A stunning--but not wholly unexpected--World Record led a string of fast distance races in the two Diamond League meets following the Olympic Games in Rio!
Ruth Jebet, my Athletics Annual book says, was born November 17, 1996.
This made her just 19 when she DESTROYED the WR by just over 6 seconds in Paris today with her incredible time of 8:52.78.
If she can run THIS fast at 19, what can she run in 5---or 10--years?
In an amazing show of talent, she followed a pacer through the first 1000 in 2:56.
While the first 1000 times for the SC are not too reliable for estimating final times, this indicated we were in for a real SHOW!
And when she---now all alone, with Hyvin Kiyeng (Chepkemoi) already a few meters behind---kept steady through 2000 in 5:54, all eyes turned to the clock!
Jebet (A Kenyan woman told me today--as did Athletics Africa--her name IS Jebet--not Chebet, as some list her!) has AWFUL hurdling technique.
In fact, it seems, most Kenyans--female or male--do!!
She literally JUMPS over the hurdles, rather than, well, hurdles them!
(Compare their style to that of Emma Coburn, or Evan Jager, both of whom are "perfect" over the barriers, iincluding the water jump!)
But it doesn't matter!
Her speed and strength between the barriers tells the story better!
And there--right now--no other woman can match her!
Her 8:52.78 is the WR, and breaks her own National Record of Bahrain (She's a FORMER Kenyan!), and breaks her own Age 19 record.
She moves from 2nd A-T World to the top!
And on my Combined Events list for the 3000 & 3000SC??
Believe it or not, her fastest OUTdoor flat 3K time is 9:09.8!!
That's right, she's run about 17 seconds faster WITH hurdles than without!!
(That WILL be remedied, whenever she runs another flat 3000!! I'd guess she's good for high-8:20's or very low 8:30's!!)
Anyway, right now, her times add to 18:02.58.
My World list stops at 18:02.0, but I added her name, knowing she'll eventually have a combined time under 17:30!!
Kiyeng's time was 9:01.76 in second.
Then came Coburn in 9:10.19, her 2nd best ever!
Beatrice Chepkoech came in 4th in 9:10.86.
She moves from 22nd A-T World to 14th!
Sofia Assefa was next in 9:13.09, followed in 6th by 2016's best PR machine--GenGen LaCaze!!
This Australian lass has broken close to a dozen PR's over several distances this year, with her newest being her 9:14.28 here!
She broke the Australian National Record, and is now 22nd A-T World!
Virginia Nyambura--who I hadn't heard from too much this year--suddenly is back, as her 9:18.95 took 7th!
Then came two Americans, both getting PR's.
Stephanie Garcia, 4th at the Trials, topped her former best by about 4 seconds, her 9:19.48 moving her from 7th A-T US to 4th!
Then came Colleen Quigley, who JUST missed dipping under 9:20 with her EXACT 9:20.00!!
She moves from 6th to 5th on the A-T US list!!
In 10th came Etanesh Diro Neda's 9:21.44, good for the best-ever 10th Place record!!
A fast and deep field finished off a great 1000 meters in Lausanne's DL--2 days before Paris!
Ayanleh Souleiman's 2:13.49--off splits of 52, then 1:45-high--got the Lausanne Meet Record--although apparently it was the initial running of this event here!!
He also got the National Record of Djibouti.
He's now 5th A-T World!
Robert Biwott's 2:13.89 was 2nd, and makes him 9th A-T World!
Jonathan Kitilit was 3rd in 2:13.95, for the best-ever 3rd Place mark!
He gets the Age 22 record, and is 11th A-T World!
Next came Asbel Kiprop, whose 2:14.23 is the best 4th Place mark!
He's 14th A-T World!!
Then came Marcin Lewandowski's 2:14.30!
It's the best-ever 5th Place mark.
He also gets Adam Kszczot's National Record of Poland!
And he's now 15th A-T World!!
Matthew Centrowitz, the Olympic 1500 Gold winner, could finish just 6th here!
But he's now 9th A-T US with his 2:16.67!
Two more ran under 2:17, while 12 got under 2:20!
Another deep field of Men produced another speedy middle distance race--in Paris.
Minus Daniel Rudisha or Mohammed Aman or Nijel Amos, among others, this late-season race saw Alfred Kipketer emerge in front, his 1:42.87 missing my World DDD by just 0.06 seconds!!
Taoufik Makhloufi came 2nd in 1:42.98, with Jon Kitilit---who had run that fast 1K in Lausanne just 2 days before!--next in a PR of 1:43.05!
Ferguson Rotich, Ayonleh Souleiman, Pierre Ambroise-Bosse, and Marcin Lewandowski all followed, times between 1:43.43 and 1:43.73!
In 8th---running the best-ever 8th Place time--came Adam Kszczot in 1:43.76!!
So that makes one Place mark from the London race broken!!
The Men's 3000 in Paris had yet another solid group of finishers!
Yomif Kejelcha--all of 19 years of age!--won in 7:28.19.
Some sources have said this was the World Junior record!
But, as you know, I don't have records for Juniors, Youth, or Masters!
My "age" records are for actual AGE, not a GROUP of ages!!
So the fastest time by someone Age 19 remains Eliud Kipchoge's 7:27.72 from 2004!!
Kipchoge was born November 5, 1984.
Thus he was NOT a "Junior" that year, as indicated by IAAF standards and rules.
But he WAS 19, so gets that Age Record!
Kejelcha--born August 1, 1997--is still a "Junior", re IAAF!!
Also 19, he misses Kipchoge's record by 0.47 seconds!!
Just wanted to explain this to you, so you'd understand why I'm not calling this a "World Junior" record!
Anyway, back to that 3K!
Kejelcha is 14th A-T World!
Knocked OFF my World list was the sole American, Bernard Lagat, his 7:29.00 American Record time from 2010 now GONE!!
Abdelaati Iguider was 2nd in 7:30.09, with Hagos Gebrhiwet next in 7:30.45.
But in 4th came Ryan Hill, whose big PR of 7:30.93 moves him from 16th A-T US to 3rd!!
With his 3:35.59 in the 1500, he's now 3rd on my US Combined Events list for 1500-3000, with a total time of 11:06.52!
Albert Rop's 7:32.02 in 5th is the National Record of Bahrain!
Bethwell Birgen and Mukti Edris both ran under 7:34 in 6th and 7th!
In 8th came American Paul Chelimo, his 7:37.98 ranked 15th A-T US!
The Women's 3000 in Lausanne saw Genzebe Dibaba sprint to the front, her 8:31.84 getting the Lausanne Meet Record!
Helen Obiri ran 8:33.96, with Mercy Cherono's 8:34.49 following.
Way back--in 8th and last--came Alexa Efraimson, missing her attempt at the "American Junior" record.
She ran 9:11.48.
But more worrying than her slow time was the REASON for it!!
According to a source, she was doing fine for most of the race, then crumbled to the track on the final straight--and CRAWLED to the finish line!!
She was taken away by ambulance, and is apparently recovered.
No indication as to what caused it.
But if you recall, this (or something similar) has happened at least twice before!!
In a couple of 5000's (on the road??), she also stopped a short distance from the finish, having to jog or walk the rest of the way!
This has never happened in shorter races, nor in other 3000's she's run--as far as I know!
Supposedly, she'll run another DL--possibly Zurich!!
Laura Muir---of Great Britain via Scotland--needs to be taken VERY seriously from now on!!
Following the rabbit's pace of just under 64, then a 2:09-high through 800, Muir sprinted past the rabbit (who ran another 200 meters in the 3rd lane!!) on the second back-straight, running a 61 second lap, passing the 1100 mark in about 2:55, and the 1200 in 3:10!!
And she was still in the highest gear!!
Trying to catch her was the favored Faith Kipyegon, as well as Sifan Hassan--but to no avail!
Pulling away at the end, she SMASHED the British National Record with her stunning 3:55.22!!
Only one ACTIVE runner is faster than her---and her name is Genzebe Dibaba!!
She also gets the Age 23 record!!
And she's now 13th A-T World!!
The rest of the field wasn't exactly stale bread!!
Kipyegon ran a solid time of 3:56.72, followed in 3rd by Hassan's 3:57.13!!
Then came the Battle of the Americans!
Shannon Rowbury's 3:58.00 prevailed by just 0.19 seconds, as she finished 4th to Jenny Simpson's 6th place time of 3:58.19!!
They were separated (by the Referee!---HaHa, just kidding!!) by Dawit Seyaum's 3:58.05!!
Besu Sado's 3:59.96 made it SEVEN women who got in under 4 minutes!!
Sofia Ennoui's 4:01.00 was 8th!
Beyond the distances, there were some other good marks.
The Paris Men's Shot Put saw the Meet Record broken THREE times!!
(And it dated from 1992!!)
First came Tom Walsh's 71-6.75 in round 2.
Then that was broken by Ryan Crouser's 72-1.75 in round 3.
But his metric mark of 21.99 was bettered by 0.01--Walsh's 22.00 (72-2.25) in round 6 getting the last of the 3 MR's!!
Walsh also broke his own New Zealand National Record, and ranks 23rd A-T World, tied with 1 other!
In Lausanne, Valerie Adams beat her OG conqueror in the SP, Michelle Carter, 65-5 to 63-11.50!
Madeira Palameiko upset Barbora Spotakova in the Lausanne JT, 214-2 to 211-6.
But Caterine Ibarguen won her specialty, her Lausanne TJ winner measuring 48-5.25!
Philip Milanov took the Men's DT there with 215-3!
Mutaz Barshim's 7-8.50 won the HJ, while Sam Kendricks's 19-5 PR-equaler beat Renaud Lavillenie's 18-9.50!
Kendricks got the Lausanne Meet Record!
Ivana Spanovic took the Lausanne AND Paris LJ's, marks of 22-5 (with Darya Klishina 5th and Tianna Bartoletta 8th!) and 22-7.75.
But--possibly injured--she stopped after just 2 rounds in Paris!!
Jakub Vadlejch's 288-9 took the JT in Paris, but missed my World DDD by 1 foot and 2 inches!
Chris Carter took a weak Paris TJ with 55-6.25.
Sandra Perkovic came through with a 221-10 DT win, while Lavillenie rebounded on his home turf, his 19-5.50 prevailing over Kendricks's 19-0.75!
Renaud missed three tries at 6.00 meters!
Ruth Beitia's 6-6 took the Paris HJ over Lavern Spencer's 6-5.
Beitia tried 3 times at 6-7.50, or 2.02
Nicholas Bett returned to form, winning the Paris 400H in 48.01, beating Olympic Gold winner Kerron Clement's 48.19, and Yasman Copello's 48.24.
Natasha Hastings beat Stephanie McPherson in the 400, 50.06 to 50.33.
Orlando Ortega's 13.11 edged Omar McLeod's 13.12 in the 110H.
LaShawn Merritt eased through a 44.50 in the 400, beating Steven Gardiner's 44.75!
Delilah Muhammed kept winning, her 53.78 beating Elidh Doyle's 54.45.
In 5th and 6th came Shamier Little and Ashley Spencer (!!), both in the 55's!
Dafne Schippers won easily in the Paris 200, her 22.13 beating the PR of Desiree Henry--22.46.
Henry nipped Jenna Prandini's 22.48!
Kendra Harrison won twice--in Lausanne and Paris.
Her Lausanne time of 12.42 was 0.02 faster than her Paris win!
And Dawn Harper-Nelson took the runner-up prize in both, her times being 12.71, then 12.65!
The Lausanne Women's 100 was strange!
The first time (!!), the starter shot off the recall gun---but a few runners ran the whole distance, apparently not hearing the gun!!
So--just minutes later--they re-ran the race!!
Elaine Thompson's 10.78 easily beat Jenna Prandini's 11.11.
I don't know which runners ran that first race, so not sure which might have been tired for the re-run!!
The Men's 100 was taken by Ben Meite's Ivory Coast National Record-equaling 9.96!
Akani Simbine was 2nd in 10.00, with Churandy Martina next in 10.01.
Kim Collins and Michael Rodgers finished in 6th and 7th, times of 10.12 and 10.14.
Martina ran a better 200 in Paris!
His 19.81 breaks his own National Record of the Netherlands.
He moves from 24th A-T World, tied with 3 others, to 21st, tied with 1 other.
Alonzo Edward ran 19.92 in 2nd.
Asafa Powell took the Lausanne 100 in 9.96.
Two other track distance affairs were run, both in the Lausanne meet.
Abe Kibiwot took the 3000SC in 8:09.58, beating Nicholas Bett's (the OTHER Nicholas Bett!!) PR of 8:10.07.
Don Cabral finished 6th in 8:20.77.
And in the Women's 800, one of those who shall remain unnamed "won" the race in 1:57.71.
This person was followed by the REAL winner--Eunice Sum's 1:58.41.
Sum beat Lynsey Sharp's 1:58.52, and Melissa Bishop's 1:58.71, as well as Selina Buchel's 1:58.77.
On the Roads, Stephen Sambu won the Falmouth 7 Mile race, time of 32:10.
Len Korir took 2nd in 32:35.
Caroline Chepkoech won the Women's race in 36:25, with Betsy Saina 2nd in 36:52.
I'll close this lengthy post with some GREAT news!!
Gabe Grunewald, stricken with cancer for the third time, has DEFEATED this awful disease---a third time!
Surgery to remove a tumor from her liver was totally successful!
She was photographed in her bed, smiling, and thanking everyone for their support, saying she was on the road to recovery!!
The very next day, she was photographed WALKING---again smiling beautifully---in the hospital's hallway, a good friend by her side!
This woman is GUTS and HEART personified!!
Don't be at all shocked to see her back on the tracks---possibly even INdoors!!--in 2017!!
An AMAZING woman---and person!!
Saturday, August 27, 2016
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Rio's Best & Worst
Almost decided against a "Best & Worst" for Rio.
After all, what haven't I already said in my EIGHTEEN posts centered (mostly) on the Olympic Games in Rio?
So maybe that's where I'll begin---by bragging (or moaning!!) about my 18 Rio posts!
Best Rio Post on This Blog
These are my PERSONAL favorites, not necessarily the "best"!
I was most proud of my "As Rio (& Life) Go On".
No results (as I recall!), but said what I wanted to say, in the way I wanted to say it---boldly & honestly!
Next up is "Historic 10K Rewrites Record Book".
Because I LOVE being able to write about multiple records being smashed in ONE race!!
And because such a race actually happened!!
Honorable Mentions go to my Place Records posts--because I've never had a post devoted solely to my Place Records before!
Also liked the "Four Fabulous Finals"---as I got to describe at length the Women's Marathon and Heptathlon!!
Best Title was the one with numbers---"17:10.02 & 236-3"
A bit mysterious, which gave me reason to explain it!
Worst Rio Post on This Blog
Probably my 4 Predictions posts---because I got so much WRONG!!
Now let's deal with some numbers!
Which gender performed best?
The WOMEN!!
Out of 8 categories, the Men led just one!!
Most World Records Broken-----------Women broke 2, the Men 1.
Most American Records Broken------A shutout for the Women--4 to ZERO!!
Most Place Records Broken-----------A wipe-out for the Ladies--30 to 8!!
Most Age Records Broken------------13 to 5, the Women win!
Most non-US National Records Broken----Women over the Men, 43 to 33!
The Men, as noted, did prevail in one---
Most Olympic Games Meet Records Broken--They got 5 to the Women's 3.
As for Marks that made my DDD (Top 24 Performers) lists, or improved on marks already on the lists---
For the US DDD's, the Women win by a 10 to 5 margin!
On my World DDD's, Women get 22 to the Men's 13!
Overall, the Women prevailed by a 127 to 70 score!!
Thus, 197 (!!) revisions were made in my T&F Record Book in the 10 days of Rio!!
Best Event?
The Women's 10000!!
The Worst?
The Women's High Jump!!
Best Series in the Throws or Horizontal Jumps?
Ryan Crouser for the Men.
He broke the MR 3 times, as well as his PR!
The Women's award goes to Anita Wlodarczyk, for basically the same reasons!
She twice broke her PR, which happened to have been the WR!!
(Although the 2nd breaking came AFTER she'd already shattered her WR!! Nothing like adding more icing to the icing!!)
Worst Shocks
Probably have to give it to those EXPECTED to win, but who failed to do so, and even failed to make the final!!
Give this one to Pawel Fajdek!
HM's go to Robert Harting and Olga Saladukha!
Best Event where Women Outperformed the Men
That 10K, and the Long Jump!
And Vice Versa?
The 400!
A WR wins over a close race---even with a 9.7 point dive!!
How did I do in my Predictions?
Not so good!
I got 40 (out of 72 possibles) for the Men!
I was a bit better with the Women---42 (of 69) correct!
Oh, BTW, the above numbers (of correct picks) were NOT specific as to Medal---just getting the NAMES of the Medalists right---in whatever order!!
The one's I got all three (names!) right were (for the Women) the 5000, 3000SC 20K Walk, and the 4X400 Relay!
I scored 100% for the Men in the 400, 3000SC, and the PV!
On the actual Gold Medalist, I got 10 Men's Gold's right, and 8 Women's---if you believe Melissa Bishop won that 800!!
Best Shocking Result
This goes to Sara Kolak for her win in the JT!!
I'd never even heard of her before the Games---and NO ONE (prior to August 12th!) picked her---even for their Top 10 Formcharts!!
I'll give Michelle Carter's 6th round win in the SP over Valerie Adams Honorable Mention!!
Best Excuse for a Poor Performance
Jenn's Suhr's mysterious illness!
Just saw an update from Rick! They went directly to an ER on returning home, but found no specific disease!!
She's getting better, but says she's in no shape to perform!
But Rick said she had PLANNED on a post-OG meet!
Best Improvement
There's several this award could go to!
Wayde Van Niekerk, going from 43.48 to 43.03.
Ryan Crouser's massive SP's!
Almaz Ayana's 10K WR---about 50 seconds faster than her PR.
(Molly Huddle's 34 second PR!!)
But---I'm giving this one to Keturah Orji!!
She's young (20), a college student, and is an American in an event where Americans haven't been very good of late!
For breaking through to the 48 foot realm, this gal wins!!
Best Heat or Semi or Qualifying Round where the mark was better than in the final
Lalita Babar's 9:19.76 National Record for India in the Heats of the 3000SC!!
Should have saved something for the final!!
OK, time for the Best & Worst by Event Groups!!
Men first.
Best Sprint Event-----------400 (Obvious!)
Worst Sprint Event----------200 (Blah!)
Best Distance Event--------800 (Not London, but still the best!)
Worst Distance Event------1500 (Come on, guys, RUN!!)
Best Jumping Event--------PV (Good battle, and a super popular winner!!)
Worst Jumping Event------LJ (Where were those LONG Jumps???)
Best Throwing Event------SP (For Crouser, and for depth!)
Worst Throwing Event----HT (Fajdek missing from the final!)
Best Walking Event-------50000 (Lead changes and defeat of the WR holder!)
Best Relay------------------4X400 (Great depth, and a good race for Gold!)
And for the Women---
Best Sprint Event---------100 (Good times!)
Worst Sprint Event-------200 (Yeah, I know, it was good! But just not AS good as it could've been!!)
Best Distance Event-----10000 (Did you really have to ask??!!)
Worst Distance Event----1500 (Those Metric Mile folks need to learn how to run their event!!)
Best Jumping Event------LJ (Great competition! And good marks!)
Worst Jumping Event----HJ (Worst of the entire meet! See above!!)
Best Throwing Event----SP (An AR, and a shocking 6th round upset!!)
Worst Throwing Event--DT (Perkovic won. Ho hum.)
Worst (AND Best!) Relay-----4X100 (That solo time trial, and the finals result!! Oh, and the FUCK UP that led to all that!!)
And for Best Multi?
Close to a TIE!! But I'll give the edge to the Women's Heptathlon--for it being a good battle, and for the surprise winner!
If Ashton Eaton had BROKEN---instead of tied!--the MR, I might have given it to the Dec!!
Best NON-Medalist?
How about Bernard Lagat?
He placed 5th, but smashed his own Age 40 & Over record by about 8 seconds in the 5000!
Also goes to Molly Huddle's 6th place in THAT race---for her American Record, as well as the Age 31 record!
Best Uniforms
Great Britain!!
Loved the pictures on the jerseys!!
Much better than those dull one-color jobs!
Best Shove It Up the ASS of Nike and Rule 40
Goes to Emma Coburn, for her removing her NEW BALANCE shoes, draping them (tied together) over her shoulder, then doing her victory lap, American Flag waving in the breeze!!
Here's an easy one!
Worst Decision by the IAAF
Two of them, actually!
For Banning ALL Russians---including INNOCENT ones!!
(Except for Darya Klishina!)
And for allowing Caster Semenya, Francine Niyonsaba, and Margaret Wambui to compete!!
Best Moments that went Viral on the Internet, and around the World!
The Abbey D'Agostino and Nikki Hamblin Show!!
Such a sweet, wonderful, POSITIVE story!!
Also, the story behind Feyisa Lelisa's arm-crossing pose when crossing the Marathon finish line for the Silver!!
He's still in Brazil, hoping to go to the US, but still a "Man Without a Country"!!
Finally, the Marriage Proposal by Will Claye to Queen Harrison!
He'd just taken Silver in the TJ, then went to the stands, where long-time girlfriend Harrison was sitting!
He proposed---and she accepted!!
In relation to the above--
Best Mile Ever Run with Multiple Leg Injuries
To Abbey D, for her courageous and heartwarming finish to her 5K race!
She's headed to surgery, and possibly 6 months of recovery!!
Best Entertainers
Chaunte Lowe DANCED her way into my heart!!
She should go on DWTS!!
And her partner should be---
Usain Bolt!!
That man has MOVES!!
Best (or my Favorite!) Names
Besides that oldie, Mujinga Kambundji, I also like Dane Bird-Smith, the Brit who took the 20K Walk Bronze!!
Add Konstanze Klosterhalfen---aka KK---who's fast, is very pretty, AND has a great memorable name!!
Best Performance by a Teenager
Eliza McCartney, by at least 15 feet 9 inches!!
Tied her PR (and Age 19 record!), and won the Bronze!!
Ruth Jebet, for her 3000SC win!
She won Gold, and broke her own Age 19 record!!
Worst Nightmare Scenario on Speed-Dial
This "award" goes to the United States 4X100 Relay teams!!
The DQ's!
Then having to run a Time Trial.
Then being relegated to Lane One---the Worst lane for a sprinter!!
Word of Advice---
Watch the movie "Fast Girls" for some baton passing lessons!!
LOL
Best Book Title Brought to Life by its Author
This goes to Shalane Flanagan, who just had published her (& Elyse Kopecky's) cookbook---"Run Fast, Eat Slow".
Don't think she ate anything while racing to 6th place in the Marathon, but she sure did "Run FAST"!!
BTW, in its 1st week out, it made 143rd place on USA Today's "150 Best Selling Books" list!
And they begin a National Book-Signing tour soon!!
How about the Best Stoic Face After Smashing a WR??
Goes to Almaz Ayana!
She crosses the line, and only began smiling a minute or so later---when she got some cameras shoved in her face!!
(As opposed to Jenny Simpson going bonkers, screaming after winning the 1500 Bronze in a SLOW time!!)
Event with the Most Hyphenated Names
Easy!
The Heptathlon!
BTE, JEH, KJT, LIA, HMK, and GZF.
(Did I miss any??)
Worst Performance by the Crowds
BOOING Justin Gatlin and Renaud Lavillenie!!
Compare to Eugene, where the Duckies get the loudest cheers, but EVERYONE gets their due respect and love!!
Best Brazil Moment
Thiagi Braz Da Silva's shock win over Renaud Lavillenie in the PV!!
Stunned the crowd, and got the loudest & longest cheers!!
