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!