Let's begin with the obvious--
Longest Olympics Ever?
These, of course!
It ended about a year after they were scheduled to begin!
Was it worth the wait?
Let's take a peek!
World Records
The Women nabbed 2, the Men one!
Sydney McLaughlin's 51.46 in the 400H, and Yulimar Rojas's 51-5 in the Triple Jump!
The Men's sole WR was Karsten Warholm's 45.94 in the 400H
Warholm's was the best, followed by Rojas, then Syd!
American Records
Rai Benjamin's 400H of 46.17 actually broke the WR also, if only Warholm hadn't done it first--in the same race!
McLaughlin's 51.46, obviously!
Ironic a bit, but Delilah Muhammad's 51.58 Silver WOULD have been the WR & AR (a la Benjamin!) if only The Kid hadn't gotten there first!
Anyway, besides the 400H, we enjoyed Athing Mu's 1:55.21 AR in the 800!
Sad that the former AR holder didn't make the Final!
Meet Records
This one gets a bit tricky on the Men's side.
Do I count only the LAST Meet Record, or all of them?
You see, Ryan Crouser had the audacity (& talent!) to smash the Shot Pur MR THREE times!
First was 74-11, then 75-2.75, finally to 76-5.50!
Same with the Men's 1500, but by 2 different Men!
Abel Kipsang broke it first in his Semi, running 3:31.65.
Then Jakob Ingebrigtsen smashed that one by more then 3 seconds in the Final with his 3:28.32!
Then there was Warholm's 45.94, and Damian Warner's 9018 Decathlon!
For the Women, we had Faith Kipyegon's 3:53.11, Elaine Thompson-Herah's 10.61, Syd's 51.46,, Yulimar's 51-5 in the TJ, and Jasmine Camacho Quinn's 12.26, run in her Semi!!
Total of 12--7 for the Men, 5 for the Women!
Place Records
By my count, we saw 23 Place Records broken or tied in these Games!
The Men's 400H did a clean sweep, with ALL the Places from 2nd through 8th wiped from the Books!
(T&FN has 1st Place Records, but I see those as redundant, since 1st is obviously the WR!!)
Five fell in the 4 X 400 Relay, two in the 4 X 100 Relay, and 1 in the 200!
The Women's 400H also topped this list, but they got "just" 4 there!
Add 2 from the 4 X 100 Relay, and 1 each from the 4 X 400 Relay and the 100.
So 11 of the 23 were broken in one event!!
OK, those are the basics!
Now we come to opinions--MINE!
No committees or groups, just me!
Best Performances--MEN
1. Warholm's 45.94
2. Ingebrigtsen's 3:28.32
3. Ryan Crouser's 76-5.50
4. Damian Warner's 9018
5. Andre De Grasse's 19.62
6. USA's 2:55.70
Best Performances--WOMEN
1. Rojas's 51-5
2. McLaughlin's 51.46
3. ET-H's 10.61
4. ET-H's 21.53
5. Jamaica's 41.02
6. USA's 3:16.85
Best US Performances--MEN
1. Benjamin's 46.17
2. Crouser's 76-5.50
3. The 2:55.70
4. Noah Lyles's 19.74
5. Cole Hocker's 3:31.40
6. Chris Nilsen's 19-7
Best US Performances--WOMEN
1. McLaughlin's 51.46
2. Athing Mu's 1:55.21
3. Molly Seidel's Bronze
4. Allyson Felix's 49.46
5. Muhammad's 51.58
6. Katie Nageotte's 16-0.75
Best Event Depth--MEN
Come on! The 400H, duh!
The 4 X 400 Relay.
And the 1500!
Best Event depth--WOMEN
The 400H wins here also!
That 800!
The 400 was pretty decent too!
Best Shocks--MEN
We expected the 400H WR of 46.70 to go down.
My Preview guessed 46.50 (or faster), but I was a tad uneasy about saying even that!!
So that 45.94 easily wins my SHOCK prize!
Strong Honorable Mention to Lamont Jacobs's 9.80!
Not so much for the time, but WHO took Gold!!
Special Mention goes to the TIE between Mutaz Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi in the HJ!
Who but two CLASSY gentlemen would voluntarily give up sole possession of the Gold??!!!
Best Shocks--WOMEN
She was running with a Woman whose WR was 11:09 faster than she'd ever run (in her two previous marathons)!!