Worst Brazil Moment
The NO HEIGHT of Fabiana Murer---who was supposed to match what Da Silva did!!
And----
Best Unplanned Serendipitous Moment??
That my 300th (!!!) blog post was the one describing & detailing the Women's 10K!!
Which, as noted above, is also one of my personal favorites!!
See you all soon with some DL results!!
After all, what haven't I already said in my EIGHTEEN posts centered (mostly) on the Olympic Games in Rio?
So maybe that's where I'll begin---by bragging (or moaning!!) about my 18 Rio posts!
Best Rio Post on This Blog
These are my PERSONAL favorites, not necessarily the "best"!
I was most proud of my "As Rio (& Life) Go On".
No results (as I recall!), but said what I wanted to say, in the way I wanted to say it---boldly & honestly!
Next up is "Historic 10K Rewrites Record Book".
Because I LOVE being able to write about multiple records being smashed in ONE race!!
And because such a race actually happened!!
Honorable Mentions go to my Place Records posts--because I've never had a post devoted solely to my Place Records before!
Also liked the "Four Fabulous Finals"---as I got to describe at length the Women's Marathon and Heptathlon!!
Best Title was the one with numbers---"17:10.02 & 236-3"
A bit mysterious, which gave me reason to explain it!
Worst Rio Post on This Blog
Probably my 4 Predictions posts---because I got so much WRONG!!
Now let's deal with some numbers!
Which gender performed best?
The WOMEN!!
Out of 8 categories, the Men led just one!!
Most World Records Broken-----------Women broke 2, the Men 1.
Most American Records Broken------A shutout for the Women--4 to ZERO!!
Most Place Records Broken-----------A wipe-out for the Ladies--30 to 8!!
Most Age Records Broken------------13 to 5, the Women win!
Most non-US National Records Broken----Women over the Men, 43 to 33!
The Men, as noted, did prevail in one---
Most Olympic Games Meet Records Broken--They got 5 to the Women's 3.
As for Marks that made my DDD (Top 24 Performers) lists, or improved on marks already on the lists---
For the US DDD's, the Women win by a 10 to 5 margin!
On my World DDD's, Women get 22 to the Men's 13!
Overall, the Women prevailed by a 127 to 70 score!!
Thus, 197 (!!) revisions were made in my T&F Record Book in the 10 days of Rio!!
Best Event?
The Women's 10000!!
The Worst?
The Women's High Jump!!
Best Series in the Throws or Horizontal Jumps?
Ryan Crouser for the Men.
He broke the MR 3 times, as well as his PR!
The Women's award goes to Anita Wlodarczyk, for basically the same reasons!
She twice broke her PR, which happened to have been the WR!!
(Although the 2nd breaking came AFTER she'd already shattered her WR!! Nothing like adding more icing to the icing!!)
Worst Shocks
Probably have to give it to those EXPECTED to win, but who failed to do so, and even failed to make the final!!
Give this one to Pawel Fajdek!
HM's go to Robert Harting and Olga Saladukha!
Best Event where Women Outperformed the Men
That 10K, and the Long Jump!
And Vice Versa?
The 400!
A WR wins over a close race---even with a 9.7 point dive!!
How did I do in my Predictions?
Not so good!
I got 40 (out of 72 possibles) for the Men!
I was a bit better with the Women---42 (of 69) correct!
Oh, BTW, the above numbers (of correct picks) were NOT specific as to Medal---just getting the NAMES of the Medalists right---in whatever order!!
The one's I got all three (names!) right were (for the Women) the 5000, 3000SC 20K Walk, and the 4X400 Relay!
I scored 100% for the Men in the 400, 3000SC, and the PV!
On the actual Gold Medalist, I got 10 Men's Gold's right, and 8 Women's---if you believe Melissa Bishop won that 800!!
Best Shocking Result
This goes to Sara Kolak for her win in the JT!!
I'd never even heard of her before the Games---and NO ONE (prior to August 12th!) picked her---even for their Top 10 Formcharts!!
I'll give Michelle Carter's 6th round win in the SP over Valerie Adams Honorable Mention!!
Best Excuse for a Poor Performance
Jenn's Suhr's mysterious illness!
Just saw an update from Rick! They went directly to an ER on returning home, but found no specific disease!!
She's getting better, but says she's in no shape to perform!
But Rick said she had PLANNED on a post-OG meet!
Best Improvement
There's several this award could go to!
Wayde Van Niekerk, going from 43.48 to 43.03.
Ryan Crouser's massive SP's!
Almaz Ayana's 10K WR---about 50 seconds faster than her PR.
(Molly Huddle's 34 second PR!!)
But---I'm giving this one to Keturah Orji!!
She's young (20), a college student, and is an American in an event where Americans haven't been very good of late!
For breaking through to the 48 foot realm, this gal wins!!
Best Heat or Semi or Qualifying Round where the mark was better than in the final
Lalita Babar's 9:19.76 National Record for India in the Heats of the 3000SC!!
Should have saved something for the final!!
OK, time for the Best & Worst by Event Groups!!
Men first.
Best Sprint Event-----------400 (Obvious!)
Worst Sprint Event----------200 (Blah!)
Best Distance Event--------800 (Not London, but still the best!)
Worst Distance Event------1500 (Come on, guys, RUN!!)
Best Jumping Event--------PV (Good battle, and a super popular winner!!)
Worst Jumping Event------LJ (Where were those LONG Jumps???)
Best Throwing Event------SP (For Crouser, and for depth!)
Worst Throwing Event----HT (Fajdek missing from the final!)
Best Walking Event-------50000 (Lead changes and defeat of the WR holder!)
Best Relay------------------4X400 (Great depth, and a good race for Gold!)
And for the Women---
Best Sprint Event---------100 (Good times!)
Worst Sprint Event-------200 (Yeah, I know, it was good! But just not AS good as it could've been!!)
Best Distance Event-----10000 (Did you really have to ask??!!)
Worst Distance Event----1500 (Those Metric Mile folks need to learn how to run their event!!)
Best Jumping Event------LJ (Great competition! And good marks!)
Worst Jumping Event----HJ (Worst of the entire meet! See above!!)
Best Throwing Event----SP (An AR, and a shocking 6th round upset!!)
Worst Throwing Event--DT (Perkovic won. Ho hum.)
Worst (AND Best!) Relay-----4X100 (That solo time trial, and the finals result!! Oh, and the FUCK UP that led to all that!!)
And for Best Multi?
Close to a TIE!! But I'll give the edge to the Women's Heptathlon--for it being a good battle, and for the surprise winner!
If Ashton Eaton had BROKEN---instead of tied!--the MR, I might have given it to the Dec!!
Best NON-Medalist?
How about Bernard Lagat?
He placed 5th, but smashed his own Age 40 & Over record by about 8 seconds in the 5000!
Also goes to Molly Huddle's 6th place in THAT race---for her American Record, as well as the Age 31 record!
Best Uniforms
Great Britain!!
Loved the pictures on the jerseys!!
Much better than those dull one-color jobs!
Best Shove It Up the ASS of Nike and Rule 40
Goes to Emma Coburn, for her removing her NEW BALANCE shoes, draping them (tied together) over her shoulder, then doing her victory lap, American Flag waving in the breeze!!
Here's an easy one!
Worst Decision by the IAAF
Two of them, actually!
For Banning ALL Russians---including INNOCENT ones!!
(Except for Darya Klishina!)
And for allowing Caster Semenya, Francine Niyonsaba, and Margaret Wambui to compete!!
Best Moments that went Viral on the Internet, and around the World!
The Abbey D'Agostino and Nikki Hamblin Show!!
Such a sweet, wonderful, POSITIVE story!!
Also, the story behind Feyisa Lelisa's arm-crossing pose when crossing the Marathon finish line for the Silver!!
He's still in Brazil, hoping to go to the US, but still a "Man Without a Country"!!
Finally, the Marriage Proposal by Will Claye to Queen Harrison!
He'd just taken Silver in the TJ, then went to the stands, where long-time girlfriend Harrison was sitting!
He proposed---and she accepted!!
In relation to the above--
Best Mile Ever Run with Multiple Leg Injuries
To Abbey D, for her courageous and heartwarming finish to her 5K race!
She's headed to surgery, and possibly 6 months of recovery!!
Best Entertainers
Chaunte Lowe DANCED her way into my heart!!
She should go on DWTS!!
And her partner should be---
Usain Bolt!!
That man has MOVES!!
Best (or my Favorite!) Names
Besides that oldie, Mujinga Kambundji, I also like Dane Bird-Smith, the Brit who took the 20K Walk Bronze!!
Add Konstanze Klosterhalfen---aka KK---who's fast, is very pretty, AND has a great memorable name!!
Best Performance by a Teenager
Eliza McCartney, by at least 15 feet 9 inches!!
Tied her PR (and Age 19 record!), and won the Bronze!!
Ruth Jebet, for her 3000SC win!
She won Gold, and broke her own Age 19 record!!
Worst Nightmare Scenario on Speed-Dial
This "award" goes to the United States 4X100 Relay teams!!
The DQ's!
Then having to run a Time Trial.
Then being relegated to Lane One---the Worst lane for a sprinter!!
Word of Advice---
Watch the movie "Fast Girls" for some baton passing lessons!!
LOL
Best Book Title Brought to Life by its Author
This goes to Shalane Flanagan, who just had published her (& Elyse Kopecky's) cookbook---"Run Fast, Eat Slow".
Don't think she ate anything while racing to 6th place in the Marathon, but she sure did "Run FAST"!!
BTW, in its 1st week out, it made 143rd place on USA Today's "150 Best Selling Books" list!
And they begin a National Book-Signing tour soon!!
How about the Best Stoic Face After Smashing a WR??
Goes to Almaz Ayana!
She crosses the line, and only began smiling a minute or so later---when she got some cameras shoved in her face!!
(As opposed to Jenny Simpson going bonkers, screaming after winning the 1500 Bronze in a SLOW time!!)
Event with the Most Hyphenated Names
Easy!
The Heptathlon!
BTE, JEH, KJT, LIA, HMK, and GZF.
(Did I miss any??)
Worst Performance by the Crowds
BOOING Justin Gatlin and Renaud Lavillenie!!
Compare to Eugene, where the Duckies get the loudest cheers, but EVERYONE gets their due respect and love!!
Best Brazil Moment
Thiagi Braz Da Silva's shock win over Renaud Lavillenie in the PV!!
Stunned the crowd, and got the loudest & longest cheers!!
Worst Brazil Moment
The NO HEIGHT of Fabiana Murer---who was supposed to match what Da Silva did!!
And----
Best Unplanned Serendipitous Moment??
That my 300th (!!!) blog post was the one describing & detailing the Women's 10K!!
Which, as noted above, is also one of my personal favorites!!
See you all soon with some DL results!!
Sunday, August 21, 2016
Final 8 Finals
Done--and done!
Eight finals ended the Olympic Games from Rio De Janeiro.
As I've done throughout, I will give you a detailed report on what happened.
What's wrong with Women High Jumpers?
(I was asking this same question last year--about the Men!!)
In the Q round, a record 17 women jumped 6-4 to qualify.
There was grumbling, because of how long people thought the final would take, with 17 (instead of 12) World Class women needing to jump each height.
Well, not to worry.
Vashti Cunningham was out after clearing just 6-2, the opening height!
Another teen, Morgan Lake, went out after clearing 6-4--the Q height!
But older women failed to get beyond 6-4 too!
Inika McPherson, Alessia Trost, and Kamila Licwinko!!
The next bar---6-5.50--would become the determinant!
Blanka Vlasic--always a crowd favorite--got over.
So did Bulgaria's Mirela Demireva--a PR for her!
As did the 37 year old Ruth Beitia!
The latter had the fewest misses!
When no one could clear 6-7, the Gold went to the eldest!
No records, no great marks, and much less than it should have been!
The opening rounds of the Men's JT saw some good throws.
Johannes Vetter reached 279-11.
Julius Yego added almost 10 feet to that, his 289-6 now leading.
In the 2nd round, Keshorn Walcott got one out to 280-1.
Yego had injured himself, and either fouled or had shorter throws from then on.
In the 5th round, the 2016 season's longest thrower--Thomas Rohler---finally got one out there, his 296-3 winning the Gold!
Again, no records or PR's!
That WOMEN'S 800!!
A great race, with Kate Grace (Check the rhyme scheme, please! LOL) finishing 5th, and last!
(But I betcha her Oiselle legions of fans were nonetheless cheering as if she'd won!!)
As for who DID win, that was indeed a great race.
Going through 400 in 57 and change, it was Joanna Jozwik, Lynsey Sharp, and Melissa Bishop in the lead group, with Grace and Marina Anzamasova following.
Grace seemed always ready to unleash her fierce kick, but never did.
Bishop--in HER year--did what she's been doing all year---take the lead, and drive it home from there!
At the end, her 1:57.02 Gold winner broke her own National Record of Canada.
Jozwik's 1:57.37 took Silver, with Sharp running 1:57.69 for the Bronze.
For some strange reason, there were 3 other people running.
They ran faster than Bishop, but since they are unidentifiable (and shall remain so!), there is no way they can be included in the results!
Congratulations to the FIVE WOMEN who ran a fantastic 800 meters!!
Then came the Men's 1500 Meters WALK!
(Wait! When did they add a 1500 WALK to the Rio Program??)
Oh, I see.
"Joking" aside, the 1500 did indeed begin at a baby's crawl pace!
In fact, the WOMEN ran faster in THEIR 1500 Walk!!
OK, OK, I'll stop!
When the running began, with maybe 600 to go, and with Matthew Centrowitz being the rabbit, it looked like it was anyone's race.
Asbel Kiprop had been hanging towards the rear, but now he was sidling up to the front.
When the bell rang, the Men's 400 Meter Dash was off!!
And surprisingly, it was Centro's 50.5 (according to some sources) that prevailed.
Who woulda thought?
Even in this type of race---ESPECIALLY in this type of race---I didn't think Centro was the fastest 400 guy!
I figured that would be Kiprop, or Ayanleh Souleiman, whose 800 PR was 1.47 seconds faster than Centro's!
For the first time since 1908 (!!!), an American has won the "metric mile"!!
Centro's arch-rival---someone he always raced at the Millrose Games--Nick Willis got the Bronze, with Kiprop back in 6th, 0.87 behind Centro.
Souleiman was 0.29 back--in 4th!
Taoufik Makhloufi barreled into 2nd.
Just 1.73 seconds separated the 12 runners!!
Ben Blankenship was 8th!
Oh yeah, Centro's winning time was 3:50.00---just 0.07 seconds faster than Genzebe Dibaba's WR!!
The Men's 5000 was an early Christmas gift to Mo Farah.
When they opened in 62, I thought we might see a real test for Mr Medals!
But alas, they slowed to their usual Championship 5K pace.
Even with Farah running last, you KNEW the outcome.
(As this was taking place, I was at home watching, telling them to let Farah go directly to the Medal Ceremony podium, give him his Gold, then let the others have their little tempo run around the oval!)
Farah's final 1000 was 2:23.94 (!!), which happens to be about 3:51 or 3:52 Mile pace!!
His last 400 was "only" just south of 53 seconds.
The final time--13:03.30--wasn't bad---for the Payton Jordan meet!!
It was what happened AFTER the race that got everyone in a tizzy!
Originally, Paul Chelimo shocked by taking 2nd, time of 13:03.90.
His time ranks as 11th A-T US!
Bernard Lagat was 6th, in a new Age 40 (& over) record time of 13:06.78, breaking his own mark, set last year--when he WAS 40!! (He'll be 42 in December!!)
But as Chelimo was being interviewed by NBC's Lewis Johnson, he was informed he'd been DQ'ed!!
On Worldwide Television!!
Later, after an appeal, he was reinstated, and given the Silver!
Lagat, who had moved up to the Bronze position because of other DQ's, was returned to 6th!
(I'm not 100% certain I have this right, but I think that's the GIST of it!! Whatever the details, it was a weird, wild, and EMBARRASSING series of events!! With the whole world watching!!)
The two 4X400 Relays ended Rio's TRACK program--with the Marathon the only remaining event!
And they were great!
The United States, with Courtney Okolo starting, took an immediate lead, and never relinquished it.
Jamaica had a strong 4-some, and gave good chase, but could never really challenge.
The US ran 3:19.06---with Allyson Felix running a 49.7 anchor.
Jamaica, anchored by Novlene Williams-Mills, finished in 3:20.34.
Then a gap of more than 5 seconds to the Bronze winner, Great Britain, with their 3:25.88.
From GB to Australia's 8th place time of 3:27.45 fell just 1.57 seconds of time!!
The Aussies got the best-ever 8th Place mark!!
The Men's race was one of the deepest in history!!
The US, with LaShawn Merritt on anchor, held off the Jamaicans, 2:57.30 to 2:58.16, for the Gold!
The Bahamas, with 37 year old Chris Brown on 4th leg, took the Bronze with 2:58.49.
Then we saw how the rest of the world was catching up, and the wealth of fast 400 meter men was spreading!
Belgium---with those 3 Borlee's!--ran a National Record time of 2:58.52.
This moves them from 13th A-T Nation to 8th!
Botswana continued their ascent, their new National Record of 2:59.06 taking 5th.
And it was the best 5th Place mark!
They move from 14th A-T Nation to 12th!
Cuba's 2:59.53 gave them the best 6th Place mark!
And made it SIX sub-3:00's for the 1st time in one race!
Poland's 3:00.50 in 7th missed a Place record, but was still good!
Brazil brought up the rear in 3:03.28.
Today's Men's Marathon pretty much went close to the expected narrative.
In a steady rain, with temps in the 70's, a massive group of maybe 50 runners hit 5000 in 15:31--about 2:11 pace!
They actually SLOWED over the next two 5K's, to 15:37, then 15:45, and went past 15K in 46:53, now closer to 2:12 pace!!
Eliud Kipchoge, whose PR is 2:03:05, led a still-large group of 25 to 30!
Near him, in white baseball cap, was Galen Rupp, with the ever-popular Meb (Keflizighi) close.
A slight pick-up to the 20K mark, after a 15:34 split.
But now Ben Hawkins of Great Britain had assumed front-runner's status, if only by half a step!
At the Half, reached in 1:05:55---just under 2:12 pace--a group of 2 dozen still were within 2 seconds of the lead.
Rupp was right there, while Meb was toward the rear of this pack, and the third American, Jared Ward, quietly back another 2 seconds, maybe 30th or so!
But Meb was hurting.
Seen stopping at one point, he was out of the medal hunt.
Matching their slowest 5K split (15:45), 25K was reached in 1:18:12.
Something had to give!!
And indeed it did get faster.
The next 5000 took 15:03, the fastest of the race by 28 seconds, and found Stanley Biwott, Rupp, and Kipchoge close together.
Ward was now 15th, but had fallen back as the large pack had split up.
Finally, Kipchoge--a great track racer in his day--REALLY opened up, throwing down a 5K of 14:25, and daring anyone to follow!
Feyisa Lilesa, who had always been in the lead group, stayed closest, but was a step off.
Rupp was maybe 3 steps back of Lilesa, and the Medalists were these three---but in which order?
Kipchoge's track times could match Rupp's, but were several years old!
Rupp had a faster Mile and 10000, but this was just his 2nd Marathon---and his first--2:11:13---was over 8 full minutes slower than Eliud's 2:03:05!!
And Lilesa wasn't anybody a serious Marathoner could ignore!
Slowing only to a 14:44 through the next 5K, Kipchoge, now clearly in the lead, passed 40K in 2:02:24!
He'd run that 2nd 20000 in under one hour!!
Lilesa seemed to be slowing--or Rupp was speeding up---but the gap of 10 to 12 seconds between them stayed steady.
Kipchoge won, time of 2:08:44, with splits of 1:05:56 and 1:02:48!
Lilesa looked back--saw Rupp wasn't advancing--and crossed the line making a political statement (crossing his arms in support of people in his home country who were fighting a corrupt government), but happy with his Silver, time of 2:09:54.
Rupp, more than satisfied to be winning the first Olympic medal by an American since Frank Shorter's 2nd in 1976's Montreal Games, ran 2:10:05.
(CORRECTION: Just read article in "Women's Running" saying announcers were wrong in sating Rupp's medal was the first Men's Marathon medal since 1976. Meb won Silver in 2004's OG 26.2!! My apologies!)
He is now 18th A-T US!!
Crossed OFF my US DDD was the iconic Craig Virgin--also a great track racer in his day!--whose 2:10:26 was from 1981.
Fourth went to Girmay Ghebreselassie, the youngster who had won the 2016 World Championship Marathon in Beijing, in 2:11:04.
Jared Ward amazed by taking 6th, one of the best finishes by an American in recent Games.
Meb, who had puked, and been forced to stop SEVEN times (according to sources), finished in 2:16:46 in 33rd place---simply astounding, considering the circumstances!!
And thus, the Games of the 31st Olympiad, were over!!
In the next few days, expect my "Best & Worst"---which MIGHT be TWO posts!!
I may also have a general editorial-style analysis/wrap-up on the entire Rio experience!!
And lest we forget, this T&F season of 2016 AIN'T over!!
There's still FOUR Diamond League meets---where numerous Olympians will certainly appear---in super shape!!
See you soon, and thank you for using THIS blog as your key source for Rio Olympics T&F reportage!!
Eight finals ended the Olympic Games from Rio De Janeiro.
As I've done throughout, I will give you a detailed report on what happened.
What's wrong with Women High Jumpers?
(I was asking this same question last year--about the Men!!)
In the Q round, a record 17 women jumped 6-4 to qualify.
There was grumbling, because of how long people thought the final would take, with 17 (instead of 12) World Class women needing to jump each height.
Well, not to worry.
Vashti Cunningham was out after clearing just 6-2, the opening height!
Another teen, Morgan Lake, went out after clearing 6-4--the Q height!
But older women failed to get beyond 6-4 too!
Inika McPherson, Alessia Trost, and Kamila Licwinko!!
The next bar---6-5.50--would become the determinant!
Blanka Vlasic--always a crowd favorite--got over.
So did Bulgaria's Mirela Demireva--a PR for her!
As did the 37 year old Ruth Beitia!
The latter had the fewest misses!
When no one could clear 6-7, the Gold went to the eldest!
No records, no great marks, and much less than it should have been!
The opening rounds of the Men's JT saw some good throws.
Johannes Vetter reached 279-11.
Julius Yego added almost 10 feet to that, his 289-6 now leading.
In the 2nd round, Keshorn Walcott got one out to 280-1.
Yego had injured himself, and either fouled or had shorter throws from then on.
In the 5th round, the 2016 season's longest thrower--Thomas Rohler---finally got one out there, his 296-3 winning the Gold!
Again, no records or PR's!
That WOMEN'S 800!!
A great race, with Kate Grace (Check the rhyme scheme, please! LOL) finishing 5th, and last!
(But I betcha her Oiselle legions of fans were nonetheless cheering as if she'd won!!)
As for who DID win, that was indeed a great race.
Going through 400 in 57 and change, it was Joanna Jozwik, Lynsey Sharp, and Melissa Bishop in the lead group, with Grace and Marina Anzamasova following.
Grace seemed always ready to unleash her fierce kick, but never did.
Bishop--in HER year--did what she's been doing all year---take the lead, and drive it home from there!
At the end, her 1:57.02 Gold winner broke her own National Record of Canada.
Jozwik's 1:57.37 took Silver, with Sharp running 1:57.69 for the Bronze.
For some strange reason, there were 3 other people running.
They ran faster than Bishop, but since they are unidentifiable (and shall remain so!), there is no way they can be included in the results!
Congratulations to the FIVE WOMEN who ran a fantastic 800 meters!!
Then came the Men's 1500 Meters WALK!
(Wait! When did they add a 1500 WALK to the Rio Program??)
Oh, I see.
