Cute title, eh?
But that's the gist of what's to come!
The London Diamond League was the last DL before the European Championships, due to start in 2 weeks!
The Birmingham DL isn't until after the Euros.
But more on all that later!
Seems the distances decided to set the sprints and field events aside--for the most part!--and take control of the energy and thrills blanketing this NOT-so-off year!!
And few races--maybe in the whole history of the sport!--saw such a mass rush to PR's, and records of all sorts--than the Women's Mile that ended the 2-day meet!
Nowhere did this rush do more damage than in the Place Records Dept, where EVERY Place between 2nd & 12th was changed!!
Brenda Martinez was charged with pacing duties, and did her job to perfection!
Hitting 63.3 and 2:06.9, the entire field followed--unlike some recent pacing jobs, where the rabbit ran solo!
After hitting 1200 (1320?) in 3:11.8, we were down to a quintet of Gudaf Tsegay, Sifan Hassan, Helen Obiri, Jenny Simpson, and Laura Muir, making yet another attempt at the British Mile record of 4:17.57, held by Zola Budd!
Alas, she came up short again!
But Hassan hit the pedal hardest, and came through the victor, time of 4:14.71.
She set the Meet Record, and broke her own National Record of the Netherlands!!
She moves from 14th A-T World up to 3rd!
On my World Combined Events list for the 800 & Mile, her times of 1:56.81 and 4:14.71 adds to 6:11.52.
She moves from 9th A-T to 2nd!!
Tsegay came 2nd, time of 4:16.14.
Besides becoming 6th A-T World, she led the total erasure of my Place Records, nabbing the best 2nd Place mark!
Obiri was right on her shoulder, hitting the line in 4:16.15!
She gets the best 3rd Place mark, and breaks her own National Record of Kenya!
She's now 7th A-T World!
Simpson fell short of Mary Slaney's iconic AR, but cut more than 2 seconds from her PR, with her 4:17.30.
She gets the Age 31 Record, and the best 4th Place mark!
She improves her times on 2 C-E lists.
On the World list for the 1 & 2 Mile, Simpson's times of 4:17.30 and 9:16.78 adds to 13:34.08.
She remains 3rd there!
On the US list for the same events, she remains 2nd!
On the US C-E list for the 800 and Mile, her times of 2:00.45 and 4:17.30 adds to 6:17.75.
She moves from 3rd to 2nd!
She moves from 21st A-T World to 11th!
But she remains 2nd A-T US!
Muir finished in 4:19.28!
She gets the best 5th Place mark!
Laura Weightman came next, time of 4:20.49, getting the best 6th Place mark!
She actually broke her own Place mark!!
She misses my World DDD by just 0.14 seconds!
Winny Chebet's 4:20.51 gave her the best 7th Place mark!
Kate Grace seems to have had the fastest last 109 meters, the only one to close in under 17 seconds!!
This gave her the best 8th Place mark, time of 4:20.70!
On my US Combined Events list for the 800 & Mile, her times of 1:58.28 and 4:20.70 adds to 6:18.98.
She moves from 5th A-T to 3rd there!
On my US DDD, she moves from 8th A-T to 4th!!
Sarah McDonald's 4:20.85 gives her the best 9th Place mark!
Linden Hall's 4:21.40 is the best 10th Place mark, but more importantly, she breaks Australia's National Record!!
Another National Record fell to Simona Vrzakova's 4:21.54.
She gets the NR for the Czech Republic, as well as the best 11th Place mark!
And Sofia Ennaoui's 4:23.34 nabs the best 12th Place mark!!
An amazing field!!
Before continuing with my London report, let's move to Belgium, and its meet in Heusden-Zolder!
Because the American assault on their Women's Record Book saw a huge victory there--behind General Shelby Houlihan!!
Asking Shalane Flanagan--in Marathon training, and age 37--to rabbit was a smart move!
Flanagan performed to perfection, passing 3K in 8:53, with only Houlihan in tow at that point!
The next 2000 took just 5:41--close to World Record pace!!--and when she crossed the line, her time of 14:34.45 had slashed 4 seconds from Shannon Rowbury's AR!!
She moves all the way from 17th A-T US to the Top!!
She misses the World list by 3.25 seconds!!
On my US C-E list for the 1500 and 5000, her times of 3:57.34 and 14:34.45 adds to 18:31.79!
She moves from 6th A-T to 1st!!
Molly Huddle led the charge of the Second Brigade, her 15:01.44 not bad for also being in Marathon training mode!!
Next came new Bowerman Babe (BTC) and Nike signee, Karissa Schweizer!
Wearing her new kit, she demolished her previous best by about 15 seconds!!
Her time of 15:02.44 makes her 19th A-T US!!
Would have been the Collegiate Record if run at the NCAA's or before!!
Dom Scott also cut a chunk off her PR, timing 15:04.14 in 4th.
Vanessa Fraser was another recent College grad to see a good PR--her 15:09.62 giving her 9th!
In other H-Z news---
Emily Lipari PR'ed in winning the 1500, her 4:05.68 beating Winny Nanyondo's 4:06.08.
Alexa Efraimson and Cory McGee ran low'4:07.s in 3rd & 4th!
Halimah Nakaayi of Uganda won the 800 in 1:59.58, with Hanna Green's 2:01.28 taking 2nd, followed by Emily Richards's 2:01.33.
Eric Avila won the 1500 in 3:36.41.
Chala Regese took a quick 5000 in 13:06.98, beating Nibret Malek's 13:07.27.
Sean McGorty ran 13:21.93 in 10th!
Back to London!!
The meet actually began with a World Record--however obscure!
Britain's Tom Bosworth Walked the WR for the 3000, his time being 10:43.84!
Not far behind was Laboyeng Shange's 10:47.08!!
The Men's PV saw a good 3-way battle!
Sam Kendricks emerged the winner, his 19-5 beating the 19-2.75 of Renaud Lavilenie and Mondo Duplantis!!
(Has any other event seen the World's Top 3 compete so often against each other this season??)
Christian Coleman was a DNS in the 100!!
That left Ronnie Baker to take the W--his 9.90 beating the 9.93 of Zharnel Hughes, the 9.94 of Akani Simbine, and the 9.95 from Yohan Blake!!
Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce continued her comeback from giving birth, her 10.99 enough to defeat Dezerea Bryant's 11.04!
Someone noted that she's one of the only Moms to run a sub-11 less than a year after delivery!!
Abdellelah Haroun broke his own National Record of Qatar in winning the 400 in 44.07!
He becomes 22nd A-T World!!
Paul Dedewo got another small PR, his 44.43 taking 2nd.
Kirani James (44.50) and Baboloki Thebe (44.54) were next!
In 5th was 400H wonder Abderrahman Samba, his 44.62 a massive PR of 0.85 seconds!!
On my World C-E list for the 400 & 400H, his 44.62 and 46.98 adds to 1:31.60--but still gets him "only" 2nd there!!
Speaking of the 400H, Karsten Warholm had that race all to himself, winning in 47.65!
It's the London Meet Record, as well as breaking his own National Record of Norway!!
And he makes my World DDD list, in 23rd place!!
Luvo Manyonga had a great LJ series, with his last 5 rounds being between 27-8 and his winner of 28-1.75!!
He gets the Meet Record!
Ruswahl Samaai's 27-7.50 took Silver, with Jarrion Lawson's 27-0.75 taking 3rd!
Mariya Lasitskene returned to her winning ways, taking the HJ with 6-8.25!
But she had to fight for it!!
For a previously obscure Italian--Elena Vallortigara--shot her PR up 6 inches, all the way to 6-7.50!!
Born September 21, 1991, she had HJ'ed 6-1.25 at Age 16, but then a series of injuries and other life problems kept her at that level for years---until this meet!!
And suddenly Ms Lasitskene has some competition!!
The 100H was once again an American affair!
After heats of 12.41 (Brianna McNeal), 12.50 (Kendra Harrison), 12.56 (Christina Manning), and Norway's Isabelle Pedersen (12.72)--which gave the latter her National Record!--the final went off near meet's end!
There, Harrison won in 12.36, beating McNeal's 12.47, and Sharika Nelvis's 12.51!
Pedersen came close to her new NR, hitting 12.73 at the line!
Emmanuel Korir followed the rabbit through the first 400 of the 800 in 49.87!
His 52.18 closer gave him the World Lead--1:42.05!!
And the Meet Record!
He becomes 6th A-T World!
On my World C-E list for the 400 & 800, his times of 44.21 and 1:42.05 adds to 2:26.26.
He moves from 3rd A-T into 1st!!
Clay Murphy's 1:43.12 season's best just nipped the 1:43.12 of Wyclife Kinyamal!!
Nijel Amos came in 4th, time of 1:43.29!
Ninth place was timed in 1:45.04!
The 200's produced some fireworks!
Akeem Bloomfield had recently PR'ed with a 20.00!
Now he's down to 19.81!!
(Amusing that the announcers mistakenly thought Alonzo Edward had won!!)
Edward did come 2nd, but in 20.01--no contest!!
Bloomfield misses my World DDD by just 0.01 seconds!!
Jenna Prandini finally won herself a DL meet!
Her 22.16 edged the 22.19 of Gabby Thomas!!
For Prandini, she moves from 23rd A-T US to 20th!
And Thomas becomes 23rd A-T US, tied with 1 other!!
Shericka Jackson ran 22.22 in 3rd, while Dafne Schippers's 22.42 was relegated to 7th!!
The Women's 3000 saw an interesting "finish"!
At the 2800 meter point, Fantu Worku sprinted through the "tape", thinking she'd "won"!!
BUT---the race had 200 left to go!!
Lillian Rengerek's 8:41.51 took the REAL race, followed by Susan Krumins's 8:41.83, and Katie Mackey's 8:44.47!
Worku, seeing her mistake, DNF'ed!!
Shamier Little's 53.95 edged Janieve Russell's 53.96 in the 400H!
Shara Proctor had a similarly close contest for the LJ title!
Her 22-8 beat Lorraine Ugen's 22-7!
Huihui Lyu's JT sailed 215-0, beating the 214-5 from Nikola Ogrodnikova!!
Stephanie McPherson easily won the 400, time of 50.31.
And even though she fouled 5 times, her 1st round DT of 220-7 gave Sandra Perkovic another W.
Ron Levy's 13.13 beat the 13.30 from Devon Allen in the 110H.
Matthew Centrowitz used his "CenTrot" (MY new nickname for his tactics, inspired by MoBot!!) to win his first DL race!
His 3:35.22 took the 1500 over Ryan Gregson's 3:35.35!
Nick Willis ran 3:35.72 in 6th, beating the PR of 3:35.90 by Drew Hunter!
Paul Chelimo won the 5000, his 13:14.01 beating Muktar Edris's 13:14.35!
The first 7 ran faster than 13:17!
Ce Aira Brown PR'ed in winning the Semenya-less 800 in 1:58.57!
This makes her 24th A-T US!
She beat Natoya Goule's 1:58.67!
A couple of Relays saw some good marks!
Great Britain's Men took the 4 X 100 in 37.61, the Meet Record!!
Japan was 2nd in 38.09.
The Netherlands improved their NR to 38.21 in 3rd!
They move from 19th A-T Nation to 18th!
The Brit Women also won--in 42.36.
They beat China's 42.59, and the Netherlands 42.71.
Finally---
I missed reporting that Sydney Siame's 20.18 winner in the Cork 200 broke his own National Record of Zambia!
And Anita Wlodarczyk continues to sharpen for the Euros, her latest HT measuring 261-1, her best of 2018!!
And that returns us to what's next!
The Euros begin August 7th!
There are SOME meets (and Road Races) happening between now and then--and some of the European nation's National Championship are winding up!
So I'll probably have SOME marks to report in the next two weeks!
And I'll be doing my Euros Preview in 2 weeks also!
But until then, I can't tell you when my next post will be!!
BTW, the Euros COULD be a GREAT meet, as that Continent has been giving up some Record-breaking and List-making marks!!
See you soon!
Sunday, July 22, 2018
Saturday, July 21, 2018
Monaco's Herculis--The BEAST Let Loose
In its 32nd edition, the Herculis Athletics Meeting held in Monaco on July 19th & 20th of 2018 had NO weak links!!
From the Men's & Women's SP's (actually held nearer to Nice!) to the string of DL and other events held inside the stadium, there seemed a relentless unending path of destruction to Records of all kinds, and to clear recognition of the way All-Time Lists appeared just the day before!
Dare I say this was one of the finest & deepest Invitational meets in the modern history of our sport!!
And so I'll begin with a pair of marks that happened NOT in Monaco--as these perhaps were the perfect Opening Act to what was to come!!
Nubla Soares TJ'ed 48-2.50 to take hold of the National Record of Brazil!
And Eliza McCartney soared over a PV bar of 16-2.50 to break her own Age 21 and New Zealand National Records!
She moves from 4th A-T World to 3rd.
Jenn Suhr's 15-11.75 took 2nd in this German meet!!
And then there was Monaco!
Where Shot(s) Puts were literally fired to let the BEAST of Record-breaking mode loose upon the unwary masses!!
Lijaio Gong came near her World Leading mark, hitting 66-7.75 to dominate one of the best fields since Valerie Adams became pregnant!!
But Raven Saunders had one of her "UP" meets--meaning she was much closer to 65 feet than to 55!!
In fact, her 64-8.50 in 2nd was 2018's US Leader!
Christina Schwanitz took the Bronze with 64-0.25!
And Val?
She moved much closer to her "normal" self, hitting her best mark of 2018--63-4.25!!
The Men didn't produce any "beastly" marks, but their DEPTH was incredible!
Ryan Crouser's 72-4.25 showed he's returning to the form other Putters feared!
Darrell Hill's 71-3.25 sailed past Darlan Romani's 71-2.50 for 2nd!
In 4th came Michal Haratyk's 70-10!
Then came the hoards that set new Place Records for the next 3 spots!!
Tom Walsh's 70-6.25 is the best 5th Place mark!
David Storl's 70-3 is the best 6th Place ever--and marks the 1st time half a dozen Men went past the 70 foot barrier in one meet!!
Tomas Stanek's 69-8.25 took care of the 7th Place Record!!
What would the Morrow bring??
Well, speaking of "depth", no other Women's Pole Vault in all of its limited history ever produced such a slate of marks!!
NOTE: I know I go completely against the "rules" of Places in Vertical Jumps, but my T&F Record Book likes to keep its pages clear of confusion!
To that end, when there are ties for Places in the HJ or PV, I tend to divide up the goods anyway, thus "breaking" those official ties--but only for the reason of not having to use asterisks or lengthy explanations as to why a lower Place's mark is better than one found in a higher Place!!
I COULD do that!
I could go into a diatribe about why a 4th Place Record reads, say, 15-5.50--while the 5th Place mark is, say, 15-6.25!!
But I won't!
Thus, take the following list of Place Records as being NOT official--and used only for clarity in my Record Book and this Blog!!
All that said, this was a Women's PV that was as good as any ever was--yet could have been even better!!
At the end of this slaughter, there stood Anzhelika Sidorova's 15-11 atop the podium!
She tied her PR set in 2016!
Yarisley Silva and Ekaterina Stefanidi were given equal-2nd's, heights of 15-9.
Sandi Morris--who was needing all 3 tries for a couple of her heights--was officially 4th--also over 15-9!
This tied the best 4th Place mark!!
The next 4 Women all went over 15-7!
Katie Nageotte and Jenn Suhr were officially given a tie for 5th Place!
But for the sake of clarity (See above!), I've "given" 5th Place to Nageotte, and thus the best 5th Place mark!
Suhr gets the best "6th" Place mark!
For Nageotte, it's an OUTdoor PR!
She moves from 4th A-T US, tied with 1 other, to 4th, but with no ties!
On the World DDD, she becomes 22nd A-T, tied with 4 others!!
Eliza McCartney's (See above!) clearance of 15-7 gives her the best 7th Place mark!
Getting the best 8th Place mark is Ninon Guillon-Romarin's 15-7!
This also breaks her own National Record of France!
And makes her 22nd A-T World, tied with 4 others!!
I said earlier that this GREAT event might have been even better!
For some unknown reason, officials were VERY slow preparing for the next Vaulter, once the bar reached 4.75 (15-7)!
I've heard reports of athletes being angry and frustrated by these delays--perhaps throwing them a bit off-form at later heights!
These reports might be true--and if so, was probably the reason why none of these Women went over 16 feet!!
After a Men's 1000 race (Solomon Lekuta's 2:17.42 beat George Manangoi's 2:18.07) came the Women's 400 Showdown between Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Salwa Naser!!
Talk about Fights to the Death!!
Naser used her now-common tactic of a "slow" start connected to a fluid yet powerful conclusion!
SMU powered her way forth from the gun!
At the top of the final straight, it was close, with the Bahaman a short meter ahead of the Bahrainian!
Neither would surrender!
For every step the long-legged SMU took, the spritely Naser kept pace!
One was clearly "working", while the other glided smoothly across thin ice!
At its end, Miller-Uibo's 48.97 was the fastest 400 since 2009!!
It's the Monaco Meet Record, and the National Record of the Bahamas!
It makes her 10th A-T World!
For Naser, her latest PR timed 49.08, and broke her own National Record of Bahrain!
She is 13th A-T World!
The rest of the field--including some of the best Americans--were FAR back (Shakima Wimbley's 50.85 took 3rd!).
(I'm reporting these events in their order on the schedule--as to choose one over the other as Supreme would dare to disclaim the value of what was to follow!)
The Men's TJ was beset by mild winds, but breezy enough to take inches off the top 2 marks!!
Christian Taylor hit 58-7.25, but a wind of 2.1 made a potential MR disappear!
His best legal mark was 57-11.25!
Pablo Pichardo's 57-11.75 was also lost to a zephyr of 2.4!
His best legal mark measured 57-9!
Omar Craddock hit 57-0--legally--for 3rd!
Mutaz Barshim's season might be finished--due to injury!
But his absence allowed Russian Danil Lysenko to dominate the HJ--in Barshim-like fashion!!
After all others didn't make it past 2.30, Lysenko passed all the way to 2.40 (7-10.50), and cleared it!!
This ties the Meet Record, and ties the National Record of Russia!!
He moves from 17th A-T World, tied with 10 (!!) others, to 7th, where he's tied with "just" 6 others!!
Remember SMU's 400 time of 48.97 reported above?
Well, the Men's 800 pacer hit the bell at--48.97!!
From there, Nijel Amos took control, ending in 1:42.14 (53.2 2nd lap!), breaking his own Monaco Meet Record!!
Brandon McBride emerged from the masses, his 1:43.20 being Canada's new National Record!!
Saul Ordonez's 1:43.65 in 3rd is Spain's new National Record!
Cornelius Tuwei ran 1:43.82 in 4th!
In 7th came Joseph Deng's 1:44.21!
This is Australia's new National Record!!
If there really WAS a "weak link" here, it was the Women's 100H!
Tell that to Queen Harrison (a good name, as Prince William was present!), who won easily in 12.64.
Dawn Harper-Nelson took 2nd in 12.90.
Then came THE BEAST!!!
She is a beautiful African who calls herself Beatrice Chepkoech!!
(She's the infamous one who "missed" the 1st water jump in London's WC Steeple of 2017!)
Here, she simply ran an Almaz Ayana simulation--a World-Smashing Record time of 8:44.32!!
As with Ayana's 10000 WR in Rio, Chepkoech appeared as blithely strong, yet fiercely fast, as Ayana!
At the tape, her time was as unbelievable!
(The sewers of rumor opened up at Let's Run as soon as she crossed the line!!)
But unlike Ayana's run, this was not a negative split!
She took the lead at 1000, at about 2:56.
At 2000, a 2:53+ kept her just under 5:50!
Could she keep this up??
She was now almost a whole straight ahead of a speedy following group--led by the US duo of Emma Coburn and Courtney Frerichs!!
A final kilometer of 2:54.51 brought Chepkoech the World Record, the Meet Record, the National Record of Kenya, and the Age 27 Record!!
She moves from 4th A-T World to the Top!
On my World Combined Events list for the 3000 and 3000SC, her times of 8:28.66 and 8:44.32 adds to 17:12.98.
She remains 1st!!
And it was Frerichs who claimed the American Record from Coburn!!
Her 9:00.85 moves her from 2nd to 1st on the US list, and from 8th A-T World to 6th!!
On my US C-E list, her times of 8:53.99 and 9:00.85 adds to 17:54.84.
She remains 3rd.
She's 13th on the same World list!
(Ruth Jebet's former WR might be in jeopardy from other than another athlete's faster time, as she remains accused of EPO use--adjudication forthcoming!!)
Hyvin Jepkemoi's 9:04.41 took the Bronze, while Coburn followed in a still-solid time of 9:05.06!
Apres moi le deluge!!
The next EIGHT Place Records were all sent on their merry way!!
They included--
Norah Tanui's 9:07.20 took the best 5th Place mark
Peruth Chemutai's 9:07.94 is the best 6th Place mark
It also makes her 16th A-T World!
And she gets the National Record of Uganda!!
Rosaline Chepngetich timed 9:08.23 for the best 7th Place mark
She is 17th A-T World!!
Daisy Jepkemei's 9:10.71 gives her the best 8th Place mark, and makes her 20th A-T World!!
Winfred Yavi finished in 9:10.74 for the best 9th Place mark!
She moves from 23rd A-T World to 21st!!
Celiphine Chespol--the World Junior Champion (See previous post!) takes the best 10th Place position with her 9:12.05!
Karoline Grovdal's 9:18.36 is the best 11th Place mark!
And Colleen Quigley's 9:20.99 becomes the best 12th Place mark!
(My Place Records for the 3000SC only goes through 12th Place!)
What MORE could this already-CLASSIC meet bring forth??
In another of those "weak" events (HA!!), Marie Josee Ta Lou's 10.89 was dominant in the 100 over the likes of Murielle Ahoure (11.01), and Elaine Thompson (11.02)!!
The Men's 1500 was supposed to be rabbited at 2:17 past the 1000 mark--WR pace!!
But they were a bit slower at 800 than preferred, and while their 1K time is unknown, it was slower than asked!
Nonetheless, Tim Cheruiyot powered to the line in 3:28.41, clear of an impressive field of wannabe's!!
He gets the Age 22 Record!
And he moves from 15th A-T World to 7th!!
Ellijah Manangoi took 2nd in 3:29.64!
Next came two-thirds of the Family Ingebrigtsen!!
(Or are there more??)
The Middle Child--Filip--smashed the National Record of Norway with his 3:30.01.
The old Record was held by the Eldest--Henrik!!
They'd better keep apace, as the youngest--Jakob--also DESTROYED a Record--the Age 17 Record--with his 3:31.18!!
(If you thought the Belgian Borlee's were speedy in the 400, think what a 4X1500 or 4 X Mile team the Ingebrigtsen Three could produce--by adding their GRANDPA as 4th leg!!)
Right behind Jakob came Ayanleh Souleiman's 3:31.19!!
In 6th was Brahim Kaazouzi's 3:31.62.
Matthew Centrowitz, whose 3:30.40 PR holds the best 10th Place record, ran 3:31.77--the US Leader for 2018!
In 10th was Jakub Holusa, whose 3:32.49 breaks his own National Record of the Czech Republic!!
