These last 3 days of the WOMEN's side of the Beijing World Championships began with a WALK, but ended with a wild mad SPRINT kick in its closing moments!
Let's take a look.
The 20000 Meters Walk led off Day 7 of this 9 day extravaganza, and even this mostly criticized, and even ignored, event gave up some truly interesting moments.
Like at the finish line??
YES!
Two Chinese women Walked into the Bird's Nest, for their final few hundred meters---TALKING to each other!!
Which they'd BEEN doing for a few hundred meters before that!!
Seems they were negotiating WHO should get WHICH medal!
Well, turns out China respects its elders, so the younger (21 years old) Xiuzhi Lu told the older (28) Hong Liu "It's yours, Oh Ancient One!", and let her take Gold, though both were given the same time--1:27:45.
The 2 American's Walked better than ever, place-wise, in a Major Championship situation.
Maria Michta-Coffey took 20th (though she had the same time as the woman in 19th!), while Miranda Melville ended in 26th.
Michta (She was still just Michta then!) ended in 34th in Moscow!
Young (just turned 20) Anezka Drahatova was up with the leaders, but faded in the last half, finishing 8th.
There were 42 finishers.
The Q'ing for the Javelin Throw had one good mark.
Christina Hussong's 216-3 throw rates her 20th A-T World, tied with 1 other!
Brittany Borman led her Flight with 210-8, close to her PR!
What happened to the American 100 Hurdlers in the Semi's??
TOO MUCH!!
Picked by about 99.9% of "experts" and "average" fans alike to SWEEP the medals, the WRECKAGE of these Semi rounds left US hopes in the same condition you see many of the actual hurdles after a race---DOWN and CRUSHED!!
Dawn Harper-freakin'-Nelson was a--a---a DNF!!
Kendra Harrison didn't even get to run---She False-Started!!
Sharika Nelvis made it through, ending 2nd to the fastest time of 12.58, run by Jamaica's Danielle Williams!
Nelvis ran 12.59.
Another "sort of" American--newly transported to Great Britain to join her OTHER former American sister, Tiffany Porter--Cindy Ofili--also failed to advance to the Final!
One who I'd HOPED would make it through--I wanted to see her wild dance routine again!--but didn't, was Australia's Number Two High Hurdler, Michelle Jenneke.
But she ran a decent 13.02.
The Long Jump had some great back and forth competition between the eventual top 3.
Ivana Spanovic took an early lead, hitting the sand at 7.01, or 23-0.
Then came Shara Proctor, who edged ahead with her 7.07 leap, the English measure being 23-2.50.
But it was Tianna Bartoletta who had the final say, hitting 23-5.25 (7.14) on her last attempt!
Bartoletta becomes 24th A-T World, tied with 1 other.
She remains 4th A-T US.
Proctor broke her own National Record of Great Britain!
And Spanovic also got an NR, her's from Serbia.
It breaks her own mark.
Then came the 200.
How to describe it?
The best Women's 200 EVER?
(One argues that the Flojo explosion in 1988 was maybe on the same level as what happened with the Chinese distance runners in 1993!!)
Whatever you call it, it was utterly MAGNIFICENT!!
What a RACE!!!
Elaine Thompson, with a best of 22.10 coming in, blew up the curve, entering the straight a bit ahead of Dafne Schippers, who also had yet to get under 22 seconds.
Then the long legs and torso of Schippers accelerated a la Usain Bolt, gaining on ET with every long powerful step she took, finally moving JUST past her right before the tape.
Their times of 21.63 and 21.66 were almost unbelievable!
Yes, Allyson Felix had run 21.69 recently, but she'd run sub-22's before, so it didn't shock much to see her run another one!
These blew our minds!!
Not only that, but 3 others ran very fast--even if their times belonged to the group called "mere mortals".
Veronica Campbell-Brown continued her strong 2015, ending in 3rd with 21.97.
Then came Candyce McGrone, hitting another PR, time of 22.01.
And 19 year old Dina Asher-Smith also PR'ed, running 22.07.
Let's break down the destruction done to my T&F Record Book.
Thompson got the best-ever 2nd Place mark!
Asher-Smith nabbed the 5th Place record.
Both Schippers and Thompson are 23.
So it's Dafne who gets the Age 23 record--by 0.03 seconds!
Dina gets yet another Age 19 record--and this one makes her the fastest teenager---whether at altitide or sea level!!
Schippers's Age record broke Lorraine Moller's mark, which had stood since 1987!
Of course Schippers gets the WC Meet Record.
(BTW, the MR was also held by Moller!! The same record she broke in the Age Record department!!)
She also lowers her own National Record of the Netherlands.
Asher-Smith is the new National Record holder of Great Britain!
But Thompson JUST missed the venerable Merlene Ottey's Jamaican NR--by 0.02 seconds!!
Both Schippers and Thompson are now on my 100-200 Combined Events list, in 4th and 5th, respectively, although Thompson is tied with 1 other!
Schippers's 10.81 and 21.63 add to 32.44.
ET's 10.84 and 21.66 come to 32.50.
Finally (in this ONE event!!), we have some movement on my World DDD list.
