The Colorful Daegu meet is already over. I had forgotten how early things are in that part of the world compared to here in the US. Suddenly I remember the Seoul Olympics and the huge difference in time. Watching Worlds this year is going to be a middle of the night (online), time delayed (TV) nightmare!
Today’s meet had some decent fields, but after the slew of marks turned in this past weekend, jet lag must surely have had an effect on many of today’s participants. Combined with temperatures in the mid 60’s, the results were not as outstanding as one would have hoped to see on the track that will be hosting the World Championships. Still some good efforts were turned in.
Chief among them being wins by David Oliver (USA) in the 110 hurdles and Allyson Felix (USA) in the 200 meters. For Oliver, he eclipsed his own world best with a 13.14 (+0.0) victory, easily ahead of second place Aries Merritt (USA, 13.30). Given the still wind a very strong mid May performance for Oliver. Ditto for Allyson Felix who had pretty much a solo run in the 200 as her 22.38 (+0.4) was well ahead of second place Consuela Moore’s 23.16! The time puts Felix at the top of both the 200 & 400 lists for the season and confirms that she is ready to compete over both distances.
While not nearly a world leader, the men’s 400 hurdles had an interesting result as Johnny Dutch (USA), last year’s breakthrough athlete in the event, won in 49.03 over vets Bershawn Jackson (USA, 49.14) and Angelo Taylor (USA, 49.67). This is Jackson’s second loss in a row coming off a loss to South African’s Van Zyl and Fredericks in Doha. After last year’s juggernaut season where he was undefeated for most of the season and lead the world at 47.32, Jackson has been much less sharp this season. Perhaps it is just a matter of working to peak for Worlds. Time will tell.
One who has been sharp in all of her races this year is Carmelita Jeter (USA). Jeter won yet again in Daegu sprinting 11.09 (+0.0) to win handily over LaShauntea Moore’s 11.27. After debuting last month at 10.99 it was Jeter’s first mark over the 11 second barrier this year – which gives an indication of the conditions for this meet. In the men’s race, Walter Dix (USA) took a tight race over Michael Rodgers (USA) 10.00 to 10.03 (+0.3). Dix moved to #4 on the season and only list leader Steve Mullings 9.90 (+2.0) is substantially faster so far on the season.
The women’s 1500 saw Ukrainian Anna Mischenko nearly repeat her world leading effort from Doha (4:03.00) with a 4:03.52 to once again best Irene Jelegat (KEN, 4:04.32). This time Meskerem Assefa (ETH) separated them at 4:03.63 to become #2 on the yearly list.
These were the best marks coming out of Daegu this morning/evening. Full results can be found here. The weekend should now be dominated by the collegiate conferences as they start their drive towards the NCAA Championships. Keep a close eye on the Big 12 (Texas A&M), Pac-10 (Oregon), and SEC (Florida, LSU, Arkansas) as that is where the balance of power lies.