Sergey Shubenkov gave the crowd a little rest from all the emotional highs that came before!
Yet his 13.07 over 110H beat a class field, where Orlando Ortega's 13.18 came 2nd!!
Oh, what to do about the Women's 800!
Caster Semenya continues running times not seen in all-Women's races since the infamous drug-filled days of the 1980's!!
But she does this NOT with drugs, but with an "over-abundance" of male hormones--at least as considered so by most "experts"!
Similar levels are suspected in Margaret Wambui and Francine Niyonsaba--though Semenya's is the most-egrigious case!!
New rulings are expected (HOPED for???) by the IAAF---soon!
Until then---this blog has chosen to NOT allow any Marks or Records produced by this trio in my reports--or my Record Book!!
If my wishes come true, we might see the biggest overhaul of Medals, Records, and List placements in this sports long history!!
And the WOMEN's 800 can again become one of the best WOMEN's events!!
However---
since CS and FN took "1st & 2nd" in Monaco, I will (as usual) state that Gold went to Natoya Goule!!
Her 1:56.15 broke her own National Record of Jamaica!
And leaves her just 0.19 seconds short of my World DDD!!
Ajee Wilson came next--in 1:56.45.
Habitam Alemu's 1:56.71 breaks her own National Record of Ethiopia!!
Then came Raevyn Rogers, who ran a PR by 0.88 seconds!!
Her 1:57.69 moves her from 23rd A-T US all the way into 9th!!
She was followed by Charlene Lipsey's 1:58.42--not a PR!
Noah Lyles seems to have hit a plateau!!
A pair of 200's in 19.69--and now one 0.04 seconds faster!
(As they say, once you hit a plateau, next comes a BIG advancement!!)
Lyles's 19.65 takes the Meet Record away from Justin Gatlin!!
He moves from 7th A-T US to 6th, tied with 1 other!
On the World list, he moves from 10th A-T, tied with 1 other, to 8th, tied with 1 other!
And on my US Combined Events list for the 100 & 200, his times of 9.88 & 19.65 adds to 29.53!
He remains 5th A-T!!
Ramil Guliyev's 19.99 took the Silver, with Alex Quinonez timed in 20.03 in 3rd!
And then we come to the Men's 3000SC---where a WR was mentioned in passing--but also the possible first sub-8:00 time by an American!!
And through the first 1000--passed in about 2:37--we saw Consesius Kipruto and Evan Jager in the first two positions!
But when the 2K time was reported--5:20 & change!--we KNEW the WR bets were off--and even Jager's LATEST attempt to crash through that 8:00 barrier??
And then came the real shocker!
It was Soufiane El Bakkali who crossed the line first--and was the ONLY one to go sub-8!!
His 7:58.15 makes him 10th A-T World!!
As for Jager and Kipruto, they didn't run BAD!!
They just fell short of their hoped-for marks!!
Jager ended 2nd in a frustrating 8:01.02!!
(Let's Run's Forum questioned whether he'll EVER get a sub-8!!)
Kipruto faded somewhere along the way, but still came 3rd--in 8:09.78!
And Thus Spake The BEAST of Herculis!!
Next up will be my report from London's DL---and the Heusden-Zolder meet--where Shalane Flanagan is set to be the RABBIT for an American Record attempt by Shelby Houlihan!!
See you soon!!
From the Men's & Women's SP's (actually held nearer to Nice!) to the string of DL and other events held inside the stadium, there seemed a relentless unending path of destruction to Records of all kinds, and to clear recognition of the way All-Time Lists appeared just the day before!
Dare I say this was one of the finest & deepest Invitational meets in the modern history of our sport!!
And so I'll begin with a pair of marks that happened NOT in Monaco--as these perhaps were the perfect Opening Act to what was to come!!
Nubla Soares TJ'ed 48-2.50 to take hold of the National Record of Brazil!
And Eliza McCartney soared over a PV bar of 16-2.50 to break her own Age 21 and New Zealand National Records!
She moves from 4th A-T World to 3rd.
Jenn Suhr's 15-11.75 took 2nd in this German meet!!
And then there was Monaco!
Where Shot(s) Puts were literally fired to let the BEAST of Record-breaking mode loose upon the unwary masses!!
Lijaio Gong came near her World Leading mark, hitting 66-7.75 to dominate one of the best fields since Valerie Adams became pregnant!!
But Raven Saunders had one of her "UP" meets--meaning she was much closer to 65 feet than to 55!!
In fact, her 64-8.50 in 2nd was 2018's US Leader!
Christina Schwanitz took the Bronze with 64-0.25!
And Val?
She moved much closer to her "normal" self, hitting her best mark of 2018--63-4.25!!
The Men didn't produce any "beastly" marks, but their DEPTH was incredible!
Ryan Crouser's 72-4.25 showed he's returning to the form other Putters feared!
Darrell Hill's 71-3.25 sailed past Darlan Romani's 71-2.50 for 2nd!
In 4th came Michal Haratyk's 70-10!
Then came the hoards that set new Place Records for the next 3 spots!!
Tom Walsh's 70-6.25 is the best 5th Place mark!
David Storl's 70-3 is the best 6th Place ever--and marks the 1st time half a dozen Men went past the 70 foot barrier in one meet!!
Tomas Stanek's 69-8.25 took care of the 7th Place Record!!
What would the Morrow bring??
Well, speaking of "depth", no other Women's Pole Vault in all of its limited history ever produced such a slate of marks!!
NOTE: I know I go completely against the "rules" of Places in Vertical Jumps, but my T&F Record Book likes to keep its pages clear of confusion!
To that end, when there are ties for Places in the HJ or PV, I tend to divide up the goods anyway, thus "breaking" those official ties--but only for the reason of not having to use asterisks or lengthy explanations as to why a lower Place's mark is better than one found in a higher Place!!
I COULD do that!
I could go into a diatribe about why a 4th Place Record reads, say, 15-5.50--while the 5th Place mark is, say, 15-6.25!!
But I won't!
Thus, take the following list of Place Records as being NOT official--and used only for clarity in my Record Book and this Blog!!
All that said, this was a Women's PV that was as good as any ever was--yet could have been even better!!
At the end of this slaughter, there stood Anzhelika Sidorova's 15-11 atop the podium!
She tied her PR set in 2016!
Yarisley Silva and Ekaterina Stefanidi were given equal-2nd's, heights of 15-9.
Sandi Morris--who was needing all 3 tries for a couple of her heights--was officially 4th--also over 15-9!
This tied the best 4th Place mark!!
The next 4 Women all went over 15-7!
Katie Nageotte and Jenn Suhr were officially given a tie for 5th Place!
But for the sake of clarity (See above!), I've "given" 5th Place to Nageotte, and thus the best 5th Place mark!
Suhr gets the best "6th" Place mark!
For Nageotte, it's an OUTdoor PR!
She moves from 4th A-T US, tied with 1 other, to 4th, but with no ties!
On the World DDD, she becomes 22nd A-T, tied with 4 others!!
Eliza McCartney's (See above!) clearance of 15-7 gives her the best 7th Place mark!
Getting the best 8th Place mark is Ninon Guillon-Romarin's 15-7!
This also breaks her own National Record of France!
And makes her 22nd A-T World, tied with 4 others!!
I said earlier that this GREAT event might have been even better!
For some unknown reason, officials were VERY slow preparing for the next Vaulter, once the bar reached 4.75 (15-7)!
I've heard reports of athletes being angry and frustrated by these delays--perhaps throwing them a bit off-form at later heights!
These reports might be true--and if so, was probably the reason why none of these Women went over 16 feet!!
After a Men's 1000 race (Solomon Lekuta's 2:17.42 beat George Manangoi's 2:18.07) came the Women's 400 Showdown between Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Salwa Naser!!
Talk about Fights to the Death!!
Naser used her now-common tactic of a "slow" start connected to a fluid yet powerful conclusion!
SMU powered her way forth from the gun!
At the top of the final straight, it was close, with the Bahaman a short meter ahead of the Bahrainian!
Neither would surrender!
For every step the long-legged SMU took, the spritely Naser kept pace!
One was clearly "working", while the other glided smoothly across thin ice!
At its end, Miller-Uibo's 48.97 was the fastest 400 since 2009!!
It's the Monaco Meet Record, and the National Record of the Bahamas!
It makes her 10th A-T World!
For Naser, her latest PR timed 49.08, and broke her own National Record of Bahrain!
She is 13th A-T World!
The rest of the field--including some of the best Americans--were FAR back (Shakima Wimbley's 50.85 took 3rd!).
(I'm reporting these events in their order on the schedule--as to choose one over the other as Supreme would dare to disclaim the value of what was to follow!)
The Men's TJ was beset by mild winds, but breezy enough to take inches off the top 2 marks!!
Christian Taylor hit 58-7.25, but a wind of 2.1 made a potential MR disappear!
His best legal mark was 57-11.25!
Pablo Pichardo's 57-11.75 was also lost to a zephyr of 2.4!
His best legal mark measured 57-9!
Omar Craddock hit 57-0--legally--for 3rd!
Mutaz Barshim's season might be finished--due to injury!
But his absence allowed Russian Danil Lysenko to dominate the HJ--in Barshim-like fashion!!
After all others didn't make it past 2.30, Lysenko passed all the way to 2.40 (7-10.50), and cleared it!!
This ties the Meet Record, and ties the National Record of Russia!!
He moves from 17th A-T World, tied with 10 (!!) others, to 7th, where he's tied with "just" 6 others!!
Remember SMU's 400 time of 48.97 reported above?
Well, the Men's 800 pacer hit the bell at--48.97!!
From there, Nijel Amos took control, ending in 1:42.14 (53.2 2nd lap!), breaking his own Monaco Meet Record!!
Brandon McBride emerged from the masses, his 1:43.20 being Canada's new National Record!!
Saul Ordonez's 1:43.65 in 3rd is Spain's new National Record!
Cornelius Tuwei ran 1:43.82 in 4th!
In 7th came Joseph Deng's 1:44.21!
This is Australia's new National Record!!
If there really WAS a "weak link" here, it was the Women's 100H!
Tell that to Queen Harrison (a good name, as Prince William was present!), who won easily in 12.64.
Dawn Harper-Nelson took 2nd in 12.90.
Then came THE BEAST!!!
She is a beautiful African who calls herself Beatrice Chepkoech!!
(She's the infamous one who "missed" the 1st water jump in London's WC Steeple of 2017!)
Here, she simply ran an Almaz Ayana simulation--a World-Smashing Record time of 8:44.32!!
As with Ayana's 10000 WR in Rio, Chepkoech appeared as blithely strong, yet fiercely fast, as Ayana!
At the tape, her time was as unbelievable!
(The sewers of rumor opened up at Let's Run as soon as she crossed the line!!)
But unlike Ayana's run, this was not a negative split!
She took the lead at 1000, at about 2:56.
At 2000, a 2:53+ kept her just under 5:50!
Could she keep this up??
She was now almost a whole straight ahead of a speedy following group--led by the US duo of Emma Coburn and Courtney Frerichs!!
A final kilometer of 2:54.51 brought Chepkoech the World Record, the Meet Record, the National Record of Kenya, and the Age 27 Record!!
She moves from 4th A-T World to the Top!
On my World Combined Events list for the 3000 and 3000SC, her times of 8:28.66 and 8:44.32 adds to 17:12.98.
She remains 1st!!
And it was Frerichs who claimed the American Record from Coburn!!
Her 9:00.85 moves her from 2nd to 1st on the US list, and from 8th A-T World to 6th!!
On my US C-E list, her times of 8:53.99 and 9:00.85 adds to 17:54.84.
She remains 3rd.
She's 13th on the same World list!
(Ruth Jebet's former WR might be in jeopardy from other than another athlete's faster time, as she remains accused of EPO use--adjudication forthcoming!!)
Hyvin Jepkemoi's 9:04.41 took the Bronze, while Coburn followed in a still-solid time of 9:05.06!
Apres moi le deluge!!
The next EIGHT Place Records were all sent on their merry way!!
They included--
Norah Tanui's 9:07.20 took the best 5th Place mark
Peruth Chemutai's 9:07.94 is the best 6th Place mark
It also makes her 16th A-T World!
And she gets the National Record of Uganda!!
Rosaline Chepngetich timed 9:08.23 for the best 7th Place mark
She is 17th A-T World!!
Daisy Jepkemei's 9:10.71 gives her the best 8th Place mark, and makes her 20th A-T World!!
Winfred Yavi finished in 9:10.74 for the best 9th Place mark!
She moves from 23rd A-T World to 21st!!
Celiphine Chespol--the World Junior Champion (See previous post!) takes the best 10th Place position with her 9:12.05!
Karoline Grovdal's 9:18.36 is the best 11th Place mark!
And Colleen Quigley's 9:20.99 becomes the best 12th Place mark!
(My Place Records for the 3000SC only goes through 12th Place!)
What MORE could this already-CLASSIC meet bring forth??
In another of those "weak" events (HA!!), Marie Josee Ta Lou's 10.89 was dominant in the 100 over the likes of Murielle Ahoure (11.01), and Elaine Thompson (11.02)!!
The Men's 1500 was supposed to be rabbited at 2:17 past the 1000 mark--WR pace!!
But they were a bit slower at 800 than preferred, and while their 1K time is unknown, it was slower than asked!
Nonetheless, Tim Cheruiyot powered to the line in 3:28.41, clear of an impressive field of wannabe's!!
He gets the Age 22 Record!
And he moves from 15th A-T World to 7th!!
Ellijah Manangoi took 2nd in 3:29.64!
Next came two-thirds of the Family Ingebrigtsen!!
(Or are there more??)
The Middle Child--Filip--smashed the National Record of Norway with his 3:30.01.
The old Record was held by the Eldest--Henrik!!
They'd better keep apace, as the youngest--Jakob--also DESTROYED a Record--the Age 17 Record--with his 3:31.18!!
(If you thought the Belgian Borlee's were speedy in the 400, think what a 4X1500 or 4 X Mile team the Ingebrigtsen Three could produce--by adding their GRANDPA as 4th leg!!)
Right behind Jakob came Ayanleh Souleiman's 3:31.19!!
In 6th was Brahim Kaazouzi's 3:31.62.
Matthew Centrowitz, whose 3:30.40 PR holds the best 10th Place record, ran 3:31.77--the US Leader for 2018!
In 10th was Jakub Holusa, whose 3:32.49 breaks his own National Record of the Czech Republic!!
Sergey Shubenkov gave the crowd a little rest from all the emotional highs that came before!
Yet his 13.07 over 110H beat a class field, where Orlando Ortega's 13.18 came 2nd!!
Oh, what to do about the Women's 800!
Caster Semenya continues running times not seen in all-Women's races since the infamous drug-filled days of the 1980's!!
But she does this NOT with drugs, but with an "over-abundance" of male hormones--at least as considered so by most "experts"!
Similar levels are suspected in Margaret Wambui and Francine Niyonsaba--though Semenya's is the most-egrigious case!!
New rulings are expected (HOPED for???) by the IAAF---soon!
Until then---this blog has chosen to NOT allow any Marks or Records produced by this trio in my reports--or my Record Book!!
If my wishes come true, we might see the biggest overhaul of Medals, Records, and List placements in this sports long history!!
And the WOMEN's 800 can again become one of the best WOMEN's events!!
However---
since CS and FN took "1st & 2nd" in Monaco, I will (as usual) state that Gold went to Natoya Goule!!
Her 1:56.15 broke her own National Record of Jamaica!
And leaves her just 0.19 seconds short of my World DDD!!
Ajee Wilson came next--in 1:56.45.
Habitam Alemu's 1:56.71 breaks her own National Record of Ethiopia!!
Then came Raevyn Rogers, who ran a PR by 0.88 seconds!!
Her 1:57.69 moves her from 23rd A-T US all the way into 9th!!
She was followed by Charlene Lipsey's 1:58.42--not a PR!
Noah Lyles seems to have hit a plateau!!
A pair of 200's in 19.69--and now one 0.04 seconds faster!
(As they say, once you hit a plateau, next comes a BIG advancement!!)
Lyles's 19.65 takes the Meet Record away from Justin Gatlin!!
He moves from 7th A-T US to 6th, tied with 1 other!
On the World list, he moves from 10th A-T, tied with 1 other, to 8th, tied with 1 other!
And on my US Combined Events list for the 100 & 200, his times of 9.88 & 19.65 adds to 29.53!
He remains 5th A-T!!
Ramil Guliyev's 19.99 took the Silver, with Alex Quinonez timed in 20.03 in 3rd!
And then we come to the Men's 3000SC---where a WR was mentioned in passing--but also the possible first sub-8:00 time by an American!!
And through the first 1000--passed in about 2:37--we saw Consesius Kipruto and Evan Jager in the first two positions!
But when the 2K time was reported--5:20 & change!--we KNEW the WR bets were off--and even Jager's LATEST attempt to crash through that 8:00 barrier??
And then came the real shocker!
It was Soufiane El Bakkali who crossed the line first--and was the ONLY one to go sub-8!!
His 7:58.15 makes him 10th A-T World!!
As for Jager and Kipruto, they didn't run BAD!!
They just fell short of their hoped-for marks!!
Jager ended 2nd in a frustrating 8:01.02!!
(Let's Run's Forum questioned whether he'll EVER get a sub-8!!)
Kipruto faded somewhere along the way, but still came 3rd--in 8:09.78!
And Thus Spake The BEAST of Herculis!!
Next up will be my report from London's DL---and the Heusden-Zolder meet--where Shalane Flanagan is set to be the RABBIT for an American Record attempt by Shelby Houlihan!!
See you soon!!
Monday, July 16, 2018
Rabat's 5000 leads strong week
Already covered, of course, were the 6 days of the World Junior Championships!
In a field "featuring" Genzebe Dibaba, it was 5 other Women who broke all the Records, and rose high on the A-T list!!
Helen Obiri led the way, winning in 14:21.75, with a last 400 in about 62 seconds!
She got the Age 28 Record!
Next came Sifan Hassan in 14:22.34, cutting her PR by almost 20 seconds!!
She gets the Age 25 Record.
She also breaks her own National Record of the Netherlands!
This makes her 7th A-T World!
On my World Combined Events list for the 1500 & 5000, her times of 3:56.05 and 14:22.34 adds to 18:18.39, making her 4th A-T!!
Getesenbet Gidey's 14:23.14 nabs the best 3rd Place mark, as well as the Age 20 Record!!
She moves from 19th A-T World to 8th!
Senbere Teferi ended in 14:23.33, getting the best 4th Place mark!!
But this was a busy week outside of Tampere, Finland!
And one race--the Women's 5000--from the Rabat Diamond League--once and for all KILLED the idea of 2018 being an "off" year!!
In a field "featuring" Genzebe Dibaba, it was 5 other Women who broke all the Records, and rose high on the A-T list!!
Helen Obiri led the way, winning in 14:21.75, with a last 400 in about 62 seconds!
She got the Age 28 Record!
Next came Sifan Hassan in 14:22.34, cutting her PR by almost 20 seconds!!
She gets the Age 25 Record.
She also breaks her own National Record of the Netherlands!
This makes her 7th A-T World!
On my World Combined Events list for the 1500 & 5000, her times of 3:56.05 and 14:22.34 adds to 18:18.39, making her 4th A-T!!
Getesenbet Gidey's 14:23.14 nabs the best 3rd Place mark, as well as the Age 20 Record!!
She moves from 19th A-T World to 8th!
Senbere Teferi ended in 14:23.33, getting the best 4th Place mark!!
On my World C-E list for the 1500 & 5000, her times of 4:01.86 and 14:23.33 adds to 18:25.19!
This rates her 8th A-T!!
On my World DDD list, she moves from 19th A-T to 9th!
Agnes Tirop gets the best 5th Place mark with her time of 14:24.24.
She also gets the Age 22 Record!
It makes her 11th A-T World!!
Dibaba ended 6th in 14:42.98--a full 26 seconds off her Meet Record!!
In 10th came Molly Huddle, time of 15:21.24!
Knocked OFF my World DDD was Gabriela Szabo, her 14:31 time dating from 1998!!
Several other Rabat events were HOT!!
One which was NOT--but was shocking nonetheless!!--was the Women's HJ!!
It saw Mariya Lasitskene's 45 meet Winning streak comes to its end!!
In fact, the Russian's 6-2.75 mark got her no better than 3rd!!
Winning was Mirela Demireva's 6-4.25, with Yuliya Levchenko matching that height in 2nd!
Another "icon" losing was Val Adams in the SP!!
But, still on the comeback trail after giving birth last year, her 62-1.75 was actually her best mark of her return!
She ended 3rd also, with Christina Schwanitz winning with 63-7.75!
There were Meet Records galore, with some of the events being held for the 1st time here!
Akeem Bloomfield's 44.33 got the 400 MR!
Shaunae Miller-Uibo was sharp, her 22.29 beating Dina Asher-Smith's 22.40, and nabbing the 200 MR!
Brianna McNeal sped over the 100H in 12.51, getting yet another MR!
She beat the 12.58 run by Sharika Nelvis!
Tying the MR, Christian Coleman returned to action after his injury problem, as he took a CLOSE 100 in 9.98.
While given 2nd, Ronnie Baker also tied the 9.98 MR!
Noah Lyles was gaining fast---and might have won if the race had been 110 meters!--and took 3rd with his 9.99.
Mike Rodgers was 4th in 10.01!!
While a certain South African ran 2:31.01 up front, my declared Winner of the Women's 1000 was Ce'Aira Brown, whose 2:35.85 makes her 6th A-T US!!
Right behind her came Kaela Edwards, whose 2:36.13 makes her 7th A-T US!!
Winnie Nanyondo's 2:36.13 (Yes, same time as Edwards!) took 3rd, and gave her the National Record of Uganda!
Cut OFF my US list was the most venerable Francie Larrieu, her 2:38.2 dating from 1976!!
Yomif Kejelcha took a rapid 3000 in 7:32.93, getting the Rabat MR!
Birhanu Balew's 7:34.26 took 2nd, followed by Australia's Stewart McSweyn in 7:34.79, and the US's Paul Chelimo, in a non-PR time of 7:34.83!
Sam Kendricks rose to the occasion--as they say!!--winning the PV at 19-2.75 for another MR!
Magnus Kirt's JT of 294-5 closed the Meet Record doors!!
It also breaks his own National Record of Estonia!
And makes him 19th A-T World!!
Second was Andreas Hofmann's 290-7!
Other good Rabat marks---
Caterine Ibarguen's 49-1 TJ Winner also nabbed her the Age 34 Record!!
Ben Kigen took the 3000SC in the PR time of 8:06.19.
Chala Beyo's 8:07.27 took 2nd, with Hillary Bor taking 4th in 8:12.20.
Don't know what happened, but Consesius Kipruto ended just 12th (!!), time of 8:27.36!
Did he fall?
Brahim Kaazouzi won the 1500 in 3:33.22.
Filip Ingebrigtsen took 2nd in 3:33.40, with Ayanleh Souleiman's 3:33.42 just behind!
Matthew Centrowitz could finish only 10th, but his 3:35.17 was the US's fastest of 2018!
