Huh, what??
A few days past the last of 2022's several Championship meets, the long-anticipated return of the Diamond League arrived in Lausanne Switzerland!
And that Championship was the LEAST known and LEAST expected to take our eyes off the upcoming remaining DL's!!
Yet the North American Central American and Caribbean Championships--in only its 4th edition--provided a scary amount of Meet Records (maybe not so shocking, considering how new the meet is!) and strong performances by many elite athletes.
Thus, the 2022 NACAC dominates this past week!!
(Although, to be fair, the NACAC's August 19-21 dates overlapped the European Championships's last 3 days!!)
After El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Canada, the Bahamas was this year's home for the NACAC!
(The past meets were in 2007, 2015, and 2018!)
What better athlete to tag here than the Bahamas own Shaunae Miller-Uibo?
And she came through, her 49.40 searing the track for the Meet Record, and 2nd fastest time of the year!
Sadi Williams ran 49.86 in 2nd!
Andrew Hudson, now representing Jamaica, also burned up the track, his 19.87 beating the 20.00 by Tyree King!
Freddie Crittenden's 13.00 shocker in the 110H would've stood up in most other meets this year!!
It's the Meet Record, and ranks him 23rd A-T World, tied with 4 others, and 14th A-T US, tied with 2 others!
Jamal Britt also surprised in 2nd, his 13.08 making him 23rd A-T US, tied with 1 other!
Sarah Mitton threw the Shot Put 66-1.50 for a super MR!
Thea LaFond's 47-6.50 prevailed over Keturah Orji's 46-11.75 in the Triple Jump, as she also got an MR!
Kara Winger let the Javelin fly 212-2 for an inspirational Meet Record, as this was the veteran's last Championship meet before she retires!
Lagi Tausaga also got a Meet Record in the Discus Throw, her best measuring 207-3!
The Distances gave up some Meet Records too, despite the heat and humidity!!
Eric Holt led a speedy field of 1500 guys, his 3:37.62 emerging the winner and MR holder!!
Sean McGorty jogged to a 10000 win in 29:23.77, but when the old Meet Record is horrible, it's not difficult to smash it by 26 seconds, as McGorty did here!!
Evan Jager also cruised to a Meet Record, his 3000SC time being 8:22.95!
Natosha Rogers and Fiona O'Keeffe dueled for most of the 5000, until Rogers took off for a 15:11.68 Meet Record win over O'Keeffe's 15:15.13.
Stephanie Bruce is also retiring--at least from elite racing--, so her victory in the 10000 in 33:12.42 (another MR!!) was another sentimental favorite!!
Other NACAC Meet Records---
Ackeem Blake's 9.98 MR took the 100!
Christopher Taylor just eeked out an MR with his 44.63 in the 400!!
Kyron McMaster has been mostly invisable recently, so his 47.34 blazer over the 400H was a bit surprising!!
It's the Meet Record, of course, and beat the 47.59 by Khallifah Rosser!
Rosser's time makes him 13th A-T US!
There were a pair of first time events at the NACAC--the 20K Walks on the track!!
So the winners got automatic Meet Records!
Jose Ortiz won the Men's race in 1:26:21 over the 1:27.17 by Evan Dunfee!
The Women's race was led most of the way by Robyn Stevens, but Mirna Ortiz overtook her with 8 laps to go!
Her 1:40:04 is the MR, while Stevens ended 2nd in 1:40:47!
A note on Stevens--She was not initially named to the team by USATF!!
It took the intervention of the NACAC President to put her on the starting line!
Another incident of psychological and political warfare against Robyn, led by certain elite walkers once close to her!!
It's a delight for me to note she EASILY beat ALL of her "enemies" on the track, where it counts!!
(Including American MEN!!)
Maybe now they'll show her some respect!!
It wasn't really a "High" Jump, but Vashti Cunningham's 6-3.50 took the win and the MR!!
Rudy Winkler took down the Hammer Throw MR with his 256-10!
As did Curtis Thompson's 276-4 in the Javelin Throw!
In the latter, Keshorn Walcott came close with his 275-5 spear chuck!
Shericka Jackson's 10.83 is a Meet Record in the 100!
As is Brittany Brown's 22.35 in the 200!
Heather MacLean used a speedy 59.7 final 400 to top the 1500 field with her Meet Record time of 4:04.53!
And the USA's 4 X 400 Relay team got a Meet Record with their time of 3:23.54!
Some events did NOT break an MR, but deserve mention---
Ajee and Allie Wilson--it was hilariously pathetic that the announcers didn't know who was who, despite Allie being white, and Ajee being black!!--had quite a race in the 800!
In the end, Ajee nipped Allie by 0.01 seconds, 1:58.47 to 1:58.48!
The MR is 1:57.52...by Ajee!!
The US won both Men's Relays--the 4 X 400 in 3:01.79, and the 4 X 100 in 38.29!
In the shorter race, Trinidad and Jamaica timed 38.94's, with Trinidad given the Silver!
In the Shot Put, Roger Steen's 68-2.25 edged Tripp Piperi's 68-1.50!
The US Women';s 4 X 100 squad also won, time of 42.25!
Quanesha Burks Long Jumped 22-1.75 for the win, but no MR!
Shiann Salmon took the 400H in 54.22, while Alaysha Johnson won the 100H in 12.62.
While it was shown via YouTube livestream in its entirety (except for the Walks!!), the announcing and camera work were extremely poor, amateurish, and lacking even fundamental basic knowledge of what was going on, or who was who!!
That said, the beautiful countryside vistas, and the joyful smiling enthusiasm of the athletes makes this the Gold medal winner here!!
