Welcome to Hel... Day 2

So as we get ready for a second day's action from Finland, including the climax of the women's Heptathlon and showpiece event, the men's 100m final, "The Goose" fills us in on the views and gossip track-side...

Moment of the day had to be Carolina Kluft, battling against injury and all odds to set a lifetime best in the Shot Put element of the Heptathlon.

Kluft, who had been a good hundred points behind, ended the day only 2 points off Eunice Barber and could have even led were it not for a wonderful 200m from the 30 year-old Frenchwoman.

"She proved today that she's a real fighter", enthused Angus as he struggled to tame a spontaneously channel-hopping hotel television.

"When she threw the shot past 15m, the whole stadium went nuts... She deserves to win on that performance alone, although Barber is as strong as her in two of tomorrow's events (Long Jump and Javelin),

"But it begs the question, what on earth was her trainer doing making her bounce off steeplechase barriers over hurdles with her feet bound together, the day before the world championships? ".

Indeed. And will her ankle hold up?

"Well the Javelin will be a toughie, as will of course the long jump. If Kluft does manage it, memories of Denise Lewis finishing the 800m all strapped up will be evoked."

The talk is of Paula Radcliffe smiling in defeat after she was out-foxed and out-sprinted by the Ethiopians in the 10,000m on Saturday. While many predicted a Dibaba dominated affair, Paula continued the line that her focus remains on the marathon, deciding not to try and keep with them when it got "really fast".

Endearingly her head continued to bob after the race and throughout the 15 minutes when she obligingly gave interviews after finishing the gruelling race.

While trying to negotiate the safest window-pool trajectory for the offending television, Angus informs me that the Shot Put provided the "most entertainment" of the day, with the big guys adding a healthy dose of emotion to proceedings.

Special mention must go to perennial "nearly-man" and eventual winner Adam Nelson, the double Olympic and double World silver medallist showing unbridled aggression in his throws yet crying like a girl when he realised he'd won, to rapturaous applause even from IAAF committee members. We'll stop short of calling him Metro-boy though.

No, not Bermudan legend Shaun Goater, but self-proclaimed Greatest Of All Tilme, the shy and retiring Maurice Greene "s trutting in and out of press conferences and meetings utterly unrelated to him" (Women's Pole Vault?!). Just why is he here exactly? Always good value though.

The invincible Isinbayeva may be without peer at jumping over stuff using big sticks but she struggled quite heavily under interrogation from Angus, requiring constant help from a translator. Not that we're saying her English is poor (it isn't), but that the Goose's dulcet Estuary tones and "Bad Cop Bad Cop" interview technique may have startled her somewhat.

And while we will skirt quite carefully around the most controversial incident of the day (unlike the Daily Mail, we can't quite afford to be sued until the next financial year), the "are they on drugs or what?" award goes to the organisers of the local televison media bash, a buffet dinner in a trendy warehouse location complemented by an acapella covers band whose highlights were cover versions of Bon Jovi hits and Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal"...