Finally (for Rabat!!), a person with the initials of FN ended up front in 1:57.90, but my declared Winner of the Women's 800 was Natoya Goule, time of 1:58.33!
This past week also gave us the IAAF's "new" conceptual meet--the Athletics World Cup--held in London over the weekend!
Let's look at the results first!
Anita Wlodarczyk got her best mark of the year, her HT measuring 258-4!!
Having a WAY sub-par meet was DeAnna Price, whose measly 212-8 placed her 6th!
(This meet allowed each of the 8 nations 1 competitor per event!)
The Women's TJ saw a SQUEAKER!!
Nipping Keturah Orji's 47-10.75 by ONE centimeter was Shericka Ricketts, her 47-11.25 the Winning mark!
Lijiao Gong's SP of 65-3.50 is the 2018 World Leader!
Luvo Manyonga had a consistent LJ series (4 rounds!), with his 27-11 taking the W!
Zack Bazile's best measured 27-2.75!
Vashti Cunningham beat Laura Lake in the HJ, her W height being 6-5!
The Relays produced some decent marks--and at least two casualties!!
The most RARE was the removal of Great Britain from the Men's 4 X 400 when one of their legs injured himself during his warm-up--and no emergency replacement could be found!!
The lead-off runner was informed of this as he was preparing to get down in his blocks!!
Anyway, the winner was the United States, and their time of 2:59.78 beat Poland (3:02.80) by quite a margin!
The Women's 4 X 100 saw the US end its run with Mikiah Brisco's injury!
She was taken away in a wheelchair!!
Great Britain won the race in 42.52, with Jamaica 2nd in 42.60!
The US Women also took the longer Relay, their 3:24.28 JUST edging Jamaica's 3:24.29!!
France was 3rd in 3:25.91, followed by Poland's 3:26.17, and GB's 3:26.48!!
The American Men took their sprint Relay, timed in 38.42.
Jamaica's 38.52 beat South Africa's 38.53 for 2nd!
Other good Worl Cup marks---
Holly Bradshaw took a good Women's PV with her 15-7 topper!
Katie Nageotte and Ninon Guillon-Romarin cleared 15-4.25, with Nageotte given 2nd!
Ashley Henderson's 11.07 beat Elaine Thompson's 11.09 in the 100!
Pascal Martinot-Legarde's 13.22 took the 110H!
Clay Murphy took the 800 in 1:46.52 over Adam Kszczot's 1:46.98!
Running INTO a wind of 1.1, Zhanye Xie's 20.25 won the 200!
Stephanie McPherson took the 400 in 50.98!
Raevyn Rogers easily nabbed the 800, time of 2:00.20!
Paul Dedewo's 44.48 PR won the 400!
Michal Haratyk won the SP with his 72-0.25!
Jeron Robinson won the HJ with 7-6.50!
Lorraine Ugen easily won the LJ with her 22-6.25!
And Sofia Ennaoui (sp ??) took the 1500 in 4:07.56 from the US's Rachel Schneider, timed in 4:08.04!
Best thing from this affair??
We got to watch 4 hours of it--for FREE!
(Well, free if you'd already paid your Xfinity bill of $50!! LOL)
I have several "old" marks to report--"old" meaning possibly a week ago!!
Curtis Jensen PR'ed in the SP with his 70-11.75!!
David Storl threw the SP 70-11.25, but not in the same meet!
Christina Schwanitz's SP reached 64-10.75!
In the Luzern meet, Brianna McNeal sped the 100H in 12.44, wind of 0.9!
Janieve Russell's 53.63 beat Delilah Muhammed's 53.79 in the 400H!
Alonzo Edward took the 200 in 19.90, wind of 0.4!
Akeem Bloomfield's 20.00 in 2nd was a PR!
And there was a TIE in the Women's PV, as Angelika Bengtsson and Jenn Suhr both cleared 15-5--with no jump-off!!
You've heard of Hannah Cunliffe, the former UO sprinter and Queen of the Selfies??
Well, she has a sister (More than 1, as her sibling count is 8!!), name of Chloe!
And Chloe Cunliffe became the 13th HS'er to clear 14 feet or higher OUTdoors!!
Her mark makes her 7th A-T HS, tied with 6 others!!
Speaking of the PV, we have Ninon Guillon-Romarin's (See above!) 15-6.25 nabbing her the National Record of France!!
Another National Record fell in the 100, as Mujinga Kambundji's GREAT 2018 season continues!!
Her time of 10.95 breaks her own NR of Switzerland!!
AGAIN!!
From the Lausanne DL---
I missed reporting that Eric Jenkins's 3000 time of 7:38.19 makes him 18th A-T US!!
From the Flanders Cup (NOT to be confused with the above-detailed World Cup!!) comes a couple of significant marks!
Karissa Schweizer--recent College graduate and Newbie Pro--slashed her 1500 PR by about 4 seconds, her 4:06.77 beating Vanessa Fraser (Same labels as those given to Schweizer above!), who ran 4:09.74!
And while Lonah Chemutai's 15:17.81 won the Women's 5000, the 2nd placer gained the headlines--as Konstanze Klosterhalfen returned from injury with a solid "rust-buster" of 15:19,93!!
(Deep breath! A sigh!)
Alas, another coming-back-from-injury rust-buster did NOT go well!!
As reported in my previous post, Mary Cain--out of track action for TWO YEARS!!--made her return in the Cork (Ireland) meet, a popular waystation for American distance runners!
BUT---
when I saw her (You Tube livestream!) walking around the start line before the race--and saw the other 15 or so entrants--
I KNEW Cain's return would end abysmally!!
She was CLEARLY not in shape--what we called "lean & mean" back in my racing days--or "toned", as they call it in the Spa industry!!
Facing a class field--albeit what some would call "2nd tier elite"--Cain went to the back of the large pack right at the gun!
And never moved up!
In fact, she was a DNF--somewhere around or after 2000, as the camera focused solely on the lead pack!!
And that group produced a slate of PR's worth mentioning!!
New Zealand's Camille Buscomb cut about 20 seconds (!!) off her PR, winning in 8:45.97!!
(This puts her 3rd A-T NZ!!)
Recent College graduate Eleanor Purrier improved her best time (run INdoors in 2017!) by 9 seconds, her 8:46.43 beating the Jessica O'Connell PR of 8:46.97!
BTW, Purrier's time, if run at or prior to the NCAA's, would have broken the Collegiate Record of Vicki Huber from 1988!!
(I'd seen that race in person!!)
Next came Emily Sisson--who led part of the way--in 8:49.61.
GenGen LaCaze also PR'ed in 5th, time of 8:50.02!1
Cain didn't have a chance!!!
That meet also gave up a few sub-4's, with Sam Prakel's 3:56.11 the Winner!!
Cain is scheduled to run another 3000 on July 28th!
But after that DISASTER, we'll have to wait and see if she even shows up!!
Sad.
See you soon!!
Several other Rabat events were HOT!!
One which was NOT--but was shocking nonetheless!!--was the Women's HJ!!
It saw Mariya Lasitskene's 45 meet Winning streak comes to its end!!
In fact, the Russian's 6-2.75 mark got her no better than 3rd!!
Winning was Mirela Demireva's 6-4.25, with Yuliya Levchenko matching that height in 2nd!
Another "icon" losing was Val Adams in the SP!!
But, still on the comeback trail after giving birth last year, her 62-1.75 was actually her best mark of her return!
She ended 3rd also, with Christina Schwanitz winning with 63-7.75!
There were Meet Records galore, with some of the events being held for the 1st time here!
Akeem Bloomfield's 44.33 got the 400 MR!
Shaunae Miller-Uibo was sharp, her 22.29 beating Dina Asher-Smith's 22.40, and nabbing the 200 MR!
Brianna McNeal sped over the 100H in 12.51, getting yet another MR!
She beat the 12.58 run by Sharika Nelvis!
Tying the MR, Christian Coleman returned to action after his injury problem, as he took a CLOSE 100 in 9.98.
While given 2nd, Ronnie Baker also tied the 9.98 MR!
Noah Lyles was gaining fast---and might have won if the race had been 110 meters!--and took 3rd with his 9.99.
Mike Rodgers was 4th in 10.01!!
While a certain South African ran 2:31.01 up front, my declared Winner of the Women's 1000 was Ce'Aira Brown, whose 2:35.85 makes her 6th A-T US!!
Right behind her came Kaela Edwards, whose 2:36.13 makes her 7th A-T US!!
Winnie Nanyondo's 2:36.13 (Yes, same time as Edwards!) took 3rd, and gave her the National Record of Uganda!
Cut OFF my US list was the most venerable Francie Larrieu, her 2:38.2 dating from 1976!!
Yomif Kejelcha took a rapid 3000 in 7:32.93, getting the Rabat MR!
Birhanu Balew's 7:34.26 took 2nd, followed by Australia's Stewart McSweyn in 7:34.79, and the US's Paul Chelimo, in a non-PR time of 7:34.83!
Sam Kendricks rose to the occasion--as they say!!--winning the PV at 19-2.75 for another MR!
Magnus Kirt's JT of 294-5 closed the Meet Record doors!!
It also breaks his own National Record of Estonia!
And makes him 19th A-T World!!
Second was Andreas Hofmann's 290-7!
Other good Rabat marks---
Caterine Ibarguen's 49-1 TJ Winner also nabbed her the Age 34 Record!!
Ben Kigen took the 3000SC in the PR time of 8:06.19.
Chala Beyo's 8:07.27 took 2nd, with Hillary Bor taking 4th in 8:12.20.
Don't know what happened, but Consesius Kipruto ended just 12th (!!), time of 8:27.36!
Did he fall?
Brahim Kaazouzi won the 1500 in 3:33.22.
Filip Ingebrigtsen took 2nd in 3:33.40, with Ayanleh Souleiman's 3:33.42 just behind!
Matthew Centrowitz could finish only 10th, but his 3:35.17 was the US's fastest of 2018!
Finally (for Rabat!!), a person with the initials of FN ended up front in 1:57.90, but my declared Winner of the Women's 800 was Natoya Goule, time of 1:58.33!
This past week also gave us the IAAF's "new" conceptual meet--the Athletics World Cup--held in London over the weekend!
Let's look at the results first!
Anita Wlodarczyk got her best mark of the year, her HT measuring 258-4!!
Having a WAY sub-par meet was DeAnna Price, whose measly 212-8 placed her 6th!
(This meet allowed each of the 8 nations 1 competitor per event!)
The Women's TJ saw a SQUEAKER!!
Nipping Keturah Orji's 47-10.75 by ONE centimeter was Shericka Ricketts, her 47-11.25 the Winning mark!
Lijiao Gong's SP of 65-3.50 is the 2018 World Leader!
Luvo Manyonga had a consistent LJ series (4 rounds!), with his 27-11 taking the W!
Zack Bazile's best measured 27-2.75!
Vashti Cunningham beat Laura Lake in the HJ, her W height being 6-5!
The Relays produced some decent marks--and at least two casualties!!
The most RARE was the removal of Great Britain from the Men's 4 X 400 when one of their legs injured himself during his warm-up--and no emergency replacement could be found!!
The lead-off runner was informed of this as he was preparing to get down in his blocks!!
Anyway, the winner was the United States, and their time of 2:59.78 beat Poland (3:02.80) by quite a margin!
The Women's 4 X 100 saw the US end its run with Mikiah Brisco's injury!
She was taken away in a wheelchair!!
Great Britain won the race in 42.52, with Jamaica 2nd in 42.60!
The US Women also took the longer Relay, their 3:24.28 JUST edging Jamaica's 3:24.29!!
France was 3rd in 3:25.91, followed by Poland's 3:26.17, and GB's 3:26.48!!
The American Men took their sprint Relay, timed in 38.42.
Jamaica's 38.52 beat South Africa's 38.53 for 2nd!
Other good Worl Cup marks---
Holly Bradshaw took a good Women's PV with her 15-7 topper!
Katie Nageotte and Ninon Guillon-Romarin cleared 15-4.25, with Nageotte given 2nd!
Ashley Henderson's 11.07 beat Elaine Thompson's 11.09 in the 100!
Pascal Martinot-Legarde's 13.22 took the 110H!
Clay Murphy took the 800 in 1:46.52 over Adam Kszczot's 1:46.98!
Running INTO a wind of 1.1, Zhanye Xie's 20.25 won the 200!
Stephanie McPherson took the 400 in 50.98!
Raevyn Rogers easily nabbed the 800, time of 2:00.20!
Paul Dedewo's 44.48 PR won the 400!
Michal Haratyk won the SP with his 72-0.25!
Jeron Robinson won the HJ with 7-6.50!
Lorraine Ugen easily won the LJ with her 22-6.25!
And Sofia Ennaoui (sp ??) took the 1500 in 4:07.56 from the US's Rachel Schneider, timed in 4:08.04!
Best thing from this affair??
We got to watch 4 hours of it--for FREE!
(Well, free if you'd already paid your Xfinity bill of $50!! LOL)
I have several "old" marks to report--"old" meaning possibly a week ago!!
Curtis Jensen PR'ed in the SP with his 70-11.75!!
David Storl threw the SP 70-11.25, but not in the same meet!
Christina Schwanitz's SP reached 64-10.75!
In the Luzern meet, Brianna McNeal sped the 100H in 12.44, wind of 0.9!
Janieve Russell's 53.63 beat Delilah Muhammed's 53.79 in the 400H!
Alonzo Edward took the 200 in 19.90, wind of 0.4!
Akeem Bloomfield's 20.00 in 2nd was a PR!
And there was a TIE in the Women's PV, as Angelika Bengtsson and Jenn Suhr both cleared 15-5--with no jump-off!!
You've heard of Hannah Cunliffe, the former UO sprinter and Queen of the Selfies??
Well, she has a sister (More than 1, as her sibling count is 8!!), name of Chloe!
And Chloe Cunliffe became the 13th HS'er to clear 14 feet or higher OUTdoors!!
Her mark makes her 7th A-T HS, tied with 6 others!!
Speaking of the PV, we have Ninon Guillon-Romarin's (See above!) 15-6.25 nabbing her the National Record of France!!
Another National Record fell in the 100, as Mujinga Kambundji's GREAT 2018 season continues!!
Her time of 10.95 breaks her own NR of Switzerland!!
AGAIN!!
From the Lausanne DL---
I missed reporting that Eric Jenkins's 3000 time of 7:38.19 makes him 18th A-T US!!
From the Flanders Cup (NOT to be confused with the above-detailed World Cup!!) comes a couple of significant marks!
Karissa Schweizer--recent College graduate and Newbie Pro--slashed her 1500 PR by about 4 seconds, her 4:06.77 beating Vanessa Fraser (Same labels as those given to Schweizer above!), who ran 4:09.74!
And while Lonah Chemutai's 15:17.81 won the Women's 5000, the 2nd placer gained the headlines--as Konstanze Klosterhalfen returned from injury with a solid "rust-buster" of 15:19,93!!
(Deep breath! A sigh!)
Alas, another coming-back-from-injury rust-buster did NOT go well!!
As reported in my previous post, Mary Cain--out of track action for TWO YEARS!!--made her return in the Cork (Ireland) meet, a popular waystation for American distance runners!
BUT---
when I saw her (You Tube livestream!) walking around the start line before the race--and saw the other 15 or so entrants--
I KNEW Cain's return would end abysmally!!
She was CLEARLY not in shape--what we called "lean & mean" back in my racing days--or "toned", as they call it in the Spa industry!!
Facing a class field--albeit what some would call "2nd tier elite"--Cain went to the back of the large pack right at the gun!
And never moved up!
In fact, she was a DNF--somewhere around or after 2000, as the camera focused solely on the lead pack!!
And that group produced a slate of PR's worth mentioning!!
New Zealand's Camille Buscomb cut about 20 seconds (!!) off her PR, winning in 8:45.97!!
(This puts her 3rd A-T NZ!!)
Recent College graduate Eleanor Purrier improved her best time (run INdoors in 2017!) by 9 seconds, her 8:46.43 beating the Jessica O'Connell PR of 8:46.97!
BTW, Purrier's time, if run at or prior to the NCAA's, would have broken the Collegiate Record of Vicki Huber from 1988!!
(I'd seen that race in person!!)
Next came Emily Sisson--who led part of the way--in 8:49.61.
GenGen LaCaze also PR'ed in 5th, time of 8:50.02!1
Cain didn't have a chance!!!
That meet also gave up a few sub-4's, with Sam Prakel's 3:56.11 the Winner!!
Cain is scheduled to run another 3000 on July 28th!
But after that DISASTER, we'll have to wait and see if she even shows up!!
Sad.
See you soon!!
Sunday, July 15, 2018
World Jrs--6 Days with the Kids
And as with ANY 6 day period of being cooped up with "the kids", you're either seen drowning yourself in booze & pills, bragging to everyone in sight about YOUR children, or in the lingo of Social Media, just SMH!!
The Tampere, Finland edition of the World Junior Championships--known to some as the U20's--produced just such a mind-bending assortment of reactions!
A few athletes--not always from OUR country!--produced some astounding marks!
Some performed as we expected--or close to it!
But it seems far too many ran, jumped, or threw so poorly, we have to question their preparation, their coaches advice & skills, and their own motivation & desire---or lack thereof!!
Well, this is supposed to be a RESULTS post about this 6-day meet, and that it shall be!
The most shocking?
That the Men's 10000 produced a Meet Record---and a last 5000 ALMOST as fast as the winner of the 5K!!
When they hit 5K in 13:57, I did NOT see a MR happening!
They'd need to run that final 5K in 13:28 or faster!
Except that's just what Rhonex Kipruto did!
His finishing 5000 of 13:24 set the WJC Meet Record at 27:21.08, and beat Jacob Kiplimo's 27:40.36 with abandon!
Sticking with Meet Records, another was set by Ashley Maloney in the Decathlon!
His 8190 points included a 46.86 in the 400, which ended his 1st day at 4319 points!
It happened in the Semi's, but Twanesha Terry's 11.03 nipped the old 100 MR by 0.04 seconds!
(More on the 100 later!)
A strong finish, and a fairly even pace, brought Ethiopia's Diribe Welteji in under 2 minutes in the 800!
Her MR time was 1:59.74--with splits of 58.98 and 60.76!
Running good in 2nd was Canada's Carley Thomas, time of 2:01.13!
But expected medalists from the US--Caitlin Collier and Sammy Watson--both failed to qualify, despite running the same times of 2:03.95 in their respective heat races!!
Another distance race produced another MR!
But if Celiphine Chespol had NOT beaten her own MR from 2016---THAT would have been shocking!!
She reached the 2K point of her 3000SC final in 6:15--after a 3:16 opening K!
Finishing with a K in 2:57---and 2K in 5:56!--gave her the new MR time of 9:12.78!
This easily disposed of Peruth Chemutai's 9:18.87!
Back in 7th came the US's Alice Hill, whose 7th place time of 9:57.04 was her second PR of the meet--her first being her heat of 10:09!!
Did anyone REALLY think Mondo Duplantis might lose--or NOT break the Meet Record??
Or that after taking the MR to 19-1, that he wouldn't make some attempts at the 6 meter bar??
(In a meet with children, he was literally taking candy from babies!! LOL)
BTW, he missed those 6.00 attempts, but finished far ahead of Zach Bradford's PR-tying 18-2.50!
Bradford remains 7th A-T HS, tied with 1 other!
Another with a nearly 100% guaranteed W (& MR) attached to his name was Cuba's Jordan Diaz in the TJ!
His qualifying mark of 56-1 just missed the MR, but his finals mark of 56-3.25 put his name on it!!
The last MR here brings us back to the sprints--namely the Women's 100!
While Twanisha Terry (See above!) got the MR, the W went to 16 year old US-based Jamaican Brianna Williams!!
Her 11.16 was enough to hold off Terry's 11.19!
But it was in the 200 where Williams made herself not just "a winner", but one of the A-T sprint Greats!!
She made the curve seem like a straight, then when she hit the actual straight, she EXPLODED!!
Her fluid form carried her small (Think Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce or Lauryn Williams!!) frame to the line in 22.50!!
This after ANOTHER Williams--Lauren Rain--had the fastest heat or semi time--22.98!!
And yes, Williams (Brianna, that is!) goes to HS in the States, but runs for Jamaica Internationally!!
So her time makes her 5th A-T HS!!
As for Lauren Rain, she took 2nd in a good--but FAR back!--23.09!
The 10000 Track Walks were solid, but not Record-breaking--at least not up front!!
The Men's race went to China's Yao Zhang, time of 40:32.06.
In second came Ecuador's David Hurtado--in 40:32.06!
Yes, I said BOTH Walked 40:32.06, but one was given Gold, the other Silver!
They went to the thousandths of a second, but NO difference in TIME!!
HOW they determined one winning is beyond me!!
(See below!!)
The Women's race was more decisive, the victory going to Mexico's Aleyna Gonzalez, time of 44:13.88.
But for Americans, all eyes were on the pair of Taylor Ewart and Lauren Harris!
Harris eventually DNF'ed (after 7K), but when Ewart started at 45:00 pace, the march toward her SHATTERING her new HSR of 49:07 had begun!
She ended 5000 in 22:42--in 10th place!
Then she moved up to 5th--but eventually fell back to 10th--which BTW is the highest placing for a US female Walker in Championship History--adults or teens!!
Her final time--and new HSR and SOPH Class Record--was 45:57.81.
She'd taken three MINUTES and 10 seconds off her time set at the USATF Jrs less than one month ago!!
If she were a runner--which she IS!!--we'd be speculating on WHEN she was turning Pro!!
She's THAT good!!
While that takes care of the "big" Records, there were several other results well worth mentioning--and highlighting!!
When we think of HSR's, we think of United States HS's!
So where do you think Jakob Ingebrigtsen's 3rd place time of 13:20.78 in the 5000 might place him IF he were a US HS'er??
Well, since the OUTdoor HSR is Galen Rupp's 13:37.91--from 2004!--we'd be SCREAMING with delight at his SMASHING of said Record!!
Alas, he runs for (and lives in) Norway!!
(And I think he'd be just an 11th Grader now!!)
Taking 1st in that race was Kenya's Edward Pingua--time of 13:20.16.|
Second (in a sprint finish) went to Kenya's Stan Mburu, time of 13:20.57!
Young Ingebrigtsen was right behind, with established-ELITE elite Selemon Barega just 4th--in 13:21.16!
A couple of other Americans performed well.
Tzuriel Pedigo Q'ed for the JT with 240-4.
He remained 5th A-T HS!
(Yes, the "junior" Javelin is the same weight as the US HS's use!!)
While Nash Lowes of Australia won the final--with 247-1--Pedigo improved to 242-0, taking the Silver!!
Pedigo moved from 5th A-T HS to 4th!
Josh Hoey ran his 800 heat in a winning 1:48.86.
He improved in the Semi's, but his OUTdoor PR of 1:48.07 wasn't enough to move him on to the final!!
But it did move him from 21st A-T HS to 12th!!
Caitlin Collier would probably call her Tampere results POOR!!
And yes, they WERE far below "expectations"!!
But her 4:18.40 in the 1500 heats was a PR, moving her from 23rd A-T HS up to 18th!
(She ended LAST in the final!!)
Tripp Piperi sent his (??? pound) ball out 72-4.50 from the Shot Put ring!
