Shocks swirl around WC Women--Days 1 to 3

Yes, SHOCKS did indeed swirl around the heads (and FEET--more on that in just a minute!) on the WOMEN's side of the initial 3 days of the Beijing World Championships.
See my NOTES from my MEN's report for the format I'm using.
But briefly, I'm reporting on EVERY event--whether Qualifying for Field events, or Heats, Semi's, and Finals of Track races!
I will NOT repeat the word "WOMEN's" in front of every event, as EVERY event here is from the Women's side!

Those "FEET" I mentioned?
Well, it was ONE foot, actually, and then just a centimeter or two of  a "foot" that caused the probable WINNER of the Heptathlon to get ZERO points in the Long Jump.

Katerina Johnson-Thompson (KJT) was down to her last of 3 jumps in the Hept's 5th event, after fouling twice.
She sped all-out down the runway, leapt into the air, landing at what everyone says was either 6.85 or 6.90 long, which would have been worth 1122 or 1139 points.
That total would've put her either a point behind Jessica Ennis-Hill, who was then leading, or ahead of her by about 15 points!

BUT it was ruled another foul, as the judges ruled she touched the plasticine.
She finished the final 2 events, but JUST to finish, NOT to really compete!
(She jogged the 800 in 2:50!!)

And the new Mom is BACK!!
Ennis-Hill was strong throughout in her then-3 way battle with KJT and Ashton Eaton's wife, Brianne Theisen-Eaton.

While the event didn't end until the 2nd day, it really was the first FINAL, as all 7 of the events in the Hept are "finals".
Thus my reporting it first!!

JEH's total was 6669.
BTE was 2nd with 6554.
(KJT ended with 5039!)

Laura Ikauniece-Admidina had 6516 points, for the National Record of Latvia!

Nadine Visser led the 1st event, the 100H, with a PR of 12.81.

Sharon Day-Monroe was the top American, in 14th.
Barbara Nwaba DNF'ed the 100H, but continued on, scoring 5315 in 27th place.
Erica Bougard DNS'ed the 800, but scored 5140 points for 6 events.

Seems the Men weren't the only ones running quick times in Heats.
Genzebe Dibaba cut loose for a 4:02.59 in her Heat of the 1500.
It's reportedly the fastest-ever 1500 Heat ever run!!
Faith Kipyegon was right behind her, running 4:02.77.

All 4 Americans (one Wild Card) passed through to the Semi's.

The Triple Jump Qualifying went as expected.
Caterine Ibarguen led them all, and the lone American, Christina Epps, didn't qualify!
(She jumped just 43-10!)

Another event that went almost EXACTLY as expected was the Valerie Adams-less Shot Put.
In her absence, her arch-rival Christina Schwanitz took the Gold with a good, but "average" toss of 66-10

But it was Li Gong of China who led the first round with her 66-7.25.
Schwanitz got her winner in round 3.
Michelle Carter, Bronze winner, got her 64-10 best in round 2.

Anita Marton's 63-11 is the National Record of Hungary!

Nothing strange happened in the 400H Heats.
Cassandra Tate had the fastest time, running 54.27.
All of the Americans made it to the Semi's.

As with the Men, the 100 Heats were quick.
In separate Heats, Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce (SAFP) and Tori Bowie got the fastest times, both running 10.88.

Mujinga Kambundji broke her own National Record of Switzerland with her 11.17.
She advanced.

But Verena Sailer did not!

Yawn.
Genzebe Dibaba had the fastest 1500 Semi time--a 4:06.74.--about 4 seconds slower than her Heat time!
Most of the "players" made it to the Final, except for Laura Weightman, who fell and bruised herself at the finish line, and was unable to continue.
She wasn't hurt bad--just enough to cause her to withdraw from the Final!

Americans Kerri Gallagher and Lauren Johnson missed making the final also, although both came fairly close, missing Automatic and/or time advancers by slim margins!