Dafne is now 3rd A-T World!
Elaine is 5th A-T World.
(Remember, neither was even ON the list prior to this day's race!!)
Oh yes, Ms McGrone moves from 12th to 10th, tied with 1 other, on the A-T US list!
Moved OFF my World list was Sherone Simpson--who just happened to finish 8th in this race!!
Irony!
From one mind-bending event to another!
Yes, I speak of the Final of the 100H.
A US Sweep??
HA!
Not only was the US of A itself shut out of the medals, but so were those 2 FORMER Americans, the sisters Porter-Ofili!!
What a day!
Danielle Williams repeated her Semi's "win", taking Gold with her 12.57.
Cindy Roleder of Germany took 2nd.
And Alina Talay of Belarus took the Bronze.
Talay's 12.66 is the National Record of Belarus.
The 2 surviving (an appropriate word!) Americans, Brianna Rollins and Sharika Nelvis, finished 4th (12.67) and 8th (LAST!!--13.06).
Oh man!
In the 4X400 Relay Heats, the US team of Phyllis Francis, Jessica Beard, SRR, and Fran McCorory had the fastest time of 3:23.05.
The 4X100 Relay Heats produced several Records.
While Jamaica had the fastest time--41.84--and the US, in a separate heat, ran 42.00, neither set any new standards.
Trinidad did.
Their 42.24 breaks their National Record.
The Netherlands 42.32 gets their National Record.
And Canada's 42.60 breaks their NR.
On the World Top 24 list, Trinidad is now 10th, tied with 1 other.
The Netherlands is 13th A-T World.
And Canada is now 17th A-T World.
The HJ Final was close.
In fact, all 3 medalists jumped 6-7, or 2.01.
But they were separated by misses, so Maria Kuchina was 1st, Blanka Vlasic 2nd, with Anna Chicherova getting 3rd.
Chicherova tied the Age 23 record.
Marie-Laurence Jungfleisch, who jumped 6-6.25, got 6th.
AND the best-ever mark for that Place!
Remember that 3rd heat of the 800 Semi's?
The one where Melissa Bishop destroyed the Canada NR (and her PR!), and all eight finished in 1:59.33 or faster!
Well, talk about anti-climactic happenings!
This race, the FINAL, was won by Marina Arzamasova in 1:58.03.
Bishop took Silver in 1:58.12.
And much-favored Eunice Sum took 3rd, running 1:58.18.
Eighth was run in 1:59.70.
Can we please exchange that SEMI race for THIS one??
(BTW, Sum led at 400 in 59.10! Where's Alysia Montano when you most need her??)
Then we had the Final of the 4X100 Relay!
The SHOWDOWN!!
HIGH NOON!!
After MUCH speculation---and loud grumbling!--about who would make up the American team, the race itself became so much easier to prognosticate.
The US squad would be English Gardner, Allyson Felix, Jenna Prandini, and Jasmine Todd.
That's right, folks!
75% of that US team would have DEEP roots in the University of Oregon, past and present!
And THAT may have been the reason why they lost to Jamaica's brilliantly executed 41.07, anchored by the green-braided SAFP, who EXPLODED past Todd like Todd was standing still!!
The US was timed in 41.68.
Jamaica's time is the new Meet Record.
It's also their new National Record!
But they remain 2nd A-T World.
Trinidad, who took 3rd in 42.03, got an NR too.
They move from 10th A-T World, tied with 1 other, to 7th.
Great Britain's 4th place time of 42.10 is yet another National Record!
But they remain in 10th on the A-T World list, tied with 1 other.
The Netherlands, with Dafne Schippers running a strong 2nd leg (against Felix!!), was DQ'ed!!
Russia was a DNF.
The Marathon started off the 9th day of competition with a GREAT sprint finish inside the Bird's Nest!!
Yep, it wasn't truly decided until the FOUR leaders---Yes, I said FOUR!!--were on the track INSIDE the stadium, listening to the tremendous roar of the happy crowd!
In the end, it was a DIBABA (Mare) who won, hitting the tape in 2:27:35, one second (!!) ahead of another famous name, Helah KIPROP!!
And sorry, but neither is related to their more famous namesakes, Tirunesh/Genzebe, or Asbel!!
Eunice Kirwa took the Bronze, running 2:27:39, while 4th--in 2:27:42--was Jemini Sumgong.
Fifth was the renowned Edna Kiplagat, who ended her run in 2:27:48..
Two Americans ran good races.
After Heather Lieberg became a DNF somewhere between 5 and 10K, Serena Burla and Esther Erb continued on, ending finally in 10th (Burla's 2:31:06) and 24th (Erb's 2:38:15).
Erb moved up gradually throughout the race, gaining a few spots each 5K, starting at 40th at the 5K mark!
Burla was right up front with the lead group through halfway, before falling back---though not disastrously!!
There were 52 finishers.
Dibaba's splits were 1:15:17 and 1:12:18.
The Javelin throw was won with a mark of 222-1 by Kathrin Molitor.
She becomes 8th A-T World!!
Second was China's Huihui Lyu's 216-11.
It's the new National Record of China.
She moves from 24th to 21st on the A-T World list!
