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Aries Merritt Back on Track in Birmingham
The double meet weekend that started Thursday in Lausanne, ended early today in Birmingham – and just as it was in Lausanne, speed was on display in Britain. In a meet with several Olympians in attendance the highlight of the day was turned in by Aries Merritt who is on an unbelievable streak of hurdling consistency. Merritt started the weekend by getting DQ’d in Lausanne for a false start. Actually for a flinch – and personally I’d like to see starters take more control in these sorts of situations. The final word on false starts comes down to the human in charge, and when machines detect something the eye can’t…
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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 –…
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Back to Code for Some After Ostrava
Well, that wasn’t quite what I expected! Let’s start with the obvious, Usain Bolt (JAM) 10.04 – the slowest 100 meter final of Bolt’s professional career! That’s what I said. He ran 10.03 (0.7) in Rethymno in his pro debut at the distance in 2007. Then opened up in Spanish Town in Mar ‘08 at 10.03 (1.8), before blowing out a 9.76 (1.8) in Kingston – and the rest you already know. His only other final that hasn’t been sub10 was a 10.00 (-0.9) in Toronto, June ‘09. His only other non sub10’s have been in qualifying rounds. Even last year when the world was bemoaning his races he was…
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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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2012 Outdoor Preview – Middle Distances
The middle distance events (800 / 1500) should be very interesting this year. There is the potential of a world record, some very competitive women’s events, and the potential for a sweep. Above all, however, I expect them to be very exciting, both during the season as well as in the Games themselves, as middle distance competitors tend to compete fairly often and we should see some solid matchups outside the Games, as opposed to the sprints where we may see only one loaded race all season. So let’s take a look at the players in the middle distances. Men’s 800 – Can Rudisha be challenged? David Rudisha (KEN)…
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Multi’s WRs Lead HOT World Championships
It’s a bit ironic that today is “Selection Sunday” for the NCAA basketball tournament, because this weekend of track and field had the kind of wall to wall action associated with the NCAA Tournament. Between the NCAA & World Indoor Championships; Internet feeds; major time zone differences; and early outdoor track meets; I’ve been watching almost non-stop track and field from Friday afternoon until just a bit ago here on Sunday morning! Friday afternoon NCAA feed; late night/very early morning Worlds feed; out Saturday to a local high school meet; back in early evening in time to catch the NCAA feed; then very early morning to finish up with the…
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Hot Istanbul Match Ups
The World Indoor Championships this weekend in Istanbul Turkey will close out the elite indoor season and provide a segue into the outdoor season proper. As such we should see the best performances yet on the 200 meter oval. Before I post my predictions tomorrow on who I think the winners will be (I’m still on the fence in a couple of events) here are a half dozen events that I’m really looking forward to based on the match ups that will be on the track. Women’s Pole Vault Yelena Isinbayeva has come back in a BIG way this indoor season. For starters, she took down her own WR…