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The Top Performances of 2012
It’s time to start looking back on what turned out to be a pretty awesome season. I figure the best place to start reviewing is with the top performances, since that will certainly lead into discussion about the top athletes. This year there was no dearth of outstanding performances, even more than usual in an Olympic year. We can start with the fact that there were five WR’s this year – three individual and two relays – as an indication of just how good the performances were in 2012. I separate them out as individual and relay, because the relays sort of skew the conversation a bit since they are…
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London Olympics – Track Hot on Fri / Sat
The athletes finally got to do their thing on Olympic Stadium, and of the first two days are any indication this is gonna be one humdinger of a meet. So double up on the popcorn and drink, because the athletes have come here ready to compete! That was clear when Jessica Ennis started things off by blazing 12.54 in the 100H in the heptathlon! Setting a heptathlon WR and indicating that Mondo did it’s job well when it laid this track – because it’s fast! That race set the stage for a fast and competitive first half of the weekend. Friday only had two finals as most of the action…
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Hot Marks Indoors AND Outdoors
With the indoor season getting ready to wind down with various championships, some athletes are beginning to test themselves outdoors under the Australian sun. The result this weekend has been a combination of sterling marks both indoors AND outdoors, as the year looks ready to shift into Olympic Preparation Mode. The big indoor meeting of the week was the Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham England, and it didn’t disappoint as several athletes left with world leading performances. Perhaps the most surprising being Jessica Ennis’ 7.87 60HH victory. Surprising because Ennis is foremost a Heptathlete, but clearly the hurdles are one of her strengths. She’s good enough to edge World silver…
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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…