People say that's a good mark for a ball weighing that much!
(Wouldn't know--don't care!!)
But he was sent back to Silver position when expected winner Kyle Blignaut sent his orb out a half-inch farther--to 72-5!!
The Women's 5K was a snore-fest---or an imitation MoBot--for awhile!
But their little speed-up brought Beatrice Chebet home the winner in an okay 15:30.77!
She barely edged Ejgayehu Taye's 15:30.87!
Back in 8th came Callie Logue with a PR time of 15:56.00!
(Where do you think INdoor 15:37 girl Katelyn Tuohy might have wound up??)
Alyssa Wilson didn't have the best of meets--despite her 3-pronged attack on her various sets of competitors!
Madison Wesche of New Zealand (Where else, considering one Val Adams might be her neighbor!!) won the SP with a modest 56-1.
(Keep in mind that Wilson's PR is 58-1!!)
Wilson, however, got the hated-XXX as her "result"!!
The DT went a TINY bit better!
Alexandra Emilianov won as expected with 189-11.
Wilson DID get a mark this time, but only enough to give her a 10th place finish!!
It was in the Hammer Throw where Wilson performed well.
Her 211-5 in 2nd lost to Canada's Camryn Rogers, who reached 212-11.
Some upsets & BAD shocks were scattered throughout!
Anthony Schwartz was beaten by Lalu Zahri in the 100, 10.18 to 10.22--with Eric Harrison also timed in 10.22--but given 3rd!
Lisa Gunnarsson had PV'ed 15-1 as a Virginia Tech Frosh this year, but here, her 14-3.25 fell far short of Amalie Svabakova's 14-9.50 W!
The Heptathlon was supposed to be HANDED to Alina Shukh!!
That is, until an injury took her out of the event after the 100H!!
The 1st day saw Great Britain's Niamh Emerson score 3690 points, with Adriana Rodriguez 2nd with 3634, followed by Sarah Lagger's 3609, and Celeste Mucci's 3523!
Anna Hall was already behind her HSR pace, but was 7th, with Sterling Lester in 8th--also behind her PR!
It came down to the 800!
And there, Emerson prevailed, ending with 6253 points to Lagger's 6225!
Hall scored a solid 5655---which, if she hadn't scored 5798 for that HSR--would have been a GREAT score for her!!
Lester also ended good, but her 5478 was also off her PR!
Christopher Taylor had sped a 400 in 44.88!
He was expected to win!
He didn't!
While his 45.38 was good enough for Silver, it was Belgium's Jonathan Sacoor who won--time of 45.03!
Even at his best, Taylor would have had a RACE---from a Belgian with a last name NOT Borlee!!
(See below!)
Tara Davis was another who came to Tampere with Gold expectations!!
Whether it was the weather (Rain just before the start of the LJ!), or that she just had a bad day, Davis wound up 3rd, her 20-10.50 almost 6 inches behind Germany's Lea-Jasmine Riecke's 21-4.25!
Before I get to the Relays, other WJC results included---
Yuki Hashioki took the Men's LJ with a decent mark of 26-4.25.
While Alina Shukh bowed out of the later Hept, she'd started her meet in the open JT!!
And she WON it!!!
Her 183-6 was enough, but Dana Baker came THIS close to her PR, her 180-7 giving her Bronze!!
Japan's Nozumi Tanaka SHOCKED the Africans by taking the 3000 in 8:54.01.
Guess front-running DOES work sometimes!!
Jake Norris threw the "junior" weight Hammer out 264-7 for the expected W!
In the absence of Sydney McLaughlin, South Africa's Zeney Van Der Walt was allowed to win, her time of 55.34 not scaring anyone outside her teenage realm!
(Someone joked that Syd the Kid would have won the flat 400--even if they'd forced her to run HER race over hurdles!!)
And speaking of that flat 400, it went to India's Hima Das!!
The T&FN Message Board was lit up for awhile (until Garry Hill put a stop to it!) with speculation that Das MIGHT later come under the IAAF "Semenya rule"!!
Meaning that "she" might NOT be all "she" appears to be!!
(On appearance alone, she does NOT resemble Semenya--at all!! In fact, GH's wrath was invoked NOT by the Semenya speculation, but because someone called Das "cute"!)
GIVE--ME--A--BREAK!!!
Okay, back to the results!
Das won the 400 in 51.46!
Andrea Miklos took 2nd in 52.07, with the US's Taylor Manson timing 52.28 in 3rd!
I mentioned earlier Jakob Ingebrigtsen's 5000!
But he began his WJC meet in the 1500!
As I'd noted in my Preview, Sam Teferi had the quickest PR--by 4 seconds!!--coming in!
But PR's only count---on paper!!
And when you're facing an Ingebrigtsen, and the brother of Elijah Manangoi (George)--well, you'd better produce that PR---on the TRACK!!
Teferi didn't even come close!
Another MoBot race only sped up nearing the bell, where Manangoi began his final 400 of--52.87!!
Yep, I said 52.87--in a race of all teenagers!!
George's time was 3:41.71, with Jakob's being 3:41.89!
As for Teferi, he faded to 5th--time of 3:43.91---12 seconds slower than his best!!
(When you GOT it, FLAUNT it, Sammy!!)
Speaking of which, Cooper Teare ended in 10th!!
As I said in a Tweet, I made some stupid errors in my Preview (besides misspelled names!!)--one being the fact I'd forgotten that nations were allowed just TWO entrants per event--thus erasing any hope for a "sweep" of the medals!!
Thus, Jamaica's 110H'ers got ONLY Gold & Silver, with Damion Thomas's 13.16 beating Orlando Bennett's 13.19!
Great Britain was another denied a sweep!!
But their James Efoloko (20.48) and Charles Dobson (20.57) did manage a 1-2 in the 200!!
South Africa's Sokwakhana Zazini took the 400H in 49.42.
Karyna Taranda won the HJ with her 6-3.50!
Sommer Lecky of Ireland, and Maria Murillo went over 6-2.75, with Lecky getting lucky (Luck--or Lecky--of the Irish?? LOL), being given the Silver!
Kai Chang of Jamaica took the Men's DT with 204-7.
Another Fedric Dacres on the rise??
As for that Women's 1500, Alemez Samuel of Ethiopia used a 61.04 last 400 to win in 4:09.67.
Miriam Cherop was 2nd in 4:10.73!
Caitlin Collier, as noted above, finished 12th and last!
A slight upset happened in the Men's 3000SC, where Kenyan's had been winning---well, it seems FOREVER!!
But here, it was Ethiopian Takele Nigate's 8:25.35 which outleaned Leonard Bett's 8:25-39--and predicted winner Getnet Wale's 8:26.16!
Jasmine Moore didn't make the final 8 in the TJ!
She wound up 10th!
But Aleksandra Nacheva of Bulgaria needn't have worried!
Her 46-6.25 in round 2 was more than enough for the Gold!
The Men's 800 was another snore-fest---after just a 52.18 opening lap!
Until the finish, that is, when an exciting RACE gave the W to Solomon Lekuto in 1:46.35, with Ngeno Kipngetich right behind in 1:46.45!
Another squeaker happened in the Men's HJ---where a TIE was finally given to Greece's Antonios Merlos and to Mexico's Roberto Vilches--their 7-3.75's both given 1st's!!
Speaking of close--when we speak of the Women's 100H, we're talking C-L-O-S-E!!!!
As in INSEPARABLY CLOSE!!
Tia Jones had had the fastest heat time---13.06--but her 13.01 in the final only MATCHED Britany Anderson's 13.01!!
(Cortney Jones took 3rd with 13.19!)
After a microscopic look at the finish line photos--from EVERY angle!--they (the officials!) finally said they had the EXACT SAME TIME---
BUT---"they" gave the Gold to Jones, with Jamaica's Anderson getting the Silver!!
I mean, they measured it down to the thousandths of a second---looked at those photos over and over again---but STILL gave one 1st, the other 2nd!!
WTF??!!
Okay, on to those Relays!
The Women's 4 X 100 saw 2 rather significant DQ's--with the United States and Jamaica NOT moving to the final!!
Germany's 43.82 wound up beating surprising Ireland's 43.90!
The US Men survived the heats--and won the final--38.88 to Jamaica's 38.96!
In the ending Women's event--the 4 X 400 Relay--the US was dominant--now having won EVERY WJC long relay since 2000!!
Their 3:28.74 finished far ahead of Australia's 3:31.36.
Then the 6 day meet ended with the Men's 4 X 400!!
Where the US was expected to win---and maybe even challenge the "World Junior Record"---and MR--of 3:01.09.
The US was leading at the first hand-off!
Well, they were leading BEFORE the 1st baton exchange!!
Which--for the US--didn't happen!
The stick fell to the track!
By the time the US's 2nd man recovered the baton, they were FAR behind!
But by the final lap, the US had pulled into 4th--then 3rd--then 2nd--where they finally finished!!
It was Italy (Yes, ITALY!!) who took advantage of the US's fumble, winning in 3:04.05!
The US's time was 3:05.26!
BTW, Belgium's team had open 400 winner Sacoor (See above)--AND yet another from the Borlee clan--this one named Rayaan!!
Will we soon see a Belgian 4 X 400 with ALL FOUR being from one family??)
While that ended the World Junior (U20) Championships in Tampere, Finland, it did NOT finish off all the results I've gathered for your perusal!!
Those--from the Rabat DL, the Flanders Cup, the World Cup (ATHLETICS World Cup, Silly! LOL), and assorted other locales--will follow in another post in a day or 2.
Included in that post will be the results of one Mary Cain's (!!) 1st track race in two years--almost to the day!!
She's entered in the Cork (Ireland) 3000--along with Eleanor Purrier, Nicole Tully, GenGen LaCaze, and Sarah Pagano, among others!
(She's also entered in the Sotteville, France meet on the 28th--again in the 3000!!)
So my next post will probably be just after that Cork meet!!
(Will Cain and her fans be "popping the Cork"---or not?? LOL)
See you soon!
The Tampere, Finland edition of the World Junior Championships--known to some as the U20's--produced just such a mind-bending assortment of reactions!
A few athletes--not always from OUR country!--produced some astounding marks!
Some performed as we expected--or close to it!
But it seems far too many ran, jumped, or threw so poorly, we have to question their preparation, their coaches advice & skills, and their own motivation & desire---or lack thereof!!
Well, this is supposed to be a RESULTS post about this 6-day meet, and that it shall be!
The most shocking?
That the Men's 10000 produced a Meet Record---and a last 5000 ALMOST as fast as the winner of the 5K!!
When they hit 5K in 13:57, I did NOT see a MR happening!
They'd need to run that final 5K in 13:28 or faster!
Except that's just what Rhonex Kipruto did!
His finishing 5000 of 13:24 set the WJC Meet Record at 27:21.08, and beat Jacob Kiplimo's 27:40.36 with abandon!
Sticking with Meet Records, another was set by Ashley Maloney in the Decathlon!
His 8190 points included a 46.86 in the 400, which ended his 1st day at 4319 points!
It happened in the Semi's, but Twanesha Terry's 11.03 nipped the old 100 MR by 0.04 seconds!
(More on the 100 later!)
A strong finish, and a fairly even pace, brought Ethiopia's Diribe Welteji in under 2 minutes in the 800!
Her MR time was 1:59.74--with splits of 58.98 and 60.76!
Running good in 2nd was Canada's Carley Thomas, time of 2:01.13!
But expected medalists from the US--Caitlin Collier and Sammy Watson--both failed to qualify, despite running the same times of 2:03.95 in their respective heat races!!
Another distance race produced another MR!
But if Celiphine Chespol had NOT beaten her own MR from 2016---THAT would have been shocking!!
She reached the 2K point of her 3000SC final in 6:15--after a 3:16 opening K!
Finishing with a K in 2:57---and 2K in 5:56!--gave her the new MR time of 9:12.78!
This easily disposed of Peruth Chemutai's 9:18.87!
Back in 7th came the US's Alice Hill, whose 7th place time of 9:57.04 was her second PR of the meet--her first being her heat of 10:09!!
Did anyone REALLY think Mondo Duplantis might lose--or NOT break the Meet Record??
Or that after taking the MR to 19-1, that he wouldn't make some attempts at the 6 meter bar??
(In a meet with children, he was literally taking candy from babies!! LOL)
BTW, he missed those 6.00 attempts, but finished far ahead of Zach Bradford's PR-tying 18-2.50!
Bradford remains 7th A-T HS, tied with 1 other!
Another with a nearly 100% guaranteed W (& MR) attached to his name was Cuba's Jordan Diaz in the TJ!
His qualifying mark of 56-1 just missed the MR, but his finals mark of 56-3.25 put his name on it!!
The last MR here brings us back to the sprints--namely the Women's 100!
While Twanisha Terry (See above!) got the MR, the W went to 16 year old US-based Jamaican Brianna Williams!!
Her 11.16 was enough to hold off Terry's 11.19!
But it was in the 200 where Williams made herself not just "a winner", but one of the A-T sprint Greats!!
She made the curve seem like a straight, then when she hit the actual straight, she EXPLODED!!
Her fluid form carried her small (Think Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce or Lauryn Williams!!) frame to the line in 22.50!!
This after ANOTHER Williams--Lauren Rain--had the fastest heat or semi time--22.98!!
And yes, Williams (Brianna, that is!) goes to HS in the States, but runs for Jamaica Internationally!!
So her time makes her 5th A-T HS!!
As for Lauren Rain, she took 2nd in a good--but FAR back!--23.09!
The 10000 Track Walks were solid, but not Record-breaking--at least not up front!!
The Men's race went to China's Yao Zhang, time of 40:32.06.
In second came Ecuador's David Hurtado--in 40:32.06!
Yes, I said BOTH Walked 40:32.06, but one was given Gold, the other Silver!
They went to the thousandths of a second, but NO difference in TIME!!
HOW they determined one winning is beyond me!!
(See below!!)
The Women's race was more decisive, the victory going to Mexico's Aleyna Gonzalez, time of 44:13.88.
But for Americans, all eyes were on the pair of Taylor Ewart and Lauren Harris!
Harris eventually DNF'ed (after 7K), but when Ewart started at 45:00 pace, the march toward her SHATTERING her new HSR of 49:07 had begun!
She ended 5000 in 22:42--in 10th place!
Then she moved up to 5th--but eventually fell back to 10th--which BTW is the highest placing for a US female Walker in Championship History--adults or teens!!
Her final time--and new HSR and SOPH Class Record--was 45:57.81.
She'd taken three MINUTES and 10 seconds off her time set at the USATF Jrs less than one month ago!!
If she were a runner--which she IS!!--we'd be speculating on WHEN she was turning Pro!!
She's THAT good!!
While that takes care of the "big" Records, there were several other results well worth mentioning--and highlighting!!
When we think of HSR's, we think of United States HS's!
So where do you think Jakob Ingebrigtsen's 3rd place time of 13:20.78 in the 5000 might place him IF he were a US HS'er??
Well, since the OUTdoor HSR is Galen Rupp's 13:37.91--from 2004!--we'd be SCREAMING with delight at his SMASHING of said Record!!
Alas, he runs for (and lives in) Norway!!
(And I think he'd be just an 11th Grader now!!)
Taking 1st in that race was Kenya's Edward Pingua--time of 13:20.16.|
Second (in a sprint finish) went to Kenya's Stan Mburu, time of 13:20.57!
Young Ingebrigtsen was right behind, with established-ELITE elite Selemon Barega just 4th--in 13:21.16!
A couple of other Americans performed well.
Tzuriel Pedigo Q'ed for the JT with 240-4.
He remained 5th A-T HS!
(Yes, the "junior" Javelin is the same weight as the US HS's use!!)
While Nash Lowes of Australia won the final--with 247-1--Pedigo improved to 242-0, taking the Silver!!
Pedigo moved from 5th A-T HS to 4th!
Josh Hoey ran his 800 heat in a winning 1:48.86.
He improved in the Semi's, but his OUTdoor PR of 1:48.07 wasn't enough to move him on to the final!!
But it did move him from 21st A-T HS to 12th!!
Caitlin Collier would probably call her Tampere results POOR!!
And yes, they WERE far below "expectations"!!
But her 4:18.40 in the 1500 heats was a PR, moving her from 23rd A-T HS up to 18th!
(She ended LAST in the final!!)
Tripp Piperi sent his (??? pound) ball out 72-4.50 from the Shot Put ring!
People say that's a good mark for a ball weighing that much!
(Wouldn't know--don't care!!)
But he was sent back to Silver position when expected winner Kyle Blignaut sent his orb out a half-inch farther--to 72-5!!
The Women's 5K was a snore-fest---or an imitation MoBot--for awhile!
But their little speed-up brought Beatrice Chebet home the winner in an okay 15:30.77!
She barely edged Ejgayehu Taye's 15:30.87!
Back in 8th came Callie Logue with a PR time of 15:56.00!
(Where do you think INdoor 15:37 girl Katelyn Tuohy might have wound up??)
Alyssa Wilson didn't have the best of meets--despite her 3-pronged attack on her various sets of competitors!
Madison Wesche of New Zealand (Where else, considering one Val Adams might be her neighbor!!) won the SP with a modest 56-1.
(Keep in mind that Wilson's PR is 58-1!!)
Wilson, however, got the hated-XXX as her "result"!!
The DT went a TINY bit better!
Alexandra Emilianov won as expected with 189-11.
Wilson DID get a mark this time, but only enough to give her a 10th place finish!!
It was in the Hammer Throw where Wilson performed well.
Her 211-5 in 2nd lost to Canada's Camryn Rogers, who reached 212-11.
Some upsets & BAD shocks were scattered throughout!
Anthony Schwartz was beaten by Lalu Zahri in the 100, 10.18 to 10.22--with Eric Harrison also timed in 10.22--but given 3rd!
Lisa Gunnarsson had PV'ed 15-1 as a Virginia Tech Frosh this year, but here, her 14-3.25 fell far short of Amalie Svabakova's 14-9.50 W!
The Heptathlon was supposed to be HANDED to Alina Shukh!!
That is, until an injury took her out of the event after the 100H!!
The 1st day saw Great Britain's Niamh Emerson score 3690 points, with Adriana Rodriguez 2nd with 3634, followed by Sarah Lagger's 3609, and Celeste Mucci's 3523!
Anna Hall was already behind her HSR pace, but was 7th, with Sterling Lester in 8th--also behind her PR!
It came down to the 800!
And there, Emerson prevailed, ending with 6253 points to Lagger's 6225!
Hall scored a solid 5655---which, if she hadn't scored 5798 for that HSR--would have been a GREAT score for her!!
Lester also ended good, but her 5478 was also off her PR!
Christopher Taylor had sped a 400 in 44.88!
He was expected to win!
He didn't!
While his 45.38 was good enough for Silver, it was Belgium's Jonathan Sacoor who won--time of 45.03!
Even at his best, Taylor would have had a RACE---from a Belgian with a last name NOT Borlee!!
(See below!)
Tara Davis was another who came to Tampere with Gold expectations!!
Whether it was the weather (Rain just before the start of the LJ!), or that she just had a bad day, Davis wound up 3rd, her 20-10.50 almost 6 inches behind Germany's Lea-Jasmine Riecke's 21-4.25!
Before I get to the Relays, other WJC results included---
Yuki Hashioki took the Men's LJ with a decent mark of 26-4.25.
While Alina Shukh bowed out of the later Hept, she'd started her meet in the open JT!!
And she WON it!!!
Her 183-6 was enough, but Dana Baker came THIS close to her PR, her 180-7 giving her Bronze!!
Japan's Nozumi Tanaka SHOCKED the Africans by taking the 3000 in 8:54.01.
Guess front-running DOES work sometimes!!
Jake Norris threw the "junior" weight Hammer out 264-7 for the expected W!
In the absence of Sydney McLaughlin, South Africa's Zeney Van Der Walt was allowed to win, her time of 55.34 not scaring anyone outside her teenage realm!
(Someone joked that Syd the Kid would have won the flat 400--even if they'd forced her to run HER race over hurdles!!)
And speaking of that flat 400, it went to India's Hima Das!!
The T&FN Message Board was lit up for awhile (until Garry Hill put a stop to it!) with speculation that Das MIGHT later come under the IAAF "Semenya rule"!!
Meaning that "she" might NOT be all "she" appears to be!!
(On appearance alone, she does NOT resemble Semenya--at all!! In fact, GH's wrath was invoked NOT by the Semenya speculation, but because someone called Das "cute"!)
GIVE--ME--A--BREAK!!!
Okay, back to the results!
Das won the 400 in 51.46!
Andrea Miklos took 2nd in 52.07, with the US's Taylor Manson timing 52.28 in 3rd!
I mentioned earlier Jakob Ingebrigtsen's 5000!
But he began his WJC meet in the 1500!
As I'd noted in my Preview, Sam Teferi had the quickest PR--by 4 seconds!!--coming in!
But PR's only count---on paper!!
And when you're facing an Ingebrigtsen, and the brother of Elijah Manangoi (George)--well, you'd better produce that PR---on the TRACK!!
Teferi didn't even come close!
Another MoBot race only sped up nearing the bell, where Manangoi began his final 400 of--52.87!!
Yep, I said 52.87--in a race of all teenagers!!
George's time was 3:41.71, with Jakob's being 3:41.89!
As for Teferi, he faded to 5th--time of 3:43.91---12 seconds slower than his best!!
(When you GOT it, FLAUNT it, Sammy!!)
Speaking of which, Cooper Teare ended in 10th!!
As I said in a Tweet, I made some stupid errors in my Preview (besides misspelled names!!)--one being the fact I'd forgotten that nations were allowed just TWO entrants per event--thus erasing any hope for a "sweep" of the medals!!
Thus, Jamaica's 110H'ers got ONLY Gold & Silver, with Damion Thomas's 13.16 beating Orlando Bennett's 13.19!
Great Britain was another denied a sweep!!
But their James Efoloko (20.48) and Charles Dobson (20.57) did manage a 1-2 in the 200!!
South Africa's Sokwakhana Zazini took the 400H in 49.42.
Karyna Taranda won the HJ with her 6-3.50!
Sommer Lecky of Ireland, and Maria Murillo went over 6-2.75, with Lecky getting lucky (Luck--or Lecky--of the Irish?? LOL), being given the Silver!
Kai Chang of Jamaica took the Men's DT with 204-7.
Another Fedric Dacres on the rise??
As for that Women's 1500, Alemez Samuel of Ethiopia used a 61.04 last 400 to win in 4:09.67.
Miriam Cherop was 2nd in 4:10.73!
Caitlin Collier, as noted above, finished 12th and last!
A slight upset happened in the Men's 3000SC, where Kenyan's had been winning---well, it seems FOREVER!!
But here, it was Ethiopian Takele Nigate's 8:25.35 which outleaned Leonard Bett's 8:25-39--and predicted winner Getnet Wale's 8:26.16!
Jasmine Moore didn't make the final 8 in the TJ!
She wound up 10th!
But Aleksandra Nacheva of Bulgaria needn't have worried!
Her 46-6.25 in round 2 was more than enough for the Gold!
The Men's 800 was another snore-fest---after just a 52.18 opening lap!