"Joking" aside, the 1500 did indeed begin at a baby's crawl pace!
In fact, the WOMEN ran faster in THEIR 1500 Walk!!
OK, OK, I'll stop!
When the running began, with maybe 600 to go, and with Matthew Centrowitz being the rabbit, it looked like it was anyone's race.
Asbel Kiprop had been hanging towards the rear, but now he was sidling up to the front.
When the bell rang, the Men's 400 Meter Dash was off!!
And surprisingly, it was Centro's 50.5 (according to some sources) that prevailed.
Who woulda thought?
Even in this type of race---ESPECIALLY in this type of race---I didn't think Centro was the fastest 400 guy!
I figured that would be Kiprop, or Ayanleh Souleiman, whose 800 PR was 1.47 seconds faster than Centro's!
For the first time since 1908 (!!!), an American has won the "metric mile"!!
Centro's arch-rival---someone he always raced at the Millrose Games--Nick Willis got the Bronze, with Kiprop back in 6th, 0.87 behind Centro.
Souleiman was 0.29 back--in 4th!
Taoufik Makhloufi barreled into 2nd.
Just 1.73 seconds separated the 12 runners!!
Ben Blankenship was 8th!
Oh yeah, Centro's winning time was 3:50.00---just 0.07 seconds faster than Genzebe Dibaba's WR!!
The Men's 5000 was an early Christmas gift to Mo Farah.
When they opened in 62, I thought we might see a real test for Mr Medals!
But alas, they slowed to their usual Championship 5K pace.
Even with Farah running last, you KNEW the outcome.
(As this was taking place, I was at home watching, telling them to let Farah go directly to the Medal Ceremony podium, give him his Gold, then let the others have their little tempo run around the oval!)
Farah's final 1000 was 2:23.94 (!!), which happens to be about 3:51 or 3:52 Mile pace!!
His last 400 was "only" just south of 53 seconds.
The final time--13:03.30--wasn't bad---for the Payton Jordan meet!!
It was what happened AFTER the race that got everyone in a tizzy!
Originally, Paul Chelimo shocked by taking 2nd, time of 13:03.90.
His time ranks as 11th A-T US!
Bernard Lagat was 6th, in a new Age 40 (& over) record time of 13:06.78, breaking his own mark, set last year--when he WAS 40!! (He'll be 42 in December!!)
But as Chelimo was being interviewed by NBC's Lewis Johnson, he was informed he'd been DQ'ed!!
On Worldwide Television!!
Later, after an appeal, he was reinstated, and given the Silver!
Lagat, who had moved up to the Bronze position because of other DQ's, was returned to 6th!
(I'm not 100% certain I have this right, but I think that's the GIST of it!! Whatever the details, it was a weird, wild, and EMBARRASSING series of events!! With the whole world watching!!)
The two 4X400 Relays ended Rio's TRACK program--with the Marathon the only remaining event!
And they were great!
The United States, with Courtney Okolo starting, took an immediate lead, and never relinquished it.
Jamaica had a strong 4-some, and gave good chase, but could never really challenge.
The US ran 3:19.06---with Allyson Felix running a 49.7 anchor.
Jamaica, anchored by Novlene Williams-Mills, finished in 3:20.34.
Then a gap of more than 5 seconds to the Bronze winner, Great Britain, with their 3:25.88.
From GB to Australia's 8th place time of 3:27.45 fell just 1.57 seconds of time!!
The Aussies got the best-ever 8th Place mark!!
The Men's race was one of the deepest in history!!
The US, with LaShawn Merritt on anchor, held off the Jamaicans, 2:57.30 to 2:58.16, for the Gold!
The Bahamas, with 37 year old Chris Brown on 4th leg, took the Bronze with 2:58.49.
Then we saw how the rest of the world was catching up, and the wealth of fast 400 meter men was spreading!
Belgium---with those 3 Borlee's!--ran a National Record time of 2:58.52.
This moves them from 13th A-T Nation to 8th!
Botswana continued their ascent, their new National Record of 2:59.06 taking 5th.
And it was the best 5th Place mark!
They move from 14th A-T Nation to 12th!
Cuba's 2:59.53 gave them the best 6th Place mark!
And made it SIX sub-3:00's for the 1st time in one race!
Poland's 3:00.50 in 7th missed a Place record, but was still good!
Brazil brought up the rear in 3:03.28.
Today's Men's Marathon pretty much went close to the expected narrative.
In a steady rain, with temps in the 70's, a massive group of maybe 50 runners hit 5000 in 15:31--about 2:11 pace!
They actually SLOWED over the next two 5K's, to 15:37, then 15:45, and went past 15K in 46:53, now closer to 2:12 pace!!
Eliud Kipchoge, whose PR is 2:03:05, led a still-large group of 25 to 30!
Near him, in white baseball cap, was Galen Rupp, with the ever-popular Meb (Keflizighi) close.
A slight pick-up to the 20K mark, after a 15:34 split.
But now Ben Hawkins of Great Britain had assumed front-runner's status, if only by half a step!
At the Half, reached in 1:05:55---just under 2:12 pace--a group of 2 dozen still were within 2 seconds of the lead.
Rupp was right there, while Meb was toward the rear of this pack, and the third American, Jared Ward, quietly back another 2 seconds, maybe 30th or so!
But Meb was hurting.
Seen stopping at one point, he was out of the medal hunt.
Matching their slowest 5K split (15:45), 25K was reached in 1:18:12.
Something had to give!!
And indeed it did get faster.
The next 5000 took 15:03, the fastest of the race by 28 seconds, and found Stanley Biwott, Rupp, and Kipchoge close together.
Ward was now 15th, but had fallen back as the large pack had split up.
Finally, Kipchoge--a great track racer in his day--REALLY opened up, throwing down a 5K of 14:25, and daring anyone to follow!
Feyisa Lilesa, who had always been in the lead group, stayed closest, but was a step off.
Rupp was maybe 3 steps back of Lilesa, and the Medalists were these three---but in which order?
Kipchoge's track times could match Rupp's, but were several years old!
Rupp had a faster Mile and 10000, but this was just his 2nd Marathon---and his first--2:11:13---was over 8 full minutes slower than Eliud's 2:03:05!!
And Lilesa wasn't anybody a serious Marathoner could ignore!
Slowing only to a 14:44 through the next 5K, Kipchoge, now clearly in the lead, passed 40K in 2:02:24!
He'd run that 2nd 20000 in under one hour!!
Lilesa seemed to be slowing--or Rupp was speeding up---but the gap of 10 to 12 seconds between them stayed steady.
Kipchoge won, time of 2:08:44, with splits of 1:05:56 and 1:02:48!
Lilesa looked back--saw Rupp wasn't advancing--and crossed the line making a political statement (crossing his arms in support of people in his home country who were fighting a corrupt government), but happy with his Silver, time of 2:09:54.
Rupp, more than satisfied to be winning the first Olympic medal by an American since Frank Shorter's 2nd in 1976's Montreal Games, ran 2:10:05.
(CORRECTION: Just read article in "Women's Running" saying announcers were wrong in sating Rupp's medal was the first Men's Marathon medal since 1976. Meb won Silver in 2004's OG 26.2!! My apologies!)
He is now 18th A-T US!!
Crossed OFF my US DDD was the iconic Craig Virgin--also a great track racer in his day!--whose 2:10:26 was from 1981.
Fourth went to Girmay Ghebreselassie, the youngster who had won the 2016 World Championship Marathon in Beijing, in 2:11:04.
Jared Ward amazed by taking 6th, one of the best finishes by an American in recent Games.
Meb, who had puked, and been forced to stop SEVEN times (according to sources), finished in 2:16:46 in 33rd place---simply astounding, considering the circumstances!!
And thus, the Games of the 31st Olympiad, were over!!
In the next few days, expect my "Best & Worst"---which MIGHT be TWO posts!!
I may also have a general editorial-style analysis/wrap-up on the entire Rio experience!!
And lest we forget, this T&F season of 2016 AIN'T over!!
There's still FOUR Diamond League meets---where numerous Olympians will certainly appear---in super shape!!
See you soon, and thank you for using THIS blog as your key source for Rio Olympics T&F reportage!!
Saturday, August 20, 2016
Oh those US Relays!
Apologies for being late with this report.
This blog is a one man operation, and I've been working round the clock to prepare, then post my reports, wanting to make THIS your best source for OG results & news & analysis!
So sleep interfered, and I didn't post this hours ago, as I'd planned!
BUT---here it is!
I've said enough (??) about the banning of the INNOCENT Yelena Isinbayeva, but it wasn't only her absence that diluted this event's quality.
Jenn Suhr came up VERY sick---coughing blood, etc (Maybe Zika, as someone suggested??), so was NOT anywhere near her best!
Fabiana Murer hadn't made it out of qualifying.
Nikoleta Kiriakopoulou was a DNS.
Yarisley Silva wasn't in the best shape!
Demi Payne, one of the few 16 footers in history, didn't make the US team!
But this is the Olympic Games, and from somewhere deep inside, the remaining group of women produced a stirring battle for medals, with quality marks!
Eliza McCartney, the 19 year old New Zealand National Record holder (and Age 19 record holder!!) started early--at 14-9--with a clearance of maybe FEET!!
And she bounced from the pit--exuberant!
Sandi Morris also cleared 14-9 at first try.
McCartney made the next height--15-1--and was joined there by Ekaterina Stefanidi and Morris.
Suhr, NOT looking well---slower run-up, weaker going over the bar, feverish face--took two attempts to make 15-1.
Stefanidi and the Kiwi made 15-5 on first tries.
Morris needed two!
Suhr, totally out of it, missed all three!
McCartney, looking like a sure medalist---and maybe even Gold!!--leapt over 15-9 with ease, matching her NR and PR and Age 19 record!!
Both Morris and Stefanidi needed two tries to make it!
But everyone else was now gone, so the medalists were these three---but in which order?
The Greek and the American both made 15-11 on their 2nd!
McCartney, so very poised at 19---but still a TEEN--just missed her attempts at a PR!
She'd get Bronze!!
The remaining pair both missed all 3 tries at 16-0.75, so the medals were decided on fewer misses at lower heights.
Stefanidi for the Gold, Morris for the Silver!!
The Women's 4X400 Relay heats saw the US (3:21.42) and Jamaica (3:22.38) win their respective races.
In the first, Ukraine, Poland, Australia, and France finished in places 2 through 5.
The Netherlands ran 3:26.98 in 6th, setting their National Record!
They are now 23rd A-T Nation!!
Great Britain and Canada were next in line behind the Jam's, but well over 2 seconds back!
In 4th came Italy's 3:25.16, their new National Record!
They move from 19th to 16th on the World Nation list!
Germany was 5th, while the Bahamas's 3:26.36 is their new National Record!
They are Nation number 22!!
Oddly, knocked OFF my DDD was the Netherlands 3:26.98 from the first heat!!
Without Pawel Fajdek, who had failed to make it to the final (!!), the Men's HT final was a CLOSE battle for medals, but lackluster in the Records and Marks departments!
Dilshod Nazarov's 258-2 took Gold, Ivan Tikhon's 255-2 won Silver, and Wojciech Nowicki won Bronze with his 255-0.
Krisztian Pars finished just 7th!
The Men's 4X400 Relay heats were pretty close to the Women's in quality.
Heat 1 went to Jamaica over the US, 2:58.29 to 2:58.38.
Botswana, in third, ran 2:59.35, their National Record!
They move from 17th A-T Nation, tied with 1 other, to 14th!
Poland also got under 3 minutes with their 2:59.58 in 4th.
But Trinidad & Tobago were DQ'ed!!
Belgium--with the trio of Borlee's on the last 3 legs--won heat 2 with their National Record time of 2:59.25!
However, their 0.03 second PR leaves them 13th A-T Nation!
The Bahamas were 2nd in 2:59.64, with Cuba next in 3:00.16.
Great Britain got a DQ, as did India!
That 5000 World Record attempt by Almaz Ayana---talked to death on MB's after her amazing WR in the 10K--never came to pass!
(Maybe too tired by her 10K, as well as the media blitz & emotional exhaustion??)
It began with 2000 in 6:01.
Then Ayana made her move, but it wasn't as strong as in the 10.
She was obviously running to win, and not for time!
This gave Vivian Cheruiyot an opening.
Smelling blood, both she and Helen Obiri gave chase.
When Ayana slowed from a 65 back to a 68, Cheruiyot passed her as if Ayana was a statue!
And when Obiri also came sprinting past, Ayana went into survival mode.
While she held on for Bronze, in 14:33.59, it was Cheruiyot's 14:26.17 which gave her the OG Meet Record, as well as the Age 32 record!!
Obiri ran 14:29.77, a PR, and moves from 23rd A-T World to 14th!
Mercy Cherono's 14:42.89 beat Senbere Teferi's 14:43.75 for 4th.
Yasmine Can and Karolina Grovdal also got in under 15 minutes--by 2 or 3 seconds!
Susan Kuijken's 15:00.69 was a solid PR in 8th!
Shelby Houlihan finished her first OG final in 15:08.89, but in 11th place!
GenGen LaCaze, this year's PR machine, got yet another, her 15:10.35 giving her 12th!
Nikki Hamblin finished 17th in 16:14.24, maybe wiped out by her fall (and instant viral popularity!!).
Abbey D'Agostino was in the stands, crutches at her side, cheering Nikki (and most likely Houlihan!!) on!!
Then came those dang 4X100 Relays!!
The United States had gotten in by the skin of their teeth---See my previous post!---but they were there, and so was their baton!
Only question was, would said baton still be in their hand when they finished--IF they finished??
Yes to both!
From lane one, they dashed around the track, going into an instant lead, and remaining ahead.
Their 41.01 is the 2nd fastest time in history!!
Jamaica ran wonderfully too, their 41.36 giving them the best 2nd Place record!
Also a National Record!!
They move from 6th A-T Nation to 5th!
Germany took 3rd in 42.10, which tied the best 4th Place mark!
Triniad & Tobago's 42.12 gave them the best 5th Place mark!
Ukraine nabbed the best 6th Place mark with their 42.36.
Canada was next in 43.15.
Then came Nigeria's 43.21, which got them the best mark for 8th Place!!
That one was a total success!!
Not so much the Men!!
Tyson Gay's hand-off to Trayvon Bromell--the anchor--apparently took place BEFORE the first zone line!!
Not only that, Bromell was running hurt---against Usain Bolt!!
DQ or not, they might as well have handed Bolt & Co the Gold, and went to the mixed zone to try to explain---for the umpteenth time!---why they EFFED UP yet ONE MORE TIME!!!
Jamaica's 37.27 easily beat a startling Japan, whose 37.60 is a National Record, and the best 2nd Place mark!!
They remain Nation number 4!
Canada--with Andre De Grasse anchoring--got 3rd in 37.64, their National Record!
They remain 5th A-T Nation.
They also get the record for best 3rd Place ever!
China's 37.90 gave them the best 4th Place mark!
Great Britain's 37.98 is the best 5th Place mark!
Brazil, to huge cheers, finished 6th in 38.41.
Besides the US, Trinidad & Tobago also got a DQ!
One more report to go!!
I'll combine today's events with tomorrow's Men's Marathon report!
That will be posted soon after the 26.2 race finishes!
And then comes my post-Games analyses---including my Best & Worst report---which should be LOADS of fun!!
See you soon!
This blog is a one man operation, and I've been working round the clock to prepare, then post my reports, wanting to make THIS your best source for OG results & news & analysis!
So sleep interfered, and I didn't post this hours ago, as I'd planned!
BUT---here it is!
I've said enough (??) about the banning of the INNOCENT Yelena Isinbayeva, but it wasn't only her absence that diluted this event's quality.
Jenn Suhr came up VERY sick---coughing blood, etc (Maybe Zika, as someone suggested??), so was NOT anywhere near her best!
Fabiana Murer hadn't made it out of qualifying.
Nikoleta Kiriakopoulou was a DNS.
Yarisley Silva wasn't in the best shape!
Demi Payne, one of the few 16 footers in history, didn't make the US team!
But this is the Olympic Games, and from somewhere deep inside, the remaining group of women produced a stirring battle for medals, with quality marks!
Eliza McCartney, the 19 year old New Zealand National Record holder (and Age 19 record holder!!) started early--at 14-9--with a clearance of maybe FEET!!
And she bounced from the pit--exuberant!
Sandi Morris also cleared 14-9 at first try.
McCartney made the next height--15-1--and was joined there by Ekaterina Stefanidi and Morris.
Suhr, NOT looking well---slower run-up, weaker going over the bar, feverish face--took two attempts to make 15-1.
Stefanidi and the Kiwi made 15-5 on first tries.
Morris needed two!
Suhr, totally out of it, missed all three!
McCartney, looking like a sure medalist---and maybe even Gold!!--leapt over 15-9 with ease, matching her NR and PR and Age 19 record!!
Both Morris and Stefanidi needed two tries to make it!
But everyone else was now gone, so the medalists were these three---but in which order?
The Greek and the American both made 15-11 on their 2nd!
McCartney, so very poised at 19---but still a TEEN--just missed her attempts at a PR!
She'd get Bronze!!
The remaining pair both missed all 3 tries at 16-0.75, so the medals were decided on fewer misses at lower heights.
Stefanidi for the Gold, Morris for the Silver!!
The Women's 4X400 Relay heats saw the US (3:21.42) and Jamaica (3:22.38) win their respective races.
In the first, Ukraine, Poland, Australia, and France finished in places 2 through 5.
The Netherlands ran 3:26.98 in 6th, setting their National Record!
They are now 23rd A-T Nation!!
Great Britain and Canada were next in line behind the Jam's, but well over 2 seconds back!
In 4th came Italy's 3:25.16, their new National Record!
They move from 19th to 16th on the World Nation list!
Germany was 5th, while the Bahamas's 3:26.36 is their new National Record!
They are Nation number 22!!
Oddly, knocked OFF my DDD was the Netherlands 3:26.98 from the first heat!!
Without Pawel Fajdek, who had failed to make it to the final (!!), the Men's HT final was a CLOSE battle for medals, but lackluster in the Records and Marks departments!
Dilshod Nazarov's 258-2 took Gold, Ivan Tikhon's 255-2 won Silver, and Wojciech Nowicki won Bronze with his 255-0.
Krisztian Pars finished just 7th!
The Men's 4X400 Relay heats were pretty close to the Women's in quality.
Heat 1 went to Jamaica over the US, 2:58.29 to 2:58.38.
Botswana, in third, ran 2:59.35, their National Record!
They move from 17th A-T Nation, tied with 1 other, to 14th!
Poland also got under 3 minutes with their 2:59.58 in 4th.
But Trinidad & Tobago were DQ'ed!!
Belgium--with the trio of Borlee's on the last 3 legs--won heat 2 with their National Record time of 2:59.25!
However, their 0.03 second PR leaves them 13th A-T Nation!
The Bahamas were 2nd in 2:59.64, with Cuba next in 3:00.16.
Great Britain got a DQ, as did India!
That 5000 World Record attempt by Almaz Ayana---talked to death on MB's after her amazing WR in the 10K--never came to pass!
(Maybe too tired by her 10K, as well as the media blitz & emotional exhaustion??)
It began with 2000 in 6:01.
Then Ayana made her move, but it wasn't as strong as in the 10.
She was obviously running to win, and not for time!
This gave Vivian Cheruiyot an opening.
Smelling blood, both she and Helen Obiri gave chase.
When Ayana slowed from a 65 back to a 68, Cheruiyot passed her as if Ayana was a statue!
And when Obiri also came sprinting past, Ayana went into survival mode.
While she held on for Bronze, in 14:33.59, it was Cheruiyot's 14:26.17 which gave her the OG Meet Record, as well as the Age 32 record!!
Obiri ran 14:29.77, a PR, and moves from 23rd A-T World to 14th!
Mercy Cherono's 14:42.89 beat Senbere Teferi's 14:43.75 for 4th.
Yasmine Can and Karolina Grovdal also got in under 15 minutes--by 2 or 3 seconds!
Susan Kuijken's 15:00.69 was a solid PR in 8th!
Shelby Houlihan finished her first OG final in 15:08.89, but in 11th place!
GenGen LaCaze, this year's PR machine, got yet another, her 15:10.35 giving her 12th!
Nikki Hamblin finished 17th in 16:14.24, maybe wiped out by her fall (and instant viral popularity!!).
Abbey D'Agostino was in the stands, crutches at her side, cheering Nikki (and most likely Houlihan!!) on!!
Then came those dang 4X100 Relays!!
The United States had gotten in by the skin of their teeth---See my previous post!---but they were there, and so was their baton!
Only question was, would said baton still be in their hand when they finished--IF they finished??
Yes to both!
From lane one, they dashed around the track, going into an instant lead, and remaining ahead.
Their 41.01 is the 2nd fastest time in history!!
Jamaica ran wonderfully too, their 41.36 giving them the best 2nd Place record!
Also a National Record!!
They move from 6th A-T Nation to 5th!
Germany took 3rd in 42.10, which tied the best 4th Place mark!
Triniad & Tobago's 42.12 gave them the best 5th Place mark!
Ukraine nabbed the best 6th Place mark with their 42.36.
Canada was next in 43.15.
Then came Nigeria's 43.21, which got them the best mark for 8th Place!!
That one was a total success!!
Not so much the Men!!
Tyson Gay's hand-off to Trayvon Bromell--the anchor--apparently took place BEFORE the first zone line!!
Not only that, Bromell was running hurt---against Usain Bolt!!
DQ or not, they might as well have handed Bolt & Co the Gold, and went to the mixed zone to try to explain---for the umpteenth time!---why they EFFED UP yet ONE MORE TIME!!!
Jamaica's 37.27 easily beat a startling Japan, whose 37.60 is a National Record, and the best 2nd Place mark!!
They remain Nation number 4!
Canada--with Andre De Grasse anchoring--got 3rd in 37.64, their National Record!
They remain 5th A-T Nation.
They also get the record for best 3rd Place ever!
China's 37.90 gave them the best 4th Place mark!
Great Britain's 37.98 is the best 5th Place mark!
Brazil, to huge cheers, finished 6th in 38.41.
Besides the US, Trinidad & Tobago also got a DQ!
One more report to go!!
I'll combine today's events with tomorrow's Men's Marathon report!
That will be posted soon after the 26.2 race finishes!
And then comes my post-Games analyses---including my Best & Worst report---which should be LOADS of fun!!
See you soon!
Friday, August 19, 2016
Great Olympics Gets Better
We're nearing its end---just the rest of today, tomorrow's full day, then only the Men's Marathon on Sunday.
But the tempo of this Olympic Games greatness has not abated--it's improved!!
And here's the latest reasons why!
Beginning where I left off in my last post, the Men's 400H final lived up to, and helped define, my chosen title for this post!!
For the first time in years, more than one athlete ran faster than 48 seconds!
I was as surprised by this as I've been by anything else that's happened in Rio--or even this entire year!
Kerron Clement has been at this game forever, it seems!
And now he's a Gold medal winner at the Olympics.
In a fiercely-run race, Clement narrowly beat Kenya's Bonaface Tumuti, 47.73 to 47.78!
For Tumuti, it breaks Nicholas Bett's National Record---by 0.01 seconds!!
If you recall, Bett was the lone sub-48 man last year!!
Yasmari Copello took the Bronze in 47.92, beating Ireland's Thomas Barr, who also dipped under the barrier, at 47.97!
Both Copello (for Turkey), and Barr (Ireland) broke their own National Records!!
And there was more!
Amnsert Whyte wasn't exactly walking in 7th, as he timed 48.07.
And in 8th, Rasmus Magi's 48.40 ranks as the National Record of Estonia!!
Four under 48, and 4 NR's!!
Not bad!!
And then those hunky hunks--the Men's Shot Putters--lumbered out to the circle of battle!
