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Opinion

PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK
It was great to see Russia's Liliya Shobukhova striding away to win the London Marathon - and equally sad that Britain's Mara Yamauchi couldn't repeat her feats of last year when she was a worthy second.
But then, Mara's preparations for the big event were rather upset after she became a victim of the flight chaos that followed the Icelandic volcanic eruptions.
Given the circumstances, the Japan-based athlete did well to get into the top ten of what is one of the world's major marathons.
By contrast, Shobukhova was able to run a great race and use the finishing power she has picked up from middle distance running.
The European 5,000m track record holder is becoming quite a formidable marathon expert after winning last year's Chicago Marathon - another of the five global "majors" - and certainly seems to be a match for the hitherto dominant Africans.
All in all, the event turned out to be one of the best of recent times - with the London drizzle helping to produce good conditions for the elites while it did little to dampen the enthusiasm of the 37,000 runners in the field.
As ever, there was a a fair smattering of celebrities having a go, which always adds another dimension to the quite engrossing TV coverage on the BBC. more opinions

EVENT OF THE WEEK
Global showcases of sport have always produced gate-crashers that seem to have no right to be at the party.
But sporting minnows, from Zaire - at the 1974 football World Cup - to Lithuania - on the verge of rugby union World Cup qualification - add something utterly glamorous and unexpected to the world's biggest sporting stages.
The latest underdogs to upset the balance of sporting power are the cricketers of war-torn Afghanistan, who have made history by qualifying for the Twenty20 World Cup, which gets underway in the Caribbean later this week.
It's a remarkable achievement for a country that has been blasted apart by conflict since the late 1970s and didn't even have a cricket board until 1995.
Indeed, the game was only introduced to exiled Afghanis in neighbouring Pakistan in the 1980s.
It is the children of these cricketing pioneers that have brought so much kudos to their country by taking their place among the 12 teams battling for glory in the West Indies.
To progress beyond the initial stages though, Afghanistan will have to overcome past winners India (on Saturday) and then South Africa (May 5).
But the Afghans are undaunted by the prospect of playing these two mighty nations and are promising to do themselves justice. We'll see!

Quote, Unquote

"Greatrun embark on many complex and time critical campaigns to deliver world class events and 13 Strides has been instrumental in helping us achieve our targets, offering expertise in a friendly and constructive manner against demanding schedules and always delivering high quality products and services."

Chris Kewin
I.T. Director, Nova International