That amazing new Mother--Demi Payne--missed 3 times at 4.45 (14-7.25) in the Qualifying for Pole Vault!
(She said she might continue competing in the last DL's or other meets after the WC's!)

Meanwhile, 3 other good Vaulters also didn't make it through.
Failing were Ekaterina Stefanidi, Silke Spiegelburg, and Tina Sutej.
The other 2 Americans advanced.
Fourteen (instead of the normal 12) advanced to the Final!

Two of the 3 Americans--Shelbi Vaughan just missing!--moved on to the Final of the Discus Throw.
As expected, Denia Caballero and Sandra Perkovic led the Q's.

The 3000 Steeplechase Heats made news---of a sort.
For the first time in the VERY brief history of either Olympic Games or World Championship Steepling, ALL of the Americans moved on to the Final!!
However, a "former" American--and now Jamaican--Aisha Praught got DQ'ed!
She apparently took a step or two on the infield.

Habiba Ghribi had the fastest time, a 9:24.38.
All of the Qualifiers ran sub-9:30's!!

One of those was India's Lalita Babar, whose 9:27.86 is the new India National Record!

While not as spectacular as the Men's, the Heats of the 400 brought quite a few speedy times.
Stephanie McPherson led the way with her 50.34.
But TEN women ran under 51 seconds!!
In the HEATS!!

All 3 Americans moved on--all running under 51.

One other who did was Kenya's Joyce Zahary, whose 50.71 is her nation's new National Record!
(Imagine if she decides to move up to the 800!!  An instant 1:56??)

The 400H were also fast, except these were the Semi's, not the Heats!
Zuzana Hejnova led the group with her 54.24, just 0.03 faster than Cassandra Tate's leading Heat time!
But here, EIGHT women got under 55 seconds!

One of those who didn't--in fact, she DNF'ed!--was Kori Carter.
The other Americans made it to the Final.

The Triple Jump Final went almost as expected.
Caterine Ibarguen won a close battle with Hanna Kryazyeva-Mininko and Olga Rypakova.
Their jumps were 48-10.75, 48-6, and 48-5.50.

K-M's (Silver winner!) 48-6 is the National Record of Israel.

The 100 Semi's produced more fast times.
(China should try to use the Bird's Nest for more big time meets.  The wind factor is almost non-existent, and it's a beautiful stadium.  I'm sure many athletes would LOVE to return there!!)

Anyway, SAFP--with her gaudy GREEN hair and other decorative accoutrements--had the fastest time with her 10.82.
Five women ran under 10.90.
Nine were under 11.00.

Dafne Schippers---and let's remember, she a "former" STAR Heptathlete!!--sped 10.83 for a new Netherlands National Record.

And Mujinga Kambundji keeps getting better!
I don't know how many times she's set new Switzerland NR's, but her latest came here.
She sped 11.07 for the latest NR!

Three major names didn't make it through--English Gardner, Murielle Ahoure, and Jasmine Todd.
(Todd will be in the Long Jump, however, later in the meet!  And maybe the Relay too??)
BTW, Gardner and Todd not making it means that two DUCKS aren't all they're QUACKED up to be!!
(Sorry.  Couldn't resist!  LOL)

As I said in my MEN's report, hang in there, we're almost finished!!

The 10000--especially one without the Dibaba sisters (Tirunesh or Genzebe) or Meseret Defar--wasn't SUPPOSED to be maybe the most THRILLING race for Americans to watch--but it became that!
(And maybe thrilling for EVERYONE, no matter their nationality!)

Given props as the most likely Gold medalist was the woman who indeed WON the Gold medal!
Vivian Cheruiyot was making a comeback of sorts, not having raced for a year or two.
But she (and the rumor mill) said she was ready--and she was.

It started at a tempo that Mo Farah would've loved---slow---tactical---with everyone bunched together, and "Mo" (in this case, Vivian!) sitting somewhere back in the pack biding her time.

