Tuesday, August 3, 2021

2021 Tokyo Olympics (From Superb to Exquisite)

 Hope you enjoyed my first installment of Olympic Games results!
Here's my new assortment--ranging from the superb to the exquisite--in the order that they happened--beginning right where I left off!!

Juan Echevarria led the Men's Long Jump Qualifying with a good 27-10.75!
Among those not going to the Final are Corey McLeod, and Americans Marquis Dendy and Steffin McCarter!!

Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce led a Speed Camp of the World's fastest Women through the Semi's of the 100.
Her 10.73 was followed by Elaine Thompson-Herah's 10.76!
Marie Josee Ta Lou and Shericka Jackson both ran 10.79's!
Others going sub-11 were Mujinga Kambundji (10.96) and Teahna Daniels (10.98)!
But several top names didn't advance!
Dina Asher-Smith, Michelle Lee-Ahye, Jenna Prandini, Javianne Oliver, and Michelle Ahoure, among others!

The Men's 100 Heats went pretty much according to form, with Andre De Grasse's 9.91 leading the way!
Italy's Lamont Jacobs keeps getting better, as his 9.94 broke his own National Record of Italy!
Fred Kerley ran the other sub-10, with a 9.97!
Divine Oduduru didn't advance!

Who else but Daniel Stahl would be taking the Gold this year in the Discus Throw??
His mark was 226-0!
Simon Pettersson's 221-1 edged Lukas Weisshaidinger's 220-6 for the Silver!
Matthew Denny reached 219-10 in the 4th position!
Was hoping to see Stahl reach at least 230, but a win's a win!

Athing Mu had the fastest Semi time in the 800, with 1:58.07!
Habitam Alemu was next with 1:58.40, while Laura Muir's replacement Alex Bell was next in 1:58.83!
Bell was followed by that other teen wonder--Keely Hodgkinson--who ran 1:59.12!
A few others broke two minutes, including Finland's Sara Kuivisto, whose 1:59.41 broke her own National Record!
A real shocker came when Ajee Wilson didn't make the final!!
Others included Rose Almanza, Winnie Nanyondo, and Halimah Nakaayi!!

The Jamaicans, and the rest of the world, couldn't decide who would be the best female sprinter!
SAFP had the faster time, but ET-H was having a really great year!
And how did Shericka Jackson become so fast so suddenly?
Thus, it wasn't a total shock to see that trio sweep the medals in Tokyo!!
Thompson-Herah sped 10.61, which ranks her 2nd A-T World!!
She gets the Meet Record, Jamaica's NR, and the Age 29 Record!
Shelly Ann was next, her flowing Mama Locks colored green and yellow.
She ran 10.74, keeping her ahead of Jackson by a slight margin, as Shericka ran 10.76!
That's the best 3rd Place mark, and ranks her 11th A-T World, tied with 2 others!
Marie Josee Ta lou was 4th in 10.91.
The pair of Swiss came next, with Ajla Del Ponte edging Mujinga Kambundji, 10.97 to 10.99!
Teahna Daniels finished 7rth in 11.02!
BTW, ET-H's 10.61 & 21.66 adds to 32.27, tying her for 2nd A-T World on that Combined Events list!

Anita Wlodarczyk is coming into form at the right time.
Her 252-7 led the Women's HT Qualifying!
Zheng Wang hit 243-8, while Brooke Andersen's 242-9 was next!
All 3 Americans made the final!

Winfred Yavi's 9:10.80 was the fastest heat time in the Women's 3000SC!
All 3 Americans advanced to the final, with Emma Coburn's 9:16.91 the fastest!
Peruth Chemutai's 9:12.72 was also quick!
Genevieve LaLonde ran 9:22.64, breaking her own NR of Canada!
Purity Kirui didn't go through!

Ivana Spanovic led the Women's LJ qualifiers with her leap of 22-11.75!
Malaika Mihambo reached 22-10.75, while Brittney Reese and Tara Davis were 3rd and 4th in the Q round!
Quanesha Burks, however, just missed, as she finished 13th!
Lorraine Ugen didn't qualify, nor did Darya Klishina, who had 3 fouls!

