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The Final Prep for Moscow is Done
The London Diamond League was pretty much what I thought it would be – best meet of the year and perhaps a preview of several events in Moscow. If this weekend was any indication, we’ve got a Wild West shoot out kind of World Championships coming up, because there just aren’t that many “sure things” out there this year. But that’s a good thing, because it means we’ll have a week of exciting track and field in store with so many event titles / medals up for grabs. In event after event, London showcased excellent competition with few winners decided before things got started, and a few surprises along the…
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Lausanne/Paris –Turning the Corner to Moscow
Suddenly the World Championships are very close, and we got a couple of very good “tune up” meets on back to back days (Thu/Sat) that I think started to set the stage for Moscow. Now’s the time when we either watch athletes start to reach their peak or begin to falter a bit. Either way, we’re starting to get a clue at where the best battles may be when the first events begin at the World Championships. Judging from what I saw in Lausanne and Paris there’s going to be some great action in Moscow. A lot of this season’s top action has been turned in by the women. This…
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Kirani James’ 44.02 Highlights Shanghai DL
Perhaps Doha raised the bar a bit high, but I didn’t come away from Shanghai with the same WOW factor that I had following the Diamond League opener. A nice set of marks were turned in, but that special something was missing in most of the events on the track. One running event that hit on all cylinders however, was the men’s 400 as both LaShawn Merritt and Kirani James showed up to compete. Both men took it out down the backstretch and add they headed around the second bend, James began to seriously work, emerging with a slight lead that he increased with each stride up the straight, and…
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Shanghai Preview
It’s time for the second installment of the Diamond League, and if Doha was any indication of how the year is going to go then Shanghai should be a real humdinger! Looking at the start lists, things should once again be exiting from start to finish. As usual however, there are some events that I am especially looking forward to: Men’s 110 Hurdles Aries Merritt, David Oliver, Jason Richardson This is one of those wonderful events where the best compete head to head quite often – and the anticipation never drops. That said, this trio could end up being the threesome that represents the US in Moscow, and Shanghai…
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Doha DL, Let’s Get Ready to Rumble
OK, now that we’ve had our first sub10 of the year, it finally feels like track season. And right on time we get the first of the Diamond League meets in Doha on Friday, which means a lot more elite athletes should be competing. While I have many issues with the way the DL has been set up – chief among them the lack of promised head to heads with the upper tier elite sprinters – this series of meets does run through some of the sport’s best venues. Which combined with the elite athletes that do show up at each meet is enough to ensure that we get some…
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Mt SAC Leads HOT Weekend
We’re a weekend away from the Penn Relays, which is typically the meet that sets things off for the outdoor season. After this weekend’s performances however,I think things were set of just fine and we’re on our way to one hot track season. Things started off on a down note with word that Yohan Blake won’t be competing until the Jamaican championships in June. The cramp he suffered last week turned out to be a tear, so no more racing til then. Of course the way the top sprinters compete we won’t be missing much in terms of head to head competition, but it could affect his sharpness at Trials.…
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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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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…
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Who Will Emerge in 2012 – Women
Now that we’ve taken a look at the men, it’s time to do the same with the women, because there will certainly be those women that step out of the shadows to make headlines. After getting drubbed by the Eastern Bloc sprinters in ’76, Evelyn Ashford became Kryptonite to the Iron Curtain Superwomen demolishing them at the ’79 World Cup before making headlines at the ’84 Los Angeles Games. The ’88 Games in Seoul saw both Jackie Joyner Kersee and Heike Drechsler blossom, as one of the sport’s greatest rivalries was born. And the Games of 2000 saw Gabriella Szabo burst onto the scene. The question now is who will…