2021 Tokyo Olympics (400H WR--Men)

 Pardon my insensitivity (or whatever you choose to call it!), but I must open this chapter with a note about this blog and its writer--Moi!
As my loyal readers know, I've been consistently and firmly against having women wih high testosterone levels in All Women races!
In the past (and through today!), I have always ignored any and all records, marks, and places by Caster Semenya, Francine Nyonsaba, and Margaret Wambui!
Thus, when Semenya would "win" an 800, I said in my blog that Ajee Wilson (for example) was the winner, and that time was the winning time, not Semenya's!
I now add Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi to the list!
I know I'm also ignoring the World Athletics (and any other agency's) allowance for them to run in certain events, but not in others.
I feel that's unfair.
If testosterone creates an advantage in one event, I feel it does so in all events!
Keep this in mind when I report on the Women's 200 heats, which now begins this post!!

Gabby Thomas's 22.20 led the heats in the Women's 200!
Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce's 22.22 beat out Mujinga Kambundji's tying of her 22.26 Switzerland National Record!
Marie Josee Ta Lou ran 22.30, while Shaunae Miller-Uibo ran 22.40.
Shericka Jackson ran a sluggish 23.2, and didn't advance!

While her time of 12.37 couldn't match her Semi's 12.26, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn had no problem turning back Kendra Harrison's 12.52 in the 100H Final!
Megan Tapper proved the real deal by taking Bronze in 12.55!
Tobi Amusan's 12.60 took 4th!
Brittany Anderson, who ran 12.40 in the Semi's, ended in the caboose position!

For the most part, the Women's Pole Vault Q round went as predicted.
Except for the famous snake charmer Sandi Morris.
On an attempt at 4.55--an easy height for any of these women--her pole broke, and she landed near the pole box.
She didn't seem injured, but clearly upset and shaken!
She did not move on to the final, a Major loss!!
(She later said she'd rest and heal for 4 to 6 weeks, then try to come back for the DL final!)
Also not qualifying were Alysha Newman and Angelica Moser!

Elaine Thompson-Herah may not be as flashy and gregarious as SAFP, but right now, she's Jamaica's (and the World's) fastest!!
Her 21.66 led the 200 Semi's!
That ties her PR, and gets her the Age 29 Record!
Gabby Thomas is rolling back to her Eugene Trials form, running 22.01!
Marie Josee Ta Lou's 22.11 held off the 22.13 of SAFP, and the 22.14 of SMU!
Not making the final were Jenna Prandini, Anavia Battle, and Dafne Schippers!

In the Women's DT Final, I was hoping Sandra Perkovic would do better than her 4th, but such has been the dominance of Valarie Allman all season that it was no real shock that Allman easily won the Gold!
Her 226-4 was actually sub-par, but was more than enough for the W!
Kristin Pudenz surprised in 2nd with her 219-4!
Yaime Perez won the Bronze with 215-7 ahead of Perky's 213-3!

We finally got some class 400's from the Men!
The semi's were led by the 43.88 of Kirani James, and the 43.93 of Anthony Zambrano!
Zambrano gets Colombia's NR, and ranks him 16th A-T World, tied with 2 others!
Steven Gardiner's 44.14 also was pretty good!
Liemarvin Bonevacia's 44.62 gave him 7th and the Netherlands NR!
Wayde Van Niekerk and Deon Lendore didn't make the Final!

As expected, Sydney McLaughlin (53.03), Delilah Muhammad (53.30), and Femke Bol (53.91) led the Women's 400H Semi's!
Janieve Russell's 54.10 finished ahead of Anna Cockrell's 54.17, while Gianna Woodruff  added her 54.22 to the mix!
Lea Sprunger didn't move on!

The Men's 3000SC Final began as a "walking dead" sort of race!
Things picked up a bit, but Soufiane El Bakkali's winning time of 8:08.90 was pedestrian!
It was also predestined!
Lemecha Girma took Silver in 8:10.38!
Ben Kigen's 8:11.45 took the Bronze over Ejuayeha Taye's 8:14.97!
Back in 11th came the American Bernard Keter!

In the first Final of her projected triple, Sifan Hassan recovered from her earlier (by hours!) heat of the 1500 (See previous post!), winning with aplomb in a cruising 14:36.79!!
This was after a first 3000 in just under 9:00!
Helen Obiri chased her until Hassan started her sprint, but ended 2nd in 14:38.36!
Gudaf Tsegay used a sprint to take 3rd in 14:38.87 ahead of Agnes Tirop's 14:39.62!
Americans Karissa Schweizer and Elise Cranny didn't offer much, ending back in 11th and 13th respectively, times just under 14:56!

The 4P man (Actually, his name is a 3P!), Pablo Pedro Pichardo, led all Qualifiers with his 58-1.25 in the TJ!
Hughes Zango, a co-favorite for the Gold, barely made it through, ending as 12th Qualifier, hitting just 55-2.75!
Not passing on were Max Hess, Chris Benard, Corey McLeod, and Super Vet Nelson Evora!

