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!