It’s Christmas Eve, which means we’re just a week away from the year 2012 – the year the ancient Mayans predicted the world would end. Of course we track fans know that the real excitement won’t be watching the world crumble around us, but watching the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in London!
So, as I prepare for the excitement of Christmas morning, I’m also starting to to look forward to the London Olympics. After all, Christmas comes once a year, but I’ve been waiting almost four years for the Olympics! and in the world of sport, NOTHING is bigger than the Olympic Games.
Can you believe it’s been almost four years since Beijing? When last we enjoyed the thrill of the Games we were treated to a Usain Bolt double (9.69 / 19.30), a Keninisa Bekele double (12:57.82 / 27:10.17) and a Tirunesh Dibaba double (15:41.40 / 29:54.66). Angelo Taylor got his second gold medal in the 400 hurdles (47.25) to go with the gold he won in Sydney ‘00 – only he and Edwin Moses have won it twice. The American men pulled off a medal sweep in the 400 meters and the Jamaican women a sweep in the 100 meters. Pole vaulters Steven Hooker (5.96m / 19’ 6.5”) and Yelena Isinbayeva (5.05m / 16’ 6.75”) set OR’s – Isi a WR. And Burundi’s Rashid Ramzi was the only non Kenyan / Ethiopian to win a gold medal in an event above 400 meters on the track! Ah, good times!
Now the greatest sporting spectacle the world has ever seen returns to London. That’s right, this won’t be the first time London has hosted the Games. London has played host to the Olympics three times – the only city to do so, with Athens being the only other city to host twice. London was one of the first hosts of the Modern Olympics back in 1908. Back then women did not compete. There was no 10,000 meters, no 4×4 relay, no decathlon, and no rounds. We’re talking the infancy of the Games!
London was selected to be the site of the Games again in 1944. Unfortunately the Olympics were cancelled due to World War II – the third and final time the Games were cancelled because of war following 1916 (WWI) and 1940 (WWII). London got it’s chance four years later however, as it played host to the 1948 Games.
Women joined the Olympics in 1928, but 20 years later were still competing in only a handful of events. In London there were only four events on the track for women (100/200/60H/4×1) and Fanny Blankers Koen won all three of the individual events. The men were now competing in all of the events that we see on today’s schedule, but the results were a far cry from what we saw in Beijing. As a matter of fact by today’s standards London ‘48 would barely qualify as a good high school invitational with winning marks of 10.3 (100). 21.1 (200), 46.2 (400) 1:49.2 (800), 3:49.8 (1500), 40.6 (4×1), 1.98m / 6’ 6” (HJ) , 7.82m / 25’ 7.75” (LJ) and 15.40m / 50’ 6.25” (TJ) as a sample of the level of 1948 competition.
Of course we expect to see much better than that in 2012, as the sport of track and field has come a long way in the last sixty years. The London Games of 1948 was run on a track made of cinders. These Games will be run on Mondo – the fastest track surface engineered to date. The competitors of 1948 were true amateurs, working full time jobs and competing in sport almost as a hobby. The athletes that take to the track and field today are professionals who make their living competing in sport. Many are already heavily into their training regimes and will be fine tuned machines when they march into the stadium for the opening ceremony.
And while London ‘48 was still heavily a European / United States affair, the Games of 2012 will be truly global in scope, with stars from all over the planet. London will have home grown talent in Jennifer Ennis, David Greene, and Phillips Idowu. Europe will still be well represented with stars like Christophe Lemaitre, Renaud Lavillenie, Yelena Isinbayeva and Blanka Vlasic, as will Oceania with competitors like Sally Pearson, Steven Hooker and Valerie Adams. And of course we here in the States will send athletes the caliber of LaShawn Merritt, Carmelita Jeter, Morgan Uceny and David Oliver. But 2012 will also see strong contingents from Africa as David Rudisha, Kenenisa Bekele, Vivian Cheruiyot, and L.J. Van Zyl take the stage. Asia’s Liu Xiang will certainly be among the early favorites. And the Caribbean will be well represented with the likes of Usain Bolt, Dayron Robles and Veronica Campbell Brown.
All of which is why I am as excited about the Olympic season as I am about Christmas morning! There will be no high school times run in the finals in this London Games. No, this meet is shaping up to be something epic, as some of the best athletes the world has ever seen prepare to descend upon the British capital. It’s going to be a great Christmas and an exciting Olympic year!