Until the finish, that is, when an exciting RACE gave the W to Solomon Lekuto in 1:46.35, with Ngeno Kipngetich right behind in 1:46.45!
Another squeaker happened in the Men's HJ---where a TIE was finally given to Greece's Antonios Merlos and to Mexico's Roberto Vilches--their 7-3.75's both given 1st's!!
Speaking of close--when we speak of the Women's 100H, we're talking C-L-O-S-E!!!!
As in INSEPARABLY CLOSE!!
Tia Jones had had the fastest heat time---13.06--but her 13.01 in the final only MATCHED Britany Anderson's 13.01!!
(Cortney Jones took 3rd with 13.19!)
After a microscopic look at the finish line photos--from EVERY angle!--they (the officials!) finally said they had the EXACT SAME TIME---
BUT---"they" gave the Gold to Jones, with Jamaica's Anderson getting the Silver!!
I mean, they measured it down to the thousandths of a second---looked at those photos over and over again---but STILL gave one 1st, the other 2nd!!
WTF??!!
Okay, on to those Relays!
The Women's 4 X 100 saw 2 rather significant DQ's--with the United States and Jamaica NOT moving to the final!!
Germany's 43.82 wound up beating surprising Ireland's 43.90!
The US Men survived the heats--and won the final--38.88 to Jamaica's 38.96!
In the ending Women's event--the 4 X 400 Relay--the US was dominant--now having won EVERY WJC long relay since 2000!!
Their 3:28.74 finished far ahead of Australia's 3:31.36.
Then the 6 day meet ended with the Men's 4 X 400!!
Where the US was expected to win---and maybe even challenge the "World Junior Record"---and MR--of 3:01.09.
The US was leading at the first hand-off!
Well, they were leading BEFORE the 1st baton exchange!!
Which--for the US--didn't happen!
The stick fell to the track!
By the time the US's 2nd man recovered the baton, they were FAR behind!
But by the final lap, the US had pulled into 4th--then 3rd--then 2nd--where they finally finished!!
It was Italy (Yes, ITALY!!) who took advantage of the US's fumble, winning in 3:04.05!
The US's time was 3:05.26!
BTW, Belgium's team had open 400 winner Sacoor (See above)--AND yet another from the Borlee clan--this one named Rayaan!!
Will we soon see a Belgian 4 X 400 with ALL FOUR being from one family??)
While that ended the World Junior (U20) Championships in Tampere, Finland, it did NOT finish off all the results I've gathered for your perusal!!
Those--from the Rabat DL, the Flanders Cup, the World Cup (ATHLETICS World Cup, Silly! LOL), and assorted other locales--will follow in another post in a day or 2.
Included in that post will be the results of one Mary Cain's (!!) 1st track race in two years--almost to the day!!
She's entered in the Cork (Ireland) 3000--along with Eleanor Purrier, Nicole Tully, GenGen LaCaze, and Sarah Pagano, among others!
(She's also entered in the Sotteville, France meet on the 28th--again in the 3000!!)
So my next post will probably be just after that Cork meet!!
(Will Cain and her fans be "popping the Cork"---or not?? LOL)
See you soon!
Tuesday, July 10, 2018
2018 World Junior Championships Preview--MEN & WOMEN
Not often do I begin with a MAJOR mea culpa!!
But through a STUPID mis-reading of the schedule, I thought I had several more hours before the meet began in Tampere, Finland!
But I read THEIR time as MY time (meaning Pacific Time), and therefore the GROSS miscalculation!!
That said, I did NOT look at any of the results thus far completed, so my Preview will go ahead with that ignorance in mind!
Also, I will keep referring to the meet as the World Junior Champs, NOT the U20!!
My guidelines---
I am combining the Men's & Women's Previews into one!
Events are listed according to when the Finals are held, with the Multi's listed when their last events begin!
I give the Meet Record, some names to watch, and maybe odds for the MR to go down---or not!!
Of course, the schedule is much fuller than presented, as there are Heats, Semi's, and Qualifying rounds!
So let's begin!!
Tuesday, July 10
W 5000 (15:08.06)
Genzebe Dibaba holds this MR, and since no one is close, it will stand!
Hellen Lobun seems the favorite, but Sarah Chelangat, Beatrice Chebet, and Miku Mirabayashi should challenge!
The Americans--Emily Venters and Callie Logue--need to PR by 20-30 seconds to stay in touch!
M SP (No MR given!)
As with the DT and HT, no MR is given for the Men's throws, as they use "junior" weights, which this blog & Record Book don't accept or recognize!
That said, Tripp Piperi has a good chance for a high podium step!
But Kyle Blignaut should be the favorite!
M 10000 (27:25.29)
Let me re-state for the umpteenth time that I find it totally abhorrent and sexist that the WOMEN do not have a 10K run!
The Men's battle should be between Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo, and Kenya's Rhonex Kipruto!
Chances for a MR are 20-80!
Wednesday, July 11
W SP (61-6.75)
Alyssa Wilson, even if she had PR'ed this year, would NOT be a favorite here!
Johinda Van Klinken of the Netherlands has that honor! But watch for Linru Zhang!
M LJ (26-11)
Mahal Vidal, Yuki Hashioka, and Lester Lescay are the faves here, but not for the MR, which gets 25-75 odds!
W JT (206-8)
Dana Baker has PR'ed a few times this year, but her best is still over 25 feet short of this MR!
However, if she PR's again, the HSR could fall!!
Much closer are Yuka Kuwazic of Japan, and Caroline Visca of Italy!
Still, the MR gets 25-75 odds!
W 3000 (8:41.76)
MR is 100% safe, but watch for possible sub-9's from Nazumi Tanchi and Katrina Robinson!
M Decathlon (8162)
This event uses junior implements & hurdle heights!
Stepin Kekin of Russia might be the favorite here, but watch for Ashley Moloney, and the American--Kyle Garland!
MR gets 30-70 odds!
M 100 (10.05)
Anthony Schwartz is running just the 100, and has a 10.09 PR!
But South Africa's Thando Dlodlo has sped a 10.11.
Odds are 40-60!
Thursday, July 12
W PV (14-11)
Lisa Gunnarsson should be the "home town" fave, even though she's from Sweden!
She gets odds of 60-40!
Others to watch are Molly Caudery of Great Britain, Amalie Svakhova of the Czech Republic, and Gunnarsson's teammate at Virginia Tech, Rachel Baxter!
W DT (223-11)
ZERO odds!!
Moldova's Alexandra Emilianov is a slight favorite for Gold, but watch too for Jorinda Van Klinken and Obi Amaechi!
Alyssa Wilson is also in this event!
W 400 (50.50)
Believe it or not, the fave here might be India's Hima Das!!
But the US crew of Taylor Manson, Symone Mason, and Arria Minor are formidable!!
Odds for the MR falling are 30-70!
M 1500 (3:35.53)
Sam Tefera has a PR in the 3:31's--with no one within 4 seconds of him!
Does he want the MR??
Give him 40-60 odds for a solo go at it!
Two famous family names are represented here--Elijah's brother George Manangoi, and the youngest Ingebrigtsen--Jakob!!
Justus Saget and Cooper Teare might inch toward the Bronze!
W 800 (2:00.06)
The US has a super duo--Caitlin Collier and Sammy Watson!
But give the HS'er the edge!
Watch also for Avi Tal Wilson-Perteete and Ethiopia's Diriba Waltegi!
The MR gets 30-70 odds!
M 110H (39 inches) (12.99)
The Jamaicans could do a podium sweep!
Damion Thomas, Orlando Bennett, and DeJour Russell are the candidates!!
MR gets 40-60 odds!!
W 100 (11.07)
This MR gets a strong 70-30 odds, as 10.99 girl Twanisha Terry is here, as is Jamaica's phenom, Brianna Williams!
Watch too for Jayla Kirkland and Australia's Riley Day!
Friday, July 13
M HT (No MR given!)
Jake Norris and Greece's Hristos Frantozickakos (sp??) are the faves!
W Heptathlon (6470)
MR gets 1-99 odds--even though there are 4 girls with point totals of 6000 or more!
Alina Stukh might be a slight fave, but watch closely for Austria's Sarah Laggos, Adrianna Rodriguez, and Niamh Emerson of Great Britain!
Anna Hall MIGHT get her own HSR of 5798, but probably won't reach the podium!
Also watch for Sterling Lester!
W LJ (22-4.50)
While Tara Davis is a strong favorite, her best is still a bit shy of the MR--so give her 30-70 odds!
Mexico's Susanna Hernandez and Japan's Aysha Kdra are ones to watch!
Jasmine Moore is better in the TJ, but could challenge for the Bronze!
W 400H (54.70)
If only you-know-who were here!
Without HER, this MR is quite safe!
Zaney Van Der Walt might be a slight fave over Sasun Salmon of Jamaica.
M 400 (44.66)
However good Chris Taylor is, he's still 0.22 seconds short of the MR--so give him 40-60 odds!
Dashawn Morris will follow, but watch for the Americans--Howard Fields and Chantz Sawyers!
W 3000SC (9:25.15)
Hard to believe Celiphine Chespol still ranks as a junior!
She's been around the track a few times!
And gets 99-1 odds for the MR--which is HER's from 2016!!
Winfred Yavi and Peruth Chemutai will follow several steps behind!
M 200 (20.17)
MR gets just 10-90 odds, as no one is close!
Thando Dlodlo is best, with Khance Meyers and Eric Harrison somewhere in the mix!
Saturday, June 14
W 10000 Walk (42:47.25)
While Taylor Ewart might break her HSR, she falls far short of being competitive here!
Ecuador's Glenda Morris will duel with Yuxia Shi and Alegna Gonzalez.
Lauren Harris should improve on her USATF Jrs outing!
M HJ (7-9.25)
No MR here!
Roberto Vilehos gets a slight nod, but watch for JuVaughn Blake and Nate Patterson!
M 10000 Walk (39:22.39)
Yao Zhang, Zhaozhao Wang, and Sho Sahazaki should find themselves on the podium--in some order--but the MR is safe!
W HT (231-8)
No MR here either!
Alyssa Wilson would need a BIG PR, so the MR is quite safe!
Mangyuan Zhou is one to watch, as is Camryn Rogers of Canada.
The other American is Jillian Shippee!
M PV (18-8.75)
With Mondo Duplantis here, you'd think this MR is a GONER!!
And I DO give it 90-10 odds!
But let's remember he reached just 18-6.50 in Lausanne!!
KC Lightfoot, Zach Bradford, and Sondre Guttormsen are others to key on!
As might be Cole Riddle!
But watch too for Germany's Bo Bachre!
M TJ (56-2.50)
One name here--Jordan Diaz of Cuba--and he gets 95-5 odds!!
W 200 (22.53)
While the group here is pretty good, I'm giving the MR just 25-75 odds!
Lauren Rain Williams, Brianna Williams, and Tamara Clark should be the fastest here, but watch for Jayla Kirkland and Aussie Riley Day in her better event!
M 5000 (13:08.57)
No MR here!
Even though World Elite Selemon Barega is here!
He might find a slight challenge fom Telehan Bekele and Stan Waitheri!
Cooper Teare might PR, but won't be close!
M JT (283-9)
No MR!!
Anro Van Eeden might be the one to watch!
M 400H (48.51)
Cory Poole is good, but Sahwakhana Zazini might be better!
Watch too for Segir Esquival!
W 4 X 100 Relay (43.40)
Germany could challenge the US for top honors!
Jamaica and France are other top nations!
MR is given 40-60 odds!
M 4 X 100 Relay (38.66)
No MR here either!
Teams to follow are the US, Jamaica, Japan, Germany, and Trinidad & Tobago!
Sunday, June 15
W HJ (6-6.75)
MR is VERY safe!
Karyna Taranda of Belarus might be a slight fave!
Also watch for Colombia's Maria Murillo!
W 100H (12.85)
Tia Jones once held the "Junior" record with her 12.84!
But Chanel Brissett has run 12.75 this year!
Tia is here, as is another Jones girl--Courtney!
Odds for the MR are 70-30!
M DT (No MR given!)
Mohammed Mosaz and Slovakia's Kristian Ceh are the faves here!
M 3000SC (8:06.10)
Despite some African's tendency to cut big chunks from their PR's, give this MR ZERO odds of falling!!
Albert Chemutai, Leonard Bett, and Getnet Wale should be the podium toppers!
W TJ (47-11.75)
Meet Record is 100% safe!
Bulgaria's Alexandra Nacheva is best, but watch for Cuba's Devoleydi Valazco!
Jasmine Moore would have to top her windy 45 footer to compete here!
W 1500 (4:04.96)
Alemaz Samuel of Ethiopia might be a small fave, but the MR will survive!
Dinka Lirdisa and Miriam Cherop might challenge!
Watch for a BIG PR by Caitlin Collier (and climb up the HS list!!).
Rachel McArthur is the other American!
M 800 (1:43.79)
Unless we get another "African leap"---aka a HUGE PR!!--this MR gets just 5-95 odds, as no one has run faster than 1:46!!
Tadese Limo, Solomon Lakuta, and Ngeno Kipngetich should vie for the podium steps!
Ray Rivera is one American, while the other is 1:47 INdoor HS'er, Josh Hoey!
W 4 X 400 Relay (3:27.60)
The US has a solid 400 team, but give this MR just 35-65 odds!
Germany, Jamaica, and Australia should challenge!
M 4 X 400 Relay (3:01.09)
No MR here, but we could see some low-44 or even high-43 legs--especially by Chris Taylor!
The US, Botswana, Jamaica, and Japan will race for the podium spots!!
Thank you for your indulgence!
Maybe I should have done TWO posts!!
But I promise you I have NOT peeked at any of today's results!!
(See above!)
Now I will!!
Enjoy the meet, and see you soon!
But through a STUPID mis-reading of the schedule, I thought I had several more hours before the meet began in Tampere, Finland!
But I read THEIR time as MY time (meaning Pacific Time), and therefore the GROSS miscalculation!!
That said, I did NOT look at any of the results thus far completed, so my Preview will go ahead with that ignorance in mind!
Also, I will keep referring to the meet as the World Junior Champs, NOT the U20!!
My guidelines---
I am combining the Men's & Women's Previews into one!
Events are listed according to when the Finals are held, with the Multi's listed when their last events begin!
I give the Meet Record, some names to watch, and maybe odds for the MR to go down---or not!!
Of course, the schedule is much fuller than presented, as there are Heats, Semi's, and Qualifying rounds!
So let's begin!!
Tuesday, July 10
W 5000 (15:08.06)
Genzebe Dibaba holds this MR, and since no one is close, it will stand!
Hellen Lobun seems the favorite, but Sarah Chelangat, Beatrice Chebet, and Miku Mirabayashi should challenge!
The Americans--Emily Venters and Callie Logue--need to PR by 20-30 seconds to stay in touch!
M SP (No MR given!)
As with the DT and HT, no MR is given for the Men's throws, as they use "junior" weights, which this blog & Record Book don't accept or recognize!
That said, Tripp Piperi has a good chance for a high podium step!
But Kyle Blignaut should be the favorite!
M 10000 (27:25.29)
Let me re-state for the umpteenth time that I find it totally abhorrent and sexist that the WOMEN do not have a 10K run!
The Men's battle should be between Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo, and Kenya's Rhonex Kipruto!
Chances for a MR are 20-80!
Wednesday, July 11
W SP (61-6.75)
Alyssa Wilson, even if she had PR'ed this year, would NOT be a favorite here!
Johinda Van Klinken of the Netherlands has that honor! But watch for Linru Zhang!
M LJ (26-11)
Mahal Vidal, Yuki Hashioka, and Lester Lescay are the faves here, but not for the MR, which gets 25-75 odds!
W JT (206-8)
Dana Baker has PR'ed a few times this year, but her best is still over 25 feet short of this MR!
However, if she PR's again, the HSR could fall!!
Much closer are Yuka Kuwazic of Japan, and Caroline Visca of Italy!
Still, the MR gets 25-75 odds!
W 3000 (8:41.76)
MR is 100% safe, but watch for possible sub-9's from Nazumi Tanchi and Katrina Robinson!
M Decathlon (8162)
This event uses junior implements & hurdle heights!
Stepin Kekin of Russia might be the favorite here, but watch for Ashley Moloney, and the American--Kyle Garland!
MR gets 30-70 odds!
M 100 (10.05)
Anthony Schwartz is running just the 100, and has a 10.09 PR!
But South Africa's Thando Dlodlo has sped a 10.11.
Odds are 40-60!
Thursday, July 12
W PV (14-11)
Lisa Gunnarsson should be the "home town" fave, even though she's from Sweden!
She gets odds of 60-40!
Others to watch are Molly Caudery of Great Britain, Amalie Svakhova of the Czech Republic, and Gunnarsson's teammate at Virginia Tech, Rachel Baxter!
W DT (223-11)
ZERO odds!!
Moldova's Alexandra Emilianov is a slight favorite for Gold, but watch too for Jorinda Van Klinken and Obi Amaechi!
Alyssa Wilson is also in this event!
W 400 (50.50)
Believe it or not, the fave here might be India's Hima Das!!
But the US crew of Taylor Manson, Symone Mason, and Arria Minor are formidable!!
Odds for the MR falling are 30-70!
M 1500 (3:35.53)
Sam Tefera has a PR in the 3:31's--with no one within 4 seconds of him!
Does he want the MR??
Give him 40-60 odds for a solo go at it!
Two famous family names are represented here--Elijah's brother George Manangoi, and the youngest Ingebrigtsen--Jakob!!
Justus Saget and Cooper Teare might inch toward the Bronze!
W 800 (2:00.06)
The US has a super duo--Caitlin Collier and Sammy Watson!
But give the HS'er the edge!
Watch also for Avi Tal Wilson-Perteete and Ethiopia's Diriba Waltegi!
The MR gets 30-70 odds!
M 110H (39 inches) (12.99)
The Jamaicans could do a podium sweep!
Damion Thomas, Orlando Bennett, and DeJour Russell are the candidates!!
MR gets 40-60 odds!!
W 100 (11.07)
This MR gets a strong 70-30 odds, as 10.99 girl Twanisha Terry is here, as is Jamaica's phenom, Brianna Williams!
Watch too for Jayla Kirkland and Australia's Riley Day!
Friday, July 13
M HT (No MR given!)
Jake Norris and Greece's Hristos Frantozickakos (sp??) are the faves!
W Heptathlon (6470)
MR gets 1-99 odds--even though there are 4 girls with point totals of 6000 or more!
Alina Stukh might be a slight fave, but watch closely for Austria's Sarah Laggos, Adrianna Rodriguez, and Niamh Emerson of Great Britain!
Anna Hall MIGHT get her own HSR of 5798, but probably won't reach the podium!
Also watch for Sterling Lester!
W LJ (22-4.50)
While Tara Davis is a strong favorite, her best is still a bit shy of the MR--so give her 30-70 odds!
Mexico's Susanna Hernandez and Japan's Aysha Kdra are ones to watch!
Jasmine Moore is better in the TJ, but could challenge for the Bronze!
W 400H (54.70)
If only you-know-who were here!
Without HER, this MR is quite safe!
Zaney Van Der Walt might be a slight fave over Sasun Salmon of Jamaica.
M 400 (44.66)
However good Chris Taylor is, he's still 0.22 seconds short of the MR--so give him 40-60 odds!
Dashawn Morris will follow, but watch for the Americans--Howard Fields and Chantz Sawyers!
W 3000SC (9:25.15)
Hard to believe Celiphine Chespol still ranks as a junior!
She's been around the track a few times!
And gets 99-1 odds for the MR--which is HER's from 2016!!
Winfred Yavi and Peruth Chemutai will follow several steps behind!
M 200 (20.17)
MR gets just 10-90 odds, as no one is close!
Thando Dlodlo is best, with Khance Meyers and Eric Harrison somewhere in the mix!
Saturday, June 14
W 10000 Walk (42:47.25)
While Taylor Ewart might break her HSR, she falls far short of being competitive here!
Ecuador's Glenda Morris will duel with Yuxia Shi and Alegna Gonzalez.
Lauren Harris should improve on her USATF Jrs outing!
M HJ (7-9.25)
No MR here!
Roberto Vilehos gets a slight nod, but watch for JuVaughn Blake and Nate Patterson!
M 10000 Walk (39:22.39)
Yao Zhang, Zhaozhao Wang, and Sho Sahazaki should find themselves on the podium--in some order--but the MR is safe!
W HT (231-8)
No MR here either!
Alyssa Wilson would need a BIG PR, so the MR is quite safe!
Mangyuan Zhou is one to watch, as is Camryn Rogers of Canada.
The other American is Jillian Shippee!
M PV (18-8.75)
With Mondo Duplantis here, you'd think this MR is a GONER!!
And I DO give it 90-10 odds!
But let's remember he reached just 18-6.50 in Lausanne!!
KC Lightfoot, Zach Bradford, and Sondre Guttormsen are others to key on!
As might be Cole Riddle!
But watch too for Germany's Bo Bachre!
M TJ (56-2.50)
One name here--Jordan Diaz of Cuba--and he gets 95-5 odds!!
W 200 (22.53)
While the group here is pretty good, I'm giving the MR just 25-75 odds!
Lauren Rain Williams, Brianna Williams, and Tamara Clark should be the fastest here, but watch for Jayla Kirkland and Aussie Riley Day in her better event!
M 5000 (13:08.57)
No MR here!
Even though World Elite Selemon Barega is here!
He might find a slight challenge fom Telehan Bekele and Stan Waitheri!
Cooper Teare might PR, but won't be close!
M JT (283-9)
No MR!!
Anro Van Eeden might be the one to watch!
M 400H (48.51)
Cory Poole is good, but Sahwakhana Zazini might be better!
Watch too for Segir Esquival!
W 4 X 100 Relay (43.40)
Germany could challenge the US for top honors!
Jamaica and France are other top nations!
MR is given 40-60 odds!
M 4 X 100 Relay (38.66)
No MR here either!
Teams to follow are the US, Jamaica, Japan, Germany, and Trinidad & Tobago!
Sunday, June 15
W HJ (6-6.75)
MR is VERY safe!
Karyna Taranda of Belarus might be a slight fave!
Also watch for Colombia's Maria Murillo!
W 100H (12.85)
Tia Jones once held the "Junior" record with her 12.84!
But Chanel Brissett has run 12.75 this year!
Tia is here, as is another Jones girl--Courtney!
Odds for the MR are 70-30!
M DT (No MR given!)
Mohammed Mosaz and Slovakia's Kristian Ceh are the faves here!
M 3000SC (8:06.10)
Despite some African's tendency to cut big chunks from their PR's, give this MR ZERO odds of falling!!
Albert Chemutai, Leonard Bett, and Getnet Wale should be the podium toppers!
W TJ (47-11.75)
Meet Record is 100% safe!
Bulgaria's Alexandra Nacheva is best, but watch for Cuba's Devoleydi Valazco!
Jasmine Moore would have to top her windy 45 footer to compete here!
W 1500 (4:04.96)
Alemaz Samuel of Ethiopia might be a small fave, but the MR will survive!
Dinka Lirdisa and Miriam Cherop might challenge!
Watch for a BIG PR by Caitlin Collier (and climb up the HS list!!).
Rachel McArthur is the other American!
