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Aries Merritt Back on Track in Birmingham
The double meet weekend that started Thursday in Lausanne, ended early today in Birmingham – and just as it was in Lausanne, speed was on display in Britain. In a meet with several Olympians in attendance the highlight of the day was turned in by Aries Merritt who is on an unbelievable streak of hurdling consistency. Merritt started the weekend by getting DQ’d in Lausanne for a false start. Actually for a flinch – and personally I’d like to see starters take more control in these sorts of situations. The final word on false starts comes down to the human in charge, and when machines detect something the eye can’t…
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Blake Jumps Starts the Weekend in Lausanne
Well, I said the Lausanne start list had an Olympic feel to it and several athletes showed that they were still in Olympic form. In a meet with several Olympic caliber performances the best was turned in by Yohan Blake (JAM) who nailed the start and never looked back in the 100 meters, stopping the clock at 9.69 – making him the =#2 performer all time with the =#3 performance. The man he tied with for #2 performer, Tyson Gay (USA), was second in this race at 9.83 – maintaining his streak of 9.8’s on the season but not yet dipping below that 9.80 level. Blake meanwhile joined Usain Bolt…
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Lausanne & Birmingham Lead Big Weekend
If you’re like me, you got spoiled during the Olympics with high level track and field every day for over a week. Things settled down quite a bit last week in Stockholm as many of London’s stars took time out to catch their breath and rest a bit. Well, they didn’t get paid in London, as many of the athletes pointed out, so it’s back to the Circuit to collect checks. And that means a big weekend of track and field as a host of the sports top athletes will be in Lausanne and Birmingham producing some of the best matchups outside of the Olympic Games. Things get started on…
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The Middle Distances Post London
I’m going to talk about the relays and hurdles, which are speed related, but I want to skip over to the middle distances because it’s become one of the most exciting areas of the sport. Heading into London, I think most people assumed that the 800 & 1500 were the exclusive property of Kenya, who annually dominates the yearly lists – though personally I had some reservations about said dominance. After watching the events play out in London, the lack of Kenyan dominance is just one of the key issues I see in these events moving forward. While the country of Kenya didn’t dominate in London, the most dominant single…
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The Sprints Post London
The first Post London weekend is here and I finally have a minute to just sit and think track. Since many of the biggest moments at the Games revolved around the sprints, seems like a good talking point today. It’s what’s on most people’s minds anyway: Bolt, the Jamaicans, the relay records. So, what did we learn in London, and where are the sprints headed from here? First of all there is no doubt that right now two nations define the sprints: the United States and Jamaica. Both sets of men and women are the short sprints (100/200); with the US men & women, and to a lesser degree the…
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Stockholm Begins Post Olympic Season
The post Olympics season began today in Stockholm and I proved to myself just how big a track junkie I am as I watched the meet on my cellphone as I drove around taking care of business today – such is the life of a track nerd! Unless the first meet after a major is Zurich, that first one is usually a bit “down” compared to the Games – and Stockholm fit that description. There were some very nice fields, but for the most part the competition was a cut below what we got used to during the Olympics – duh. While the marks weren’t as stellar as those we…
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Best Ever Women’s 4×4 Splits
Trying to get caught up with the Games just closing, so have been extremely busy. Still a lot more to address – I think I will take a closer look at either the sprints or middle distances next. To add to it all the next Diamond League meet is up in a day and a half in Stockholm! Wow. Before I get more in depth with the sprints, I did want to take a look at women’s 4×4 splits. If you remember the split announced during the relay in London for Allyson Felix was 47.8 – a fantastic leg. The one thing I knew immediately is that I haven’t heard…
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London Olympics – General Wrap Up
They’re not finished with the closing ceremonies yet, and they won’t be shown here on the West Coast for several hours, but I’m already looking back on these Games. So much happened in what was a great meet. I want to take a look at several specific topics individually, but today just look back in general at the last week of competition. Let me say off the top, I got it wrong on Bolt. Not because I doubt his ability – double WR holder at 9.58/19.19 . But because historically I’ve seen far too many "injured" athletes forced to give way to healthy ones – regardless of their superiority –…
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London Olympics – Jamaica 4×1, 36.84 WR
Saturday was the final day of action on the track, and the meet closed out in style with a surprise or two; outstanding performances; and another world record. The field events led the way in the surprise department. First in the women’s high jump several big names made early exits, including Emma Greene Tregaro (SWE), Chaunte Lowe (USA); and defending champion Tia Hellebaut (BEL). In the end it was World champion Anna Chicherova (RUS), veteran Svetlana Shkolina (RUS) and collegiate champion Brigetta Barrett (USA) jumping at 2.03m/6’8" to decide the medals – first attempt clearance for Chicherova taking gold, second clearance for Barrett earning silver, and third attempt gaining bronze…
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London Olympics – US 4×1, 40.82 WR
Busy busy day. Watched the Games online then had to head out to get real life business taken care of. Almost waited until tomorrow to close out the last two days of the Games, because I missed much of the field events, and I need another look at that UGLY women’s 1500 meters. I’ll get to see that later tonight, and will include it with tomorrow’s discussion. But this relay run needed it’s own space, because it was as significant as anything that’s happened so far at the Games. So let me talk about today’s two relay finals, then finish up tomorrow – because both relays were very significant. First…