And were they ever ready!!
But even though the others performed well---even great--it came down to one man in the end who would be dominant.
Ryan--of the venerable Crouser family of throwers--powered the 16 pound ball out to 69-4.75 on his initial effort.
That would be his WORST throw of the day--by almost two whole feet!!
His 2nd lofted out to a PR of 72-10.75.
(He had recently gotten a big PR of 72-6.50!!)
But he wasn't done!
His 3rd flew out even farther--over the 73 foot line, to 73-0.50!!
That made him the 11th American to reach that number, and the 14th in the World!!
After a "rest" Put of "just" 71-11.50, he then entered the circle for the 5th time, well ahead of anyone else!
His stance isn't much different than the others, nor is his size.
But when he let go of the ball, it blasted out to ANOTHER Personal Record--73-10.75!!
It's the OG Meet Record!
It moves him from 11th A-T US to 6th, tied with 1 other.
And it moves him from 18th A-T World (his pre-OG place!!) to 10th, tied with 1 other!!
Ryan Crouser has arrived!
Joe Kovacs, the favorite, threw 71-5.50 for the Silver, with Tomas Walsh getting Bronze with 70-1.
In 4th, Franck Elemba's 69-6.75 was awarded the National Record of the Congo!
Another NR fell to Brazil's own Dartan Romani when he threw 68-11.75!!
Tomasz Majewski, who really IS bigger than most of his competitors, threw 67-11.75 in 6th!
The 7th and 8th place Putters had the same mark---67-8.75, so their places were determined by their 2nd best marks.
David Storl thus claimed 7th over Jamaica's O'Dayne Richards!
But Richards nabbed the best-ever 8th Place mark!!
Konrad Bukowiecki fouled out!
The Men's 1500 semi's produced the usual "tactical" races, with both semi winners dipping into the 3:39's.
Asbel Kiprop and Ron Kwemoi led each race.
Most notable non-Q's were Henrik Ingebrigtsen and Chris O'Hare.
But it was Robby Andrews's DQ--for running inside the line--that got the headlines.
His appeal to run the final failed!
The Olympics--and even the entire sport of T&F--is known as a place where stars are born, while super-veterans fall behind.
Such was the case in the Women's Javelin Throw final!!
She was 2nd in the Q's---with a National Record for Croatia, no less!!--but she still shocked when her throw of 217-1 became the Gold-medal winner!
I speak of the young (21 years old) Sara Kolak, whose 4th round lob of the spear got her the NR and the Olympic Gold!!
She's now 23rd A-T World, tied with 1 other!!
Sunette Viljoen threw 213-0 for the Silver,
Another super-vet--and maybe the best in this event in this century--Barbora Spotakova--could reach just 212-7, and wound up with the Bronze---after her 2 consecutive Gold's in Beijing and London!!
The tides had turned!!
Maria Andrejczyk--who led the Q's--wound up 4th, just one inch behind Spotakova!
Kathryn Mitchell's 211-2 becomes the best 6th Place mark!!
Huihui Lyu's 210-1 is the best 7th Place mark!!
And to support the theme of the young bypassing the "old", another A-T great--Christina Obergfoll--wound up in 8th, with her 206-5!!
Then came those Women's 800 semi's I spoke to in my "extra" post yesterday!
With no regrets, I might add!!
I stand by what I said!!
Thus, take my report of this event any damn way you please!!
In semi 1, the WINNER was Ajee Wilson, who ran 1:59.75.
Natalia Pryshchepa, of Ukraine, was 2nd with her 1:59.95.
Two people ran faster, and will remain unnamed.
Semi 2 saw Joanna Jozwik's 1:58.93 lead FIVE under two minutes!!
Melissa Bishop ran 1:59.05, Selina Buchel 1:59.35, Lovisa Lindh 1:59.41, and Shalayna Oshan-Clarke ran 1:59.45.
Someone ran fast in front of the 3rd semi.
But Lynsey Sharp WON the race with her 1:58.65.
And in 2nd came Kate Grace, PR'ing over her Trials race by 0.31, her 1:58.79 making her 23rd A-T US!!
Marina Arzamasova also got under 2:00 with her 1:58.87!
Tossed OUT of the final--because of the presence of those self-same UNNAMED people--were Eunice Sum and Ajee Wilson!
(Actually, I believe Sum lost out because she simply had a bad day at the office!!)
The final---as were the heats and semi's--will be a FARCE!!
And then came the Women's 400H final!!
Where Delilah Muhammed indeed proved she's for real!!
From the gun, she went for it!
Ahead early, she remained ahead, and crossed the line in 53.13.
The fight for Silver went to Sara Petersen's 53.55, which broke her own National Record of Denmark.
But 3rd was questionable---that is, until Ashley Spencer finally began using her 50.28 flat 400 speed between the hurdles!
Then it was all Spencer all the way, as her 53.72 stole the Bronze from the veteran, Zuzana Hejnova!!
Spencer moves from 15th A-T US to 13th, tied with 1 other!
Hejnova's 53.92 wasn't bad, considering her dry pre-OG season!!
And despite Ristananna Tracey's 54.15 in 5th, and Elidh Doyle's 54.61 in 8th, NO Place records were broken--though a few were close!
Want an anti-climactic race?
Try the Men's 200 final!
You had the anticipation of seeing Usain Bolt maybe run his final open Olympics race ever, plus having the words of DA MAN ringing in your ears---"I want to run under 19 seconds!".
Would he?
Could he?
As he did his little jig---puts Michelle Jenneke into rookie class!!--at the start line, the crowd hushed.
After 19.78 seconds of totally domineering sprinting, we had our answers!
This would be--at best--an AVERAGE Usain Bolt race---one among dozens of others---but nothing really special!!
Andre De Grasse pumped out a 20.02 for the Silver.
The battle for the Bronze, however, was a lulu!!
Three guys went past the tape together---or seemingly as together as Siamese triplets!!
It came down to three-one thousandths of a second!!
And Adam Gemili lost!!
Chris Lemaitre's 20.12 was deemed the Bronze winner over Gemili's 20.12, with Churandy Martini given 20.13 in 5th.
LaShawn Merritt wound up 6th with 20.19--a full 0.45 seconds slower than his PR!!
Alonzo Edwards's 20.23 gave him the best-ever 7th Place mark!!
No more open races for Bolt?
We shall see!
For once, Ashton Eaton actually had to FIGHT for his Gold medal!!
Round one--the 100--went to Damian Warner, who got 1023 points with his OG record of 10.30!!
Eaton's 10.46 was over 2 tenths slower than he's capable of, and got him 985 points.
Zac Ziemak was 3rd, with Luiz De Araujo of Brazil being the crowd favorite in 6th!
Kevin Mayer was 9th, with 903 points, while American Jeremy Taiwo was 20th!!
Eaton LJ'ed 26-0.75 for 1045 points, moving him to a 30 point lead (2030) over Warner (2000).
Mayer was now 4th, with 1863 points!
De Araujo fell to 8th place, while Taiwo rose 5 places, to 15th!
The SP was led by Mayer's 51-8.50, but could only move him to 3rd, his 2699 points being 9 behind Warner's 2708, and 104 behind Ashton's 2803 leader!
De Araujo jumped up to 4th--with 2648 points, while Taiwo was now 9th!
Taiwo HJ'ed 7-2.50 to rise to 3rd, just 69 points behind Eaton's leading 3616.
Warner was 2nd with 3548.
Ziemek had fallen to 7th, and wouldn't be a factor, and hometown hero De Araujo was now 12th!
Eaton sprinted 46.07 in the 400 to end Day One out front with 4621 points--close to WR pace!!
Kazmirek's 4500 held 2nd, with Warner 11 points down, and Mayer at 4435!
Taiwo was in 5th with 4419.
De Araujo was now 9th, but 208 points out of Silver position!!
Eaton's 110H fell far short of his PR, while Warner ran a solid 13.58.
But Warner was still 103 in back of the leader, with Mayer 214 back!!
De Araujo moved up one spot, to 8th!
Linden Victor's DT of 174-8 didn't help him much, as Eaton's 6398 still led the gang, with Warner now 115 back, while Mayer had cut the difference down to 187 points, a gain of 27 on Eaton!
Mayer's 17-8.50 PV gave him 1035 points, while Eaton got 972!
But he was still 124 points behind, his 7246 a full 144 ahead of Warner's 7102.
De Araujo was now in 7th, thrilling the Brazil crowd!!
Leonel Suarez--whose best event, the JT, was next--was in 10th with 6779 points!
And true to form, Suarez DID throw a massive 237-3, rising 4 places to 6th!!
But Eaton still led with 8104 points, with Mayer now just 44 points behind, threatening to upset Mr Decathlon!!
(This would be akin---if it happened--to, say Andre De Grasse beating Usain Bolt!!)
Warner was now 3rd with 7888, just 44 ahead of Kai Kazmirek's 7844!
No one else was close enough for a podium position!!
Grimacing throughout the last lap like I'd never seen him do before---Eaton clawed through the 1500 in 4:23, but still tied the Olympic Games Meet Record of 8893 points!!
Mayer dug deep, but still fell 59 points off, his 8834 the best 2nd Place mark, and ranking him 6th All-Time World!!
Warner ended at 8666 points, VERY close to his Canadian National Record and PR!
Kazmirek's 8580 took 4th, while Bourrada's fast 1500 of 4:14.60 added much to his score of 8521, which claimed his own National Record of Algeria!!
In 6th came Leonel Suarez, with 8460 points!
Brazil's De Araujo scored 8315 for tenth!
Taiwo's 8300 points left him in 11th!
Pushed OFF my World DDD was Suarez's 8654 from 2009!!
I'll close with the two Walks from this morning!
(Morning, that is, here in Bellingham, as the Rio time for the Women's 20K was 2:30 in the afternoon!!)
The 50000 meters Walk for Men---There SHOULD be one for Women too!!!--went off as predicted, with the WR holding Yohann Diniz sprinting (in a Walker's context!! LOL) to an early lead, and remaining there through the first 30K!
But he was hurting--and stopped!
For about 90 seconds, according to the livestream announcers!
In fact, they were already announcing his complete demise, saying he'd be quitting the race soon.
Meanwhile, up front, Evan Dunfee, a Canadian, had surprisingly moved to the front, and was walking away from Matej Toth and Jared Tallent.
With Deniz leading, they seemed to be on course for a sub-3:40 time, good time for the weather!
But the pace had slowed, forming a group of 4 at the front.
At 40K, it was Tallent's turn to lead.
Deniz had regrouped, but was too far back, and still in his weakened state, so wasn't a real threat anymore!
Toth, the World Champion last year, now strode home to another major title, timed in 3:40:58, similar to his Beijing time!
Tallent took Silver with his 3:41:16, just 8 seconds ahead of Bronze winner Hiroki Arai of Japan.
Dunfee finished 14 seconds behind Arai's 3:41:24.
The venerable Robert Heffernan was able to push ahead of Deniz, ending in 6th to Deniz's 8th--a full 2:48 of space between them!!
The Women's Walk began at---heh heh, a Walking pace!!
Meaning south of the 1:30 finishing time that separates the Women from the Girls!
Walking kilometers of about 4:30 to 4:40 to start, they were soon down to the 4:20's, with the 3 Chinese up front, along with Mexico's Maria Gonzalez, and Anezka Drahatova, among a handful of others.
They came by the 10000 point in 45:24--still on slower-than-1:30 pace, but sure to negative split, and dip under that time.
Maria Michta-Coffey, shooting for a top 20 finish, was 25th in 46:23.
Miranda Melville, the other American, was further back.
The next 2K splits were all in the low-8:40's, meaning 4:20 or so per 1000!
The leading group was now down to Beijing's one-two of Hong Liu and Xiuzhu Lu, with Gonzalez sticking to them.
The top Italian--Eleanora Giorgi, had been red-carded out, but Antonella Palmisano had replaced her not far from the lead!
At 18K, the racing began, with the time of K number 19 around 4:10, and Gonzalez a step ahead of the Chinese duo, with the Italian fading a bit.
They were into an all-out sprint now---breathtaking to watch!!
Would Gonzalez become the rare Mexican female Walk medalist--in an event where Mexican men were predominant??
In the end, Gonzalez just couldn't hold it, and Liu dashed past, breaking the tape at 1:28:35 on the clock, just two seconds ahead of Gonzalez, and 7 seconds ahead of the 1:28:42 of her compatriot Lu!!
Palmisano's 1:29:03 finished just one second in front of the charging third Chinese, Qieyang Shenjie!!
Michta-Coffey picked it up the last 2000, but it wasn't enough for a negative split, or for a top 20 position!
Her 1:33:36 took 22nd (out of 63 finishers!).
Melville ended in 34th with her 1:35:48.
(BTW, John Dunn, the lone American 50K guy, ended in 43rd place---out of just 49 finishers---time of 4:16:12!!)
Well, this has been quite a good Games---better than I imagined!
And it ain't over yet!
In fact, I'll have the remainder of today's events---the ones that followed the Walks--with all the best results---in the next few hours!!
If we're still talking after my sonorous blast about those 800 runners, then I'll see you later!!
But the tempo of this Olympic Games greatness has not abated--it's improved!!
And here's the latest reasons why!
Beginning where I left off in my last post, the Men's 400H final lived up to, and helped define, my chosen title for this post!!
For the first time in years, more than one athlete ran faster than 48 seconds!
I was as surprised by this as I've been by anything else that's happened in Rio--or even this entire year!
Kerron Clement has been at this game forever, it seems!
And now he's a Gold medal winner at the Olympics.
In a fiercely-run race, Clement narrowly beat Kenya's Bonaface Tumuti, 47.73 to 47.78!
For Tumuti, it breaks Nicholas Bett's National Record---by 0.01 seconds!!
If you recall, Bett was the lone sub-48 man last year!!
Yasmari Copello took the Bronze in 47.92, beating Ireland's Thomas Barr, who also dipped under the barrier, at 47.97!
Both Copello (for Turkey), and Barr (Ireland) broke their own National Records!!
And there was more!
Amnsert Whyte wasn't exactly walking in 7th, as he timed 48.07.
And in 8th, Rasmus Magi's 48.40 ranks as the National Record of Estonia!!
Four under 48, and 4 NR's!!
Not bad!!
And then those hunky hunks--the Men's Shot Putters--lumbered out to the circle of battle!
And were they ever ready!!
But even though the others performed well---even great--it came down to one man in the end who would be dominant.
Ryan--of the venerable Crouser family of throwers--powered the 16 pound ball out to 69-4.75 on his initial effort.
That would be his WORST throw of the day--by almost two whole feet!!
His 2nd lofted out to a PR of 72-10.75.
(He had recently gotten a big PR of 72-6.50!!)
But he wasn't done!
His 3rd flew out even farther--over the 73 foot line, to 73-0.50!!
That made him the 11th American to reach that number, and the 14th in the World!!
After a "rest" Put of "just" 71-11.50, he then entered the circle for the 5th time, well ahead of anyone else!
His stance isn't much different than the others, nor is his size.
But when he let go of the ball, it blasted out to ANOTHER Personal Record--73-10.75!!
It's the OG Meet Record!
It moves him from 11th A-T US to 6th, tied with 1 other.
And it moves him from 18th A-T World (his pre-OG place!!) to 10th, tied with 1 other!!
Ryan Crouser has arrived!
Joe Kovacs, the favorite, threw 71-5.50 for the Silver, with Tomas Walsh getting Bronze with 70-1.
In 4th, Franck Elemba's 69-6.75 was awarded the National Record of the Congo!
Another NR fell to Brazil's own Dartan Romani when he threw 68-11.75!!
Tomasz Majewski, who really IS bigger than most of his competitors, threw 67-11.75 in 6th!
The 7th and 8th place Putters had the same mark---67-8.75, so their places were determined by their 2nd best marks.
David Storl thus claimed 7th over Jamaica's O'Dayne Richards!
But Richards nabbed the best-ever 8th Place mark!!
Konrad Bukowiecki fouled out!
The Men's 1500 semi's produced the usual "tactical" races, with both semi winners dipping into the 3:39's.
Asbel Kiprop and Ron Kwemoi led each race.
Most notable non-Q's were Henrik Ingebrigtsen and Chris O'Hare.
But it was Robby Andrews's DQ--for running inside the line--that got the headlines.
His appeal to run the final failed!
The Olympics--and even the entire sport of T&F--is known as a place where stars are born, while super-veterans fall behind.
Such was the case in the Women's Javelin Throw final!!
She was 2nd in the Q's---with a National Record for Croatia, no less!!--but she still shocked when her throw of 217-1 became the Gold-medal winner!
I speak of the young (21 years old) Sara Kolak, whose 4th round lob of the spear got her the NR and the Olympic Gold!!
She's now 23rd A-T World, tied with 1 other!!
Sunette Viljoen threw 213-0 for the Silver,
Another super-vet--and maybe the best in this event in this century--Barbora Spotakova--could reach just 212-7, and wound up with the Bronze---after her 2 consecutive Gold's in Beijing and London!!
The tides had turned!!
Maria Andrejczyk--who led the Q's--wound up 4th, just one inch behind Spotakova!
Kathryn Mitchell's 211-2 becomes the best 6th Place mark!!
Huihui Lyu's 210-1 is the best 7th Place mark!!
And to support the theme of the young bypassing the "old", another A-T great--Christina Obergfoll--wound up in 8th, with her 206-5!!
Then came those Women's 800 semi's I spoke to in my "extra" post yesterday!
With no regrets, I might add!!
I stand by what I said!!
Thus, take my report of this event any damn way you please!!
In semi 1, the WINNER was Ajee Wilson, who ran 1:59.75.
Natalia Pryshchepa, of Ukraine, was 2nd with her 1:59.95.
Two people ran faster, and will remain unnamed.
Semi 2 saw Joanna Jozwik's 1:58.93 lead FIVE under two minutes!!
Melissa Bishop ran 1:59.05, Selina Buchel 1:59.35, Lovisa Lindh 1:59.41, and Shalayna Oshan-Clarke ran 1:59.45.
Someone ran fast in front of the 3rd semi.
But Lynsey Sharp WON the race with her 1:58.65.
And in 2nd came Kate Grace, PR'ing over her Trials race by 0.31, her 1:58.79 making her 23rd A-T US!!
Marina Arzamasova also got under 2:00 with her 1:58.87!
Tossed OUT of the final--because of the presence of those self-same UNNAMED people--were Eunice Sum and Ajee Wilson!
(Actually, I believe Sum lost out because she simply had a bad day at the office!!)
The final---as were the heats and semi's--will be a FARCE!!
And then came the Women's 400H final!!
Where Delilah Muhammed indeed proved she's for real!!
From the gun, she went for it!
Ahead early, she remained ahead, and crossed the line in 53.13.
The fight for Silver went to Sara Petersen's 53.55, which broke her own National Record of Denmark.
But 3rd was questionable---that is, until Ashley Spencer finally began using her 50.28 flat 400 speed between the hurdles!
Then it was all Spencer all the way, as her 53.72 stole the Bronze from the veteran, Zuzana Hejnova!!
Spencer moves from 15th A-T US to 13th, tied with 1 other!
Hejnova's 53.92 wasn't bad, considering her dry pre-OG season!!
And despite Ristananna Tracey's 54.15 in 5th, and Elidh Doyle's 54.61 in 8th, NO Place records were broken--though a few were close!
Want an anti-climactic race?
Try the Men's 200 final!
You had the anticipation of seeing Usain Bolt maybe run his final open Olympics race ever, plus having the words of DA MAN ringing in your ears---"I want to run under 19 seconds!".
Would he?
Could he?
As he did his little jig---puts Michelle Jenneke into rookie class!!--at the start line, the crowd hushed.
After 19.78 seconds of totally domineering sprinting, we had our answers!
This would be--at best--an AVERAGE Usain Bolt race---one among dozens of others---but nothing really special!!
Andre De Grasse pumped out a 20.02 for the Silver.
The battle for the Bronze, however, was a lulu!!
Three guys went past the tape together---or seemingly as together as Siamese triplets!!
It came down to three-one thousandths of a second!!
And Adam Gemili lost!!
Chris Lemaitre's 20.12 was deemed the Bronze winner over Gemili's 20.12, with Churandy Martini given 20.13 in 5th.
LaShawn Merritt wound up 6th with 20.19--a full 0.45 seconds slower than his PR!!
Alonzo Edwards's 20.23 gave him the best-ever 7th Place mark!!
No more open races for Bolt?
We shall see!
For once, Ashton Eaton actually had to FIGHT for his Gold medal!!
Round one--the 100--went to Damian Warner, who got 1023 points with his OG record of 10.30!!
Eaton's 10.46 was over 2 tenths slower than he's capable of, and got him 985 points.
Zac Ziemak was 3rd, with Luiz De Araujo of Brazil being the crowd favorite in 6th!
Kevin Mayer was 9th, with 903 points, while American Jeremy Taiwo was 20th!!
Eaton LJ'ed 26-0.75 for 1045 points, moving him to a 30 point lead (2030) over Warner (2000).
Mayer was now 4th, with 1863 points!
De Araujo fell to 8th place, while Taiwo rose 5 places, to 15th!
The SP was led by Mayer's 51-8.50, but could only move him to 3rd, his 2699 points being 9 behind Warner's 2708, and 104 behind Ashton's 2803 leader!
De Araujo jumped up to 4th--with 2648 points, while Taiwo was now 9th!
Taiwo HJ'ed 7-2.50 to rise to 3rd, just 69 points behind Eaton's leading 3616.
Warner was 2nd with 3548.
Ziemek had fallen to 7th, and wouldn't be a factor, and hometown hero De Araujo was now 12th!
Eaton sprinted 46.07 in the 400 to end Day One out front with 4621 points--close to WR pace!!
Kazmirek's 4500 held 2nd, with Warner 11 points down, and Mayer at 4435!
Taiwo was in 5th with 4419.
De Araujo was now 9th, but 208 points out of Silver position!!
Eaton's 110H fell far short of his PR, while Warner ran a solid 13.58.
But Warner was still 103 in back of the leader, with Mayer 214 back!!
De Araujo moved up one spot, to 8th!
Linden Victor's DT of 174-8 didn't help him much, as Eaton's 6398 still led the gang, with Warner now 115 back, while Mayer had cut the difference down to 187 points, a gain of 27 on Eaton!
Mayer's 17-8.50 PV gave him 1035 points, while Eaton got 972!
But he was still 124 points behind, his 7246 a full 144 ahead of Warner's 7102.
De Araujo was now in 7th, thrilling the Brazil crowd!!
Leonel Suarez--whose best event, the JT, was next--was in 10th with 6779 points!
And true to form, Suarez DID throw a massive 237-3, rising 4 places to 6th!!
But Eaton still led with 8104 points, with Mayer now just 44 points behind, threatening to upset Mr Decathlon!!
(This would be akin---if it happened--to, say Andre De Grasse beating Usain Bolt!!)
Warner was now 3rd with 7888, just 44 ahead of Kai Kazmirek's 7844!
No one else was close enough for a podium position!!
Grimacing throughout the last lap like I'd never seen him do before---Eaton clawed through the 1500 in 4:23, but still tied the Olympic Games Meet Record of 8893 points!!
Mayer dug deep, but still fell 59 points off, his 8834 the best 2nd Place mark, and ranking him 6th All-Time World!!
Warner ended at 8666 points, VERY close to his Canadian National Record and PR!
Kazmirek's 8580 took 4th, while Bourrada's fast 1500 of 4:14.60 added much to his score of 8521, which claimed his own National Record of Algeria!!
In 6th came Leonel Suarez, with 8460 points!
Brazil's De Araujo scored 8315 for tenth!
Taiwo's 8300 points left him in 11th!
Pushed OFF my World DDD was Suarez's 8654 from 2009!!
I'll close with the two Walks from this morning!