M 800 (1:43.79)
Unless we get another "African leap"---aka a HUGE PR!!--this MR gets just 5-95 odds, as no one has run faster than 1:46!!
Tadese Limo, Solomon Lakuta, and Ngeno Kipngetich should vie for the podium steps!
Ray Rivera is one American, while the other is 1:47 INdoor HS'er, Josh Hoey!
W 4 X 400 Relay (3:27.60)
The US has a solid 400 team, but give this MR just 35-65 odds!
Germany, Jamaica, and Australia should challenge!
M 4 X 400 Relay (3:01.09)
No MR here, but we could see some low-44 or even high-43 legs--especially by Chris Taylor!
The US, Botswana, Jamaica, and Japan will race for the podium spots!!
Thank you for your indulgence!
Maybe I should have done TWO posts!!
But I promise you I have NOT peeked at any of today's results!!
(See above!)
Now I will!!
Enjoy the meet, and see you soon!
Sunday, July 8, 2018
Lausanne & Some Mid-Season Observations
"Lausanne" can also be defined as "Shelby Houlihan & a VERY few others"!!
For while it was at Des Moines's USATF meet that Houlihan emerged as America's best Miler (for 2018!)--beating Jenny Simpson (among others) defiantly, deliberately, and devastatingly--it was at the Switzerland DL where Houlihan put her personal stamp on the FUTURE of Middle and Long Distance running for Women!!
I may be proven wrong--as I was with Mary Cain!--but right now, I can't see ANYone beating Shelby this year---not even Genzebe Dibaba, Helen Obiri, or a certain person from South Africa!!
In Iowa, she beat a class AMERICAN field!!
But in Lausanne, she beat CS, she beat Laura Muir, she beat Sifan Hassan, and several others worthy of being labled "World Class"!
This was a Diamond League meet--no matter that that classification means much these days or not!!
It wasn't just that she won, but HOW she did it!
Fourth with 80 meters to go, she then shifted into "Houli-Drive" (for want of a better term!!), and the race was over!!
Her time of 3:57.34 was a PR by 1.72 seconds (from just 2 weeks earlier!!), and as noted, left in the dust a field of the World's best!!
Laura Muir's 3:58.18 took 2nd, with Sifan Hassan's 3:58.39 taking 3rd, and Gudaf Tsegay's 3:59.07 finishing 4th!
Rababe Arafi's 3:59.15 in 5th gave her Morocco's National Record!
For Houlihan, however, the stats are many--
It's the Lausanne Meet Record!
It moves her from 5th A-T US to 4th--ahead of one Suzy Favor Hamilton!!
And she makes deeper inroads on THREE of my US Combined Events lists!
On the 800 & 1500 list , her times of 2:01.12 & 3:57.34 add to 5:58.46.
She is 6th A-T!
On the 1500 & 3000 list, her times of 3:57.34 and 8:37.40 add to 12:34.74!
She remains 4th A-T!
And on my 1500 & 5000 list, her times of 3:57.34 & 15:00.57 adds to 18:57.91.
She remains 6th A-T here!!
The distance of 400 meters--with or without hurdles--continues as a major factor in 2018!
For Salwa Naser, her win streak continues--albeit with a relatively "slow" time of 49.78!
Of course, that's all she needed, as Jessica Beard's 50.40 was a full 0.62 seconds behind!
Jaide Stepter PR'ed in 3rd with 50.63!
On my US Combined Events list for the 400 & 400H, her times of 50.63 and 54.95 adds to 1:45.58.
She remains 8th A-T!
Shamier Little prevailed over a strong 400H field with her 53.41.
She just edged past Janieve Russell's PR of 53.46 at the line!
Georganne Moline's 53.90 took the Bronze!
And Abderrahman Samba continued his TOTAL dominance of the Men's 400H with another easy win in the mid-47's!!
His 47.42 was more than enough to defeat Karsten Warholm's 47.94!
Still over 400 meters, the ending event was a 4 X 100 Relay!
Switzerland's Women emerged the victor with a new National Record of 42.29!
Also serving as the Lausanne Meet Record, it moved them from 16th A-T Nation to 13th, tied with 2 others!
The last of the sprint races--the Men's 200--was supposed to be the meet's headliner!
And for many, it was!
But Noah Lyles made it into a "non-race", as his PR-matching 19.69 easily left behind Michael Norman's 19.88, Alex Quinonez's 20.08, and Rai Benjamin's 20.16.
Once Lyles hit the straight, the race was decided--the only question being how fast!!
Wind was a miniscule 0.4.
Gabby Thomas's Harvard-educated brain didn't slow her blonde-headed body, as her first DL win came in 22.47, and left behind 22.05 Woman Shericka Jackson, who timed 22.84 here!
Sergey Shubenkov extended his string of sub-13's, winning the 110H in 12.95, or 0.34 seconds ahead of 2nd!!
ET---aka Elaine Thompson--was left in Marie Josee Ta Lou's wake in the 100!
Ta Lou's time of 10.90 was 0.09 seconds faster than ET's 10.99!
Jenna Prandini's 11.00 took 3rd over Dafne Schippers's 11.02 in 4th.
In 5th came Switzerland's own Mujinga Kambundji, her 11.03 breaking her own National Record!!
Despite someone with the initials of FN breaking the tape, it was Ajee Wilson's 1:58.20 being declared (by ME!!) the winner of the 800!
As for that Men's 5000---
WOW!!
My only thought--after one runner grabbed onto another runner's shorts--and TUGGED--was what NBC would do to "bleep" out the naked image of one man's ARSE from their screens!!
Alas, the shorts held their place!
But Yomif Kejelcha was DQ'ed, so all's well!!
Times--in this case--are almost irrelevant!
But Birhanu Balew was the lucky recipient of the "shorts battle", emerging the winner in 13:01.09.
Selemon Barega ended 2nd in 13:02.67!
(It was the latter's shorts that stayed intact!!)
A bit of a verbal---almost physical!!--battle started AFTER the race, but cooler heads intervened, and both walked away unscathed!
(As did NBC's legal department!! LOL)
Lausanne's field events were led by the Women's PV!!
A GREAT field--with FIVE 16 footers (OUTdoors) colliding--actually was a BIT underfed with high marks---despite some Place Records being set!!
It was Rio Olympic Champ Ekaterina Stefanida whose 15-9.75 left two others with the same mark behind!
Now maybe UN-semi-retired Jenn Suhr took 2nd, while Anzhelika Sidorova's 15-9.75 took 3rd!
Sidorova tied the best 3rd Place mark!
Both Eliza McCartney and Sandi Morris were given 4th place!
This regurgitated an old argument that a fan of my blog and I had about Place Records!!
On my Place Records list, my 5th, 6th, and 7th Place Records were all 15-5!
So while the NZ'er and the American were TIED in FOURTH---with the next placing being 6th--and since BOTH the 4th & the 5th Place Records were 15-5, HOW could I make 4th place LESS than 5th's mark??
If I had, my 5th Place mark of 15-5 would have been LESS than my 6th Place mark of 15-5.75!!
Doesn't make sense to me!!
Thus my "solution" of leaving Alana Boyd's 15-9 as the best 4th Place mark--while giving both McCartney & Morris a TIE for best "5th" place mark at 15-5.75--even though their Lausanne placing was 4th!!
Anyway, 6th was a LOT easier!!
That went to Angelika Bengtsson's 15-5.75, giving her the best mark for that Place!
It also broke her own National Record of Sweden!!
And in 7th, also with 15-5.75, and also getting an A-T best Mark for Place--came Yarisley Silva's 15-5.75!!
WHEW!!
Other Lausanne field events---
In the absence of last-minute DNS Mutaz Barshim, Danil Lysenko's 7-9.50 took the HJ!
Renaud Lavillenie took the Street PV with 19-4.75!
Pawel Wojcieckowski's 19-2 was 2nd, with Sam Kendricks in 3rd with 18-11.
In 4th came Mondo Duplantis's 18-6.50--only the 2nd height he tried!
A better 2nd jump decided the Women's LJ, as both Malaika Mihambo and Ivana Spanovic reached 22-7.75!!
Mihambo's mark took the W!
The Women's JT went to Nikola Ogrodinkova's 213-4!
Kara Winger reached her 2018 best with 206-9 in 4th!
Tom Walsh took a Ryan Crouser-less SP with his 71-11.
The Christian Taylor vs Pablo Pedro PPPP Pichardo war went on--with Taylor's 57-9.75 (in Round 3) edging Pichardo's 57-9.50 (Round 2)!!
For Taylor, he gets the Age 28 Record!!
Morgan Lake used her own British Championships to HJ 6-5.50, her PR!
And at the Annual July 4th Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, Stephanie Bruce--age 34--prevailed over her training mate & friend Aliphine Tuliamuk--32:21 to 32:29.
After her Half Marathon PR of 1:09:27 in Australia's Gold Coast race (See earlier post!), Sara Hall flew home, and to Atlanta, where she took 3rd in 32:41.
Fourth was Allie Kieffer's 32:52!
As for the Men, it was that young man named Bernard Lagat--all of 43 years of age!!--who outkicked his foes, looking 10 years younger!!
And he beat ANOTHER Lagat--though NOT related!!--Haron, who ended in 28:49!!
Bernard became, of course, the oldest winner of this historic race!!
Finally, in the current news department, is the announcement that Canada's 800 specialist--Melissa Bishop--gave birth to daughter Corinna on July 2nd!
This was just days after Shannon Rowbury also gave birth to a daughter!!
(See earlier post!)
Some mid-season observations---
If I had to name my World Athlete's of the Year right now, I'd give the awards to Abderrahman Samba and Salwa Naser!!
For the Men, close behind might be Noah Lyles, Rai Benjamin, Tom Walsh, Michael Norman, Sergey Shubenkov, and Renaud Lavillenie!
The Women's leaders would come from the list of Aleia Hobbs, Sydney McLaughlin, Shelby Houlihan, Mariya Lasitskene, Jenn Suhr, Lijiao Gong, Nafi Thiam, and DeAnna Price!
For the US, I'd pick Lyles and Houlihan!!
But that is as of today, July 8th!!
With both "Cups" forthcoming (World & Continental), the Euro Champs, the World Juniors, and several more DL's and smaller meets (mostly in Europe)--plus the Fall's major Marathons--it's a tad early to be naming AOY's!!
The Women's Decathlon (See previous post!) was a success!!
But when will the 1st "official" Dec Championship be held?
When the 50K Walk for Women was held last year, a handful finished!
Then---months later--a BIG race was held---and the top 33 (I believe) all got Place Records---plus there being a WORLD Record being broken!!
I can easily foresee the same happening in the Women's Decathlon!!
So again---my question is---WHEN??
What's happening with Ruth Jebet's positive drug charge??
It's been awhile, and NO news as to its outcome--or even its validity!!
But IF---IF!!--it's real, then a whole bunch of Records would have to be altered!!
The WR, an NR, Age Records, etc etc!
Come on WADA, get your act together!!
And speaking of acronym-agencies, the IAAF also needs to act quickly, as it appears the World Relays--set for the Bahamas in 2019--is no more!
They can't afford it!
So it must find a new home--or be cancelled!!
WHEN will someone (other than ME!!) see the VALUE in setting up a race for the 4 X Mile Relay for Women??
The "WR, AR, and Collegiate Record" were all set in 1985 when a team from the University of Oregon ran 18:39.58!
That's just under 4:40 per Mile!!
Imagine a US National team of Shelby Houlihan, Jenny Simpson, Shannon Rowbury (back fom pregnancy!), and maybe Brenda Martinez!!
Their 1500 times--converted to Miles (add 18 seconds)--comes to 17:03!!
Yes, I said 17:03!!!
So even if EACH slowed down by 24 seconds (!!!), they'd STILL break the Record!!
As opponents, offer Kenya, Great Britain, Australia, and maybe Canada!
For the "Collegiate Record", why not make it UO vs Stanford??!!
(Let the Collegiates run the same race as the Pro's!!)
Hayward Field is DEAD!!
The track is there, but ALL of the stands are GONE!!
No attempt to relate the FUTURE Hayward to its historic and venerable past can be made!!
The two venues are NOT the same--and can't be!!
If Steve Prefontaine somehow was revived from the dead, was blindfolded, then led to the Hayward site of 15th & Agate, he would NOT recognize it!!
WHERE THE F--K did MY home go to???---he'd cry!!
As will any REAL fan of Hayward's decades of historic races and many 100's of meets---they will CRY!!
I RAN on that track---in training runs, time trials, and All-Comers meet races!!
I attended numerous meets there--including USATF and NCAA Championships--and several Prefontaine Classics!!
Thank you, Hayward Field--and may you Rest In Peace!!
As for this blog---
I just went through a brief phase of thinking of ENDING this blog!!
It's over 500 posts in---most of them rather lengthy!
They include Results of meets, Places on A-T Lists, Previews of big meets, AOY picks, and several editorials!
I've tried to make this blog "different"!
Meaning both informative AND entertaining!
I write in complete sentences, and attempt to make them "conversational" in tone!
I apologize for errors I make--and try to correct them!
But I'm a "nobody"
I was never anywhere near being an elite athlete.
I'm a writer of 1000's of pages of works---but 99.99% of them were NEVER published, or even READ by anyone!!
I write this blog---which in the annals of T&F blogs--is somewhat original!--and recieve only cursory response!
A few---VERY few!!--ReTweet my posts, or "like" them (on Twitter)--but just ONE person has seen fit to comment on the hundreds of thousands of words & numbers I've poured into print over the past 55 months!!
Does this type of blog NEED commentary?
I think so---or at least questions--or disagreements with things stated, or "facts" reported!!
Yet, just ONE person has commented on a regular basis!!
So WHY proceed??
Because I "love" it?
I do--to a degree!
But I love FAR MORE the things I do with my Track and Field Record Book---the main source for my blog!!
As often stated, my Record Book is NOT a "book" per se--it's a collection of about 600 sheets of 8 X 10.5 inch College-Rule-lined notebook paper--divided among 28 manila folders--half for INdoors, the other half for OUTdoors!
I LOVE the revising of Records and lists!
I LOVE looking at my Book, studying it, and feeling I KNOW all there is to know about what I do!!
I've been doing my Book for over 4 decades!!
The blog only began December 9, 2013!
If I were FORCED to choose between them, I'd choose my Record Book!!
EVERY TIME!!
IT is what my love of T&F is all about!
This blog is just the REPORTAGE of what's in my Record Book!!
As said, it's meant to be informative and entertaining!!
Yet FEW tell me it is---whether with complimentary words, or Twitter "likes & R/T's"!!
I'm not seeking 100's or 1000's of "pats on the back"
Or fame & fortune!
But it would be NICE if, say, Track & Field News included my blog's posts in their "News of the Week" items!
They used to---with other blogs by better known people!
I'm not Jon Mulkeen or Toni Reavis or Chris Chavez or Flotrack or Let's Run (Thank the Lord!! LOL), but this blog has a HISTORY now solid in length and depth!
Enough tears!
Next up will be the World Juniors in Tampere, Finland!
If my energy comes back to life, I MIGHT provide a Preview!!
See you soon!
For while it was at Des Moines's USATF meet that Houlihan emerged as America's best Miler (for 2018!)--beating Jenny Simpson (among others) defiantly, deliberately, and devastatingly--it was at the Switzerland DL where Houlihan put her personal stamp on the FUTURE of Middle and Long Distance running for Women!!
I may be proven wrong--as I was with Mary Cain!--but right now, I can't see ANYone beating Shelby this year---not even Genzebe Dibaba, Helen Obiri, or a certain person from South Africa!!
In Iowa, she beat a class AMERICAN field!!
But in Lausanne, she beat CS, she beat Laura Muir, she beat Sifan Hassan, and several others worthy of being labled "World Class"!
This was a Diamond League meet--no matter that that classification means much these days or not!!
It wasn't just that she won, but HOW she did it!
Fourth with 80 meters to go, she then shifted into "Houli-Drive" (for want of a better term!!), and the race was over!!
Her time of 3:57.34 was a PR by 1.72 seconds (from just 2 weeks earlier!!), and as noted, left in the dust a field of the World's best!!
Laura Muir's 3:58.18 took 2nd, with Sifan Hassan's 3:58.39 taking 3rd, and Gudaf Tsegay's 3:59.07 finishing 4th!
Rababe Arafi's 3:59.15 in 5th gave her Morocco's National Record!
For Houlihan, however, the stats are many--
It's the Lausanne Meet Record!
It moves her from 5th A-T US to 4th--ahead of one Suzy Favor Hamilton!!
And she makes deeper inroads on THREE of my US Combined Events lists!
On the 800 & 1500 list , her times of 2:01.12 & 3:57.34 add to 5:58.46.
She is 6th A-T!
On the 1500 & 3000 list, her times of 3:57.34 and 8:37.40 add to 12:34.74!
She remains 4th A-T!
And on my 1500 & 5000 list, her times of 3:57.34 & 15:00.57 adds to 18:57.91.
She remains 6th A-T here!!
The distance of 400 meters--with or without hurdles--continues as a major factor in 2018!
For Salwa Naser, her win streak continues--albeit with a relatively "slow" time of 49.78!
Of course, that's all she needed, as Jessica Beard's 50.40 was a full 0.62 seconds behind!
Jaide Stepter PR'ed in 3rd with 50.63!
On my US Combined Events list for the 400 & 400H, her times of 50.63 and 54.95 adds to 1:45.58.
She remains 8th A-T!
Shamier Little prevailed over a strong 400H field with her 53.41.
She just edged past Janieve Russell's PR of 53.46 at the line!
Georganne Moline's 53.90 took the Bronze!
And Abderrahman Samba continued his TOTAL dominance of the Men's 400H with another easy win in the mid-47's!!
His 47.42 was more than enough to defeat Karsten Warholm's 47.94!
Still over 400 meters, the ending event was a 4 X 100 Relay!
Switzerland's Women emerged the victor with a new National Record of 42.29!
Also serving as the Lausanne Meet Record, it moved them from 16th A-T Nation to 13th, tied with 2 others!
The last of the sprint races--the Men's 200--was supposed to be the meet's headliner!
And for many, it was!
But Noah Lyles made it into a "non-race", as his PR-matching 19.69 easily left behind Michael Norman's 19.88, Alex Quinonez's 20.08, and Rai Benjamin's 20.16.
Once Lyles hit the straight, the race was decided--the only question being how fast!!
Wind was a miniscule 0.4.
Gabby Thomas's Harvard-educated brain didn't slow her blonde-headed body, as her first DL win came in 22.47, and left behind 22.05 Woman Shericka Jackson, who timed 22.84 here!
Sergey Shubenkov extended his string of sub-13's, winning the 110H in 12.95, or 0.34 seconds ahead of 2nd!!
ET---aka Elaine Thompson--was left in Marie Josee Ta Lou's wake in the 100!
Ta Lou's time of 10.90 was 0.09 seconds faster than ET's 10.99!
Jenna Prandini's 11.00 took 3rd over Dafne Schippers's 11.02 in 4th.
In 5th came Switzerland's own Mujinga Kambundji, her 11.03 breaking her own National Record!!
Despite someone with the initials of FN breaking the tape, it was Ajee Wilson's 1:58.20 being declared (by ME!!) the winner of the 800!
As for that Men's 5000---
WOW!!
My only thought--after one runner grabbed onto another runner's shorts--and TUGGED--was what NBC would do to "bleep" out the naked image of one man's ARSE from their screens!!
Alas, the shorts held their place!
But Yomif Kejelcha was DQ'ed, so all's well!!
Times--in this case--are almost irrelevant!
But Birhanu Balew was the lucky recipient of the "shorts battle", emerging the winner in 13:01.09.
Selemon Barega ended 2nd in 13:02.67!
(It was the latter's shorts that stayed intact!!)
A bit of a verbal---almost physical!!--battle started AFTER the race, but cooler heads intervened, and both walked away unscathed!
(As did NBC's legal department!! LOL)
Lausanne's field events were led by the Women's PV!!
A GREAT field--with FIVE 16 footers (OUTdoors) colliding--actually was a BIT underfed with high marks---despite some Place Records being set!!
It was Rio Olympic Champ Ekaterina Stefanida whose 15-9.75 left two others with the same mark behind!
Now maybe UN-semi-retired Jenn Suhr took 2nd, while Anzhelika Sidorova's 15-9.75 took 3rd!
Sidorova tied the best 3rd Place mark!
Both Eliza McCartney and Sandi Morris were given 4th place!
This regurgitated an old argument that a fan of my blog and I had about Place Records!!
On my Place Records list, my 5th, 6th, and 7th Place Records were all 15-5!
So while the NZ'er and the American were TIED in FOURTH---with the next placing being 6th--and since BOTH the 4th & the 5th Place Records were 15-5, HOW could I make 4th place LESS than 5th's mark??
If I had, my 5th Place mark of 15-5 would have been LESS than my 6th Place mark of 15-5.75!!
Doesn't make sense to me!!
Thus my "solution" of leaving Alana Boyd's 15-9 as the best 4th Place mark--while giving both McCartney & Morris a TIE for best "5th" place mark at 15-5.75--even though their Lausanne placing was 4th!!
Anyway, 6th was a LOT easier!!
That went to Angelika Bengtsson's 15-5.75, giving her the best mark for that Place!
It also broke her own National Record of Sweden!!
And in 7th, also with 15-5.75, and also getting an A-T best Mark for Place--came Yarisley Silva's 15-5.75!!
WHEW!!
Other Lausanne field events---
In the absence of last-minute DNS Mutaz Barshim, Danil Lysenko's 7-9.50 took the HJ!
Renaud Lavillenie took the Street PV with 19-4.75!
Pawel Wojcieckowski's 19-2 was 2nd, with Sam Kendricks in 3rd with 18-11.
In 4th came Mondo Duplantis's 18-6.50--only the 2nd height he tried!
A better 2nd jump decided the Women's LJ, as both Malaika Mihambo and Ivana Spanovic reached 22-7.75!!
Mihambo's mark took the W!
The Women's JT went to Nikola Ogrodinkova's 213-4!
Kara Winger reached her 2018 best with 206-9 in 4th!
Tom Walsh took a Ryan Crouser-less SP with his 71-11.
The Christian Taylor vs Pablo Pedro PPPP Pichardo war went on--with Taylor's 57-9.75 (in Round 3) edging Pichardo's 57-9.50 (Round 2)!!
For Taylor, he gets the Age 28 Record!!
Morgan Lake used her own British Championships to HJ 6-5.50, her PR!
And at the Annual July 4th Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, Stephanie Bruce--age 34--prevailed over her training mate & friend Aliphine Tuliamuk--32:21 to 32:29.
After her Half Marathon PR of 1:09:27 in Australia's Gold Coast race (See earlier post!), Sara Hall flew home, and to Atlanta, where she took 3rd in 32:41.
Fourth was Allie Kieffer's 32:52!
As for the Men, it was that young man named Bernard Lagat--all of 43 years of age!!--who outkicked his foes, looking 10 years younger!!
And he beat ANOTHER Lagat--though NOT related!!--Haron, who ended in 28:49!!
Bernard became, of course, the oldest winner of this historic race!!
Finally, in the current news department, is the announcement that Canada's 800 specialist--Melissa Bishop--gave birth to daughter Corinna on July 2nd!