Fifteen runners ran faster than 3:37 in the Semi's of the Men's 1500, led by Ismail Deljani's 3:36.00!
Tim Cheruiyot was next in 3:36.01, followed by Ollie Hoare's 3:36.09!
Cole Hocker easily moved on with his 3:36.16!
Not moving forward were Filip Ingebrigtsen and Sam Teferi.
Yared Nuguse was a DNS, claiming an injury!

World Leader Maria Andrejczyk also led the Women's JT Qualifying round, hitting 214-0!
Maggie Malone had no problems, throwing 206-11.
But big names Tatsiana Khaladovich, Barbora Spotakova, and Kara Winger didn't pass through!
Sara Kolak fouled three times!
A personal note--I have a caregiver helping with some household stuff, and she's a former SP'er when in HS!
One of her teammates was Kara Patterson, now Winger!!
She remembers her as being "really nice" and being heavily recruited by colleges!!

NBC (and probably millions of fans!) had big smiles when Allyson Felix ran 50.84 to easily move on to the 400 Semi's!
But Marilaidy Paulino had the fastest time--50.06!
Shaunae Miller-Uibo ran 50.50!
Amantle Montsho was a DNF!

Let's just call the Podium Women of the Long Jump class acts all, and surely poster children of Tianna Bartoletta's maxim of "Survive & Advance"!!
The competition was better then the marks, expected after a whole year of multiple 23 foot jumps!
In the end, Malaika Mihambo barely made it, her 7.00 (22-11.75) winning the Gold!
Ancient Warrior (She's just 34!) Brittney Reese flew out 22-10.50, as did Bronze winner Ese Brume, the places being decided by 2nd best jumps!
Ivana Spanovic was in the fight, but her 22-8 gave her the poisonous 4th position!
Mariya Beth-Romanchuk's 22-7 took 5th, with Wild Child Tara Davis leaping 22-5.25 for 6th!

The Men's 200 Heats were led by Ken Bednarek's 20.01.
Yancarlos Martinez surprised in 2nd with 20.13!
Yet that's the Dominican Republic's National Record!!
Noah Lyles cruised to 20.18 as 3rd best time!
Not advancing were Hakim Sani Brown and Adam Gemili!!

Let us kneel, my friends.
Let the World (the Universe) meditate on the numbers sent flying from the scorched track after the Men's 400H Final ended!
Is this hyperbole, dramatic overload, or just plain FACT?
Listen!
Karsten Warholm, that Norwegian mythical creature, stupified all the so called experts most insane predictions--even mine, which thought a sub-46.50 would be a shock--sprinting through the finish line in an unbelievable 45.94!
Yes, I said forty FIVE!!
Warholm left his previous World Record (from just weeks before!) way behind, cutting a full 0.76 seconds off his PR, off his own National and Age 25 Records, and off the frigging charts!!
Not to mention the Olympic Games Meet Record!
Take that in---45.94--over 10 hurdles and one lap of track!
Was he worlds ahead of Rai Benjamin, who took 2nd?
Heck, no!
Benjamin's 46.17 crushed the old best 2nd Place mark!
It also broke Kevin Young's former WR and AR of 46.78!
Benjamin also gets the Age 24 Record, and ranks him 2nd A-T World!
Before talking about the rest of the runners, let's see what damage they did to my Combined Events lists!
Warholm's 44.87 and 45.94 adds to 1:30.81, making him 2nd A-T World!
Benjamin's 44.31 and 46.17 claims 1st on the World and US lists for the same C-E!
His times add to 1:30.48!
I also found a 110H time for Warholm (from my 2021 Athletics Annual book).
So his 14.30 and 45.94 adds to 1:00.24, which makes him 1st A-T World!

Alison Dos Santos has cut his PR a few times in 2021, but never by this much!
His 46.72 was actually faster than Kevin Young's WR when the year began, but good for only Bronze here!!
It slashes his own NR of Brazil, is the best 3rd Place mark, and is the Age 21 Record!
It also ranks him 3rd A-T World!
Kyron McMaster was 4th in 47.08, also chopping a big chunk off his PR--0.42 seconds!
He breaks his own NR of the British Virgin Islands!
It's the best 4th Place mark, and ranks him 8th A-T World!
Abderrahman Samba didn't PR, but his 47.12 is the best 5th Place mark!
Breaking his own best 6th Place mark (!!) was Yasmane Copello, whose 47.81 also ties his own NR of Turkey!
Y Magi's 48.11 breaks his own National Record of Estonia, and is the best 7th Place mark!
Completing the Place Record revision was Alessandro Sibilio's 48.77, which nipped 0.01 seconds off the old best 8th Place mark!

OK, take a breather, and come back for more!!