A Japanese runner led the entire first half, reaching 5000 in a time Collegiates in the US run everyday--16:11.99.
And she had a PILE of women right behind her.
I believe the first 15 or so were within 2 seconds of her.
At that point, Molly Huddle, the "STAR" American (She's the 5K American Record holder, and has run 30:47 for twice that distance!) was 6th, with Shalane Flanagan just 0.23 behind Huddle, and Emily Infeld another 0.11 back in 15th.
Cheruiyot was then in 14th, just ahead of Infeld!

By 8000, reached by the leader (at that point, Cheruiyot--though that soon changed!!) in a snail's pace 25:43.61--the previous 3K run in just 9:32!--it saw Huddle in 4th, Flanagan in 7th, with Infeld back in 11th--but still VERY close---a couple of seconds back, maybe.

Molly then started to throw it down, taking over the train's engine, reaching 9K in 28:52.55, after a 1000 in 3:09---STILL too slow for an already-slow 10000!!!
(By this point, you can bet Meseret or Tirunesh would be hitting 64's!!)
Infeld had moved up to 4th, with Cheruiyot biding her time in 5th, followed by Flanagan in 7th.

When Huddle started her kick, so did Cheruiyot.
And as often (ALWAYS???) happens, when an African starts her kick, it's faster than any of the Americans!
Huddle tried, and even SEEMED to have 3rd locked up just a few meters from the finish!

In fact, she got so giddy that she was about to MEDAL that she began dancing a jig and downing a few beers in celebration.
While Molly was busy imitating Ezekiel Kemboi, Miss Infeld happened to be SPRINTING on the inside rail!!
And we all know what happened.
Infeld, not Huddle, took the Bronze.
Infeld was in tears of unbelievable joy.
Huddle was in tears of unbelievable SHOCK!

A bittersweet moment for America's finest distance runners of the moment!!

Americans took 3rd, 4th, and 6th (Flanagan), by far the best EVER team performance by ANY American distance squad in a Major Championship--men OR women!!

They negative split the race, running about 16:11 and 15:30.

And then the crowded Bird's Nest changed gears---going from the longest track race to the shortest!

The Final of the Women's 100 was ALMOST as anticipated as that Bolt-Gatlin affair.
Except here, the focus was on one woman---who ALSO happens to be Jamaican!---SAFP.
The question wasn't if she'd win.
That was pretty much a given.
It was--How fast?

Well, it turned out to be fast--but not THAT fast!
(She said--maybe not all jokingly!--that she's tired of running 10.7's--she wants some 10'6's!!)

And yes, her time WAS 10.76.
But it wasn't as easy as most thought!
And it wasn't Tori Bowie who provided her stiffest competition!

Bowie finished 3rd in 10.86.
But Dafne Schippers broke her own Netherlands National Record--set just hours earlier in the Semi's--with a 10.81.
This also makes her 18th A-T World, tied with 2 others!!
(It's the first time she's on my World DDD!!)

Veronica Campbell-Brown ran very well, finishing 4th in 10.91.

Well, what about these past 3 days of WOMEN's events?
The standout--for me, at least--has to be the 10000!

But that's because of the RACE, not the Records or Marks aspect of it!
(In fact, normally, I would HATE such a slow race!!)

But for Records & Marks, the 100's (all of them--Heats, Semi's, and Final) stood out, as did the 400 Heats, to a lesser extent, the 400H Heats and Semi's--and on the Field, the Shot Put and the Triple Jump.

But it was the SHOCKERS---both good and bad---that MADE these first 3 days.

KJT's foul in the LJ.
Demi Payne not making the Final of the PV.
Kori Carter's DNF in the 400H.

Then there was the GREAT American finish in the 10K.
Sandi Morris showing her LONG season isn't done yet!
Allyson Felix easing through a 50.60 400 Heat!
The great runs by Dafne Schippers AND Mujinga Kambundji!

All in all, a GREAT first 72 hours of Track and Field!!

See you three days from now with (hopefully!) much more of the same!!