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!!