Grant Holloway's 13.02 was a clear leader in the 110H heats!
Ronald Levy's 13.17 was next best!
Wilhelm Belocian was DQ'ed, reason unknown!
Not starting were Sergey Shubenkov and Orlando Ortega.
Not sure his argument, but I believe Shubenkov was advanced to the Semi's anyway!
Hope to have more info on that later!

Ryan Crouser lobbed his 16 pound ball 72-4.25, yawned, and walked away!
He, um, Q'ed for the Final!
So did the 70-6.25 of Tomas Walsh!
Not making it were Michal Haratyk, Filip Miheljevic, Tomas Stanek, Nick Ponzio, and Konrad Bukowiecki!

The Men's Pole Vault Final gave Mondo Duplantis yet 3 more attempts at the WR height of 6.19!
Which he cleared with quite a bit of space, but knocked the bar off with one body spot!
But his 19-9 clearance was enough for the Gold!
Chris Nilsen was on fire, and his 19-7 gave him Silver.
He's ranks 24th A-T World, tied with 1 other, and 7th A-T US, tied with 1 other!
Rio winner Thiago Braz cleared 19-3 for the Bronze!
Buried back in 8th was the 18-8.25 of Renaud Lavillenie!

They didn't even break 13:30 in the Men's 5000 heats!!
Mohamed Katir led the way, with Paul Chelimo right behind him!
Morgan McDonald, Marc Scott, and Getnet Wale (!!) didn't make the final!

Queen Anita survived and advanced (Sic!) through a few "down" years, only to re-emerge in the Olympic year as only T&F Royalty can!
Still nowhere near WR shape, Ms Wlodarczyk swung her ball and chain out 257-6 for the Gold!
This gets her the Age 35 Record!
Zheng Wang took Silver with 252-8, while Malwina Kopron joined fellow Pole Anita on the podium with 247-8!
The Americans seemed primed to give Wlodarczyk her greatest challenge, but DeAnna Price was hurting, and reached just 239-9, ending in 8th place!
Brooke Andersen came nowhere near her best, her 236-10 getting her 10th.
Gwen Berry was 11th!

The Semi's in the Men's 200 "het up" a  bit, as they say!
Andre De Grasse is having the year he's always dreamed of, his 19.73 breaking his own National Record of Canada, and ranking him 14th A-T World, tied with 2 others!
Ken Bednarek sprinted 19.91, ahead of the 19.99's by Aaron Brown, Joseph Fahnbullah, and Noah Lyles!
Fahnbullah's time is the NR of Liberia!
Erriyon Knighton showed being just 17 isn't inhibitive to a great performance in a stress-inducing situation!
He timed 20.02!
Divine Oduduru timed a good 20.16, but was a DNQ.
Ramil Guliyev also didn't make the final!

The last two events of this post are the Women's 800 and 200 Finals--and both were sensational!!

While there was a doubter or two, if there was anyone being more touted as SURE Gold than Athing Mu, please tell me who she was!
After a year that would be termed spectacular or phenomenal--or both!--Mu outdid herself!
The group of 8 Women passed 400 in a so-so 57.82!
Everyone was there!
As they were when they came off the final curve, with 100 meters to go!
Mu (pronounced as MO!) had a very slight lead, as she'd had almost from the gun!
Strong rival Natoya Goule was starting to fade (She'd end in 8th, time of 1:58.26!), but fellow teen wonder Keely Hodgkinson was sprinting hard on the inside of Mu, who was nearly in lane 2.
Mu just kicked harder, but she didn't LOOK faster!
She never does!!
She actually negative split the race (57.8 & 57.4), her 1:55.21 cutting Ajee Wilson's \American Record by 0.40 seconds!
This is the Age 19 Record, and makes her 10th A-T World!!
Hodgkinson destroyed her PR, and got Great Britain's National Record!
Her 1:55.88 misses my new Top 24 A-T World list by 0.01 seconds!
Raevyn Rogers nabbed the Bronze with her PR of 1:56.81.
This makes her 4th A-T US!
Jemma Reekie was the 2nd Brit in the race, ending in a PR of 1:56.90!
Chunya Wang was 5th in 1:57.00!
Habitam Alemu's 1:57.56 gave her 6th, ahead of the 3rd Brit's--Alexandra Bell's--1:57.66!
Mu's 49.57 and 1:55.21 adds to 2:44.78, making her 4th A-T World, and 1st A-T US on my Combined Events lists!

And in the Women's 200 Final, ET-H came through again!!
Ms Thompson-Herah's incredible 21.53 broke her own Jamaican NR!
It breaks her own Age 29 Record, and ranks her 2nd A-T World!
Add her 10.61, and you have 32.14, which makes her 2nd A-T World on that C-E list!
Gabby Thomas came through for Silver, her time of 21.87 beating SAFP's 21.94!!
Marie Josee Ta Lou was 4th, time of 22.27!
Mujinga Kambundji's 22.30 gave her 5th, while Shaunae Miller-Uibo faded bad in the final straight, and ended last!!

Thanks for sticking around!
I think my next report will be shorter, but should have more incredible results for you to savor!