Kara Winger finished 8th, throwing just under 200 feet (199-9).
Christina Obergfoll, one of the favorites, finished 4th.
This has been a World Championships wherein the distance races have been dominated by AMAZING within-the-larger-race---for want of a better term---Time Trials!
Think of Genzebe Dibaba's 1:56.9 800 in her 1500 Final.
Or Mo Farah's final 1000 of 2:19.19 in his 5000 Final!
Well, here, it was Almaz Ayana who did the honors.
After a snail's paced opening K of 3:02, the pace actually SLOWED to a 3:04, as they came through 2000 in 6:06.92, barely on par with a good Collegiate race!
Then the fun began.
Ayana and Genzebe were playing games, along with a gang of stalkers, at that point.
(Those "stalkers" included Mercy Cherono, Sembere Teferi, Viola Kibiwot, Susan Kuijken, and lone American, Nicole Tully!)
As soon as they hit 2K, Ayana moved.
After a lap in 66.0, she upped the ante to 65.03, and THAT was the decisive move AWAY from Dibaba, who just, after three 1500's and a 5000 Heat, maybe didn't have enough fuel left in the tank to take up Ayana's daring challenge.
Suffice to say, Ayana's final 3 K's were run in 2:48.71, 2:43.62 (!!), and an eased up near the finish 2:47.58!
Her total time for that last 3000?
Would you believe 8:19.91?
You BETTER believe it, baby!!
She RAN 8:19.91 for her LAST 3000!!
If that segment could somehow be extricated from the race, and legalized as acceptable by the IAAF, it would rank her FIFTH All-Time World--behind just those 4 Chinese women who ran those sensational times in 1993.
And I'm not counting Dibaba's own INdoor time of 8:16.60!!
In contrast, Dibaba's final 3000 was 8:37.47.
Teferi's was slightly faster--8:36.14.
BTW, Ayana's last 2000 added to 5:31.20!!
That's ALSO a mind-blower!!
Ayana's final time of 14:26.83 is the new World Championships Meet Record!
Teferi's time was 14:44.07.
Dibaba finished 3rd, just 0.07 seconds behind Teferi.
She was followed by Kibiwot, who ran 14:46.16.
They were the only ones under 15:00.
Mercy Cherono's 15:01.36 led the back-seaters.
Tully finished in 13th, running 15:27.42.
What could stand as a better closing event to this sensational meet than a fierce duel between the teams from the United States and Jamaica in the 4X400 Relay??
And they delivered.
On the opening leg, it was Christine Day vs SRR.
The Big Money was on Sanya.
HA!
Clearly NOT in the same 49+ shape she was in 2-3 months ago, she struggled through a 51.5, while Day opened a full second faster!
And the attack continued on the 2nd leg, with Jamaica's Shericka Jackson running 49.4, ALSO a full second faster than the American, name of Natasha Hastings, who is normally more reliable on relays!
Then came Stephanie McPherson against the 400 open winner, Allyson Felix!
At the hand-off's, Jamaica was about 25 meters ahead, with Felix having a LOT of track space to make up.
But she ran this the same way she ran the open race---sprinting the first 200 HARD!!
By the 200 point of her leg, she'd narrowed the gap to 5 meters!!
And she didn't let up---much!
By the final straight, she had caught McPherson (who would run a decent time of 50.19!!).
By the time she handed off to Fran McCorory (whose opponent would be Novlene Williams-Mills), everybody was AGOG, and trying to figure just how fast Felix had run!
General consensus---supported by the IAAF's "official" leg times--was that she'd split a---47.72!!
You heard me, I said 47.72!!
That's only the fastest Relay 400 ever recorded!!
And if run in an open race, would be second only to the WORLD RECORD of Marita Koch!!
(And yes, I KNOW Relay splits are NOT too reliably acceptable as fact!!)
But still, 47 freakin' 72!!
In the real world, McCorory became stiff in the last 70 meters, finally losing to W-M's 49.14 closer.
McC had run 49.93.
Jamaica's time was 3:19.13.
The US ran 3:19.44.
Great Britain was over 4 seconds back.
Canada's 3:27.69 rates as the best-ever 8th Place time!
WHEW!!!
One can't overlook the incredible SEGMENTS of full races as being some of the true highlights of the Women's side of these last 3 days.
Ayana's 8:19.91.
Felix's 47.72.
They trumped the rest of the goodies, which included the tight finishes in the HJ, Marathon, and the Walk.
The worst "segments" have to include the FIRST parts of that self-same 5K race!
Also considered should be the contrast between the 800 Semi and Final, with the Final coming up with the losing numbers.
Not to mention the almost complete MELTDOWN of America's Sprint Hurdlers!
But one can't deny that this meet---and here I'm talking of BOTH genders!!---was one of, if not THE best of all 15 of them!!
Speaking of the best and the worst, my NEXT post will delve into just that question!
Yes, there's going to be yet ANOTHER post about this WC!
That should be posted in the next 48 hours---BEFORE we get back to the DL's and some other smaller meets still on the schedule!
Hope you liked my coverage of these Championships!
I enjoyed putting it together!
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