This was just days after Shannon Rowbury also gave birth to a daughter!!
(See earlier post!)
Some mid-season observations---
If I had to name my World Athlete's of the Year right now, I'd give the awards to Abderrahman Samba and Salwa Naser!!
For the Men, close behind might be Noah Lyles, Rai Benjamin, Tom Walsh, Michael Norman, Sergey Shubenkov, and Renaud Lavillenie!
The Women's leaders would come from the list of Aleia Hobbs, Sydney McLaughlin, Shelby Houlihan, Mariya Lasitskene, Jenn Suhr, Lijiao Gong, Nafi Thiam, and DeAnna Price!
For the US, I'd pick Lyles and Houlihan!!
But that is as of today, July 8th!!
With both "Cups" forthcoming (World & Continental), the Euro Champs, the World Juniors, and several more DL's and smaller meets (mostly in Europe)--plus the Fall's major Marathons--it's a tad early to be naming AOY's!!
The Women's Decathlon (See previous post!) was a success!!
But when will the 1st "official" Dec Championship be held?
When the 50K Walk for Women was held last year, a handful finished!
Then---months later--a BIG race was held---and the top 33 (I believe) all got Place Records---plus there being a WORLD Record being broken!!
I can easily foresee the same happening in the Women's Decathlon!!
So again---my question is---WHEN??
What's happening with Ruth Jebet's positive drug charge??
It's been awhile, and NO news as to its outcome--or even its validity!!
But IF---IF!!--it's real, then a whole bunch of Records would have to be altered!!
The WR, an NR, Age Records, etc etc!
Come on WADA, get your act together!!
And speaking of acronym-agencies, the IAAF also needs to act quickly, as it appears the World Relays--set for the Bahamas in 2019--is no more!
They can't afford it!
So it must find a new home--or be cancelled!!
WHEN will someone (other than ME!!) see the VALUE in setting up a race for the 4 X Mile Relay for Women??
The "WR, AR, and Collegiate Record" were all set in 1985 when a team from the University of Oregon ran 18:39.58!
That's just under 4:40 per Mile!!
Imagine a US National team of Shelby Houlihan, Jenny Simpson, Shannon Rowbury (back fom pregnancy!), and maybe Brenda Martinez!!
Their 1500 times--converted to Miles (add 18 seconds)--comes to 17:03!!
Yes, I said 17:03!!!
So even if EACH slowed down by 24 seconds (!!!), they'd STILL break the Record!!
As opponents, offer Kenya, Great Britain, Australia, and maybe Canada!
For the "Collegiate Record", why not make it UO vs Stanford??!!
(Let the Collegiates run the same race as the Pro's!!)
Hayward Field is DEAD!!
The track is there, but ALL of the stands are GONE!!
No attempt to relate the FUTURE Hayward to its historic and venerable past can be made!!
The two venues are NOT the same--and can't be!!
If Steve Prefontaine somehow was revived from the dead, was blindfolded, then led to the Hayward site of 15th & Agate, he would NOT recognize it!!
WHERE THE F--K did MY home go to???---he'd cry!!
As will any REAL fan of Hayward's decades of historic races and many 100's of meets---they will CRY!!
I RAN on that track---in training runs, time trials, and All-Comers meet races!!
I attended numerous meets there--including USATF and NCAA Championships--and several Prefontaine Classics!!
Thank you, Hayward Field--and may you Rest In Peace!!
As for this blog---
I just went through a brief phase of thinking of ENDING this blog!!
It's over 500 posts in---most of them rather lengthy!
They include Results of meets, Places on A-T Lists, Previews of big meets, AOY picks, and several editorials!
I've tried to make this blog "different"!
Meaning both informative AND entertaining!
I write in complete sentences, and attempt to make them "conversational" in tone!
I apologize for errors I make--and try to correct them!
But I'm a "nobody"
I was never anywhere near being an elite athlete.
I'm a writer of 1000's of pages of works---but 99.99% of them were NEVER published, or even READ by anyone!!
I write this blog---which in the annals of T&F blogs--is somewhat original!--and recieve only cursory response!
A few---VERY few!!--ReTweet my posts, or "like" them (on Twitter)--but just ONE person has seen fit to comment on the hundreds of thousands of words & numbers I've poured into print over the past 55 months!!
Does this type of blog NEED commentary?
I think so---or at least questions--or disagreements with things stated, or "facts" reported!!
Yet, just ONE person has commented on a regular basis!!
So WHY proceed??
Because I "love" it?
I do--to a degree!
But I love FAR MORE the things I do with my Track and Field Record Book---the main source for my blog!!
As often stated, my Record Book is NOT a "book" per se--it's a collection of about 600 sheets of 8 X 10.5 inch College-Rule-lined notebook paper--divided among 28 manila folders--half for INdoors, the other half for OUTdoors!
I LOVE the revising of Records and lists!
I LOVE looking at my Book, studying it, and feeling I KNOW all there is to know about what I do!!
I've been doing my Book for over 4 decades!!
The blog only began December 9, 2013!
If I were FORCED to choose between them, I'd choose my Record Book!!
EVERY TIME!!
IT is what my love of T&F is all about!
This blog is just the REPORTAGE of what's in my Record Book!!
As said, it's meant to be informative and entertaining!!
Yet FEW tell me it is---whether with complimentary words, or Twitter "likes & R/T's"!!
I'm not seeking 100's or 1000's of "pats on the back"
Or fame & fortune!
But it would be NICE if, say, Track & Field News included my blog's posts in their "News of the Week" items!
They used to---with other blogs by better known people!
I'm not Jon Mulkeen or Toni Reavis or Chris Chavez or Flotrack or Let's Run (Thank the Lord!! LOL), but this blog has a HISTORY now solid in length and depth!
Enough tears!
Next up will be the World Juniors in Tampere, Finland!
If my energy comes back to life, I MIGHT provide a Preview!!
See you soon!
Tuesday, July 3, 2018
The Decathlon for Women
Becca Peter is a really cute nerd!
She is passionate about the Pole Vault, and in fact calls her Twitter page "PoleVaultPower".
But in recent weeks--besides her tweeting on every major PV competiton, Men or Women--you may have seen her tweets or Facebook messages about the Decathlon for Women that took place on June 30th & July 1st in Grass Valley, CA!!
(Join her FB group about the Women's Decathlon! Lots of famous names have joined!)
Over the years--nay, decades!--there's been talk (arguments!) about the NEED for a Dec for Women!
The naysayers state they already have the Heptathlon, with its own long & worthy history!
INdoors, it's the Pentathlon!
(If this is successful, do we next see an INdoor Hept for Women---bringing on a certain equality with the Men??)
The latter is one reason Women want a Decathlon for their sex---and why some MEN don't!!
Readers of this blog are familiar with my promotion, and FULL coverage!---of the 50000 Walk for Women at 2017's WC in London!!
And of my RAGE at the kidnapping of the last two Women from the course---even though they'd finished over 40K at that point!!
No such rage about Becca's Dec!
(I call it Becca's Dec because she organized and promoted it, and even put out prize money from her own pocket!!)
But this was also an event (or 10 of them!!) for the ATHLETES!
They had two divisions (at least!)---a Masters, and an Open!
This post will be concerned with the Open Division ONLY!!
(If you read my blog, you know I don't cater to Masters, Youth, or Junior labels in all of T&F either--so no difference with the Women's Dec!)
Finding data on the Women's Dec is rather difficult--especially Records & Marks--which this blog is most concerned with, of course!
For example, while Becca provided me with a LONG list of A-T Americans, Wikipedia had just the Top 10 A-T for the World Women's Dec!!
A few notes on what this post will cover--and what it won't (or can't!).
I've already culled a Top 24 A-T list for the US from the longer list Becca provided!
Using the Wikipedia Top 10 World list, I added another 14 marks from my US list!!
Thus, my World list is NOT the actual list of the Top 24 A-T Performers for the World!!
I have no doubt that there are more than 10 World marks that are better than those other 14 I added!!
As with my previous additions of the INdoor 300 & 600, and the Relays OUTdoors, these Women's Dec lists are a "work in progress"!
Also, as with the 50K Walk for Women, once more than one competition of any consequence is held, I have no doubt these lists will be RADICALLY revised!!
The WR, the AR, Age Records, National Records, Place Records, will all be drastically altered over the next 2 or 3 years---IF there are some "major" competitions held for this Multi!
(Will Gotzis or Talence add a Women's Dec to their program??)
Also, as it becomes more competitive, we'll almost certainly see some BIG names give it a whirl!
The Grass Valley comp's only recognizable name (by me!) was Laura Marty, a pretty fair PV'er at Duke!!
(She wore her Duke shirt during her pre-meet interview!!)
BTW, as with all other events, if a Women's Dec is held AFTER the NCAA meet, any marks recorded will NOT be eligible for Collegiate Records or Lists!!
Anyway, please keep in mind that ALL of the following data is INCOMPLETE!!
As time goes on, I will update my lists,and any other Records or Marks, and report them in this blog!
Onward!
First, SOME results from the Grass Valley Women's Decathlon---
Morgan Griffiths won, scoring 5939 points.
Second was Anna Lee McGregor, with 5786 points.
3rd went to Hannah McPhee's 5503 points.
Fourth was Brysen Stately's 5016 points.
The only other 5000 points scorer was 5th placer Lauren Kuntz, who totaled 5005!
(Laura Marty--sadly--was a DNF after the 3rd event, with a slight injury!)
Leading after Day 1 were---
McGregor, with 3164 points.
Griffiths, with 3160.
McPhee with 2996.
Stately, with 2983.
And Kuntz, with 2489.
(Marty was 3rd after 3 events, with 1807 points!)
The Women's Decathlon runs their events in a different order than the Men!
The first day (in order) has the 100, DT, PV, JT, and the 400.
The second day has the 100H, LJ, SP, HJ, and the 1500!
Despite "experts" opinions to the contrary, I see absolutely NO reason that the events can't follow the exact same order as the Men!!
The order was apparently set by the IAAF---an organization not always known for its brilliant ideas and strategies--or its leadership!!
My Top 24 lists!
As noted, I have them for the US and World only!
Tiffany Lott-Hogan is the American Record holder with 7577 points, dating from 2000.
Two others topped 7000--Kim Schmierman's 7184, and Brianna Eveland's 7064!
A VERY famous name--Stacy Dragila!!--just missed, scoring 6999 points in 1997!
As of right now, there are 4 marks dated 2018 on this list---but not all of them from the CA meet!!
Griffith's mark ranks 11th.
McGregor's PR is from 2014, when she scored 6110 points!
McPhee's 5503 ranks her 22nd A-T US, but tied with---Laura Marty!!--the latter scoring her 5503 in 2015!!
Liz Rotti scored 5551 points earlier this year, ranking 20th on the US list!!
MY World list---before I added those US marks--was similar to my HS 3000SC list for Women!
That list has just 14 marks on it.
I COULD have stuck with Wiki's Top 10, and left it at that!
But I wanted to have a Top 24 list, so added those US marks!
As noted above, I have NO doubt that list will change---a LOT--in 2019 and 2020!!
But as of now, the WR holder is Austra Skujyte's 8358 points, dating from 2005!
Marie Collville's 8150--from 2004--is the only other 8000-plus score!
Irina Karpova's 7798 dates from 2004!
Then follows Lott-Hogan's 7577!
Again, with those added US marks, 24th place on the World list is a Woman with the last name of Leslie, her 5689 dating from 2007!
Only two marks from 2018 make the World list--a Woman with the last name of Hill scored 6539 points earlier this year, and Griffith's 5939!
I also have Class Records for HS'ers!
(Provided with that deep US list from Becca!!)
Last names only---
Frosh Record is Bramwell's 5200, from 2012.
Hanson has the Soph & Junior Class Records--her 5379 from 1981 being the Soph mark, and her 5640 from 1982 being the Junior Class mark!
The Senior Class Record---and HSR!!--belongs to Leslie's 5676 from 2013!!
(What would Kendell Williams---or Emma Fitzgerald, or Anna Hall, or Sterling Lester---have scored if they'd given it a try while in HS??)
Ms Peter---I know her best as "PVP"!!---did a brilliant and tireless job putting this baby together!!
I can't imagine all the work---and hours & days & maybe months!!--it took out of her life to do this!
And I KNOW all the athletes---and fans of this event--thank her sincerely!
But the future of this event depends on more than one person!!
It will take more money---not the $500 Becca gave from her wallet for First Place---and better known athletes (with all due respect to those valiant pioneers who gave it their all in Grass Valley!)--and official sanctions & Record ratification status from the IAAF and USATF!!
Thankfully, no one was kidnapped from the track or fields of play by the Director!
Everyone who could--finished!!
And was proud to have taken part!
As with those 50K Walk pioneers, those Women who competed last weekend should feel proud to have done so---and their names will go down in history!!
Records get broken--and I have no doubt the WR and AR will soon fall!!
And many--if not EVERY!--name on my lists will one day be erased from those lists!!
As with all those other "new" events for Women---the TJ, HT, 5K, 10K, 3000SC, the Marathon--the early historic names that "began" the march to excellence--will have disappeared!
(Or maybe they won't!! After all, the WR for the Women's Heptathlon still dates from 1988!!!)
In future blog posts, you can count on me to report ANY & ALL changes to my lists that emerge---from actual competitions, or from further research & discovery!
See you soon with my post on the Lausanne DL, and whatever else is worthy of reportage!
She is passionate about the Pole Vault, and in fact calls her Twitter page "PoleVaultPower".
But in recent weeks--besides her tweeting on every major PV competiton, Men or Women--you may have seen her tweets or Facebook messages about the Decathlon for Women that took place on June 30th & July 1st in Grass Valley, CA!!
(Join her FB group about the Women's Decathlon! Lots of famous names have joined!)
Over the years--nay, decades!--there's been talk (arguments!) about the NEED for a Dec for Women!
The naysayers state they already have the Heptathlon, with its own long & worthy history!
INdoors, it's the Pentathlon!
(If this is successful, do we next see an INdoor Hept for Women---bringing on a certain equality with the Men??)
The latter is one reason Women want a Decathlon for their sex---and why some MEN don't!!
Readers of this blog are familiar with my promotion, and FULL coverage!---of the 50000 Walk for Women at 2017's WC in London!!
And of my RAGE at the kidnapping of the last two Women from the course---even though they'd finished over 40K at that point!!
No such rage about Becca's Dec!
(I call it Becca's Dec because she organized and promoted it, and even put out prize money from her own pocket!!)
But this was also an event (or 10 of them!!) for the ATHLETES!
They had two divisions (at least!)---a Masters, and an Open!
This post will be concerned with the Open Division ONLY!!
(If you read my blog, you know I don't cater to Masters, Youth, or Junior labels in all of T&F either--so no difference with the Women's Dec!)
Finding data on the Women's Dec is rather difficult--especially Records & Marks--which this blog is most concerned with, of course!
For example, while Becca provided me with a LONG list of A-T Americans, Wikipedia had just the Top 10 A-T for the World Women's Dec!!
A few notes on what this post will cover--and what it won't (or can't!).
I've already culled a Top 24 A-T list for the US from the longer list Becca provided!
Using the Wikipedia Top 10 World list, I added another 14 marks from my US list!!
Thus, my World list is NOT the actual list of the Top 24 A-T Performers for the World!!
I have no doubt that there are more than 10 World marks that are better than those other 14 I added!!
As with my previous additions of the INdoor 300 & 600, and the Relays OUTdoors, these Women's Dec lists are a "work in progress"!
Also, as with the 50K Walk for Women, once more than one competition of any consequence is held, I have no doubt these lists will be RADICALLY revised!!
The WR, the AR, Age Records, National Records, Place Records, will all be drastically altered over the next 2 or 3 years---IF there are some "major" competitions held for this Multi!
(Will Gotzis or Talence add a Women's Dec to their program??)
Also, as it becomes more competitive, we'll almost certainly see some BIG names give it a whirl!
The Grass Valley comp's only recognizable name (by me!) was Laura Marty, a pretty fair PV'er at Duke!!
(She wore her Duke shirt during her pre-meet interview!!)
BTW, as with all other events, if a Women's Dec is held AFTER the NCAA meet, any marks recorded will NOT be eligible for Collegiate Records or Lists!!
Anyway, please keep in mind that ALL of the following data is INCOMPLETE!!
As time goes on, I will update my lists,and any other Records or Marks, and report them in this blog!
Onward!
First, SOME results from the Grass Valley Women's Decathlon---
Morgan Griffiths won, scoring 5939 points.
Second was Anna Lee McGregor, with 5786 points.
3rd went to Hannah McPhee's 5503 points.
Fourth was Brysen Stately's 5016 points.
The only other 5000 points scorer was 5th placer Lauren Kuntz, who totaled 5005!
(Laura Marty--sadly--was a DNF after the 3rd event, with a slight injury!)
Leading after Day 1 were---
McGregor, with 3164 points.
Griffiths, with 3160.
McPhee with 2996.
Stately, with 2983.
And Kuntz, with 2489.
(Marty was 3rd after 3 events, with 1807 points!)
The Women's Decathlon runs their events in a different order than the Men!
The first day (in order) has the 100, DT, PV, JT, and the 400.
The second day has the 100H, LJ, SP, HJ, and the 1500!
Despite "experts" opinions to the contrary, I see absolutely NO reason that the events can't follow the exact same order as the Men!!
The order was apparently set by the IAAF---an organization not always known for its brilliant ideas and strategies--or its leadership!!
My Top 24 lists!
As noted, I have them for the US and World only!
Tiffany Lott-Hogan is the American Record holder with 7577 points, dating from 2000.
Two others topped 7000--Kim Schmierman's 7184, and Brianna Eveland's 7064!
A VERY famous name--Stacy Dragila!!--just missed, scoring 6999 points in 1997!
As of right now, there are 4 marks dated 2018 on this list---but not all of them from the CA meet!!
Griffith's mark ranks 11th.
McGregor's PR is from 2014, when she scored 6110 points!
McPhee's 5503 ranks her 22nd A-T US, but tied with---Laura Marty!!--the latter scoring her 5503 in 2015!!
Liz Rotti scored 5551 points earlier this year, ranking 20th on the US list!!
MY World list---before I added those US marks--was similar to my HS 3000SC list for Women!
That list has just 14 marks on it.
I COULD have stuck with Wiki's Top 10, and left it at that!
But I wanted to have a Top 24 list, so added those US marks!
As noted above, I have NO doubt that list will change---a LOT--in 2019 and 2020!!
But as of now, the WR holder is Austra Skujyte's 8358 points, dating from 2005!
Marie Collville's 8150--from 2004--is the only other 8000-plus score!
Irina Karpova's 7798 dates from 2004!
Then follows Lott-Hogan's 7577!
Again, with those added US marks, 24th place on the World list is a Woman with the last name of Leslie, her 5689 dating from 2007!
Only two marks from 2018 make the World list--a Woman with the last name of Hill scored 6539 points earlier this year, and Griffith's 5939!
I also have Class Records for HS'ers!
(Provided with that deep US list from Becca!!)
Last names only---
Frosh Record is Bramwell's 5200, from 2012.
Hanson has the Soph & Junior Class Records--her 5379 from 1981 being the Soph mark, and her 5640 from 1982 being the Junior Class mark!
The Senior Class Record---and HSR!!--belongs to Leslie's 5676 from 2013!!
(What would Kendell Williams---or Emma Fitzgerald, or Anna Hall, or Sterling Lester---have scored if they'd given it a try while in HS??)
Ms Peter---I know her best as "PVP"!!---did a brilliant and tireless job putting this baby together!!
I can't imagine all the work---and hours & days & maybe months!!--it took out of her life to do this!
And I KNOW all the athletes---and fans of this event--thank her sincerely!
But the future of this event depends on more than one person!!
It will take more money---not the $500 Becca gave from her wallet for First Place---and better known athletes (with all due respect to those valiant pioneers who gave it their all in Grass Valley!)--and official sanctions & Record ratification status from the IAAF and USATF!!
Thankfully, no one was kidnapped from the track or fields of play by the Director!
Everyone who could--finished!!
And was proud to have taken part!
As with those 50K Walk pioneers, those Women who competed last weekend should feel proud to have done so---and their names will go down in history!!
Records get broken--and I have no doubt the WR and AR will soon fall!!
And many--if not EVERY!--name on my lists will one day be erased from those lists!!
As with all those other "new" events for Women---the TJ, HT, 5K, 10K, 3000SC, the Marathon--the early historic names that "began" the march to excellence--will have disappeared!
(Or maybe they won't!! After all, the WR for the Women's Heptathlon still dates from 1988!!!)
In future blog posts, you can count on me to report ANY & ALL changes to my lists that emerge---from actual competitions, or from further research & discovery!
See you soon with my post on the Lausanne DL, and whatever else is worthy of reportage!
Monday, July 2, 2018
Paris One of the Best
Just days after saying (yet again, in my previous post!) how the Diamond League meets are a "deterrent to the progress of our sport", along comes Paris!
It's where my niece lived for many years--before moving to Mumbai, India--so maybe I should have expected this particular DL might be a bit more productive--and progressive!
And for 46.98 seconds of brilliantly flawless running by Abderrahman Samba, it was!!
This incredible newcomer is suddenly closer to Kevin Young's WR of 46.78 than Rai Benjamin came a mere 3 weeks ago!!
(And according to sources, they won't be meeting in a 400H race until 2019!!)
Kirsten Warholm might have been closer than his 3rd place 48.06--if he hadn't stumbled over a hurdle late in the race!
As it was, Samba's time gives him the Age 22 Record, the Paris Meet Record, and breaks his own National Record of Qatar!
He moves from 14th A-T World to 2nd!!
BTW, his best flat 400 is 45.47, so his total time of 1:32.45 for the Combined Events of the 400 & 400H does NOT make my list, which requires a total time of 1:31.99 or faster!
Another 400H guy having a big 2018 is Kyron McMaster!
He ended 2nd in 47.54, breaking his own National Record of the British Virgin Islands!!
He's 18th A-T World, tied with 2 others!
As noted, Warholm took 3rd in 48.06, followed by TJ Holmes's 48.30--a PR!
This meet was rife with incredible marks!
For example, Mariya Lasitskene continued her long win streak, HJ'ing 6-8.25!
This gave her the Paris Meet Record, and kept her well ahead of Nafi Thiam and Yuliya Levchenko, both clearing 6-5.50!
Or Beatrice Chepkoech, who won the 3000SC in 8:59.36!
She broke her own Age 26 Record, but remains 4th A-T World.
On my World C-E list for the 3000 and 3000SC, her times of 8:28.66 and 8:59.36 add to 17:28.02.
She remains on Top of the World!!
Celiphine Chespol took 2nd in 9:01.82, with Hyvin Jepkemoi 3rd in 9:03.86.
Norah Tanui's 9:04.17 gives her the best 4th Place mark!!
Winfred Yavi took 5th in 9:12.74!
The Men's 200 was a blazer!!
With two recent USC Trojans gone Pro ending 1st & 2nd!!
(And wearing their USC colors--as they haven't yet signed with a shoe company!!)
Winner was Michael Norman's 19.84--INTO a wind of 0.6!!!