(Morning, that is, here in Bellingham, as the Rio time for the Women's 20K was 2:30 in the afternoon!!)
The 50000 meters Walk for Men---There SHOULD be one for Women too!!!--went off as predicted, with the WR holding Yohann Diniz sprinting (in a Walker's context!! LOL) to an early lead, and remaining there through the first 30K!
But he was hurting--and stopped!
For about 90 seconds, according to the livestream announcers!
In fact, they were already announcing his complete demise, saying he'd be quitting the race soon.
Meanwhile, up front, Evan Dunfee, a Canadian, had surprisingly moved to the front, and was walking away from Matej Toth and Jared Tallent.
With Deniz leading, they seemed to be on course for a sub-3:40 time, good time for the weather!
But the pace had slowed, forming a group of 4 at the front.
At 40K, it was Tallent's turn to lead.
Deniz had regrouped, but was too far back, and still in his weakened state, so wasn't a real threat anymore!
Toth, the World Champion last year, now strode home to another major title, timed in 3:40:58, similar to his Beijing time!
Tallent took Silver with his 3:41:16, just 8 seconds ahead of Bronze winner Hiroki Arai of Japan.
Dunfee finished 14 seconds behind Arai's 3:41:24.
The venerable Robert Heffernan was able to push ahead of Deniz, ending in 6th to Deniz's 8th--a full 2:48 of space between them!!
The Women's Walk began at---heh heh, a Walking pace!!
Meaning south of the 1:30 finishing time that separates the Women from the Girls!
Walking kilometers of about 4:30 to 4:40 to start, they were soon down to the 4:20's, with the 3 Chinese up front, along with Mexico's Maria Gonzalez, and Anezka Drahatova, among a handful of others.
They came by the 10000 point in 45:24--still on slower-than-1:30 pace, but sure to negative split, and dip under that time.
Maria Michta-Coffey, shooting for a top 20 finish, was 25th in 46:23.
Miranda Melville, the other American, was further back.
The next 2K splits were all in the low-8:40's, meaning 4:20 or so per 1000!
The leading group was now down to Beijing's one-two of Hong Liu and Xiuzhu Lu, with Gonzalez sticking to them.
The top Italian--Eleanora Giorgi, had been red-carded out, but Antonella Palmisano had replaced her not far from the lead!
At 18K, the racing began, with the time of K number 19 around 4:10, and Gonzalez a step ahead of the Chinese duo, with the Italian fading a bit.
They were into an all-out sprint now---breathtaking to watch!!
Would Gonzalez become the rare Mexican female Walk medalist--in an event where Mexican men were predominant??
In the end, Gonzalez just couldn't hold it, and Liu dashed past, breaking the tape at 1:28:35 on the clock, just two seconds ahead of Gonzalez, and 7 seconds ahead of the 1:28:42 of her compatriot Lu!!
Palmisano's 1:29:03 finished just one second in front of the charging third Chinese, Qieyang Shenjie!!
Michta-Coffey picked it up the last 2000, but it wasn't enough for a negative split, or for a top 20 position!
Her 1:33:36 took 22nd (out of 63 finishers!).
Melville ended in 34th with her 1:35:48.
(BTW, John Dunn, the lone American 50K guy, ended in 43rd place---out of just 49 finishers---time of 4:16:12!!)
Well, this has been quite a good Games---better than I imagined!
And it ain't over yet!
In fact, I'll have the remainder of today's events---the ones that followed the Walks--with all the best results---in the next few hours!!
If we're still talking after my sonorous blast about those 800 runners, then I'll see you later!!
Record Book Destruction Continues
Sorry for the delay in getting these results to you, but if you read my previous post, then you know I've had other things on my mind!
Well, now that I've spoken out, let's get down to the business of this blog---even if my blog is NOT a business!!
The Women's 800 heats had, as you might suspect, some interesting developments.
(See my previous post for my views on this!)
Lynsey Sharp took heat 1 in 2:00.83.
Sahily Diago and Justine Fedronic, in 3rd and 5th, didn't advance!
An unnamed runner finished ahead of Ajee Wilson, but it didn't matter.
Wilson ran 1:59.44, and 2 others got under two minutes!
Selina Buchel also ran a 1:59, beating another of those to remain unnamed.
But Gudaf Tsegay and Sifan Hassan didn't advance.
Melissa Bishop's 1:58.38 led heat three, with two others breaking two minutes.
One was Noelie Yerago, whose 1:59.12 is the National Record of Benin!
Anita Hinriksdottir just missed advancing, even though her 2:00.14 PR broke her own National Record of Iceland!
It's hard to believe she's still just 20 years old!!
Kate Grace ran 1:59.96 in heat 5, but finished 3rd.
She advanced on a time basis!
Others not moving on included Natoya Goule, Kenia Sinclair, and the American Chrishuna Williams!
Mr Bun did it!!
Evan Jager became the first American male to medal in the OG Steeple since 1984!!
The pace was steady, but not super fast, with Jager keeping company with Consesius Kipruto and Ezekiel Kemboi.
Jager finally went to the front, but didn't move away.
His hurdling was beautiful to watch, while the Kenyans straddled theirs--a habit, but not deadly!
With a lap to go, the sprinting was in full gear.
Kipruto had the final gear, his 8:03.28 breaking the OG Meet Record!!
Jager came in just behind, in 8:04.28.
Kemboi followed, with Mahidine Mekhissi about 6 seconds behind Kemboi.
Then a protest was filed by a French runner, saying Kemboi had run on the infield earlier for a step or two.
The protest was accepted, reviewed, and Kemboi was DQ'ed!!
Mekhissi got the Bronze!!
Don Cabral finished back in 8th!
Matt Hughes was 10th!
The Men's JT Q rounds saw Keshorn Walcott's 290-11--one of his best throws in years!--leading the field.
All 3 Americans, plus Tero Pitkamaki, failed to advance!
Cy Hostetler threw 261-8.
One of the more closely watched events was the Women's 100H semi's!
Brianna Rollins ran the fastest, taking semi 1 in 12.47.
Pedrya Seymour's 12.64 broke her own National Record of the Bahamas!
Alina Talay didn't Q.
Nia Ali took semi two in 12.65, with young Puerto Rican Jasmine Camacho-Quinn failing to move on!
Kristi Castlin beat Cindy Ofili to take semi 3, times of 12.63 and 12.71.
Cindy Billaud didn't qualify for the final!
The Women's LJ final was a wild ---and tense---battle among three superior athletes!
And it all came down to the last two rounds!
Both Ivana Spanovic and Tianna Bartoletta reached 7 meters, with Bartoletta's 23-6.25 leading over Spanovic's 23-2.75, as well as an earlier leap by Brittney Reese.
For Bartoletta, it makes her 21st A-T World, tied with 1 other.
She remains 3rd A-T US!
For Spanovic, it broke her own National Record of Serbia!
But that was round 5!
Could Reese pull out one of her last-round miracles?
Bartoletta was seen trying not to watch, as Reese sprinted down the runway, leapt into the air, and landed very near where Bartoletta had!!
It seemed the measurement took forever!
Then it came--Reese had jumped 23-5.50--0.75 inches shy of Gold!!
Malinka Mahimbo's 22-9.75 took 4th!
The fast events kept coming!
Next up was the Men's 200 semi rounds!
Hold on to your hats, folks!!
In the first, LaShawn Merritt showed good form, winning in 19.94 over Chris Lemaitre's 20.01.
Nickel Ashmeade, in 4th, failed to advance!
Then came the Lightning Bolt.
He struck the track, sprinted to an expected lead, but soon found someone next to him.
It was Canada's Andre De Grasse.
Bolt looked at De Grasse.
De Grasse stared back at Bolt.
Cruising in, they finished the race LOOKING at each other, and SMILING!!
What a classic bit of Sun Tzu war strategy!!
Bolt's 19.78 nipped De Grasse's 19.80.
The latter broke his own National Record of Canada.
And it ranks him 18th A-T World, tied with 2 others!!
Ameer Webb's 20.43 wasn't enough to get him through!
But it was round 3 where a HUGE shock developed!!
Justin Gatlin didn't have Bolt to contend with here, so should have Q'ed easily for the final!
After all, Alonzo Edward ran just 20.07 to win the race, with Churandy Martina's 20.13 second.
So where was Gatlin?
Third, in 20.13.
When the sprinting started for the tape, Gatlin couldn't find the needed fuel!
Not only that, but Yohan Blake also failed to move on, finishing 6th!!
Two electrifying finals ended the August 16th series of events.
The Women's 200 came first, with Torie Bowie facing Elaine Thompson and Dafne Schippers.
There were others---Michelle Lee-Ahye, Dina Asher-Smith, Marie Josee Ta Lou among them--but all eyes were on the tall Dutch-woman, the mercurial Bowie, and the emergent Thompson!
Bowie blasted into a lead around the bend, with Thompson close, and Schippers getting in gear.
But when the shift came into the straight, it was the power-blast of Schippers facing down the pure speed of ET.
Thompson streaked toward the tape, with Schippers grimacing as she powered forward.
Thompson's slight edge held steady, as her 21.78 took the measure of Schippers's 21.88.
For ET, it was the Age 24 record!!
Bowie ran a good time of 22.15, but seemed in another race!
Ta Lou's 22.21 was the Ivory Coast National Record!
Asher-Smith's 22.31 and Lee-Ahye's 22.34 followed.
Would the Americans FINALLY sweep the event they've been defining for decades??
In the 100H final, that question was answered--definitively!--in 12.61 seconds or faster!!
Brianna Rollins was clearly the class of the field, and showed it by sprinting ahead from the gun, and winning Gold in 12.48--a lot slower than expected, but still enough to win!
Nia Ali and Kristi Castlin were challenged by a FORMER American--Cindy Ofili--but were able to push her to their rear, and thus SWEEP the event for the first time in history!!
It was a fast field---all 8 runners---but they failed to break any Place Records!!
Watching the medal ceremony later, it was weird, but thrilling, to see THREE American flags being raised, and to see 3 very proud Americans standing with their medals around their necks!
Ryan Crouser's 70-10 led the Men's SP qualifying!
Tomas Walsh threw 69-0.
Darlan Romani threw one out to 68-8.50 for the National Record of Brazil!
Darrell Hill and Stephen Mozia failed to advance!
Both Morgan Lake and Vashti Cunningham--among several others--HJ'ed 6-4.25 to qualify for the final!
Lake's jump was a PR!
For the Las Vegas HS'er, it took all 3 tries!!
Eleanor Patterson and Akela Jones couldn't Q, while Heptathlon winner Nafissatou Thiam was a DNS!
The Women's 4X100 Relay produced yet another nightmare scenario for the Americans!
Jamaica's 41.79 took the first heat from Great Britain's 41.93.
Ukraine and Canada followed, but far behind!
The Netherlands, with Dafne Schippers running 2nd leg, had some problems, and didn't move on!
The second heat saw Allyson Felix running the 2nd leg, to hand off to English Gardner!
But as Felix was reaching Gardner, a Brazilian runner to her right flailed her left arm back into the US's lane, throwing Felix off-kilter.
The exchange thus killed, she THREW the baton to Gardner--who is no Willie Mays, folks!--and BANG, it hit the track!!
Standing there flustered, Felix finally got it together, and told Gardner to finish the race, so they could file a protest!!
More in a bit!!
The US had more success in the Men's 4X100 Relay!
They squeezed out a win in 37.65 over a surprising China, who ran 37.82, their National Record!
It moves them from 8th A-T Nation to 7th!!
Canada was next in 37.89, followed by Turkey's 38.30 National Record!
They moved from 19th A-T Nation, tied with 1 other, to the same place, but without any ties!
The 2nd heat seemed more like a final!!
Japan's National Record of 37.68 prevailed!
This moves them from 14th A-T Nation to 4th!!
And they beat a Bolt-less Jamaica, who finished 2nd in 37.94!
Trinidad & Tobago ran 37.96, beating Great Britain's 38.06 and Brazil's 38.19.
Then came Germany's 38.26!
This gave them the best-ever 6th Place mark!!
Cuba followed in 38.47.
Then came the Netherlands, whose 38.53 was good for the best 8th Place mark!!
Once again, I come to a crossroads!
Do I continue this already-too-long post, or do I start another--as I have SIX finals yet to report, plus two semi's??
I've decided!
I want to give those events enough room to include ALL the details I've gathered, instead of whipping through them, giving you the icing without the cake!!
See you SOON with more!!
ADDITION (from today, August 23rd!! Apologies for the serious delay!)
I just noticed I omitted what happened to the US 4X100 Relay team, after that dropped baton. (See above!)
Their appeal was successful, but in order to proceed to the final, they would have to run a Time Trial race---all alone!---and run faster than 42.70.
A snap, eh?
Maybe.
IF they could handle the baton---AND run fast---with no competition!
With the exact same line-up---meaning with Felix again handing off to Gardner from 2nd to 3rd leg---they sprinted 41.77---well within the necessary time!
Well, now that I've spoken out, let's get down to the business of this blog---even if my blog is NOT a business!!
The Women's 800 heats had, as you might suspect, some interesting developments.
(See my previous post for my views on this!)
Lynsey Sharp took heat 1 in 2:00.83.
Sahily Diago and Justine Fedronic, in 3rd and 5th, didn't advance!
An unnamed runner finished ahead of Ajee Wilson, but it didn't matter.
Wilson ran 1:59.44, and 2 others got under two minutes!
Selina Buchel also ran a 1:59, beating another of those to remain unnamed.
But Gudaf Tsegay and Sifan Hassan didn't advance.
Melissa Bishop's 1:58.38 led heat three, with two others breaking two minutes.
One was Noelie Yerago, whose 1:59.12 is the National Record of Benin!
Anita Hinriksdottir just missed advancing, even though her 2:00.14 PR broke her own National Record of Iceland!
It's hard to believe she's still just 20 years old!!
Kate Grace ran 1:59.96 in heat 5, but finished 3rd.
She advanced on a time basis!
Others not moving on included Natoya Goule, Kenia Sinclair, and the American Chrishuna Williams!
Mr Bun did it!!
Evan Jager became the first American male to medal in the OG Steeple since 1984!!
The pace was steady, but not super fast, with Jager keeping company with Consesius Kipruto and Ezekiel Kemboi.
Jager finally went to the front, but didn't move away.
His hurdling was beautiful to watch, while the Kenyans straddled theirs--a habit, but not deadly!
With a lap to go, the sprinting was in full gear.
Kipruto had the final gear, his 8:03.28 breaking the OG Meet Record!!
Jager came in just behind, in 8:04.28.
Kemboi followed, with Mahidine Mekhissi about 6 seconds behind Kemboi.
Then a protest was filed by a French runner, saying Kemboi had run on the infield earlier for a step or two.
The protest was accepted, reviewed, and Kemboi was DQ'ed!!
Mekhissi got the Bronze!!
Don Cabral finished back in 8th!
Matt Hughes was 10th!
The Men's JT Q rounds saw Keshorn Walcott's 290-11--one of his best throws in years!--leading the field.
All 3 Americans, plus Tero Pitkamaki, failed to advance!
Cy Hostetler threw 261-8.
One of the more closely watched events was the Women's 100H semi's!
Brianna Rollins ran the fastest, taking semi 1 in 12.47.
Pedrya Seymour's 12.64 broke her own National Record of the Bahamas!
Alina Talay didn't Q.
Nia Ali took semi two in 12.65, with young Puerto Rican Jasmine Camacho-Quinn failing to move on!
Kristi Castlin beat Cindy Ofili to take semi 3, times of 12.63 and 12.71.
Cindy Billaud didn't qualify for the final!
The Women's LJ final was a wild ---and tense---battle among three superior athletes!
And it all came down to the last two rounds!
Both Ivana Spanovic and Tianna Bartoletta reached 7 meters, with Bartoletta's 23-6.25 leading over Spanovic's 23-2.75, as well as an earlier leap by Brittney Reese.
For Bartoletta, it makes her 21st A-T World, tied with 1 other.
She remains 3rd A-T US!
For Spanovic, it broke her own National Record of Serbia!
But that was round 5!
Could Reese pull out one of her last-round miracles?
Bartoletta was seen trying not to watch, as Reese sprinted down the runway, leapt into the air, and landed very near where Bartoletta had!!
It seemed the measurement took forever!
Then it came--Reese had jumped 23-5.50--0.75 inches shy of Gold!!
Malinka Mahimbo's 22-9.75 took 4th!
The fast events kept coming!
Next up was the Men's 200 semi rounds!
Hold on to your hats, folks!!
In the first, LaShawn Merritt showed good form, winning in 19.94 over Chris Lemaitre's 20.01.
Nickel Ashmeade, in 4th, failed to advance!
Then came the Lightning Bolt.
He struck the track, sprinted to an expected lead, but soon found someone next to him.
It was Canada's Andre De Grasse.
Bolt looked at De Grasse.
De Grasse stared back at Bolt.
Cruising in, they finished the race LOOKING at each other, and SMILING!!
What a classic bit of Sun Tzu war strategy!!
Bolt's 19.78 nipped De Grasse's 19.80.
The latter broke his own National Record of Canada.
And it ranks him 18th A-T World, tied with 2 others!!
Ameer Webb's 20.43 wasn't enough to get him through!
But it was round 3 where a HUGE shock developed!!
Justin Gatlin didn't have Bolt to contend with here, so should have Q'ed easily for the final!
After all, Alonzo Edward ran just 20.07 to win the race, with Churandy Martina's 20.13 second.
So where was Gatlin?
Third, in 20.13.
When the sprinting started for the tape, Gatlin couldn't find the needed fuel!
Not only that, but Yohan Blake also failed to move on, finishing 6th!!
Two electrifying finals ended the August 16th series of events.
The Women's 200 came first, with Torie Bowie facing Elaine Thompson and Dafne Schippers.
There were others---Michelle Lee-Ahye, Dina Asher-Smith, Marie Josee Ta Lou among them--but all eyes were on the tall Dutch-woman, the mercurial Bowie, and the emergent Thompson!
Bowie blasted into a lead around the bend, with Thompson close, and Schippers getting in gear.
But when the shift came into the straight, it was the power-blast of Schippers facing down the pure speed of ET.
Thompson streaked toward the tape, with Schippers grimacing as she powered forward.
Thompson's slight edge held steady, as her 21.78 took the measure of Schippers's 21.88.
For ET, it was the Age 24 record!!
Bowie ran a good time of 22.15, but seemed in another race!
Ta Lou's 22.21 was the Ivory Coast National Record!
Asher-Smith's 22.31 and Lee-Ahye's 22.34 followed.
Would the Americans FINALLY sweep the event they've been defining for decades??
In the 100H final, that question was answered--definitively!--in 12.61 seconds or faster!!
Brianna Rollins was clearly the class of the field, and showed it by sprinting ahead from the gun, and winning Gold in 12.48--a lot slower than expected, but still enough to win!
Nia Ali and Kristi Castlin were challenged by a FORMER American--Cindy Ofili--but were able to push her to their rear, and thus SWEEP the event for the first time in history!!
It was a fast field---all 8 runners---but they failed to break any Place Records!!
Watching the medal ceremony later, it was weird, but thrilling, to see THREE American flags being raised, and to see 3 very proud Americans standing with their medals around their necks!
Ryan Crouser's 70-10 led the Men's SP qualifying!
Tomas Walsh threw 69-0.
Darlan Romani threw one out to 68-8.50 for the National Record of Brazil!
Darrell Hill and Stephen Mozia failed to advance!
Both Morgan Lake and Vashti Cunningham--among several others--HJ'ed 6-4.25 to qualify for the final!
Lake's jump was a PR!
For the Las Vegas HS'er, it took all 3 tries!!
Eleanor Patterson and Akela Jones couldn't Q, while Heptathlon winner Nafissatou Thiam was a DNS!
The Women's 4X100 Relay produced yet another nightmare scenario for the Americans!
Jamaica's 41.79 took the first heat from Great Britain's 41.93.
Ukraine and Canada followed, but far behind!
The Netherlands, with Dafne Schippers running 2nd leg, had some problems, and didn't move on!
The second heat saw Allyson Felix running the 2nd leg, to hand off to English Gardner!
But as Felix was reaching Gardner, a Brazilian runner to her right flailed her left arm back into the US's lane, throwing Felix off-kilter.
The exchange thus killed, she THREW the baton to Gardner--who is no Willie Mays, folks!--and BANG, it hit the track!!
Standing there flustered, Felix finally got it together, and told Gardner to finish the race, so they could file a protest!!
More in a bit!!
The US had more success in the Men's 4X100 Relay!
They squeezed out a win in 37.65 over a surprising China, who ran 37.82, their National Record!
It moves them from 8th A-T Nation to 7th!!
Canada was next in 37.89, followed by Turkey's 38.30 National Record!
They moved from 19th A-T Nation, tied with 1 other, to the same place, but without any ties!
The 2nd heat seemed more like a final!!
Japan's National Record of 37.68 prevailed!
This moves them from 14th A-T Nation to 4th!!
And they beat a Bolt-less Jamaica, who finished 2nd in 37.94!
Trinidad & Tobago ran 37.96, beating Great Britain's 38.06 and Brazil's 38.19.
Then came Germany's 38.26!
This gave them the best-ever 6th Place mark!!
Cuba followed in 38.47.
Then came the Netherlands, whose 38.53 was good for the best 8th Place mark!!
Once again, I come to a crossroads!
Do I continue this already-too-long post, or do I start another--as I have SIX finals yet to report, plus two semi's??
I've decided!
I want to give those events enough room to include ALL the details I've gathered, instead of whipping through them, giving you the icing without the cake!!
See you SOON with more!!
ADDITION (from today, August 23rd!! Apologies for the serious delay!)
I just noticed I omitted what happened to the US 4X100 Relay team, after that dropped baton. (See above!)
Their appeal was successful, but in order to proceed to the final, they would have to run a Time Trial race---all alone!---and run faster than 42.70.
A snap, eh?
Maybe.
IF they could handle the baton---AND run fast---with no competition!
With the exact same line-up---meaning with Felix again handing off to Gardner from 2nd to 3rd leg---they sprinted 41.77---well within the necessary time!
As Rio (& Life) Go On
I have LOADS of fantastic results to report, including many more Records of various kinds.
But the greater world of LIFE intrudes on my desire to keep this blog on the straight and narrow path of T&F Records & Marks.
In that regard, I must interrupt my reportage to relay some sad news.
In the past 2 days, I've learned that two of America's best athletes have cancer.
These people have often been in my posts, with their times and distances---and I hope both continue to be!
Gabe Grunewald's liver has been invaded by a new cancer.
This is her third bout with the dreaded disease.
On Instagram, she told her fans of the discovery, and that she'd been told by doctors it was operable, and that she fully intended to be back competing in 2017.
And then just now--on Twitter--I learned that Bobby Colantonio has bone cancer in his left femur.
Just graduated from HS, he said he's going to fight this, because he wants to compete for Alabama (where he'd signed!), and to become an Olympian!
To these two wonderful athletes, and better people, I wish all the love and strength one mere fan can offer!!
But life intrudes ON the track as well.
In my last post, I related the beautiful story of what happened between Abbey D'Agostino and Nikki Hamblin, two "strangers" who became friends for life by accident.
I also spoke to the fact that clear favorites don't always produce as expected.
That is LIFE!!
And so is the sordid controversy surrounding the Women's 800 meters!
How can we speak about this---and be totally honest doing so---without bringing on hate and accusations of being misogynistic?
Say what you really believe, and people turn against you---even if what you say has valid points, and is the truth!!
I've been watching the Olympics on NBC---for better or worse!
Recently, I watched the heats and semi's of the Women's 800.
And what I saw--especially in the semi's--motivated me to write this "extra" post.
The discussion circles around 3 people--Francine Niyonsaba, Margaret Wambui, and especially Caster Semenya.
