the wicket to have Kohler-Cadmore stumped for 42 as his back foot strayed momentarily, a rapid reaction from Surrey's stand-in captain and keeper Ben Foakes.

The new ball came after 83 overs, at 242 for 5, and Tattersall fell three overs later, his 38 spanning 103 deliveries, as he fenced at Sam Curran and was caught at first slip. Yorkshire looked vulnerable, their lead 216, four wickets standing, but a foray from David Willey - 43 from 35 balls with eight fours against the new ball - swung the match again.

Throughout it all, a low murmur could be heard around North Marine Road. The cricket is never incidental at Scarborough, but it is an excuse for conversation, including for some who are not by nature conversational. That conversation would extend into the evening in a town that mixes natural grandeur with the downbeat consequences of human frailty, and which often appears to survive hand to mouth, but which for all that with the simple addition of a dual carraigeway the lenth of the A64 remains a place of huge potential, the prince of England's seaside towns.

Northamptonshire 273 and 331 (Vasconcelos 88) beat Sussex 106 (Sanderson 6-37) and 105 (Sanderson 4-18, Hutton 4-32) by 393 runs

Northamptonshire claimed their first County Championship win of the season after Sussex's batsman capitulated for the second time in the match to lose by a record 393 runs at Hove.

Having been bowled out for 106 in their first innings, Sussex fared even worse as they were dismissed for 105 after another abject batting performance. Their margin of defeat was the heaviest in their history in a County Championship game.

Sussex's coach Jason Gillespie, who is desperately seeking the right formula in both batting and bowling ranks for a county plagued by inconsistency, said: "That was an unacceptable performance and there has to be a lot of self reflection as individuals on areas where we have to improve. We didn't score enough runs and the lads have to work out what they can do better to get the job done.

"We haven't batted well enough obviously but yesterday afternoon I thought our body language and our bowling was very disappointing and we allowed Northants to take the game away from us.

"I can't take anything away from them - Ben Sanderson and Brett Hutton bowled really, really well - but we were blown away again today. We need to be better all round. There was a great opportunity today for someone to put a big score on the board and we weren't able to do that. We need more lads to put their hands up than guys like Ollie Robinson and Ben Brown. We've had a couple of tough games but we need to be better."

They seemed to be making a better fist of things when Varun Chopra and Luke Wells took the score to 35 for 1 but Sussex then lost nine wickets for 70 runs with Ben Sanderson and Brett Hutton again wreaking havoc.

Sanderson's 4 for 18 in two spells included the 200th first-class wicket of his career. He finished with match figures of 10 for 50 while Hutton improved on his 3 for 47 in the first innings by taking 4 for 32 in the second to finish with a match haul of 7 for 79.

There were boos from some Sussex supporters when a second successive defeat was confirmed shortly after 4pm. Although they remain third in Division Two they have played a game more than most of their rivals, many of whom could overtake them depending on results in the other matches which finish on Wednesday.

Once again Sussex's batsmen were like rabbits in the headlights against a relentless Northamptonshire attack who found a consistent length and enough seam movement and swing to take nine wickets in 19 overs during the afternoon session.

Sussex began their notional pursuit of a target of 499 25 minutes before lunch but they didn't get to the interval unscathed with Phil Salt pinned in Hutton's second over for one of three ducks in the innings.

The experienced Chopra, who is on loan from Essex, and Wells, negotiated 12 overs either side of lunch but when Wells (11) nibbled fatally at Hutton's away-swing the innings went into a dramatic tail spin.

Laurie Evans (3) became Hutton's third victim and with the score still on 41 Chopra (22) was caught behind off Nathan Buck, who then had Delray Rawlins (8) taken mid-off off a mis-timed pull.

Skipper Ben Brown decided to go down fighting, hitting five fours and two sixes - both in the only over bowled by off-spinner Rob Keogh - as he dominated a sixth-wicket stand of 28 with David Wiese.

But when Sanderson returned to the attack Sussex's last five wickets disappeared for 13 runs with Sanderson removing Wiese and Will Beer in the space of three balls before Keogh clung on to a good catch in the gully to remove Brown for 46 in the paceman's next over.

Sanderson finished things off by bowling Aaron Thomason, Hutton having picked up his fourth wicket when wicketkeeper Adam Rossington held his fourth catch of the innings to remove Ollie Robinson.