Not to mention MANY others with PR's faster than her's!
Molly Seidel's Bronze was the Women's SHOCK of the Games for me!
HM's goes to ET-H's double Gold!
I truly thought SAFP would take the 100!
Worst Shocks--MEN
Johannes Vetter's EIGHTH PLACE in the JT!!
How much cash was lost in bets here?
HM's go to the crash that took down Nijel Amos and Isaiah Jewett in the 800 Semi!
Amos was sent to the Final, where he didn't do so hot!
Add Grant Holloway's getting "only" silver to this lot!
I mean, the guy was a LOCK for Gold, right??
Worst Shocks--WOMEN
Emma Coburn was on her way to breaking 9:00 in a recent race, but went for a swim in the water pit first!
So her falling, but finishing anyway (in 9:41), and then getting Disqualified was merely adding insult to injury!
Ajee Wilson not making the Final!
Sandi Morris's pole breaking, shaking her up, then not even Q'ing for the Final!
What happened to Maggie Malone, the AR holder?
Ditto for DeAnna Price in the HT!
The Veteran's Prize--MEN
Eliud Kipchoge crushed a 14:24 5K split late in the Marathon, winning easily, on a day he'd rather be anywhere else but Sapporo!
Hansle Parchment had been around, and wasn't cotton candy!
But beating Grant Holloway??
Nick Willis broke the Age 38 Record, despite his 3:35.41 being comparatively pedestrian!
The Veteran's Prize--WOMEN
Who else but Allyson Felix??
49.46 in the open 400, then 49.54 split in the Relay!
Her Age 35 Record could last awhile!
Valerie Adams taking Bronze in the SP--with TWO fairly recent births behind her!
Add Anita Wlodarczyk.
She got the Age 35 Record and the Gold!
Best Teenager--MEN
Erriyon Knighton!!
He'll be 17 for a few more months, yet proved he belonged with the likes of Noah Lyles and Andre De Grasse!
What would you expect from someone who broke Usain Bolt's Age 17 Record earlier this year??
Best Teenager--WOMEN
Athing Mu's totally controlling the 800 (Won her Heat, Semi, and Final!), and getting the AR.
Add her 48.32 (!!) anchor for that Superstar US Relay squad, and it's merely (TONS of) icing on the cake!!
HM goes to Keely Hodgkinson, also from the 800 Final!
Broke the British Record of Kelly Holmes!
Mu and Hodgkinson are both 19!
Let's take a moment to be sad!
Granted, the degree of (and reason for) this sadness are worlds apart!
Raven Saunders's mother passed away suddenly (She was 50!) just days after seeing her daughter win the Silver in the SP.
Raven learned of this while still in Tokyo!
She's home now, taking care of arrangements for the funeral and memorials!
This, not long after going through a period of depression and mental stress!
What more must she endure?
Sam Kendricks tested positive for Covid, and was sent home before the PV Q round!
A dream gone--like that!!
Both of them will be back--stronger than ever!
Best Semi or Heat--MEN
Abel Kipsang broke the Games Record with his 3:31.65 in the 1500 Semi!
This is the kind of race I wish for in the Final--that it came in the Semi thrilled me to the core!
Best Semi or Heat--WOMEN
Jasmine Camacho-Quinn used her Semi to cement her "Favorite" status in the 100H, crushing Sally Pearson's MR of 12.35 with her 12.26!!
(She ran 12.37 in the Final!)
Let's have some fun for a bit, shall we?
Best Hair
This prize goe to Sydney McLaughlin, but only in the 4 X 400 Relay!
She normally puts her hair in "Mickey Mouse ears", probably for practical reasons!
So when she came out for the Relay, seeing her hair WILD and FRIZZY brought on a huge smile!
(Honestly? I LOVE her hair--or any woman's!--that way!! Keep it that way, Syd!!)
I won't give a prize for the "Worst" hair!
But weren't Shaunae Miller-Uibo's flowing PINK locks a tad garish??!!
SAFP's Jamaica colors were okay, but even that has seen better "hair days"!
(Onward, before I get into trouble with the "Women are not just their Bodies" police! LOL)
Best Double (or Triple)--MEN
The 9.89 and 19.62 of Andre De Grasse!
He didn't medal in either, but how about JuVaughn Harrison doubling in the HJ and LJ, two disparate events!!
