-
Lessons Learned From Women’s Day in Rome
The results are in, and after watching the Rome leg of the Diamond League I think I learned a few things. Prefontaine is only two days away, so things could change a bit over the next 48 hours. Results of the meet can be found here, so without going into each and every race and result, here are my thoughts on what happened in Rome. Men’s 100 meters. After watching Bolt today (9.76, -0.1) Ostrava was a matter of jet lag – or perhaps being out too late the night before. Either way, “sluggish” Bolt gave way to a sprinter that had the race under control by 30 meters –…
-
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…
-
Will 2012 be the Year of the Double?
I was reviewing the Marathon Trials finish last night and wondering how well Shalane Flanagan will do doubling in the 10,000/Marathon, when it hit me: we may have more legitimate “doublers” heading into London than ever before! In Beijing we had 5000/10000 double victories turned in by Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba; and a sprint double (100/200) by Usain Bolt. We also had double silver by Elvan Abeylegesse (5000/10000) and Tatyana Lebedeva (LJ/TJ); a double bronze performance by Walter Dix (100/200); and a silver & bronze performance by Kerron Stewart (100/200). Heading into this Olympic season of the ’08 doublers, Bekele, Bolt and Dix seemed best positioned to double again…
-
Potential 2012 Match Ups to Watch For
Things should start heating up pretty quickly now. The U.S. Marathon Trials are in less than two weeks, and the indoor season will be going strong by the end of the month. So we’ll be full gear into the buildup for London in just a few weeks. Of course one of the big questions in any Olympic year is: who will the major players. It might be a bit early to start identifying major players, but here are some matchups that I think bear looking for this year, that should have a major effect on medal distribution in London. Usain Bolt v Tyson Gay v Yohan Blake (Sprints) These…
-
The Best Performers of 2011
December is already a third gone – not much time left in this year. As a matter of fact the indoor season is already getting started! My how time flies when you’re having fun! So before the month gets away, and Baby New Year shows up, I want to give out some kudos to athletes that I feel really got the job done in 2011. I’m going to call them “The Best of 2011”. Some categories are a bit nontraditional – Best Start for example – while others will probably be seen on other lists – like Best Performance. Just a bit of fun as we wind down the year,…
-
Worlds Opening Day – All Kenya
The opening day of every major is filled with qualifying rounds, and day one in Daegu was no different with only two finals on the docket. If there’s such a thing as making a statement on opening day however, the Kenyan women did just that in those two finals as they swept the medals in both the marathon and 10,000 meters – and added a non medaling fourth place in the 10K! In the marathon the Kenyan’s set the stage for the day, and possibly this championships, as they went to the front early on and worked as a team, methodically burning away the competition. By the latter third of…