It comes down to whether we believe---and accept---that these 3 should be running in a Woman's event!
I'm not scientifically knowledgeable--at all!!---so please don't ask me to present facts of what constitutes a "woman", and why these 3 do NOT fully meet those standards!!
The IAAF and other agencies have defined these terms--and given data to support their rulings.
What is an acceptable level or percentage of testosterone in a woman's body, that one can still say---definitively!!---that "she" is a "woman"---and thus be allowed to compete against other women?
The angst rises when one says, "Screw the numbers!", and decides for oneself what constitutes the definition of each gender.
Back in the day, during the Watergate controversy surrounding President Nixon, I read a book called "President Nixon's Psychiatric Profile" by a Dr Eli Chesen, a professional psychiatrist!
In it, he analyzed Nixon, as any psychiatrist would in analyzing a patient.
He stated that he'd never met Nixon, and all of what he said came from observation through television, and reading about him!
I've never met any of these athletes, but I SAW them on my computer via NBC.
I looked closely at them, studied them, from head to toe.
I was less concerned with their running ability than with how they LOOKED!!
And please, I am NOT talking in terms of beauty or ugliness!
I speak in terms of how I---Aaron K--define a "woman", based on her "looks".
Again, I'm NOT referring to a woman's sexiness, or lack thereof, or to the size of her breasts or the curves of her torso.
"Butch" women are still--women!!
What I saw in Semenya and Wambui---and somewhat less so in Niyonsaba, but still there!--gave strength to my belief that these people do NOT belong in an all-Women's race!!
It's not their musculature--because many beautiful women are muscle-bound and have abs of steel!!
It's not their weight or height, because women come in every shape and size.
It's maybe undefinable!
Maybe one just KNOWS!!
Caster Semenya, Margaret Wambui, and Francine Niyonsaba should be BANNED from competing in a race or event where that race or event is LIMITED TO WOMEN ONLY!!
To that end, I decided awhile ago--and have already announced my decision in this blog--that I will NOT honor or respect or accept ANY Records or Marks these 3 produce!!
If they beat other women, I will NOT list them as doing so!
This of course goes against ALL the accepted rulings regarding these athletes!
IAAF, T&FN, the IOC---all have ruled that they do indeed belong in events where women compete.
But I can't believe---somewhere down the road---maybe a few weeks, maybe a few years--that these agencies and observers of our sport will not decide differently--and fall closer in line to where I stand.
If you read the T&FN and Let's Run Message Boards, then you know this situation has massive and ironclad divided loyalties--even more separated than America's political parties are in this Presidential election!!
It came to a head in the semi's yesterday.
In the first one, Wambui and Niyonsaba ran the two fastest times.
In "3rd" came Ajee Wilson.
But when it was over, Wilson's time was too slow for her to advance to the final!
Even though she'd run 1:59.75.
In the 3rd semi, the fastest time went to Semenya.
In that race, another athlete was sent home, short of the final---because of Semenya's presence!
This may sound like I'm upset because a certain athlete failed to make the final.
Sure, I'm sad that Wilson, in particular, won't be in the final!
But it's NOT that she didn't advance--it's WHY she didn't advance!!
If EVERY athlete in that semi race had been a "woman"---beyond ANY & EVERY doubt!!--then I could, and would, accept Wilson's fate!!
Many of my favored athletes have failed to move on to the next round--the list is long, sad to say!
(Check out my Preview posts to see how many of my predictions have been WRONG!! LOL)
But what I SAW in these three people told me, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they did NOT belong there!
So if you want their results, go to the results page at the IAAF or T&FN website!!
I won't list them in this blog!!
As far as I'm concerned---and this blog is concerned--Ajee Wilson WON that first semi!!
That she won't be in the final---and deservedly so!---is a tragedy beyond the pale!!
I will return soon---if I have any readers left after this tirade!!---with the results of the latest events!!
But the greater world of LIFE intrudes on my desire to keep this blog on the straight and narrow path of T&F Records & Marks.
In that regard, I must interrupt my reportage to relay some sad news.
In the past 2 days, I've learned that two of America's best athletes have cancer.
These people have often been in my posts, with their times and distances---and I hope both continue to be!
Gabe Grunewald's liver has been invaded by a new cancer.
This is her third bout with the dreaded disease.
On Instagram, she told her fans of the discovery, and that she'd been told by doctors it was operable, and that she fully intended to be back competing in 2017.
And then just now--on Twitter--I learned that Bobby Colantonio has bone cancer in his left femur.
Just graduated from HS, he said he's going to fight this, because he wants to compete for Alabama (where he'd signed!), and to become an Olympian!
To these two wonderful athletes, and better people, I wish all the love and strength one mere fan can offer!!
But life intrudes ON the track as well.
In my last post, I related the beautiful story of what happened between Abbey D'Agostino and Nikki Hamblin, two "strangers" who became friends for life by accident.
I also spoke to the fact that clear favorites don't always produce as expected.
That is LIFE!!
And so is the sordid controversy surrounding the Women's 800 meters!
How can we speak about this---and be totally honest doing so---without bringing on hate and accusations of being misogynistic?
Say what you really believe, and people turn against you---even if what you say has valid points, and is the truth!!
I've been watching the Olympics on NBC---for better or worse!
Recently, I watched the heats and semi's of the Women's 800.
And what I saw--especially in the semi's--motivated me to write this "extra" post.
The discussion circles around 3 people--Francine Niyonsaba, Margaret Wambui, and especially Caster Semenya.
It comes down to whether we believe---and accept---that these 3 should be running in a Woman's event!
I'm not scientifically knowledgeable--at all!!---so please don't ask me to present facts of what constitutes a "woman", and why these 3 do NOT fully meet those standards!!
The IAAF and other agencies have defined these terms--and given data to support their rulings.
What is an acceptable level or percentage of testosterone in a woman's body, that one can still say---definitively!!---that "she" is a "woman"---and thus be allowed to compete against other women?
The angst rises when one says, "Screw the numbers!", and decides for oneself what constitutes the definition of each gender.
Back in the day, during the Watergate controversy surrounding President Nixon, I read a book called "President Nixon's Psychiatric Profile" by a Dr Eli Chesen, a professional psychiatrist!
In it, he analyzed Nixon, as any psychiatrist would in analyzing a patient.
He stated that he'd never met Nixon, and all of what he said came from observation through television, and reading about him!
I've never met any of these athletes, but I SAW them on my computer via NBC.
I looked closely at them, studied them, from head to toe.
I was less concerned with their running ability than with how they LOOKED!!
And please, I am NOT talking in terms of beauty or ugliness!
I speak in terms of how I---Aaron K--define a "woman", based on her "looks".
Again, I'm NOT referring to a woman's sexiness, or lack thereof, or to the size of her breasts or the curves of her torso.
"Butch" women are still--women!!
What I saw in Semenya and Wambui---and somewhat less so in Niyonsaba, but still there!--gave strength to my belief that these people do NOT belong in an all-Women's race!!
It's not their musculature--because many beautiful women are muscle-bound and have abs of steel!!
It's not their weight or height, because women come in every shape and size.
It's maybe undefinable!
Maybe one just KNOWS!!
Caster Semenya, Margaret Wambui, and Francine Niyonsaba should be BANNED from competing in a race or event where that race or event is LIMITED TO WOMEN ONLY!!
To that end, I decided awhile ago--and have already announced my decision in this blog--that I will NOT honor or respect or accept ANY Records or Marks these 3 produce!!
If they beat other women, I will NOT list them as doing so!
This of course goes against ALL the accepted rulings regarding these athletes!
IAAF, T&FN, the IOC---all have ruled that they do indeed belong in events where women compete.
But I can't believe---somewhere down the road---maybe a few weeks, maybe a few years--that these agencies and observers of our sport will not decide differently--and fall closer in line to where I stand.
If you read the T&FN and Let's Run Message Boards, then you know this situation has massive and ironclad divided loyalties--even more separated than America's political parties are in this Presidential election!!
It came to a head in the semi's yesterday.
In the first one, Wambui and Niyonsaba ran the two fastest times.
In "3rd" came Ajee Wilson.
But when it was over, Wilson's time was too slow for her to advance to the final!
Even though she'd run 1:59.75.
In the 3rd semi, the fastest time went to Semenya.
In that race, another athlete was sent home, short of the final---because of Semenya's presence!
This may sound like I'm upset because a certain athlete failed to make the final.
Sure, I'm sad that Wilson, in particular, won't be in the final!
But it's NOT that she didn't advance--it's WHY she didn't advance!!
If EVERY athlete in that semi race had been a "woman"---beyond ANY & EVERY doubt!!--then I could, and would, accept Wilson's fate!!
Many of my favored athletes have failed to move on to the next round--the list is long, sad to say!
(Check out my Preview posts to see how many of my predictions have been WRONG!! LOL)
But what I SAW in these three people told me, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they did NOT belong there!
So if you want their results, go to the results page at the IAAF or T&FN website!!
I won't list them in this blog!!
As far as I'm concerned---and this blog is concerned--Ajee Wilson WON that first semi!!
That she won't be in the final---and deservedly so!---is a tragedy beyond the pale!!
I will return soon---if I have any readers left after this tirade!!---with the results of the latest events!!
Thursday, August 18, 2016
17:10.02 & 236-3
This blog has been reporting all of the Records & great Marks emerging from these Olympic Games.
These always involve numbers!
But what do these numbers symbolize?
Look at the title!
Those two figures define what these Games are all about.
One is the time of an athlete's race.
The other is how far another athlete threw an implement.
I'll begin by telling you about those numbers, and what they really mean.
The Women's 5000 meter heats began Day Five of T&F competition.
These were a formality, as we already knew the outcome of the final.
Almaz Ayana would again destroy an iconic World Record, and the word "limits" would be expunged from lexicons that describe what athletes are capable of!
Who MADE it to the final---besides Ayana---didn't really matter!
Helen Obiri took the first heat in 15:19.38.
Yasmine Can, Mercy Cherono, Shelby Houlihan, and Susan Kuijken all came in under 15:20.
Kim Conley, however, faded to 12th in 15:36.00 as the major non-Q.
Ayana, after following a similarly paced 2nd heat, decided to jog a bit faster, and loped to a 15:04.35, about 13 seconds ahead of the other Q's, including Senbere Teferi, Vivian Cheruiyot, and GenGen LaCaze, who continued her season-long string of PR's with her latest, 15:20.45!
Stephanie Twell and Mimi Belete failed to move on.
Somewhere past two miles, Nikki Hamblin of New Zealand fell.
Abbey D'Agostino, right behind her, got tangled, and went down--hard!
But she got up, now far behind the pack, and urged Hamblin to get up and finish.
It's the Olympics, she said!
Hamblin rose, and the two began jogging forward.
Then Abbey crumbled, her knee unable to function.
She appeared in dire pain, as now Hamblin stopped to urge D'Agostino to get up and run.
She did---slowly.
Hamblin, after one final plea for Abbey to finish, strode ahead, not hurt.
She finished well over a minute behind the leaders.
But the cameras--and the eyes of the world--were on Abbey as she winced with every step, but each step getting her nearer to the finish line, over 4 laps away!
When she arrived---in 17:10.02--she was met by Hamblin, who embraced this woman she'd never met before, allowing her to stand in dignity.
She then called for medical help, and a wheelchair was brought to take Abbey away.
She would need surgery, and her Games and season were finished.
Even though both were advanced to the final, only Hamblin would run--and said she'd be thinking of her new friend Abbey all the way!
THAT, as a viral outpouring of messages said, was the Spirit of the Games--what they really MEANT!!
The other number---that 236-3--also tells you what these Games are about.
We all knew that Pawel Fajdek was the Anita Wlodarczyk of the Hammer Throw---meaning he was 100% certain of victory, and by a HUGE margin!!
But, as John Lennon sang, "Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans"!
In the qualifying round of the HT, Fajdek's "plans" were to spin around, whip that ball & chain out to 250 or 260 on his first try, then retire for the day, Q'ed to move on to the Gold!
Except his best effort measured that same 236-3.
And he became one of a long list of names who failed to qualify for that final!
Again in comparison to his female peer, it would be as if SHE hadn't advanced either!
A total shocker!!
Wojciech Nowicki's 254-9 led the dozen, with Ivan Tikhon's 251-0 next in line.
All 3 Americans would join Fajdek on the sidelines!
Now on to the more "normal" numbers!
The Women's PV qualifying also saw some major names fail to advance.
(I could once again say Yelena Isinbayeva was FORCED out of the final by nefarious means, unlike ones who were given a CHANCE to succeed!!)
The Sweetheart of Rio--Fabiana Murer--No Heighted!!
(Imagine the same if Isi had NH'ed out of the Moscow World Championships in 2013!!)
For an unknown reason, Nikoleta Kiriakopoulou was a DNS!
Two of the teens didn't make it either--Wilma Murto and Lexi Weeks.
Weeks went out after clearing 14-7.25!
Angelica Bengtsson, Ling Li, and Alysha Newman also failed to Q.
Jenn Suhr performed admirably, despite having incurred a BAD virus--but not Zika!!
Unless she winds up in a hospital, she'll be in the final!
The Men's TJ final saw two Americans get Gold and Silver!!
And it all happened in the first round!
Will Claye PR'ed by one-quarter inch--to 58-3.25, giving his friend Christian Taylor a target to aim for!
And Taylor's first shot landed at 58-7.25, enough for the win!
Claye remains 7th A-T US.
And he moves from 22nd A-T World, tied with 2 others, to the same spot, but minus the ties!!
Want MORE "Spirit of the Games" stuff??
To begin his celebration, Claye went to the stands where his girlfriend of several years sat.
Her name is Queen Harrison!
Yes, THAT Queen Harrison!
With everyone watching, he PROPOSED to her---and she accepted!--and gave her a diamond ring.
Fair exchange, yes?
He'd be getting a Silver, and he gave Queen a Diamond!!
BTW, Bin Dong's 57-8.25 took the Bronze, with Shuo Cao 4th!
John Murillo's 56-1 for 5th is the National Record of Colombia!!
Little drama in the Men's 1500 heats.
Asbel Kiprop cruised 3:38.97 in the first heat, with Taoufik Makhloufi crawling through in 3:46.82 in the second!
Aman Wote and Filip Ingebrigtsen were non-Q's
The Women's 100H heats went by the book, with Susan Kallur and that dancing Aussie, Michelle Jenneke, failing to advance.
Winners of the 6 heats were Kristi Castlin, Nia Ali, Cindy Ofili, Cindy Roleder, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, and Brianna Rollins---all running between 12.54 (Rollins) and 12.86 (Roleder).
Nothing shocking or surprising.
Shocks?
Well, the Women's Discus Throw final ALMOST had a Pawel Fajdek-style shock of shocks!!
After her first two rounds were deemed fouls, Sandra Perkovic found herself up against the wall!
Would this tough spike-haired babe be sent packing---and red-faced?
NO!
With her 3rd try, she spun that heavy little spacecraft and sent it flying---out to her Gold-winning distance of 227-0!
Melina Robert-Michon threw 218-11, breaking her own National Record of France, to take the Silver, with Denia Caballero coming in at 214-4 in the Bronze position!
Perky fouled her last three throws also!!
WHEW!!
(Dani Samuels finished 4th, Nadine Muller 6th, and Julia Fischer in 9th!)
The Men needed 10 heats of the 200 to select the semi-finalists.
No real biggies missed out, although Femi Ogunode, Julian Reus, and Jon Borlee were some recognizable names on that list!
In heat 2, Bruno Horteland won in 20.12, setting a new National Record for Spain!
And he beat the 20.13 of Yohan Blake!!
In the 3rd heat, Salem Yaqoob's 20.19 became the National Record of Bahrain!
Nery Brenes's 20.20 in heat 7 is the National Record of Costa Rica!
Justin Gatlin, LaShawn Merritt, Nickel Ashmeade, Andre De Grasse, and Usain Bolt were all heat winners, the fastest that of De Grasse, who sped a 20.09!
Miguel Francis, who had run some VERY fast 200's earlier this year, was a DNS from heat 4!
The Men's HJ was supposed to be a Battle of the B's--Mutaz Barshim vs Bogdan Bondarenko--both hoping for a return to their 2014 form!
And they didn't jump badly.
BB's 7-7.75 was the same height achieved by Andriy Protsenko, Robbie Grabarz, and Erik Kynard.
But Bondarenko got the Bronze on fewer misses!
Barshim reached 7-8.75, all alone in the Silver spot.
But the Double D guy---Derek Drouin was clear through his first 6 heights, before needing two at his winning 7-9.75, or 2.38!
Not quite 2014, but getting there, to paraphrase Bob Dylan's "Not Dark Yet"!!
Two National Records fell in the Women's JT qualifying!
Maria Andrejczyk's 220-2 nabbed the NR of Poland.
It also gave her 16th A-T World!!
Sara Kolak's 210-11 is the Croatian National Record!
Liz Gleadle, Kim Mickle, and all 3 Americans failed to move on!
Kara Winger had the longest US throw, a 200-2!
The 3 semi's of the Men's 110H went to Orlando Ortega (13.32), Omar McLeod (13.15), and Dimitri Bascou (13.23).
Pascal Martinot-Legarde ran 13.25 behind McLeod, with Devon Allen following in 13.36.
Milan Trajkovic sped 13.31 behind Bascou, and got the National Record of Croatia!
Jeff Porter (Tiffany's hubby!) and Andrew Riley failed to advance!
The final of the Women's Long Jump would NOT include Christabel Nettey, Janay DeLoach, or Shara Proctor, all of whom failed to advance from the Q rounds!
Ivana Spanovic's 22-6.50 led the way, with unknown (to me!!) Milaha Mihambo next with 22-4.50.
Tianna Bartoletta Q'ed with 21-11.50, while the sole Russian at these Games (at least in the T&F portion!!), Darya Klishina, reached 21-9.25.
She would represent all the banned CLEAN Russians in Rio!!
Sydney McLaughlin was stopped by the sniffles!!
Incurring a cold a few days before---which was a partial reason for her poor performance in the earlier heats--McLaughlin was again matched with Superstar Zuzana Hejnova, and again finished in 5th, time of 56.22.
She was going home, now with Olympic Games experience BEFORE beginning her Senior year of High School!!
This won't be her last Games!!
Hejnova won the semi in 54.55.
Ashley Spencer also won a semi, in 54.87.
Then Delilah Muhammad got in a good workout, speeding a 53.89--the fastest--to take semi 3 over Sara Petersen's 54.55, and Leah Nugent's 54.98.
In semi 2, Janeive Russell and Elidh Doyle also dipped under 55!
Wendy Nel and Sage Watson also failed to advance!
The Men's version of the one-lap Hurdles semi's gave up a pair of National Records!!
Kerron Clement took the win in a good 48.26.
But it was the 48.87 of Sergio Fernandez in 2nd that got him Spain's National Record!!
Jaheel Hyde's 49.17 wasn't enough to get him to the final!
Like McLaughlin, he also finished 5th!
Semi 3 saw Thomas Barr's 49.00 become the National Record of Ireland!
Annsert Whyte's 48.32 prevailed over Javier Culson's 48.46 in the first race.
Non-Q's included LJ Van Zyl and America's Byron Robinson, who nonetheless ran a PR of 48.65!
More semi's!!
And these were a bit more closely watched than some others!
The Women's 200's were up!
Not unexpectedly, it was Dafne Schippers who not only won semi one, but did so in the fastest overall time--21.96!
And she beat her main rival, Elaine Thompson, who ran 22.13.
A sign of what was to come??
Not advancing from that race were Blessing Okagbare and Mujinga Kambundji, who finished in 5th & 6th!
Marie Josee Ta Lou ran a PR of 22.28 to take round 2.
Jenna Prandini was kicked off the stage by running only 22.55 in 4th!
Tori Bowie tore around the track in 22.13 to win semi 3.
In 2nd was Michelle Lee-Ahye, whose 22.25 broke her own National Record of Trinidad & Tobago!!
Simone Facey and Murielle Ahoure ended out of the money in 3rd and 4th!
This is getting rather lengthy, so I'll cut it short after reporting on 3 more events!
Then I'll combine what I have left, with what I'll gather from this morning's session, and post again AFTER that session--which begins in just one hour!!
The Women's 1500 final!!
Which Genzebe Dibaba would show up?
The WR-smashing "Baby Baby", or the tired and worn out from all the Jama Aden shit version?
After an opening lap in 76.8 ("led" by Shannon Rowbury!), we had to wait to find out!
Hiding back in 4th--in an even slower 77.9!--Dibaba looked comfortable!
But who wouldn't be at that pace??!!
Dibaba strode to the front just as they passed 800 in 2:27.2, their 2nd lap taking 69.3.
The Women's 800 Meter race was under way!!
Having begun her sprint just after the finish line---with 800 to go--she made like Alysia Montano, hitting her "first lap" in 56.7!!
Faith Kipyegon was right behind, running 56.8, followed by Sifan Hassan's 57.9.
The US duo of Jenny Simpson and Shannon Rowbury hung back, going through in the mid-58's!!
They were letting the Ethiopian and Kenyan get away, maybe thinking they couldn't possibly keep going at warp speed!
But this was the woman who had sped 1:56.9 the previous year to win the WC race!
Except the controversies surrounding her coach---and herself!--must have taken their toll--because Kipyegon passed her, winning going away in 4:08.92, and winning the 800 "race" as well, with her 1:57.2!!
Dibaba was fading a bit, and could manage "only" 46.4 over the last 300---against Kipyegon's 44.7!
But still in 4th where the 1500 starts, Simpson timed her kick perfectly, overtaking Hassan, and closing fast on Dibaba---just missing her target (4:10.27 to 4:10.53) by closing in 44.6.
Rowbury's 45.0 brought her home in 4th!
Simpson had won a Bronze---the first since 1984!!
And their final 800's?
As noted, Kipyegon ran 1:57.2, while Dibaba managed 1:58.5.
Now, keep in mind that in an open 800, Rowbury's PR was 1:59.97, while Simpson's was just 2:00.45!!
Here, Rowbury closed in 1:59.2!
Simpson whipped through a 1:58.9!!
(Think they might decide to enter a REAL 800 soon??)
While the Gold winner---Omar McLeod--was thrilled by his victory in 13.05, the numbers geeks (like myself!!) weren't so ecstatic!!
What happened to all those sub-13's these guys were running in the past several years---and decades??
McLeod made it a runaway, as 2nd was 0.12 back, Orlando Ortega's 13.17 beating Dmitri Bascou's 13.24 for the Silver!
Pascal Martinot-Legarde and Devon Allen followed in a line.
Ronnie Ash was DQ'ed!
Finally---for THIS post, at least!--the Men's 5000 heats!
Mo Farah (obviously!) and Bernard Lagat sped into the top 5 at the right time to cruise into the final.
Hagos Gebrhiwet took that 1st heat in 13:24.65.
Paul Chelimo ran a bit faster (13:19.54) to take the 2nd, with two more coming in at sub-13:20.
David Torrence, that new Peruvian, Q'ed with 13:23.20, which became the SECOND National Record he set in his new country!!
Failing to move on were Caleb Ndiku, Isiah Koech, and Ali Kaya.
Hassan Mead fell, but was advanced to the final anyway!!
In my next post, I'll begin with the Women's 800 heats, and go on from there.
Like I said, it will be the WOMEN's 800 heats!!
LOL
These always involve numbers!
But what do these numbers symbolize?
Look at the title!
Those two figures define what these Games are all about.
One is the time of an athlete's race.
The other is how far another athlete threw an implement.
I'll begin by telling you about those numbers, and what they really mean.
The Women's 5000 meter heats began Day Five of T&F competition.
These were a formality, as we already knew the outcome of the final.