He HJ'ed 7-7.75 for 7th, then LJ'ed 26-10 to take 5th!!
Add Rai Benjamin's 43.5 Relay leg to his 46.17 Silver and you have a great "double"!
Best Double (or Triple)--WOMEN
Sifan Hassan's "Triple Quest"--which saw her take the 5000 and 10000 Gold, and Bronze in the 1500!
Plus, she ran Heat and Semi in the 1500, plus the 5000 Heat, the latter in a good time of 14:47.89!
That was a Triple to behold!
For Best Double, none other than Elaine Thompson-Herah's brilliant 10.61 and 21.53!!
Special Mention should go to the Women who added a strong Relay leg to their Open races!
Mu's 48.32 and her 1:55.21 were amazing!
So were Syd's & Delilah's (and Femke Bol's) "doubles".
And Felix and...!!
Which were the WORST events?
(This category always makes me ill. Criticizing an Olympian in public isn't something I love doing!)
BULLSHIT, Mr Krohn!!
You know you SALIVATE thinking of who to pound to the ground!!
LOL
Worst Event--MEN
I choose the 800!
The high temperatures and humidity can't be blamed here, as it might be in the longer races!
No, this was just a jogfest, with all its ugly connotations!!
(With due respect & apologies to those who JOG for whatever reason!!)
But in an Olympic Final??
Going out in 54.0 is something even HS kids don't do in their Championship races!
The 10K was VERY slow!
Heat to blame?
Partially--or at least I so thought, until they blasted their last lap in 53 and change!
Then I saw it as just cowardly strategy!!
Sorry, guys!
The Women ran relatively fast in THEIR 10K--why not the Men?
Add the 400 to this pile of manure!
Even though this event has been lousy all year, I expected more in the Olympics!
Worst Event--WOMEN
The Marathon had the heat & humidity to blame for the slower times, but Molly Seidel's performance salvaged this event from the slosh pile!
The same cannot be said for the Javelin Throw.
So many crashed and burned, with marks far off their bests!
The Steeplechase was pretty soft also--or at least softer than I expected!
Worst Mistake by World Athletics (and/or other agencies)
This "prize" goes to WA allowing high testosterone Women Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi into the 200, and Francine Niyonsaba into the 5000 and 10000--despite their having a higher than normal amount of testosterone in their bodies!
Granted, they DID prevent Mboma & Masilingi from also running the 400, but I just don't understand the difference!
How can high testosterone in a Woman not make them faster and stronger than Women with "normal" amounts, no matter the distance??
WA says there IS a difference!
I disagree--100%!!
As far as I can tell, there is still a chance for their marks to be erased somewhere down the line.
As with Caster Semenya denying medals going to "testosterone normal" Women--such as Ajee Wilson and Melissa Bishop (-Nriagu)--in the past, the above named Women are doing the same here!
I stand unapologetic in my opinion on this matter!
It's the same as having a boxing match between a Bantamweight and a Heavyweight--or a race between a Wheelchair racer and one running on their feet!
It's no contest there!
Why should this be any different?
Let's end on a positive note!
Best Series in a Field Event--MEN
Not just for the Men, but for anyone at anytime!!
No one surpasses the series put (Sic!) down by Ryan Crouser in the SP!!
His 6 throws added to just over 450 feet!!
That's an AVERAGE of a wee bit over 75 feet per throw!!
Dwell on this for a second!
How many have thrown 75 feet ONCE, let alone AVERAGING that much over a 6-throw series??
Absolutely mind-bending!!
Best Series in a Field Event--WOMEN
Yulimar Rojas stunned everyone with her 51-5 Triple Jump WR!
But she had two others that measured at least 50 feet in her series!
She sailed 50-0.50 for her 1st, then added a 50-6, before crushing the World Record of Inessa Kravetts, set 26 years ago!!
There's many Women who would kill to jump 50 feet once in their lives!
To do so THREE times in a 6-rounder leaves you wondering, What's next?
So!
The 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games are finished!
Was it the Best Ever?
While I pride myself on my knowledge of T&F History, I don't have the answer!
I'll say this!
It was definitely NOT the worst!!
Back with more T&F soon!
(The Prefontaine Classic is coming, as are other DL's--plus the Collegiate & High School Cross Country seasons start soon, and then there's the Fall Marathons and other Road races!!)
Thanks for being a reader of my blog!
Much appreciated!!
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