As for Lausanne....!!!
The uber-hyped Women's 100 fell totally apart...BEFORE the actual race even began!!
First, Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce withdrew because of a niggle during warm-up--which she was gracious enough to explain and apologize for later!!
Then Elaine Thompson-Herah false started!!
So it led to the winner being Aleia Hobbs, in a not-so-shabby 10.87!
Shericka Jackson (the only Jamaican left!!) took 2nd in 10.88!
Marie Josee Ta Lou was right behind in 10.89, while 4th went to 19 year old Tamari Davis in 10.94!!
Jakob Ingebrigtsen took control early, and his 3:29.05 was the victor over Abel Kipsang's 3:29.93, and the 3:30.18 by Stewart McSweyn!!
Yulimar Rojas keeps fouling her Triple Jump attempts, but also lets fly a couple!!
One of those flyers--50-2.75--took the win here!!
Tobi Amusan proved to be mortal in the 100H, as Jasmine Camacho-Quinn won in 12.34, a Lausanne Meet Record!
Amusan took 2nd in 12.45, while Tia Jones PR'ed again, her 12.47 in 3rd making her 18th A-T US, tied with 1 other!
It was a street Pole Vault held the day before the main meet, but Mondo Duplantis's 20-0 3rd time clearance is said to have broken his own Meet Record!!
BTW, the crowd surrounding the downtown pit was HUGE!!
It was a battle of the Cubans in the Men's Triple Jump!
Andy Diaz's 57-11.75 won over the 57-5 by Lazaro Martinez, and the 57-2.75 by Jordan Diaz!!
As at the NACAC, there was a somewhat shocking, and speedy, winner in the 110H!
Rasheed Broadbell improved from 13.08 to 12.99,making him 22nd A-T World, tied with 1 other!
But look at who he beat!!
Second went to Trey Cunningham's 13.10, with 3rd being Grant Holloway's 13.11.
Coming in 4th was the 13.13 by Hansle Parchment!
Femke Bol cruised a 52.95 in the 400H, but it broke her own Meet Record!!
And she beat her "main opponent" Delilah Muhammad easily, as Muhammad ended just 7th in 56.03!!
Khallifah Rosser's 47.68 took the Men's version!
Wilma Murto couldn't match her European Championship performance, as her 15-1 was just 3rd in the Pole Vault!
Tina Sutej's 15-5 won over Nina Kennedy's 15-5!
Neeraj Chopra won the Javelin Throw with his 292-3!
Renelle Lamote won the 800 in a PR 1:57.84!
In 2nd came Allie Wilson--fresh from her NACAC race--her 1:58.09 PR making her 24th A-T US!
Jemma Reekie took 3rd in 1:59.00!
Sent OFF my US list was the venerable Suzy Favor Hamilton, her 1:58.10 dating from 2000!!
Joe Kovacs has been HOT lately, as his 74-4.25 win over Ryan Crouser's 72-4.25 proved here!!
Soufiane El Bakkali took the 3000SC with ease, his winning time being 8:02.45!
Marileidy Paulino sped 49.87 over a lap to beat the 49.94 by Sada Williams!
Like the Women's 100, the Men's 200 was another much-hyped race!
However, even without any false starts or last minute withdrawals, it didn't quite live up to expectations!
What does??!!
Anyway, Noah Lyles won it in 19.56 over Michael Norman's 19.76, and Jereem Richards's 19.95.
The other "star"--Erriyon Knighton--wound up 6th in 20.13!
I'm gonna skip the Lausanne Women's 3000 for a moment to report a few marks from Russia---
Anzhelika Sidorova PV'ed 15-5!
Valeriy Pronkin threw the Hammer 258-10.
Danil Lysenko HJ'ed 7-8!!
And Mariya Lasitskene HJ'ed just 6-2, but won.
Did you watch the meet, or see the video of the race?
Especially the final 40 meters or so??
After the pacers left the track, Alicia Monson was left leading--as she's often not afraid to do!
As the laps progressed, the announcers were saying they were waiting for (Laura Muir, Beatrice Chebet, Sifan Hassan etc) to make their move---all the time ignoring Monson, except to acknowledge she was still leading!
It was as if they just expected her to be passed by the "real" contenders!!
Yet there Monson was, with less than 40 meters left, still in front, with Muir, Chebet, Hassan behind and not advancing!!
At that point, Francine Niyonsaba, the high-testosterone whatever-"she"-is, was 12-15 meters back in 4th!!
While most admitted Monson "gave" the race to Niyonsaba by celebrating a tad too early, if you'd seen the way Niyonsaba sprinted, just in the final 5-8 meters--when she was still 3rd or 4th--you'd agree with me that "she" does NOT belong in an all-WOMAN race---at ANY distance!!
Thus, I'm going with my long time policy of IGNORING all marks made by high-testosterone women, and declaring Alicia Monson as the WINNER here, and as the Lausanne Meet Record holder!!
Her 8:26.81 now ranks 2nd A-T US!
Chebet ended 2nd in 8:27.14, with Hassan ending 3rd in 8:28.28!
Margaret Kipkemboi was 4th in 8:29.05.
Elise Cranny PR'ed by 0.35 seconds, her 8:29.95 making her 5th A-T US!!
Muir ended with a small PR also, her 8:30.53 giving her 6th place!
Monson's 8:26.81, 14:31.11, and 30:51.09 adds to 53:49.01, making her 5th A-T US on that Combined Events list!
Cranny's 8:29.95, 14:48.02, and 30:14.66 adds to 53:32.63, making her 2nd A-T US!
See you soon with...something good!!
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