Almaz Ayana would again destroy an iconic World Record, and the word "limits" would be expunged from lexicons that describe what athletes are capable of!
Who MADE it to the final---besides Ayana---didn't really matter!
Helen Obiri took the first heat in 15:19.38.
Yasmine Can, Mercy Cherono, Shelby Houlihan, and Susan Kuijken all came in under 15:20.
Kim Conley, however, faded to 12th in 15:36.00 as the major non-Q.
Ayana, after following a similarly paced 2nd heat, decided to jog a bit faster, and loped to a 15:04.35, about 13 seconds ahead of the other Q's, including Senbere Teferi, Vivian Cheruiyot, and GenGen LaCaze, who continued her season-long string of PR's with her latest, 15:20.45!
Stephanie Twell and Mimi Belete failed to move on.
Somewhere past two miles, Nikki Hamblin of New Zealand fell.
Abbey D'Agostino, right behind her, got tangled, and went down--hard!
But she got up, now far behind the pack, and urged Hamblin to get up and finish.
It's the Olympics, she said!
Hamblin rose, and the two began jogging forward.
Then Abbey crumbled, her knee unable to function.
She appeared in dire pain, as now Hamblin stopped to urge D'Agostino to get up and run.
She did---slowly.
Hamblin, after one final plea for Abbey to finish, strode ahead, not hurt.
She finished well over a minute behind the leaders.
But the cameras--and the eyes of the world--were on Abbey as she winced with every step, but each step getting her nearer to the finish line, over 4 laps away!
When she arrived---in 17:10.02--she was met by Hamblin, who embraced this woman she'd never met before, allowing her to stand in dignity.
She then called for medical help, and a wheelchair was brought to take Abbey away.
She would need surgery, and her Games and season were finished.
Even though both were advanced to the final, only Hamblin would run--and said she'd be thinking of her new friend Abbey all the way!
THAT, as a viral outpouring of messages said, was the Spirit of the Games--what they really MEANT!!
The other number---that 236-3--also tells you what these Games are about.
We all knew that Pawel Fajdek was the Anita Wlodarczyk of the Hammer Throw---meaning he was 100% certain of victory, and by a HUGE margin!!
But, as John Lennon sang, "Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans"!
In the qualifying round of the HT, Fajdek's "plans" were to spin around, whip that ball & chain out to 250 or 260 on his first try, then retire for the day, Q'ed to move on to the Gold!
Except his best effort measured that same 236-3.
And he became one of a long list of names who failed to qualify for that final!
Again in comparison to his female peer, it would be as if SHE hadn't advanced either!
A total shocker!!
Wojciech Nowicki's 254-9 led the dozen, with Ivan Tikhon's 251-0 next in line.
All 3 Americans would join Fajdek on the sidelines!
Now on to the more "normal" numbers!
The Women's PV qualifying also saw some major names fail to advance.
(I could once again say Yelena Isinbayeva was FORCED out of the final by nefarious means, unlike ones who were given a CHANCE to succeed!!)
The Sweetheart of Rio--Fabiana Murer--No Heighted!!
(Imagine the same if Isi had NH'ed out of the Moscow World Championships in 2013!!)
For an unknown reason, Nikoleta Kiriakopoulou was a DNS!
Two of the teens didn't make it either--Wilma Murto and Lexi Weeks.
Weeks went out after clearing 14-7.25!
Angelica Bengtsson, Ling Li, and Alysha Newman also failed to Q.
Jenn Suhr performed admirably, despite having incurred a BAD virus--but not Zika!!
Unless she winds up in a hospital, she'll be in the final!
The Men's TJ final saw two Americans get Gold and Silver!!
And it all happened in the first round!
Will Claye PR'ed by one-quarter inch--to 58-3.25, giving his friend Christian Taylor a target to aim for!
And Taylor's first shot landed at 58-7.25, enough for the win!
Claye remains 7th A-T US.
And he moves from 22nd A-T World, tied with 2 others, to the same spot, but minus the ties!!
Want MORE "Spirit of the Games" stuff??
To begin his celebration, Claye went to the stands where his girlfriend of several years sat.
Her name is Queen Harrison!
Yes, THAT Queen Harrison!
With everyone watching, he PROPOSED to her---and she accepted!--and gave her a diamond ring.
Fair exchange, yes?
He'd be getting a Silver, and he gave Queen a Diamond!!
BTW, Bin Dong's 57-8.25 took the Bronze, with Shuo Cao 4th!
John Murillo's 56-1 for 5th is the National Record of Colombia!!
Little drama in the Men's 1500 heats.
Asbel Kiprop cruised 3:38.97 in the first heat, with Taoufik Makhloufi crawling through in 3:46.82 in the second!
Aman Wote and Filip Ingebrigtsen were non-Q's
The Women's 100H heats went by the book, with Susan Kallur and that dancing Aussie, Michelle Jenneke, failing to advance.
Winners of the 6 heats were Kristi Castlin, Nia Ali, Cindy Ofili, Cindy Roleder, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, and Brianna Rollins---all running between 12.54 (Rollins) and 12.86 (Roleder).
Nothing shocking or surprising.
Shocks?
Well, the Women's Discus Throw final ALMOST had a Pawel Fajdek-style shock of shocks!!
After her first two rounds were deemed fouls, Sandra Perkovic found herself up against the wall!
Would this tough spike-haired babe be sent packing---and red-faced?
NO!
With her 3rd try, she spun that heavy little spacecraft and sent it flying---out to her Gold-winning distance of 227-0!
Melina Robert-Michon threw 218-11, breaking her own National Record of France, to take the Silver, with Denia Caballero coming in at 214-4 in the Bronze position!
Perky fouled her last three throws also!!
WHEW!!
(Dani Samuels finished 4th, Nadine Muller 6th, and Julia Fischer in 9th!)
The Men needed 10 heats of the 200 to select the semi-finalists.
No real biggies missed out, although Femi Ogunode, Julian Reus, and Jon Borlee were some recognizable names on that list!
In heat 2, Bruno Horteland won in 20.12, setting a new National Record for Spain!
And he beat the 20.13 of Yohan Blake!!
In the 3rd heat, Salem Yaqoob's 20.19 became the National Record of Bahrain!
Nery Brenes's 20.20 in heat 7 is the National Record of Costa Rica!
Justin Gatlin, LaShawn Merritt, Nickel Ashmeade, Andre De Grasse, and Usain Bolt were all heat winners, the fastest that of De Grasse, who sped a 20.09!
Miguel Francis, who had run some VERY fast 200's earlier this year, was a DNS from heat 4!
The Men's HJ was supposed to be a Battle of the B's--Mutaz Barshim vs Bogdan Bondarenko--both hoping for a return to their 2014 form!
And they didn't jump badly.
BB's 7-7.75 was the same height achieved by Andriy Protsenko, Robbie Grabarz, and Erik Kynard.
But Bondarenko got the Bronze on fewer misses!
Barshim reached 7-8.75, all alone in the Silver spot.
But the Double D guy---Derek Drouin was clear through his first 6 heights, before needing two at his winning 7-9.75, or 2.38!
Not quite 2014, but getting there, to paraphrase Bob Dylan's "Not Dark Yet"!!
Two National Records fell in the Women's JT qualifying!
Maria Andrejczyk's 220-2 nabbed the NR of Poland.
It also gave her 16th A-T World!!
Sara Kolak's 210-11 is the Croatian National Record!
Liz Gleadle, Kim Mickle, and all 3 Americans failed to move on!
Kara Winger had the longest US throw, a 200-2!
The 3 semi's of the Men's 110H went to Orlando Ortega (13.32), Omar McLeod (13.15), and Dimitri Bascou (13.23).
Pascal Martinot-Legarde ran 13.25 behind McLeod, with Devon Allen following in 13.36.
Milan Trajkovic sped 13.31 behind Bascou, and got the National Record of Croatia!
Jeff Porter (Tiffany's hubby!) and Andrew Riley failed to advance!
The final of the Women's Long Jump would NOT include Christabel Nettey, Janay DeLoach, or Shara Proctor, all of whom failed to advance from the Q rounds!
Ivana Spanovic's 22-6.50 led the way, with unknown (to me!!) Milaha Mihambo next with 22-4.50.
Tianna Bartoletta Q'ed with 21-11.50, while the sole Russian at these Games (at least in the T&F portion!!), Darya Klishina, reached 21-9.25.
She would represent all the banned CLEAN Russians in Rio!!
Sydney McLaughlin was stopped by the sniffles!!
Incurring a cold a few days before---which was a partial reason for her poor performance in the earlier heats--McLaughlin was again matched with Superstar Zuzana Hejnova, and again finished in 5th, time of 56.22.
She was going home, now with Olympic Games experience BEFORE beginning her Senior year of High School!!
This won't be her last Games!!
Hejnova won the semi in 54.55.
Ashley Spencer also won a semi, in 54.87.
Then Delilah Muhammad got in a good workout, speeding a 53.89--the fastest--to take semi 3 over Sara Petersen's 54.55, and Leah Nugent's 54.98.
In semi 2, Janeive Russell and Elidh Doyle also dipped under 55!
Wendy Nel and Sage Watson also failed to advance!
The Men's version of the one-lap Hurdles semi's gave up a pair of National Records!!
Kerron Clement took the win in a good 48.26.
But it was the 48.87 of Sergio Fernandez in 2nd that got him Spain's National Record!!
Jaheel Hyde's 49.17 wasn't enough to get him to the final!
Like McLaughlin, he also finished 5th!
Semi 3 saw Thomas Barr's 49.00 become the National Record of Ireland!
Annsert Whyte's 48.32 prevailed over Javier Culson's 48.46 in the first race.
Non-Q's included LJ Van Zyl and America's Byron Robinson, who nonetheless ran a PR of 48.65!
More semi's!!
And these were a bit more closely watched than some others!
The Women's 200's were up!
Not unexpectedly, it was Dafne Schippers who not only won semi one, but did so in the fastest overall time--21.96!
And she beat her main rival, Elaine Thompson, who ran 22.13.
A sign of what was to come??
Not advancing from that race were Blessing Okagbare and Mujinga Kambundji, who finished in 5th & 6th!
Marie Josee Ta Lou ran a PR of 22.28 to take round 2.
Jenna Prandini was kicked off the stage by running only 22.55 in 4th!
Tori Bowie tore around the track in 22.13 to win semi 3.
In 2nd was Michelle Lee-Ahye, whose 22.25 broke her own National Record of Trinidad & Tobago!!
Simone Facey and Murielle Ahoure ended out of the money in 3rd and 4th!
This is getting rather lengthy, so I'll cut it short after reporting on 3 more events!
Then I'll combine what I have left, with what I'll gather from this morning's session, and post again AFTER that session--which begins in just one hour!!
The Women's 1500 final!!
Which Genzebe Dibaba would show up?
The WR-smashing "Baby Baby", or the tired and worn out from all the Jama Aden shit version?
After an opening lap in 76.8 ("led" by Shannon Rowbury!), we had to wait to find out!
Hiding back in 4th--in an even slower 77.9!--Dibaba looked comfortable!
But who wouldn't be at that pace??!!
Dibaba strode to the front just as they passed 800 in 2:27.2, their 2nd lap taking 69.3.
The Women's 800 Meter race was under way!!
Having begun her sprint just after the finish line---with 800 to go--she made like Alysia Montano, hitting her "first lap" in 56.7!!
Faith Kipyegon was right behind, running 56.8, followed by Sifan Hassan's 57.9.
The US duo of Jenny Simpson and Shannon Rowbury hung back, going through in the mid-58's!!
They were letting the Ethiopian and Kenyan get away, maybe thinking they couldn't possibly keep going at warp speed!
But this was the woman who had sped 1:56.9 the previous year to win the WC race!
Except the controversies surrounding her coach---and herself!--must have taken their toll--because Kipyegon passed her, winning going away in 4:08.92, and winning the 800 "race" as well, with her 1:57.2!!
Dibaba was fading a bit, and could manage "only" 46.4 over the last 300---against Kipyegon's 44.7!
But still in 4th where the 1500 starts, Simpson timed her kick perfectly, overtaking Hassan, and closing fast on Dibaba---just missing her target (4:10.27 to 4:10.53) by closing in 44.6.
Rowbury's 45.0 brought her home in 4th!
Simpson had won a Bronze---the first since 1984!!
And their final 800's?
As noted, Kipyegon ran 1:57.2, while Dibaba managed 1:58.5.
Now, keep in mind that in an open 800, Rowbury's PR was 1:59.97, while Simpson's was just 2:00.45!!
Here, Rowbury closed in 1:59.2!
Simpson whipped through a 1:58.9!!
(Think they might decide to enter a REAL 800 soon??)
While the Gold winner---Omar McLeod--was thrilled by his victory in 13.05, the numbers geeks (like myself!!) weren't so ecstatic!!
What happened to all those sub-13's these guys were running in the past several years---and decades??
McLeod made it a runaway, as 2nd was 0.12 back, Orlando Ortega's 13.17 beating Dmitri Bascou's 13.24 for the Silver!
Pascal Martinot-Legarde and Devon Allen followed in a line.
Ronnie Ash was DQ'ed!
Finally---for THIS post, at least!--the Men's 5000 heats!
Mo Farah (obviously!) and Bernard Lagat sped into the top 5 at the right time to cruise into the final.
Hagos Gebrhiwet took that 1st heat in 13:24.65.
Paul Chelimo ran a bit faster (13:19.54) to take the 2nd, with two more coming in at sub-13:20.
David Torrence, that new Peruvian, Q'ed with 13:23.20, which became the SECOND National Record he set in his new country!!
Failing to move on were Caleb Ndiku, Isiah Koech, and Ali Kaya.
Hassan Mead fell, but was advanced to the final anyway!!
In my next post, I'll begin with the Women's 800 heats, and go on from there.
Like I said, it will be the WOMEN's 800 heats!!
LOL
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
33 MORE Records!
No, not 33 more WORLD Records, silly!
We just got TWO more of those!!
I'm talking all kinds of Records---World, US, Age, Meet, National!
Add them up, since I reported on the Women's Marathon in my previous report, there have been a total of 33 Records broken!
In basically 2 days of the Olympic Games!
(After it's over, I'll do a count of all the Records broken! My guess is, there's going to be well over ONE HUNDRED of them!!)
So, taking up where I left off......!!
The only "big" fails in the Men's HJ Q round were two Americans--Ricky Robertson and Brad Adkins.
Everyone else of note moved on to the final!
The Women's 400 semi's saw 3 fast races.
Phyllis Francis took the 1st in 50.31.
Stephanie McPherson ran 50.69 in 2nd.
Christine Ohuruogu and Kemi Adekoya didn't move on!
Shericka Jackson PR'ed in 49.83 to take semi 2 from the 49.90 of Natasha Hastings.
And in semi 3, Allyson Felix sped a 49.67 to take care of Shaunae Miller's 49.91.
(A preview of the final??)
Christina Day failed to move on!!
In the very first jump of the Women's Triple Jump final, Keturah Orji smashed her own American Record--and the 48 foot barrier!!--with a fantastic 48-3.25!!
This improved her previous AR by 7.25 inches!!
She missed my World DDD by 11.25 inches, but she remains number one on the US list!
She actually LED after the first round!!
Then things wound up a bit!
In round 2, Caterine Ibarguen--the Queen of the Hop (Step & Jump), so to speak, hit the sand at 49-3.75, and it appeared to be over & done!
But Yulimar Rojas--who has a bouncy (Sorry for this run on puns!! LOL) personality, reached 49-1.75, to give Ibarguen a little extra motivation for her next rounds!
We didn't have to wait very long.
In that same round, Ibarguen went out to 49-9.25 to basically close the deal!
Rojas came back with 49-0.75 in the 6th, but it wasn't enough!
Olga Rypakova had edged ahead of Orji by 1.25 inches, and Keturah couldn't answer, as her next best was "just" 47-7!
Still, to ALMOST get Bronze as a 20 year old Soph at the University of Georgia, with this being BY FAR the biggest stage she'd ever seen, is worthy of a standing ovation!!
In 5th, Patricia Mamona's 48-0.75 broke her own National Record of Portugal!
The Men's 100 semi's saw all 3 races led by times in the 9's!
Jimmy Vicaut's 9.95 took the first.
Ben Meite's 9.97 in 2nd broke his own National Record of the Ivory Coast.
Akini Simbine's 9.98 was 3rd.
Marvin Bracy and Nickel Ashmeade struck out!
MISTER Bolt ripped a 9.86 in semi 2, and that was enough to hold off the 9.92 PR of Andre De Grasse.
Trayvon Bromell made the final, but ran only 10.01.
Kim Collins's 10.12 failed to move this Old Man down the line!
Justin Gatlin's 9.94 ran down Yohan Blake's 10.01 in the third semi.
Chris Lemaitre, Bingtian Su, and James Dasaolu couldn't run fast enough to advance!
The Women's 1500 semi's took Brenda Martinez out of the picture, as she couldn't produce her 800 racer's kick when needed, and faded to last in the first semi!
Faith Kipyegon's 4:03.25 won it, with Dawit Seyaum and Shannon Rowbury running under 4:05.
Besides Martinez, Zoe Buckman and Konstanze Klosterhalfen didn't make it, either!
KK ran 4:07.26.
Genzebe Dibaba appeared healthy (in body and mind!) while winning semi two in 4:03.26!
Following came Sifan Hassan, Laura Muir, and Jenny Simpson, all in 4:05.07 (Simpson) or faster!
Nicole Sifuentes failed to advance!
The August 14th schedule ended with a bang---in fact, TWO bangs!!
First came the Men's 400 final!
From lane 8, Wayde Van Niekerk exploded from the blocks, and was way ahead at 200, and around the final curve.
Kirani James and LaShawn Merritt were moving fast, but seemingly waiting for the straight to go after VN.
Though both were sprinting, Van Niekerk was going even faster, expanding his lead into a Grand Canyon gap.
When he'd crossed the line 0.73 ahead of James, and 0.82 ahead of Merritt, the crowd knew something SPECIAL had happened.
They just had to wait for affirmation.
43.03 seconds!
Michael Johnson't 17 year old World Record had been destroyed!!
From lane 8, in what could be called a solo run!
Besides the WR, he broke his own National Record of South Africa.
He also got the Olympic Games Meet Record, and the Age 24 Record!!
(The latter had been the 43.29 of Butch Reynolds, which was 2nd A-T World!!)
He improved his time on my 100-200-400 Combined Events list to 1:12.95 (9.98, 19.94, 43.03), but remained 2nd--to Michael Johnson!
He moved from 4th A-T World to 1st!
James's 43.76, and Merritt's 43.85 didn't break any records, but the 44.01 of Michel Cedeno did!
It's the National Record of Trinidad & Tobago!
It makes him 15th A-T World!
Karabo Sibanda's 44.25 is the best 5th Place mark!
Ali Khamis ran 44.36 in 6th for that Place record!
It also breaks his own National Record of Bahrain!
Bralon Taplin got the best 7th Place record with his 44.45.
And the best 8th Place mark goes to the 44.61 of Matthew Hudson-Smith!
And then came the Men's final in the 100 meters!
When Bolt was introduced, the crowd went wild!
When Justin Gatlin's name was heard, it sounded like a WWE clown show when a barrel of drunks splash their ugly venom on the Ref!
It was a rude vicious attack on someone who did the time for doing the crime.
It's not like he killed or raped his Grandmother.
He was caught taking a banned drug!
As far as we know, he's been clean for years!!
Did those jerks come there to watch a fantastic sprint Duel in the Sun, or just to show how ungracious Brazilians can be?
In the end, Gatlin couldn't silence the mighty train called Usain!
Gatlin had a small lead at 30 meters, as Bolt got his usual lumbering start.
But when Bolt got going, and pulled even with Gatlin at 50, we all knew what the final chapter would show!
It was all Bolt from there, his 9.81 defeating Gatlin's 9.89.
Not the fastest they'd gone, but this wasn't about time, it was about Bolt's place in the history of our sport--his legacy!
Andre De Grasse showed he might be ready to take over when Bolt finally retires, as his 9.91 PR took the Bronze!
Yohan Blake showed he's most of the way back, his 9.93 beating back the 9.96 of Ben Meite.
Meite's time breaks his own Ivory Coast National Record he'd run in the semi's!
Trayvon Bromell brought up the rear in 10.06!
The Men's TJ Q round was quiet, with Christian Taylor's 56-6.75 leading the Final Dozen!
Fabrizio Donato, Marian Oprea, and America's Chris Benard failed to advance!
Don't know why, but Pedro Pablo Pichardo was a DNS!
The Women's 200 heats were mostly won with mid-22 times by who we'd expect!
Dafne Schippers ran 22.51 to take heat 1.
Olivia Borlee--yes, from THAT family!!--didn't make it to the semi's!
Jenna Prandini looked good running 22.62 to win the 2nd.
Michelle Lee-Ahye won the third in 22.50.
Marie Josee Ta Lou's PR of 22.31 won the 4th!
Elaine Thompson decided to just cruise in behind her, time of 22.63.
Blessing Okagbare won heat 5 in 22.71, defeating Dina Asher-Smith's 22.77.
Deajah Stevens looked formidable in winning heat 6 in a speedy 22.45!
Ivet Lalova-Collio's 22.61 took the next heat.
Then it was Tori Bowie's turn in heat 8, as her 22.47 beat back the 22.52 of Murielle Ahoure.
The Swiss girl with one of my favorite names in T&F--Mujinga Kambundji was third in 22.78, a PR!
Heat 9's winner (in 22.74) was the fairly unknown Edidiong Odiong.
But much more significant was the person who did NOT run fast enough to move on.
VCB--aka Veronica Campbell-Brown--probably ran her final Olympic race (except for a Relay??).
Her 22.97 was good, but left her fans sad knowing that her career might be over!
(No definite word on that---just my own thinking!)
The Men's 3000SC heats were uneventful---both in the times run, and in the fact that no one of any consequence failed to advance!
Hillary Bor, Evan Jager, and Consesius Kipruto took the 3 races, all in the 8:20's.
Bor, Jager, and Don Cabral---all 3 Americans to the final!!
Want to get a lesson in what Women's Hammer Throwing is all about?
Stand back in awe as Poland's Anita Wlodarczyk enters the ring, ball and chain in hand!
Then watch as the spike-haired blonde spins the Hammer around, then lets loose one of her massive---and often record-shattering--throws!
Her opening round throw measured 250-6!
That turned out to be kindergarten stuff!
In round 2, she whipped it out to 263-9, which smashed the Olympic Games Meet Record by over 6 feet!!
Next time up, she spun and spun, finally unleashing a throw that would redefine the event--if she hadn't done so already!!
When she'd reached 266-0 last year, I thought 270 feet was within her wheelhouse!
And my prediction came within one inch of becoming fact!
Her amazing World Record was now pushed out to 269-11--and who knows how much farther she can go!!
It's the World Record, the Age 31 record, the Meet Record, and it broke her own National Record of Poland!
She of course remains 1st A-T World!
(In the medal ceremony later, she was presented her medal by Poland's T&F Royalty--Ms Irena Szewinska, now 70 years old!
After bedecking Wlodarczyk with her medal, they hugged.
Not just the formal hug all the other medalists got--but they HUGGED!
It was a sign of respect and friendship between two mighty Champions, leaving Anita in tears!!
BTW, she ended her series with 268-2, which WOULD have shattered her previous WR by over 2 feet---if she hadn't already done so!!
Wenxiu Zhang took 2nd with 251-9.
And Sophie Hitchon broke her own British National Record, taking the Bronze with her 244-7!
She misses my World list by just 8 inches!
Betty Heidler was 4th, while Americans Amber Campbell and Deanna Price finished 6th and 8th, respectively!
I just noticed this has become rather lengthy!
But I've decided to keep it going, even though there's LOTS more to report!!
Hope you don't mind!