Earlier, Buck hit a 59-ball half-century as Northants added a further 119 runs during the morning session before being bowled out for 331. Resuming on 212 for 4, they lost their first three wickets to Robinson, who finished with match figures of 10 for 132. His performance was the lone positive for Sussex.

Buck was dismissed two balls after reaching his half-century when he top-edged a pull at Abi Sakande before left-arm spinner Rawlins picked up two wickets to finish with 3 for 34.

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Warwickshire 400 for 3 (Sibley 207*, Rhodes 109) trail Kent 585 for 7 dec (Bell-Drummond 166, Dickson 161) by 185 runs

Warwickshire's Dominic Sibley's found claims that he had become the first batsman to reach 1,000 first-class runs for the season put under scrutiny as Glamorgan's Marnus Labuschagne also laid claim to the honour.

But what was abundantly clear was that Sibley - like Labuschagne - underlined that he is an Ashes contender as Kent's bowlers continued their thankless toil on day three of this Specsavers County Championship run-fest in Canterbury.

Sibley's record includes runs in the pre-season opener to the county season between MCC and the Champion County which was traditionally staged at Lord's but which now takes place in the UAE.

In a phenomenal display of concentration and will power, Sibley, the 23-year-old former Surrey batsman, took his total crease occupation to almost nine hours in reaching an unbeaten 207 from 409 balls and 31 fours.

After his marathon innings a delighted Sibley said: "We've played on some tough wickets this year and I was thinking about this opportunity a lot last night, and I told myself that I really needed to make the most of this chance."

As for his chances of forcing his name into the hat for potential Ashes selection, Sibley added: "A lot of people are chatting about it and there's a bit of hype surrounding my name, but I just want to keep batting and scoring runs. It's really that simple. If I keep batting and stay in the grove then who knows? We'll see what happens."

The World Cup has quickened conversation around Jason Roy but England are also watching Sibley - and neither England opening berth is pinned down with the likes of Keaton Jennings and Rory Burns the current incumbents.

Sibley's stoical innings helped Warwickshire to close on a season's best 400 for 3 off 143 overs as the visitors responded to Kent's summer's-best total of 585 for 7 declared.

Against a fellow Division One county in distress, which has had to resort to several loan signings to keep body and soul together, Kent have somehow produced one of the flattest pitches of the season.

Sibley and his opening partner Will Rhodes took advantage of the most placid batting conditions of the season to post a record opening stand of 221 in first-class matches between Kent and Warwickshire.

Having resumed on 142 without loss, Kent introduced the off-spin of Ollie Rayner after an hour but Rhodes swept his fifth delivery for a boundary to take Warwickshire past 196 - their previous best championship opening stand against Kent recorded by Dominic Ostler and Roger Twose at Edgbaston in 1989.

Rhodes again swept Rayner for his 14th boundary to reach his first century of the summer from 218 balls, but, only nine runs later, the left-hander chased a wide, full delivery from Grant Stewart to be caught behind for 109.

After lunch, Rob Yates succumbed to the second new ball when he nibbled outside off against Darren Stevens to be caught at slip as Kent's attack, which had hitherto banked maximum bowling points in every game, missed out completely.

Sibley, who became marooned in the 90s for 48 minutes, finally reached three-figures after tea with a clip to the mid-wicket ropes. The 10th century of his first-class career came off 241 balls and included 16 fours.

Kent made their next breakthrough when Sam Hain (40) aimed to glance against Harry Podmore only to be caught off a fine edge by Ollie Robinson, the in-form Kent keeper, diving way to his left.

Sibley ploughed on however, moving past his previous best score for Warwickshire of 144 not out scored against Sussex at Hove last season. He then went onto the back-foot to pull a Podmore bumper for four to reach 175 for his 1,000th first-class run of the season.

The landmark boundary also took him past Nick Knight's 174 scored against Kent at Canterbury in 1995, Warwickshire's highest individual score in matches between the two counties.

Sibley's record-breaking continued when, just before stumps, he reached the third double century of his career and his first for Warwickshire from 406 balls and with 30 fours as he and Adam Hose cut Kent's first-innings lead to 185 runs.

Though Kent could only manage to pick up one wicket in each of the three sessions, they will take some solace in restricting the Bears to only three batting bonus points as the dogfight to avoid championship relegation continues.

However, a final day of leather-chasing awaits Heino Kuhn's side on Wednesday, when Sibley will have one eye on surpassing his career-best 242, scored for his native Surrey against Yorkshire at The Kia Oval in 2013.