Andy Baddeley, Britain's top 1500m runner this season, a part-time lecturer at St Mary's, Twickenham, just failed to repeat his Dream Mile victory in Oslo in the Emsley Carr mile meeting at Crystal Palace on Friday night.

Baddley seemed to have timed his finish to perfection as he stormed down the finishing straight closing the gap on Kenyan Shedrack Korir. Baddeley, who was just 1.08 seconds behind the Kenyan, said: "That went almost as expected except I planned to finish first. It has given me a lot of confidence.

"I was quite confident on the lap but he (Korir) just kept going quicker. Training has gone as well as you can expect. Everyone is telling me the standard is going to be extremely high in Beijing so in order to compete I have to raise my own level."

Australian Craig Mottram, who Baddeley has benefited from training for the past two years, was fourth in a season's best of 3:55.44.

* John Fisher old boy Martyn Rooney finally achieved his ambition of beating the 45-second mark with a superb 400m victory. He controlled the race from lane four to hit the front around the half-way marking, entering the finishing straight with a big lead. He stopped the clock at 44.83, to confirm his ranking as Europe's top 400m runner to lift himself to 10th on the UK all-time list.

"Running at my own track - I only live a couple of miles down the road, a time comfortably under 45 seconds was just perfect. It was great to do it at Crystal Palace as the local boy. It's great to run a pb. I'm so happy. Now I hope to do the business in Beijing. I'll be upset if I don't make the final and once you are in the final anything could happen. I am really looking forward to it."

* Belgrave's Phillips Idowu, the 2008 world leader and firm favourite for the triple jump gold medal in Beijing, took the opening three rounds to sort out his run-up and take control at Crystal Palace. He then showed impressive consistency with leaps of 17.41, 17.34 and 17.42 to easily win the contest.

"I realised I was hitting the long jump board so I was collapsing on the step phase. I had to make sure I was really solid on the ground. I've been saying all year that I feel, regardless of whatever anyone else does, I'm not going to lose. I can't envisage myself being beaten," he said.

"It was a nice way to finish before Beijing but I hope there's no long jump board or else I'm going to have to work on hopping and stepping to avoid it!"

* Teddington-based 5000m hope Mo Farah had a bit of a roller-coaster race in the 3000m. With three laps to go he went into the lead but then, just over a lap later, fell back to sixth, the position he finished in. However, he clocked a season's best of 7:43.26.

"That was tough. I eased down prior to the race but today showed I still need more speed work. I feel strong but it would be nice to run a little faster," said Farah.

"All has gone well for Beijing and I feel confident."

Twickenham-based Scott Overall and St Mary's European under 23 cross country bronze medallist Andy Vernon clocked lifetime bests in finishing eighth and 10th in 7:48.92 and 7:55.41, respectively.

* St Mary's World junior 1500m champion Steph Twell, one of three British representatives in the women's 1500m in Beijing, clocked a season's best in finishing fifth in the women's 30000m in 8:58.45.

* Belgrave's British number one women's javelin thrower Goldie Sayers, ranked sixth in the world this year, was just below her best in finishing second with 63.82m.

"I felt really good in the first three rounds but I hurt my left Achilles which played on my mind for the rest of the competition," said Sayers. "I'll need a bit more than that but overall I've got to be pleased with my third best ever throw. I know there's much more to come and can't wait for Beijing."

* Belgrave's Samson Oni, who just missed out on an Olympic team place and a late addition to the competition, was ninth in the high jump with a disappointing 2.20m.

* Wallington-based wheelchair racer David Weir, selected for five events in the Paralympic Games in Beijing, sprinted away off the final bend to win the 1500m in 3:18.8.

* Sutton-based Andy Turner finished a disappointing sixth in the sprint hurdles in 13.72, well outside his season's best of 13.41. "I've had a problem all week with my hamstring. At one point during warm-up I had actually decided not to run," said Turner.

"I'm happy to have got through unscathed and hopefully it should all be sorted by Beijing."

* Sutton and District's Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, who is in Britain' Olympic sprint relay squad, failed to reach the 100m final finishing fourth in his heat in 10.27.