The Women's Shot Put was just about perfect, with (at least) my 3 favorites coming through, like the Champions they are!
Liljia Gong has been steadiest all year, so it wasn't surprising she hit 67-6.25 for the Gold!
Raven Saunders kept her "Joker" mask on while Putting the ball 64-11.25 for the Silver!
Twice a Mom Valerie Adams--Excuse me, DAME Valerie Adams!!--took bronze with 64-4.50, her best of 2021!
Posing for photos later, she held up a small photo of her two children!!
And equally entertaining was Raven's "twerk" routine, wearing sport panties!!
Our sport needs more people like Adams and Saunders!!
Auriel Dongmo was 4th with 64-2.50!
Jessica Ramsey, the Trials winner, suffered three fouls!

The Men's 400 heats were rather blah, with Michael Cherry leading with his 44.82.
Isaac Makwala ran 44.86!
Randolph Ross, whose 43.85 is the World Leader, didn't make the Semi's!
Nor did Pavel Maslak!
Emmanuel Korir ran, but was DQ'ed!

The Men's HJ ended in a TIE for Gold!!
Mutaz Barshim returned to some past glory, as his 7-9.25 tied the record of Gianmarco Tamberi!
After consulting with officials, they agreed to SHARE the 1st place award!
Thus, no Silver was given!!
Maksim Nedesekau also cleared 7-9.25, but was given 3rd.
However, he tied his own NR of Belarus!
Sang Wu's 7-8.50 in 4th is South Korea's NR!
JuVaughn Harrison performed close to his best, but his 7-7.75 got him just 7th!

Trayvon Bromell--almost everyone's bet to win the Men's 100--did not make it to the final!!
Sad, but things like this happens at every Championship type meet!!
Bingtian Su's 9.83 broke his own National Record of China, leading the Finalists!
He ranks 12th A-T World, tied with 1 other!
That "1 other" is Ronnie Baker, who also ran 9.83!
He ranks 6th A-T US!
Lamont Jacobs just keeps breaking his own NR of Italy--this time with 9.84!
This ranks him 14th A-T World, tied with 3 others!
Akani Simbine also was fast, running 9.90!
Besides Bromell, Jimmy Vicaut, Yohan Blake, Filip Tortu, and Femi Ogunode also didn't advance!

JCQ--aka Jasmine Camacho-Quinn--has been dominant all year in the 100H, so she used her Semi to continue on her path!
She blazed a 12.26 to lead the Semi's!
This is the Meet Record, ties the Age 24 Record, and breaks her own National Record of Puerto Rico!
She ranks 4th A-T World, tied with 2 others!
Brittany Anderson's light also shone bright, as her 12.40 is the Age 20 Record, and makes her 19th A-T World, tied with 1 other!
Kendra Harrison ran 12.51.
Not going through were such names as Christina Clemons, Ebony Morrison (but her 12.74 is Liberia's NR!), Lumi Bogliolo (whose 12.75 is Italy's NR!), and the British sisters, Tiffany Porter and Cindy Sember!

Yulimar the Magnificent!!
OH MY GOD!!!
Ms Rojos finally (We all knew it was coming!!) SHATTERED the WR of Inessa Kravets, standing since 1995!!
Her series led off with 15.41 (50-6), which broke the Games Record.
She also had a 50-0.50, before her last round 51-5, or 15.67!

Besides the World and Meet Record, she gets her own Venezuela NR and her own Age 25 Record!
Patricia Mamona hit the sand at 49-3 for Silver!
This breaks her own National Record of Portugal, and ranks her 24th A-T World!
Ana Peleteiro's 48-9.50 took 3rd, and broke her own NR of Spain!
Shaneika Ricketts was oh so close to a medal with her 48-8.50!
Liadagmis Povea was 5th with 48-2.25.
Keturah Orji started good with 47-10.50, but didn't improve, and finished 7th!
Thirty seven year old Caterine Ibarguen had a good 46-4.50 in 10th, but missed that Age Record by a few inches!
Rojas's 22-7 and 51-5 adds to 74-0, making her 3rd A-T World on that Combined Events list!

