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London – Injuries, Upsets, Questions
The London leg of the Diamond League loomed as the most significant of the year for me. In part because it is the only DL meet to have all of the various events – so somewhat of a full preview before the Games – but also because London is where the Games are being held. We didn’t get a peak at the Olympic stadium, but otherwise the same conditions that will prevail at the Games. So it had the potential to be as close to a pre-Olympic meeting as one could put together. So, what were the results after two days of competition (somehow it still takes us two days…
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Trials Final Weekend
After over a week of action, the Trials wrapped things up in nice style this weekend. There were only 2 finals on the track on Saturday, but 5 on Sunday. With 2 field finals each day. One would almost think they could have had single day “finale” and did it up right for the fans. Still there was some great action over the final two days. There were only four finals on Saturday, but they were something else. In the field we got what we expected in triple jump with Christian Taylor and Will Claye setting the pace. They did it early with Taylor hitting 17.32m/57’10.25” and Claye 17.55m/57’7” in…
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Trials Day 3 – Redemption Sunday
Today’s agenda was short but sweet – 8 events, 7 finals and 1 semi. But when the names involved include Cantwell, Hoffa, Gay, Gatlin, Richards Ross, Merritt, Wariner, and Suhr you’re talking about one high powered afternoon. Not to mention a lot of athletes looking for redemption – and most got just that. The most anticipated event was the men’s 100 meters as most people were looking to see how Tyson Gay was going to hold up. The worry rapidly changed from Tyson’s legs to Walter Dix’ as Dix pulled up at the end of the first semi! Dix showed up for the final, but his leg was heavily wrapped…
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Trials Day 2 – Ashton Eaton, 9039 WR
Excitement and drama. That’s standard when talking about the Olympic Trials. And while there were only three finals, Day Two just might be one of the most exciting and dramatic Trials days ever! Let’s start with the decathlon, since it did start the day off. Ashton Eaton entered the day with a score of 4728 pts, putting him on WR pace as he, Trey Hardee, and Bryan Clay looked to be on their way to sending the greatest trio of decathletes ever to the Games. A 13.70 to open up things in the hurdles kept Eaton on pace. Unfortunately for Bryan Clay however, it all went wrong. First he hit…
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Pre–Outstanding Results, Lots of Questions
Trying to put something together on this meet has been giving me fits. Once again the Pre Classic was the best non championship meet on US soil. From the distance races Friday night (streamed live thank you) to the Bowerman Mile that closed out the NBC broadcast, the fields were top notch across the board. And at the end of the day, the results show 10 world leading performances, led by the very deep Kenyan 10,000 meter Trials. But while the results were outstanding, in many cases they were also confusing, as favorites didn’t always perform like favorites; and American athletes often didn’t look like the Trials were a scant…
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D.oha A.thletes M.ake N.oise!
D.A.M.N.! If today’s meet in Doha was the”opening act” of the Olympic year, I can hardly wait for the denouement in London – it’s going to bring down the house! Today’s events were Olympic in quality across the board and began to fuel plot lines that will only be answered by a gathering of all the world’s best into one stadium. As several athletes were clearly looking to send/answer statements to and from their peers. Take the sprints for example. Last week Usain Bolt’s 9.82 in Kingston let the world know he was up to the challenge of defending his Olympic title. Mid week Yohan Blake said, not without a…
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Bolt and Jeter Lead Weekend Highlights
As expected, speed was on display this weekend at the Jamaica Invitational – over and over and over again. The usual suspects – Bolt, Jeter, Blake – did their thing, but there were also a couple of surprises. First the expected, and a touch of surprise as Carmelita Jeter (USA) powered her way to a WL 10.81 (1.0) in the 100 meters – running the event’s first sub 11 of the year. It wasn’t surprising that she took over the world lead in her first 100 of the year, it was surprising that she had to run that fast, as Kelly Ann Baptiste (TRI) got out ahead from the gun…
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Robles and Merritt Open Fast
The “relay” season is over which means that the pattern of meets is about to change, as we move from domestic competitions to IAAF sanctioned international meets with the Diamond League at the core. So instead of weekend meets running two or three days long we now move to single day competitions sometimes on the weekend, sometimes running mid week. That schedule started yesterday with several athletes starting their path to London at the Baie Mahault meet in Guadeloupe just outside France. With the international season under way and literally weeks to go before the start of most country’s Olympic Trials we’ll start to get a rush of big name…
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The Pieces are Coming Together
The great thing about the Penn Relays is that it’s the first time we get a large gathering of top athletes together at the same meet. The tough part is that they aren’t competing head to head and they’re not competing in individual events – so "evaluating" where they are can be a bit more difficult. And with the Trials less than two months away, and the Games within there months, trying to figure out the pecking order of the top athletes is on everyone’s mind. Well I think several athletes had great early auditions yesterday in Pennsylvania. On the men’s side the US won both "heats" of the 4×1:…
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8 Must See Trials Events
I’m getting antsy, it’s Friday night and no big results can be found – everything major will be happening Saturday. So my mind is wandering in the direction of the Trials. After all, once the smoke clears everything comes down to two meets this year – National Trials and the Olympic Games.In some countries the Trials may be the years most important meet, beside if you don’t get past the Trials you’ll never see the Games – at least not from the stadium in London. So I’m anticipating the Trials almost as much as the Games. With everything on the line and great depth in several events, the US Trials…