He is 14th A-T US!
He misses the World DDD by 0.04 seconds!
However, he improves his standing on both my World & US Combined Events lists for the 100 & 200 & 400!
His times are 10.27, 19.84, and 43.61--adding to 1:13.72.
He moves from 5th to 4th on the World list, and from 3rd to 2nd on the US list!
Rai Benjamin took a quick 2nd with a PR of 19.99--reportedly making him the fastest 200 guy on the A-T 400H list!!
He misses the US list by 0.03 seconds!!
Alex Quinonez ended 3rd in a good 20.08!
BTW, in the South American Championships, Quinonez broke TWO National Records of Ecuador--his 100 time of 10.09, and his 19.93 over 200!
The Brothers Three (aka Sam Kendricks, Mondo Duplantis, and Renaud Lavillenie) had another Battle Royale in the PV!
Kendricks emerged on top (Literally!! LOL) with his 19-6.50!
Mondo again ended better than the INdoor WR holder, his 19-4.25 topping the 19-2 by the Frenchman!
In a great competition, Piotr Lisek and Shawn Barber also cleared 19-2's!
Kendricks was perfect through 5.90, then missed once at his winning height!
He took 3 tries at 19-10.25!!
Salwa Naser continues to amaze!
She easily won the 400 in 49.55--with 2nd a full 0.84 seconds behind--Jessica Beard's 50.39!
She misses my World DDD by 0.23 seconds!
But she breaks her own National Record of Bahrain!
Tim Cheruiyot pretty much soloed to his 3:29.71 in the 1500, as 2nd (Ayanleh Souleiman) was timed in 3:31.77!
Jakub Holusa's 5th place time of 3:32.85 broke his own National Record of the Czech Republic!!
Shericka Jackson of Jamaica improved yet again in the 200, her 22.05 PR easily defeating Jenna Prandini's 22.30!
Ronnie Baker sped the 100 in 9.88 (0.8), missing my World list by a mere 0.01 seconds!!
But he moves from 15th A-T US to 9th, tied with 4 others!!
Jimmy Vicaut and Bingtian Su were both timed in 9.91, but Vicaut was given 2nd!
For Su, it ties his own National Record of China!
Fourth went to Akani Simbine's 9.94!!
Both 800's were good!
The Men's race went to Ferguson Rotich's 1:43.73.
Jon Kitilit was 2nd in 1:43.83.
In 3rd came Isaiah Harris's 1:44.42, which gives him the title of Caboose on my US DDD train!!
The Women's race----and I DO emphasize "WOMEN's"!!!--went to Ajee Wilson's 1:57.11.
Habitam Alemu took 2nd in 1:57.17, with Natoya Goule's 1:57.69 in 3rd giving her the National Record of Jamaica!
It was a deep race, as 8th went to Sifan Hassan's 1:59.35.
Oh yes, a certain South African was timed in 1:54.25---a time which 100's of MEN have run while in High School!!
Just saying!
And someone with the initials FN ran 1:55.86.
This event continues as FARCE of the Century!!
Sad.
The Paris DT's went to Fedric Dacres's 219-10, and Sandra Perkovic's 225-1, which broke her own Meet Record!
Yaime Perez took second with her 218-4.
Caterine Ibarguen's 48-8 TJ won over Kimberly Williams's 47-8.25, and the former star of the Oiselle team--Tori Franklin--who measured out at 47-6.50!
They had a Triathlon (LJ, SP, and 110H) for the Multi's Men!
Kevin Mayer showed he might be moving towards a 9000 score soon, as he PR'ed in the SP (16.51) and 110H (13.71), while LJ'ing 7.62!!
A pair of National Records were taken care of in a B 100 race!!
Abdallah Mohammed's 10.03 won the race, and gave him the NR of Saudi Arabia, while Hassan Taftian (sp??) was also timed in 10.03--for the NR of Ireland!!
Finally--from Paris!--we have Sergey Shubenkov False Starting in the 110H!!
The race was won by Ron Levy's 13.18!
(Shubenkov had run 13.05 in the heats!!)
The Russian redeemed himself by speeding a BIG PR of 12.92 in the Istvan Gyulai Memorial meet in Hungary!!
This meet also produced a slough of top marks!!
But it was Shubenkov's that shone the brightest!
He broke his own National Record of Russia!
Winning by a BIG 0.35 seconds, he moves from 17th A-T World, tied with 2 others, to 8th, also tied with 2 others!
Mutaz Barshim won the HJ with 7-10.50, which ties the Age 27 Record!!
But more importantly, he took 3 attempts at a WR height of 2.46, or 8-0.75!!!
His 1st was said to be THIS close!
On his 3rd, however, he seemed to hurt his ankle, as his people were seen examining him before he left the pit!!
Let's hope it's minor--as he seems ready to FINALLY get Javier Sotomayor's legendary 8-0.50 WR!!
Raven Saunders "centimetered" to victory in the SP---her 61-7.75 literally beating second by ONE centimeter!!
Sharika Nelvis's 12.55 in the 100H beat 3 other Americans--the 12.58 of Kendra Harrison, the 12.65 of Christina Manning, and the best so far for Dawn Harper-Nelson in her farewell season--time of 12.75!
Christian Taylor actually COMPETED in Hungary, winning the TJ with his 57-10.50.
Shaunae Miller-Uibo cruised to the W in the 400, time of 49.53!
Ferguson Rotich took the 800 in 1:44.08 over the 1:44.18 of Nijel Amos.
In 4th came Clay Murphy, his time of 1:44.69 being his 2018 best.
Then Genzebe Dibaba jogged to a Mile victory in 4:24.29.
Kate Grace was 3rd in 4:29.33.
Lots of other stuff to report---
From the Old News Department comes the 22-6.50 LJ by Caterine Ibarguen!
This breaks her own National Record of Colombia!
Jianan Wang's 27-9.50 LJ tied his own National Record of China!
Lujiao Gong's SP of 66-10.50 became the World Leader!
The Ratingen Multi's went to the 8481 Decathlon score of Arthur Abele--and to Carolin Schafer's 6549 in the Heptathlon.
Irina Dadic took 2nd with 6413, while 3rd went to Georgia's (and Germany's!) Louisa Grauvogel, who scored a PR total of 6162 points!!
Juan Echevarria continues to astound--his latest sending him 28-5.75 in the LJ, breaking his own Age 19 Record!!
He remains 10th A-T World!!
Good PV marks go to---
Timur Morgunov's 19-5
Anzhelika Sidorova's 15-5
Iryna Zhuk's 15-3.50--which gets her the National Record of Belarus
Robelys Peinado's 15-5--breaking her own National Record of Venezuela!!
Alonzo Edward also got an NR--his 10.01 in the 100 being Panama's new NR!
Lea Sprunger sped the 400 in 50.52, making her Switzerland's new National Record holder!
Arthur Cisse sprinted the 100 in 9.94, giving him the National Record of the Ivory Coast!
Emily Jerotich might have won an 800 race in France (NOT in the Paris DL!!) in 1:58.04, but it was Halimah Nakaayi's 1:58.39 in 2nd which gave her the National Record of Uganda!!
Emiliano Lasa LJ'ed 27-1.25, giving him the National Record of Uruguay!
Wojciech Nowicki continued his 2018 dominance of the Men's HT---and Pawel Fajdek!!--by beating his fellow Pole for the fifth straight time!!
His 268-6 beat Fajdek's 266-2.
At the British Championships, Dina Asher-Smith won the 100 in 10.97!
And Lorraine Ugen finally got a 7 meter LJ, her 7.05 winner translating to 23-1.25 in, um, English measure!!
LOL
Jazmin Sawyers also PR'ed in 2nd, her longest measuring 22-6.50!
A bit of Road action to report---
Kenneth Mungara is phenomenal!
He's my "40 & over" Age Record holder for the Marathon with his 2:08:38, which he ran in 2016--when only 42!!
Well, now Age 44 (born September 7, 1973), he ran 2:09:49--to WIN the Gold Coast Marathon in Australia!!
I've heard that SHATTERS the Age 44 Record!!
Also at the Gold Coast race--but in the Half--two American Women took 1st and 2nd!
Sara Hall snipped 10 seconds off her previous best, winning in 1:09:27!
She remains 8th A-T US!
And Laura Thweatt was 2nd in 1:10:17--which makes her 16th A-T US!!
I have a couple of additions (and corrections??) to make--
Donald Scott's winning TJ at the USATF meet moved him from 19th A-T US to 16th, tied with 1 other!
And if you recall, I reported that Genzebe Dibaba had won a 2000 meters race in 5:27 & change!
Well, if the eTN is correct, she actually ran 5:38.00, NOT 5:27!!
I remember seeing 5:27 in a report on Twitter--but Twitterers DO make mistakes!!
If I find out anything further, I'll update it!
Finally--
I'm thrilled to report the birth of daughter Rosaleen to Pablo Solares and Shannon Rowbury on June 30th!!
Might we see her (Shannon, that is!! LOL) next INdoor season??
Oh, almost forgot!
I saw a podcast advertised for the Runners Book Club (??), to feature one Mary Cain!!
I'd seen this Club (and its podcasts) mentioned on Twitter, but hadn't listened to any of the first 4!
This 5th edition---with Cain--spoke about the book "The Little Prince"!
But while I'd read that book (& liked it) a long time ago, I was MUCH more interested to hear what Cain had to say about her running!
Interviewed by Kyle Merber and Alexi Pappas (apparently the Club's founders!), Cain said she fully intends to race in 2018---"in the next month or two"!!
She was injured, and went through a long recovery, and "getting back to basics" training (MY quotes!), but is in good shape, and will race again soon!
(This interview took place DURING the USATF Champs!!)
She also mentioned having a boyfriend--name unknown--and of being a Med student at Fordham!
She spoke also about training IN New York City--especially Central Park--and of attending Yankee games, and doing other "non-running" stuff!
Welcome back, Mary!!
(Good to hear Merber & Pappas too--the latter of whom said she recently married!!)
If you're wondering where my report is on the Women's Decathlon held on June 30th and July 1st in Grass Valley, CA---wonder no more!!
I've been busy redecorating my T&F Record Book with a variety of Records and Lists---all about the Decathlon for Women!
And I will give a FULL report on this long-awaited event in my next post--possibly in a few hours, but no later than early tomorrow!!
Watch for it!!
See you soon!
ADDED 1 Hour Later---
Dana Baker threw 180-10 in the JT this past weekend--report just in!
Didn't want you to have to wait, so adding it here!
It moves her from 4th A-T HS to 3rd!
And it gives her the Senior Class Record!!
She'll be throwing at the WJC in Finland!!
It's where my niece lived for many years--before moving to Mumbai, India--so maybe I should have expected this particular DL might be a bit more productive--and progressive!
And for 46.98 seconds of brilliantly flawless running by Abderrahman Samba, it was!!
This incredible newcomer is suddenly closer to Kevin Young's WR of 46.78 than Rai Benjamin came a mere 3 weeks ago!!
(And according to sources, they won't be meeting in a 400H race until 2019!!)
Kirsten Warholm might have been closer than his 3rd place 48.06--if he hadn't stumbled over a hurdle late in the race!
As it was, Samba's time gives him the Age 22 Record, the Paris Meet Record, and breaks his own National Record of Qatar!
He moves from 14th A-T World to 2nd!!
BTW, his best flat 400 is 45.47, so his total time of 1:32.45 for the Combined Events of the 400 & 400H does NOT make my list, which requires a total time of 1:31.99 or faster!
Another 400H guy having a big 2018 is Kyron McMaster!
He ended 2nd in 47.54, breaking his own National Record of the British Virgin Islands!!
He's 18th A-T World, tied with 2 others!
As noted, Warholm took 3rd in 48.06, followed by TJ Holmes's 48.30--a PR!
This meet was rife with incredible marks!
For example, Mariya Lasitskene continued her long win streak, HJ'ing 6-8.25!
This gave her the Paris Meet Record, and kept her well ahead of Nafi Thiam and Yuliya Levchenko, both clearing 6-5.50!
Or Beatrice Chepkoech, who won the 3000SC in 8:59.36!
She broke her own Age 26 Record, but remains 4th A-T World.
On my World C-E list for the 3000 and 3000SC, her times of 8:28.66 and 8:59.36 add to 17:28.02.
She remains on Top of the World!!
Celiphine Chespol took 2nd in 9:01.82, with Hyvin Jepkemoi 3rd in 9:03.86.
Norah Tanui's 9:04.17 gives her the best 4th Place mark!!
Winfred Yavi took 5th in 9:12.74!
The Men's 200 was a blazer!!
With two recent USC Trojans gone Pro ending 1st & 2nd!!
(And wearing their USC colors--as they haven't yet signed with a shoe company!!)
Winner was Michael Norman's 19.84--INTO a wind of 0.6!!!
He is 14th A-T US!
He misses the World DDD by 0.04 seconds!
However, he improves his standing on both my World & US Combined Events lists for the 100 & 200 & 400!
His times are 10.27, 19.84, and 43.61--adding to 1:13.72.
He moves from 5th to 4th on the World list, and from 3rd to 2nd on the US list!
Rai Benjamin took a quick 2nd with a PR of 19.99--reportedly making him the fastest 200 guy on the A-T 400H list!!
He misses the US list by 0.03 seconds!!
Alex Quinonez ended 3rd in a good 20.08!
BTW, in the South American Championships, Quinonez broke TWO National Records of Ecuador--his 100 time of 10.09, and his 19.93 over 200!
The Brothers Three (aka Sam Kendricks, Mondo Duplantis, and Renaud Lavillenie) had another Battle Royale in the PV!
Kendricks emerged on top (Literally!! LOL) with his 19-6.50!
Mondo again ended better than the INdoor WR holder, his 19-4.25 topping the 19-2 by the Frenchman!
In a great competition, Piotr Lisek and Shawn Barber also cleared 19-2's!
Kendricks was perfect through 5.90, then missed once at his winning height!
He took 3 tries at 19-10.25!!
Salwa Naser continues to amaze!
She easily won the 400 in 49.55--with 2nd a full 0.84 seconds behind--Jessica Beard's 50.39!
She misses my World DDD by 0.23 seconds!
But she breaks her own National Record of Bahrain!
Tim Cheruiyot pretty much soloed to his 3:29.71 in the 1500, as 2nd (Ayanleh Souleiman) was timed in 3:31.77!
Jakub Holusa's 5th place time of 3:32.85 broke his own National Record of the Czech Republic!!
Shericka Jackson of Jamaica improved yet again in the 200, her 22.05 PR easily defeating Jenna Prandini's 22.30!
Ronnie Baker sped the 100 in 9.88 (0.8), missing my World list by a mere 0.01 seconds!!
But he moves from 15th A-T US to 9th, tied with 4 others!!
Jimmy Vicaut and Bingtian Su were both timed in 9.91, but Vicaut was given 2nd!
For Su, it ties his own National Record of China!
Fourth went to Akani Simbine's 9.94!!
Both 800's were good!
The Men's race went to Ferguson Rotich's 1:43.73.
Jon Kitilit was 2nd in 1:43.83.
In 3rd came Isaiah Harris's 1:44.42, which gives him the title of Caboose on my US DDD train!!
The Women's race----and I DO emphasize "WOMEN's"!!!--went to Ajee Wilson's 1:57.11.
Habitam Alemu took 2nd in 1:57.17, with Natoya Goule's 1:57.69 in 3rd giving her the National Record of Jamaica!
It was a deep race, as 8th went to Sifan Hassan's 1:59.35.
Oh yes, a certain South African was timed in 1:54.25---a time which 100's of MEN have run while in High School!!
Just saying!
And someone with the initials FN ran 1:55.86.
This event continues as FARCE of the Century!!
Sad.
The Paris DT's went to Fedric Dacres's 219-10, and Sandra Perkovic's 225-1, which broke her own Meet Record!
Yaime Perez took second with her 218-4.
Caterine Ibarguen's 48-8 TJ won over Kimberly Williams's 47-8.25, and the former star of the Oiselle team--Tori Franklin--who measured out at 47-6.50!
They had a Triathlon (LJ, SP, and 110H) for the Multi's Men!
Kevin Mayer showed he might be moving towards a 9000 score soon, as he PR'ed in the SP (16.51) and 110H (13.71), while LJ'ing 7.62!!
A pair of National Records were taken care of in a B 100 race!!
Abdallah Mohammed's 10.03 won the race, and gave him the NR of Saudi Arabia, while Hassan Taftian (sp??) was also timed in 10.03--for the NR of Ireland!!
Finally--from Paris!--we have Sergey Shubenkov False Starting in the 110H!!
The race was won by Ron Levy's 13.18!
(Shubenkov had run 13.05 in the heats!!)
The Russian redeemed himself by speeding a BIG PR of 12.92 in the Istvan Gyulai Memorial meet in Hungary!!
This meet also produced a slough of top marks!!
But it was Shubenkov's that shone the brightest!
He broke his own National Record of Russia!
Winning by a BIG 0.35 seconds, he moves from 17th A-T World, tied with 2 others, to 8th, also tied with 2 others!
Mutaz Barshim won the HJ with 7-10.50, which ties the Age 27 Record!!
But more importantly, he took 3 attempts at a WR height of 2.46, or 8-0.75!!!
His 1st was said to be THIS close!
On his 3rd, however, he seemed to hurt his ankle, as his people were seen examining him before he left the pit!!
Let's hope it's minor--as he seems ready to FINALLY get Javier Sotomayor's legendary 8-0.50 WR!!
Raven Saunders "centimetered" to victory in the SP---her 61-7.75 literally beating second by ONE centimeter!!
Sharika Nelvis's 12.55 in the 100H beat 3 other Americans--the 12.58 of Kendra Harrison, the 12.65 of Christina Manning, and the best so far for Dawn Harper-Nelson in her farewell season--time of 12.75!
Christian Taylor actually COMPETED in Hungary, winning the TJ with his 57-10.50.
Shaunae Miller-Uibo cruised to the W in the 400, time of 49.53!
Ferguson Rotich took the 800 in 1:44.08 over the 1:44.18 of Nijel Amos.
In 4th came Clay Murphy, his time of 1:44.69 being his 2018 best.
Then Genzebe Dibaba jogged to a Mile victory in 4:24.29.
Kate Grace was 3rd in 4:29.33.
Lots of other stuff to report---
From the Old News Department comes the 22-6.50 LJ by Caterine Ibarguen!
This breaks her own National Record of Colombia!
Jianan Wang's 27-9.50 LJ tied his own National Record of China!
Lujiao Gong's SP of 66-10.50 became the World Leader!
The Ratingen Multi's went to the 8481 Decathlon score of Arthur Abele--and to Carolin Schafer's 6549 in the Heptathlon.
Irina Dadic took 2nd with 6413, while 3rd went to Georgia's (and Germany's!) Louisa Grauvogel, who scored a PR total of 6162 points!!
Juan Echevarria continues to astound--his latest sending him 28-5.75 in the LJ, breaking his own Age 19 Record!!
He remains 10th A-T World!!
Good PV marks go to---
Timur Morgunov's 19-5
Anzhelika Sidorova's 15-5
Iryna Zhuk's 15-3.50--which gets her the National Record of Belarus
Robelys Peinado's 15-5--breaking her own National Record of Venezuela!!
Alonzo Edward also got an NR--his 10.01 in the 100 being Panama's new NR!
Lea Sprunger sped the 400 in 50.52, making her Switzerland's new National Record holder!
Arthur Cisse sprinted the 100 in 9.94, giving him the National Record of the Ivory Coast!
Emily Jerotich might have won an 800 race in France (NOT in the Paris DL!!) in 1:58.04, but it was Halimah Nakaayi's 1:58.39 in 2nd which gave her the National Record of Uganda!!
Emiliano Lasa LJ'ed 27-1.25, giving him the National Record of Uruguay!
Wojciech Nowicki continued his 2018 dominance of the Men's HT---and Pawel Fajdek!!--by beating his fellow Pole for the fifth straight time!!
His 268-6 beat Fajdek's 266-2.
At the British Championships, Dina Asher-Smith won the 100 in 10.97!
And Lorraine Ugen finally got a 7 meter LJ, her 7.05 winner translating to 23-1.25 in, um, English measure!!
LOL
Jazmin Sawyers also PR'ed in 2nd, her longest measuring 22-6.50!
A bit of Road action to report---
Kenneth Mungara is phenomenal!
He's my "40 & over" Age Record holder for the Marathon with his 2:08:38, which he ran in 2016--when only 42!!
Well, now Age 44 (born September 7, 1973), he ran 2:09:49--to WIN the Gold Coast Marathon in Australia!!
I've heard that SHATTERS the Age 44 Record!!
Also at the Gold Coast race--but in the Half--two American Women took 1st and 2nd!
Sara Hall snipped 10 seconds off her previous best, winning in 1:09:27!
She remains 8th A-T US!
And Laura Thweatt was 2nd in 1:10:17--which makes her 16th A-T US!!
I have a couple of additions (and corrections??) to make--
Donald Scott's winning TJ at the USATF meet moved him from 19th A-T US to 16th, tied with 1 other!
And if you recall, I reported that Genzebe Dibaba had won a 2000 meters race in 5:27 & change!
Well, if the eTN is correct, she actually ran 5:38.00, NOT 5:27!!
I remember seeing 5:27 in a report on Twitter--but Twitterers DO make mistakes!!
If I find out anything further, I'll update it!
Finally--
I'm thrilled to report the birth of daughter Rosaleen to Pablo Solares and Shannon Rowbury on June 30th!!
Might we see her (Shannon, that is!! LOL) next INdoor season??
Oh, almost forgot!
I saw a podcast advertised for the Runners Book Club (??), to feature one Mary Cain!!
I'd seen this Club (and its podcasts) mentioned on Twitter, but hadn't listened to any of the first 4!
This 5th edition---with Cain--spoke about the book "The Little Prince"!
But while I'd read that book (& liked it) a long time ago, I was MUCH more interested to hear what Cain had to say about her running!
Interviewed by Kyle Merber and Alexi Pappas (apparently the Club's founders!), Cain said she fully intends to race in 2018---"in the next month or two"!!
She was injured, and went through a long recovery, and "getting back to basics" training (MY quotes!), but is in good shape, and will race again soon!
(This interview took place DURING the USATF Champs!!)
She also mentioned having a boyfriend--name unknown--and of being a Med student at Fordham!
She spoke also about training IN New York City--especially Central Park--and of attending Yankee games, and doing other "non-running" stuff!
Welcome back, Mary!!
(Good to hear Merber & Pappas too--the latter of whom said she recently married!!)
If you're wondering where my report is on the Women's Decathlon held on June 30th and July 1st in Grass Valley, CA---wonder no more!!
I've been busy redecorating my T&F Record Book with a variety of Records and Lists---all about the Decathlon for Women!
And I will give a FULL report on this long-awaited event in my next post--possibly in a few hours, but no later than early tomorrow!!
Watch for it!!
See you soon!
ADDED 1 Hour Later---
Dana Baker threw 180-10 in the JT this past weekend--report just in!
Didn't want you to have to wait, so adding it here!
It moves her from 4th A-T HS to 3rd!
And it gives her the Senior Class Record!!
She'll be throwing at the WJC in Finland!!
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