The Men's 800 semi's, as with the heats, were led by Ferguson Rotich, this time in 1:44.04!
Peter Bol again got the Australian NR he ran in his heat, his new Record being 1:44.11.
Clayton Murphy ran 1:44.18!
Bryce Hoppel, Marco Arop, and Pierre Ambroise-Bosse didn't make the final!
Then there was the incident involving the favorite Nijel Amos, and America's Isaiah Jewett.
Who did what to whom, and who should be DQ'ed, if anyone, is still up for argument--but not with the officials.
Both hit the track, but took awhile to rise back up, then jog, arm in arm, to the finish!
This was seen as an act of supreme graciousness and the epitome of Olympic brotherhood, or some such bullshit!
Not such a pretty picture was the fact that Amos was moved on to the final, while Jewett wasn't--despite the general consensus that it was Amos's fault!!

The probable key players in the Men's 400H are going on to the Final!
Karsten Warholm's 47.30 led the 4-some, the others being Alison Dos Santos (whose 47.31 breaks his own NR of Brazil, and ranks him 14th A-T World), Rai Benjamin (47.37), and Abderahman Samba (47.47)!!
Kenny Selmon didn't make it through, nor did Jaheel Hyde, who sadly tripped on a late hurdle and went crashing to the track!

Did ANYone pick Italy's Lamont Jacobs to medal, let alone medal in Gold, before this year began--or even before July 30th??
Me neither!
Yet here he is, Tokyo 100 Olympic Champion, in yet ANOTHER National Record!!
His 9.80 is his 4th (??) NR of 2021, and 3rd in this OG!!
He ranks 15th A-T World, tied with 1 other!
Another surprise is Fred Kerley.
Unlike Jacobs, he was seen as a probable Olympian, but in the 400!
Then the 200, maybe adding the 100 to that double!
So his 9.84 for Silver is a bit of a surprise!
It makes him 15th A-T World, tied with 3 others!
And 7th A-T US!
Andre De Grasse's 9.89 edged out Akani Simbine's 9.90 for the Bronze!
Ronnie Baker ran 9.95 for 5th, and Bingtian Su's 9.98 gave him 6th!

Bence Halasz, Ivan Tikhon, Marcel Lomnicky, Gleb Dudarev, and Alex Young didn't make the final of the Men's HT!
Wojciech Nowicki led the Q round with 261-9!
Rudy Winkler threw 258-6, as did E Hendriksen!
The latter gets Norway's National Record!

For some reason, Faith Kipyegon felt like displaying some of her strength, running the fastest heat time ever in an Olympics or World Championship 1500!
Her time was 4:01.40!
(I hope the final is faster--but don't count on it!  LOL)
Winnie Nanyondo followed in 4:02.24, with Linden Hall next in 4:02.27!
Nazumi Tanaka took advantage of Kipyegon's pacing, getting Japan's NR with her 4:02.33!
All 3 Americans advanced!
Rebebe Arafi didn't!
Neither did Aisha Praught-Leer, but she wasn't expected to, as she's said she was hurting, and just wanted to run her heat!
She ran 4:15 and change!

I'll close off the results portion of this post with the Men's Long Jump Final!
Miltiadis Tentoglou won the Gold with his 27-7.25!
But this event was pretty quiet, relatively speaking!
Juan Echevarria also LJ'ed 27-7.25, but the Greek had a better back-up jump!
Maykel Masso of Cuba was 3rd with his 26-11.25!
JuVaughn Harrison completed his double of the HJ and LJ with his 5th place mark of 26-10.
Competing a LOT throughout the INdoor and OUTdoor season for LSU, it's amazing he even made the team!
Finishing 7th and 5th in the Olympic Games is pretty amazing!
He has a long career ahead of him!

I'm very sad to say I just saw a tweet by Raven Saunders (See above!), stating her mother Clarissa had passed away!
Also saw a short interview with her mom--from last Friday--where she appeared totally healthy, smiling & laughing, stating how proud she was!
Raven said she's taking time away from social media "to care for family and mental".
This woman has already gone through so much shit, and now to lose her mother a day or two after winning the Silver medal in the SP!
Please protect her, so she can mourn her loss, and come back to us and her sport soon!

I'll continue my report in a bit!


















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