The Women's 3000SC final began with a 3:05 first kilometer--not particularly fast, but enough to get everyone in single file.
Ruth Jebet, the 19 year old phenom who ALMOST got the WR at the Prefontaine Classic, took off a la Almaz Ayana, leaving an instant gap back to Hyvin Jepkemoi, while Emma Coburn held off any surges to follow.
Jebet reached 2000 in 6:01, and seemed primed to take down the World Record of 8:58.81.
Coburn was 4th, behind Beatrice Chepkoech, with a space of 50 meters between them and Jepkemoi.
Seeing Jebet would be impossible to catch, she zeroed in on Chepkoech.
That was easy for the smooth and fluid Coburn.
Then she went after Jepkemoi.
She came up to her side, but then Jepkemoi put a bit of pressure on the pedal, edging ahead for the Silver.
Jebet eased up on the straight just enough to miss the WR by less than a second!
Her 8:59.75 breaks her own Age 19 record!
It also breaks her own National Record of Bahrain!
She remains 2nd A-T World!
Jepkemoi's 9:07.12 was followed closely by Coburn's own American Record-breaking time of 9:07.63!
It's also the best-ever 3rd Place mark!
She moves from 13th A-T World to 10th, while remaining in front of the US list!
Kepkoech finished in 9:16.05, making her 22nd A-T World!
Gesa Krause's 9:18.41 in 6th is the National Record of Germany!
In 8th came Colleen Quigley, whose 0.19 PR of 9:21.10 leaves her 5th A-T US.
GenGen LaCaze got yet another PR, time of 9:21.21.
Courtney Frerichs just missed her's, but her 9:22.74 is the best 11th Place mark!
Habiba Ghribi's 9:28.75 nabs the best 12th Place record!
Times for the winners in the 6 heat races of the Men's 400H ranged from 48.37 to 49.52.
Nothing too slow, but nothing too fast either!
Jeff Gibson and Jehue Gordon were 2 who failed to move on.
But eyebrows were raised when Michael Tinsley and Beijing World Champion Nicholas Bett also didn't make it!!
Three National Records were revised--
Abdelmalik Lahoulou's 48.62 first round winner is the National Record of Algeria.
Karsten Warholm ran 48.49 to nab the National Record of Norway.
And Oskari Moro's 49.04 gets him Finland's National Record!
All the ones you'd expect to make the Women's DT final did!
But failures included all 3 Americans, plus Jade Lally!
Omar McLeod led the 110H heats with his 13.27 winner in section 1.
Again, no one with real medal hopes were left behind!
Brazil (and the world!) got a shock when their own Thiagi Braz De Silva stole the Gold from the French icon Renaud Lavillenie in the Men's Pole Vault!!
He made 18-5.50 on first try, and 18-10.25 on his second!
It was then that Lavillenie entered, and he made his first 4 heights without a miss.
Da Silva skipped 19-7.50, instead going straight to 19-9.25, after seeing Lavillenie make 19-7.50 on his first!
It took him 2 tries, but he nailed it, shattering his own National Record of Brazil!
It's also the Age 22 record, and the Olympic Games Meet Record!
He is now 5th A-T World, tied with 2 others!
Lavillenie missed twice at Thiagi's winning height, then failed his 3rd at 19-11.25.
Da Silva also took one shot at 19-11.25, then stopped, having won the Gold!!
Sam Kendricks took the Bronze with his 19-2.25.
He missed his 3 tries at the PR height of 19-5.50!
Just turned 17 Sydney McLaughlin had some nail-biting moments after her 400H heat race fell apart in its latter stages!
She was looking okay through 300, but when they hit the straight, she fell behind first 1, then another, then another, finally fading to 5th in the time of 56.32.
Now she'd have to wait through the next five heats to see if her time would be one of the fastest losers.
(Believe me, I was shaking too!! LOL)
While the races were won in the 55's, the stragglers were much slower!
And in the end, McLaughlin made it into the semi's!
Whether she was just tired, or simply the awestruck kid amongst the Zuzana Hejnova's of this world---who was in the lane right beside her in her heat!!--I'm not sure!
I'm hoping it's the latter, and that now that she's finally raced against these Pro's, she'll be calmer--and faster--from here on!!
Once again, none of the "contenders" failed to make it through!
The August 15th set of events ended with another double cannon blast!
First up was David Rudisha and Co in the Men's 800 final!
With Kenyan compatriot Alfred Kipketer doing his "personal rabbiting"---though NOT through any devious plot--Rudisha was content to follow.
Still, the times were Rudisha-like, as they split about 23.5, then 49.3, with everyone close behind, including the 2 Americans, Boris Berian and Clay Murphy, with Berian on the rail.
Rudisha had taken the lead, and was running away, with Taoufik Makhloufi challenging, and Murphy finally finding space to move.
Berian couldn't keep up, and soon faded, while Murphy kicked off the top of the straight, still in 4th!
Halfway there, he went past Pierre Ambroise-Bosse into Bronze position, but couldn't catch Makhloufi.
Rudisha ran 1:42.15, his fastest time in years, to beat the 1:42.61 PR of Makhloufi.
Rudisha got the Age 27 record, while Makhloufi nabbed the National Record of Algeria!
He's now 17th A-T World.
And his Combined Events times of 1:42.61 and 3:28.75 in the 800 and 1500 add up to 5:11.36, making him number two on that list!!
Murphy's 1:42.93 puts him 0.02 ahead of Nick Symmonds, on the US list!
He'd moved from 21st A-T US, tied with 1 other, into 3rd, just 0.33 from the American Record!!
Bosse ended in 1:43.41!
Berian, meanwhile could run only 1:46.15 for eighth--and last!
Finally---Yes, FINALLY!!!---finally, we have the final of the Women's 400!
And what a race THAT was!!!
Narrowed down from her desired 200-400 double by her Trials 200 miss, Allyson Felix really WANTED this Gold!!
And her fast semi---See above!!--showed her to be in "Allyson Felix" shape!
But she would have to face the young Shaunae Miller, her lean and tall frame ready to break Felix's heart!
Miller sped out from her blocks like she were running a 200, while Felix strangely held back.
I say "strangely", because she'd recently started her 400's like a sprinter, before moving into cruise control until coming off the last curve, where she'd speed past whoever was dumb enough to think they could beat her!
When Felix finally revved it up, and edged past, Miller looked defeated.
But Felix wasn't in 21.69 200 shape, so Miller started closing in.
Right before the tape, Miller stumbled--or dove!--but whatever happened, she found herself heading straight for the track, hands and body in a line.
And this "dive" brought her torso past the line just ahead of Felix for the win!
Miller's PR of 49.44 still misses my World DDD by 0.12 seconds.
Felix was timed in 49.51, but seemed even closer!
Shericka Jackson took the Bronze, running 49.85.
Natasha Hastings and Phyllis Francis gave the Americans 2nd, 4th, and 5th!!
Attempting to make my next post a LOT shorter, I'll be back after all of today's events with more Records and great marks!!
Adding to the MOUNTAIN of them already in!!
We just got TWO more of those!!
I'm talking all kinds of Records---World, US, Age, Meet, National!
Add them up, since I reported on the Women's Marathon in my previous report, there have been a total of 33 Records broken!
In basically 2 days of the Olympic Games!
(After it's over, I'll do a count of all the Records broken! My guess is, there's going to be well over ONE HUNDRED of them!!)
So, taking up where I left off......!!
The only "big" fails in the Men's HJ Q round were two Americans--Ricky Robertson and Brad Adkins.
Everyone else of note moved on to the final!
The Women's 400 semi's saw 3 fast races.
Phyllis Francis took the 1st in 50.31.
Stephanie McPherson ran 50.69 in 2nd.
Christine Ohuruogu and Kemi Adekoya didn't move on!
Shericka Jackson PR'ed in 49.83 to take semi 2 from the 49.90 of Natasha Hastings.
And in semi 3, Allyson Felix sped a 49.67 to take care of Shaunae Miller's 49.91.
(A preview of the final??)
Christina Day failed to move on!!
In the very first jump of the Women's Triple Jump final, Keturah Orji smashed her own American Record--and the 48 foot barrier!!--with a fantastic 48-3.25!!
This improved her previous AR by 7.25 inches!!
She missed my World DDD by 11.25 inches, but she remains number one on the US list!
She actually LED after the first round!!
Then things wound up a bit!
In round 2, Caterine Ibarguen--the Queen of the Hop (Step & Jump), so to speak, hit the sand at 49-3.75, and it appeared to be over & done!
But Yulimar Rojas--who has a bouncy (Sorry for this run on puns!! LOL) personality, reached 49-1.75, to give Ibarguen a little extra motivation for her next rounds!
We didn't have to wait very long.
In that same round, Ibarguen went out to 49-9.25 to basically close the deal!
Rojas came back with 49-0.75 in the 6th, but it wasn't enough!
Olga Rypakova had edged ahead of Orji by 1.25 inches, and Keturah couldn't answer, as her next best was "just" 47-7!
Still, to ALMOST get Bronze as a 20 year old Soph at the University of Georgia, with this being BY FAR the biggest stage she'd ever seen, is worthy of a standing ovation!!
In 5th, Patricia Mamona's 48-0.75 broke her own National Record of Portugal!
The Men's 100 semi's saw all 3 races led by times in the 9's!
Jimmy Vicaut's 9.95 took the first.
Ben Meite's 9.97 in 2nd broke his own National Record of the Ivory Coast.
Akini Simbine's 9.98 was 3rd.
Marvin Bracy and Nickel Ashmeade struck out!
MISTER Bolt ripped a 9.86 in semi 2, and that was enough to hold off the 9.92 PR of Andre De Grasse.
Trayvon Bromell made the final, but ran only 10.01.
Kim Collins's 10.12 failed to move this Old Man down the line!
Justin Gatlin's 9.94 ran down Yohan Blake's 10.01 in the third semi.
Chris Lemaitre, Bingtian Su, and James Dasaolu couldn't run fast enough to advance!
The Women's 1500 semi's took Brenda Martinez out of the picture, as she couldn't produce her 800 racer's kick when needed, and faded to last in the first semi!
Faith Kipyegon's 4:03.25 won it, with Dawit Seyaum and Shannon Rowbury running under 4:05.
Besides Martinez, Zoe Buckman and Konstanze Klosterhalfen didn't make it, either!
KK ran 4:07.26.
Genzebe Dibaba appeared healthy (in body and mind!) while winning semi two in 4:03.26!
Following came Sifan Hassan, Laura Muir, and Jenny Simpson, all in 4:05.07 (Simpson) or faster!
Nicole Sifuentes failed to advance!
The August 14th schedule ended with a bang---in fact, TWO bangs!!
First came the Men's 400 final!
From lane 8, Wayde Van Niekerk exploded from the blocks, and was way ahead at 200, and around the final curve.
Kirani James and LaShawn Merritt were moving fast, but seemingly waiting for the straight to go after VN.
Though both were sprinting, Van Niekerk was going even faster, expanding his lead into a Grand Canyon gap.
When he'd crossed the line 0.73 ahead of James, and 0.82 ahead of Merritt, the crowd knew something SPECIAL had happened.
They just had to wait for affirmation.
43.03 seconds!
Michael Johnson't 17 year old World Record had been destroyed!!
From lane 8, in what could be called a solo run!
Besides the WR, he broke his own National Record of South Africa.
He also got the Olympic Games Meet Record, and the Age 24 Record!!
(The latter had been the 43.29 of Butch Reynolds, which was 2nd A-T World!!)
He improved his time on my 100-200-400 Combined Events list to 1:12.95 (9.98, 19.94, 43.03), but remained 2nd--to Michael Johnson!
He moved from 4th A-T World to 1st!
James's 43.76, and Merritt's 43.85 didn't break any records, but the 44.01 of Michel Cedeno did!
It's the National Record of Trinidad & Tobago!
It makes him 15th A-T World!
Karabo Sibanda's 44.25 is the best 5th Place mark!
Ali Khamis ran 44.36 in 6th for that Place record!
It also breaks his own National Record of Bahrain!
Bralon Taplin got the best 7th Place record with his 44.45.
And the best 8th Place mark goes to the 44.61 of Matthew Hudson-Smith!
And then came the Men's final in the 100 meters!
When Bolt was introduced, the crowd went wild!
When Justin Gatlin's name was heard, it sounded like a WWE clown show when a barrel of drunks splash their ugly venom on the Ref!
It was a rude vicious attack on someone who did the time for doing the crime.
It's not like he killed or raped his Grandmother.
He was caught taking a banned drug!
As far as we know, he's been clean for years!!
Did those jerks come there to watch a fantastic sprint Duel in the Sun, or just to show how ungracious Brazilians can be?
In the end, Gatlin couldn't silence the mighty train called Usain!
Gatlin had a small lead at 30 meters, as Bolt got his usual lumbering start.
But when Bolt got going, and pulled even with Gatlin at 50, we all knew what the final chapter would show!
It was all Bolt from there, his 9.81 defeating Gatlin's 9.89.
Not the fastest they'd gone, but this wasn't about time, it was about Bolt's place in the history of our sport--his legacy!
Andre De Grasse showed he might be ready to take over when Bolt finally retires, as his 9.91 PR took the Bronze!
Yohan Blake showed he's most of the way back, his 9.93 beating back the 9.96 of Ben Meite.
Meite's time breaks his own Ivory Coast National Record he'd run in the semi's!
Trayvon Bromell brought up the rear in 10.06!
The Men's TJ Q round was quiet, with Christian Taylor's 56-6.75 leading the Final Dozen!
Fabrizio Donato, Marian Oprea, and America's Chris Benard failed to advance!
Don't know why, but Pedro Pablo Pichardo was a DNS!
The Women's 200 heats were mostly won with mid-22 times by who we'd expect!
Dafne Schippers ran 22.51 to take heat 1.
Olivia Borlee--yes, from THAT family!!--didn't make it to the semi's!
Jenna Prandini looked good running 22.62 to win the 2nd.
Michelle Lee-Ahye won the third in 22.50.
Marie Josee Ta Lou's PR of 22.31 won the 4th!
Elaine Thompson decided to just cruise in behind her, time of 22.63.
Blessing Okagbare won heat 5 in 22.71, defeating Dina Asher-Smith's 22.77.
Deajah Stevens looked formidable in winning heat 6 in a speedy 22.45!
Ivet Lalova-Collio's 22.61 took the next heat.
Then it was Tori Bowie's turn in heat 8, as her 22.47 beat back the 22.52 of Murielle Ahoure.
The Swiss girl with one of my favorite names in T&F--Mujinga Kambundji was third in 22.78, a PR!
Heat 9's winner (in 22.74) was the fairly unknown Edidiong Odiong.
But much more significant was the person who did NOT run fast enough to move on.
VCB--aka Veronica Campbell-Brown--probably ran her final Olympic race (except for a Relay??).
Her 22.97 was good, but left her fans sad knowing that her career might be over!
(No definite word on that---just my own thinking!)
The Men's 3000SC heats were uneventful---both in the times run, and in the fact that no one of any consequence failed to advance!
Hillary Bor, Evan Jager, and Consesius Kipruto took the 3 races, all in the 8:20's.
Bor, Jager, and Don Cabral---all 3 Americans to the final!!
Want to get a lesson in what Women's Hammer Throwing is all about?
Stand back in awe as Poland's Anita Wlodarczyk enters the ring, ball and chain in hand!
Then watch as the spike-haired blonde spins the Hammer around, then lets loose one of her massive---and often record-shattering--throws!
Her opening round throw measured 250-6!
That turned out to be kindergarten stuff!
In round 2, she whipped it out to 263-9, which smashed the Olympic Games Meet Record by over 6 feet!!
Next time up, she spun and spun, finally unleashing a throw that would redefine the event--if she hadn't done so already!!
When she'd reached 266-0 last year, I thought 270 feet was within her wheelhouse!
And my prediction came within one inch of becoming fact!
Her amazing World Record was now pushed out to 269-11--and who knows how much farther she can go!!
It's the World Record, the Age 31 record, the Meet Record, and it broke her own National Record of Poland!
She of course remains 1st A-T World!
(In the medal ceremony later, she was presented her medal by Poland's T&F Royalty--Ms Irena Szewinska, now 70 years old!
After bedecking Wlodarczyk with her medal, they hugged.
Not just the formal hug all the other medalists got--but they HUGGED!
It was a sign of respect and friendship between two mighty Champions, leaving Anita in tears!!
BTW, she ended her series with 268-2, which WOULD have shattered her previous WR by over 2 feet---if she hadn't already done so!!
Wenxiu Zhang took 2nd with 251-9.
And Sophie Hitchon broke her own British National Record, taking the Bronze with her 244-7!
She misses my World list by just 8 inches!
Betty Heidler was 4th, while Americans Amber Campbell and Deanna Price finished 6th and 8th, respectively!
I just noticed this has become rather lengthy!
But I've decided to keep it going, even though there's LOTS more to report!!
Hope you don't mind!
The Women's 3000SC final began with a 3:05 first kilometer--not particularly fast, but enough to get everyone in single file.
Ruth Jebet, the 19 year old phenom who ALMOST got the WR at the Prefontaine Classic, took off a la Almaz Ayana, leaving an instant gap back to Hyvin Jepkemoi, while Emma Coburn held off any surges to follow.
Jebet reached 2000 in 6:01, and seemed primed to take down the World Record of 8:58.81.
Coburn was 4th, behind Beatrice Chepkoech, with a space of 50 meters between them and Jepkemoi.
Seeing Jebet would be impossible to catch, she zeroed in on Chepkoech.
That was easy for the smooth and fluid Coburn.
Then she went after Jepkemoi.
She came up to her side, but then Jepkemoi put a bit of pressure on the pedal, edging ahead for the Silver.
Jebet eased up on the straight just enough to miss the WR by less than a second!
Her 8:59.75 breaks her own Age 19 record!
It also breaks her own National Record of Bahrain!
She remains 2nd A-T World!
Jepkemoi's 9:07.12 was followed closely by Coburn's own American Record-breaking time of 9:07.63!
It's also the best-ever 3rd Place mark!
She moves from 13th A-T World to 10th, while remaining in front of the US list!
Kepkoech finished in 9:16.05, making her 22nd A-T World!
Gesa Krause's 9:18.41 in 6th is the National Record of Germany!
In 8th came Colleen Quigley, whose 0.19 PR of 9:21.10 leaves her 5th A-T US.
GenGen LaCaze got yet another PR, time of 9:21.21.
Courtney Frerichs just missed her's, but her 9:22.74 is the best 11th Place mark!
Habiba Ghribi's 9:28.75 nabs the best 12th Place record!
Times for the winners in the 6 heat races of the Men's 400H ranged from 48.37 to 49.52.
Nothing too slow, but nothing too fast either!
Jeff Gibson and Jehue Gordon were 2 who failed to move on.
But eyebrows were raised when Michael Tinsley and Beijing World Champion Nicholas Bett also didn't make it!!
Three National Records were revised--
Abdelmalik Lahoulou's 48.62 first round winner is the National Record of Algeria.
Karsten Warholm ran 48.49 to nab the National Record of Norway.
And Oskari Moro's 49.04 gets him Finland's National Record!
All the ones you'd expect to make the Women's DT final did!
But failures included all 3 Americans, plus Jade Lally!
Omar McLeod led the 110H heats with his 13.27 winner in section 1.
Again, no one with real medal hopes were left behind!
Brazil (and the world!) got a shock when their own Thiagi Braz De Silva stole the Gold from the French icon Renaud Lavillenie in the Men's Pole Vault!!
He made 18-5.50 on first try, and 18-10.25 on his second!
It was then that Lavillenie entered, and he made his first 4 heights without a miss.
Da Silva skipped 19-7.50, instead going straight to 19-9.25, after seeing Lavillenie make 19-7.50 on his first!
It took him 2 tries, but he nailed it, shattering his own National Record of Brazil!
It's also the Age 22 record, and the Olympic Games Meet Record!
He is now 5th A-T World, tied with 2 others!
Lavillenie missed twice at Thiagi's winning height, then failed his 3rd at 19-11.25.
Da Silva also took one shot at 19-11.25, then stopped, having won the Gold!!
Sam Kendricks took the Bronze with his 19-2.25.
He missed his 3 tries at the PR height of 19-5.50!
Just turned 17 Sydney McLaughlin had some nail-biting moments after her 400H heat race fell apart in its latter stages!
She was looking okay through 300, but when they hit the straight, she fell behind first 1, then another, then another, finally fading to 5th in the time of 56.32.
Now she'd have to wait through the next five heats to see if her time would be one of the fastest losers.
(Believe me, I was shaking too!! LOL)
While the races were won in the 55's, the stragglers were much slower!
And in the end, McLaughlin made it into the semi's!
Whether she was just tired, or simply the awestruck kid amongst the Zuzana Hejnova's of this world---who was in the lane right beside her in her heat!!--I'm not sure!
I'm hoping it's the latter, and that now that she's finally raced against these Pro's, she'll be calmer--and faster--from here on!!
Once again, none of the "contenders" failed to make it through!
The August 15th set of events ended with another double cannon blast!
First up was David Rudisha and Co in the Men's 800 final!
With Kenyan compatriot Alfred Kipketer doing his "personal rabbiting"---though NOT through any devious plot--Rudisha was content to follow.
Still, the times were Rudisha-like, as they split about 23.5, then 49.3, with everyone close behind, including the 2 Americans, Boris Berian and Clay Murphy, with Berian on the rail.
Rudisha had taken the lead, and was running away, with Taoufik Makhloufi challenging, and Murphy finally finding space to move.
Berian couldn't keep up, and soon faded, while Murphy kicked off the top of the straight, still in 4th!
Halfway there, he went past Pierre Ambroise-Bosse into Bronze position, but couldn't catch Makhloufi.
Rudisha ran 1:42.15, his fastest time in years, to beat the 1:42.61 PR of Makhloufi.
Rudisha got the Age 27 record, while Makhloufi nabbed the National Record of Algeria!
He's now 17th A-T World.
And his Combined Events times of 1:42.61 and 3:28.75 in the 800 and 1500 add up to 5:11.36, making him number two on that list!!
Murphy's 1:42.93 puts him 0.02 ahead of Nick Symmonds, on the US list!
He'd moved from 21st A-T US, tied with 1 other, into 3rd, just 0.33 from the American Record!!
Bosse ended in 1:43.41!
Berian, meanwhile could run only 1:46.15 for eighth--and last!
Finally---Yes, FINALLY!!!---finally, we have the final of the Women's 400!
And what a race THAT was!!!
Narrowed down from her desired 200-400 double by her Trials 200 miss, Allyson Felix really WANTED this Gold!!
And her fast semi---See above!!--showed her to be in "Allyson Felix" shape!
But she would have to face the young Shaunae Miller, her lean and tall frame ready to break Felix's heart!
Miller sped out from her blocks like she were running a 200, while Felix strangely held back.
I say "strangely", because she'd recently started her 400's like a sprinter, before moving into cruise control until coming off the last curve, where she'd speed past whoever was dumb enough to think they could beat her!
When Felix finally revved it up, and edged past, Miller looked defeated.
But Felix wasn't in 21.69 200 shape, so Miller started closing in.
Right before the tape, Miller stumbled--or dove!--but whatever happened, she found herself heading straight for the track, hands and body in a line.
And this "dive" brought her torso past the line just ahead of Felix for the win!
Miller's PR of 49.44 still misses my World DDD by 0.12 seconds.
Felix was timed in 49.51, but seemed even closer!
Shericka Jackson took the Bronze, running 49.85.
Natasha Hastings and Phyllis Francis gave the Americans 2nd, 4th, and 5th!!
Attempting to make my next post a LOT shorter, I'll be back after all of today's events with more Records and great marks!!
Adding to the MOUNTAIN of them already in!!
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