{"id":1220,"date":"2012-05-30T07:31:38","date_gmt":"2012-05-30T14:31:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1220"},"modified":"2012-05-30T07:31:32","modified_gmt":"2012-05-30T14:31:32","slug":"rome-to-begin-10-hot-days-of-tf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1220","title":{"rendered":"Rome to Begin 10 Hot Days of T&F"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Sprinter<\/a>The US Olympic Trials begin in just a few weeks – June 22 to be exact – with several other national Trials around the same time period. Assuming that most athletes will want to rest award of the big meet, the next couple of weeks are going to be critical competitively, for most athletes as they prepare for their first \u201cpeak\u201d of the season.<\/p>\n

Not so coincidentally the Diamond League is getting ready to present the hottest 10 days of track and field outside of the Trials and Games starting Thursday in Rome (May 31) then rolling through Eugene (June 2), Oslo (June 7), and New York (June 9)! We’ll see how the athletes hold up under the tight schedule and intercontinental travel, but by June 10th I think we might have a fairly good idea of who’s ready heading into Trials.<\/p>\n

Rome will start things off as it will host the third leg of the Diamond League series, and after a sizzling Doha and a lukewarm Shanghai, judging from the preliminary start lists, Rome is going to turn the heat back up! And if anyone is looking to hear things back up it will be Usain Bolt, who’s coming off a rather lackluster performance in Ostrava.<\/p>\n

Unless there’s a serious head wind, 10.04 shouldn’t be enough to handle this field as Bolt will take on former WR holder Asafa Powell (JAM) and French record holder Christophe Lemaitre. Powell ran 9.88 behind Justin Gatlin (9.87) in Doha, so should be ready to give Bolt a solid run. Between the fast starting Powell and the strong finishing Lemaitre, we should see a Bolt closer to his opening 9.82 than the race we saw in Ostrava. Maybe we\u2019ll get that 9.7x he was predicting before Ostrava.<\/p>\n

Also looking to rebound is long hurdler Bershawn Jackson (US) who lead the world early in the season and was running rough shod over the competition until he suffered his first defeat in Ponce against Javier Culson (PUR) and his world leading 48.00. Both Jackson and Culson will be in Rome, and so will Brit David Greene who earlier started a war of words with the Americans over the reinstatement of quarter miler LaShawn Merritt. So expect a fired up \u201cBatman\u201d as he looks to avenge his earlier loss as well as American pride. The year\u2019s first sub 48 could be around the bend.<\/p>\n

As a matter of fact both long hurdle races could become redemption races as the women’s race will have World champion Lashinda Demus (US) who took a very uncharacteristic 6th in her season opener in Ostrava! She too will face tough competition with Jamaicans Melaine Walker & Kaliese Spencer and Czech Zuzana Hejnova in the field. Walker is the defending Olympic champion while Spencer & Hejnova were both finalists in Daegu – giving this race a definite \u201cchampionship\u201d vibe. Demus will need much better than the 57.43 she put down in Ostrava if she wants to be competitive in Rome, as this race should go somewhere in the 53 second range.<\/p>\n

Also needing a better performance than Ostrava is Berlin 800 champion Caster Semenya (RSA). Semenya’s 2:00.80 in Ostrava was well behind the 1:58.49 of world leader Pamela Jelimo (KEN) as Jelimo looked every bit the defending Olympic champion that she is. Semenya gets another shot at Jelimo in Rome AND teammate Janeth Jepkosgei, currently #2 in the world, as the two Kenyans have been on a resurrgence tour this year.. Throw in current World champ Mariya Savinova (RUS) and we could have a preview of what London may look like in this event.<\/p>\n

Another "mini" preview might also be in the offing in the women’s 1500, as last year’s #1, Morgan Uceny (US) is set to go up against Genzebe Dibaba (ETH) – who’s gone from being the baby sister of Tirunesh, to national record holder and world leader in the 1500 at 3:57.77! Uceny wins by getting great mid race positioning and finishing off the field over the final lap. Dibaba wins by turning up the heat early, and never stepping off the gas! The question going into this race is: how far out does Uceny let Dibaba get before trying to reel her in? This should be an exciting race to watch.<\/p>\n

The field promises fireworks too. One of the best matchups should be in the men’s pole vault, as world leader Renaud Lavillenie (FRA) goes up against World silver medalist Lazaro Borges (CUB), and defending Olympic champion Steven Hooker (AUS). Lavillenie and Hooker are two of only 15 men in history to clear 6.00m \/ 19′ 8.25" – and if Hooker is ready after a couple of down seasons this pair could push each other up above that barrier again this year.<\/p>\n

Ditto for the discus trio of Gerd Kanter (GER), Robert Harting (GER), and Piotr Malachowski (POL). Kanter is #3 all time, but it was Harting who left Daegu with gold – Kanter silver and Malachowski a finalist. Kanter is the defending Olympic champion however, and will be looking to put Harting in his place however. So expect their competitions to have a little extra \u201coomph\u201d this year.<\/p>\n

Sort of like the head to heads of shot putters Valerie Adams (NZL) and Nadzeya Ostapchuk (BLR). The gold and silver medalists in Daegu AND the gold and silver medalists indoors in Istanbul this winter, this pair enters Rome as the top two putters on the season – and by now Ostapchuk has got to be tired of being the runner up!. Adams is the defending Olympic champion and has won everything in between except for World Indoors in 2010 where Ostapchuk turned the tables. She\u2019ll be looking for a way to repeat that in London and her search will start in Rome. <\/p>\n

Potentially we have another Doha on our hands. Then we turn around in two days time and head to Eugene which is just as loaded with stellar fields in the 10,000 (Kenyan qualifier), shot, javelin, mile, 400 and more. I\u2019ll be back with a preview of \u201cPre\u201d right after Rome. Then a few days off and we head to Oslo and New York. This will easily be the best week and a half of track and field to date!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The US Olympic Trials begin in just a few weeks – June 22 to be exact – with several other national Trials around the same time period. Assuming that most athletes will want to rest award of the big meet, the next couple of weeks are going to be critical competitively, for most athletes as they prepare for their first \u201cpeak\u201d of the season. Not so coincidentally the Diamond League is getting ready to present the hottest 10 days of track and field outside of the Trials and Games starting Thursday in Rome (May 31) then rolling through Eugene (June 2), Oslo (June 7), and New York (June 9)! We’ll see how the athletes hold up under the tight schedule and intercontinental travel, but by June 10th I think we might have a fairly good idea of who’s ready heading into Trials. Rome will start things off as it will host the third leg of the Diamond League series, and after a sizzling Doha and a lukewarm Shanghai, judging from the preliminary start lists, Rome is going to turn the heat back up! And if anyone is looking to hear things back up it will be Usain Bolt, who’s coming off a rather lackluster performance in Ostrava. Unless there’s a serious head wind, 10.04 shouldn’t be enough to handle this field as Bolt will take on former WR holder Asafa Powell (JAM) and French record holder Christophe Lemaitre. Powell ran 9.88 behind Justin Gatlin (9.87) in Doha, so should be ready to give Bolt a solid run. Between the fast starting Powell and the strong finishing Lemaitre, we should see a Bolt closer to his opening 9.82 than the race we saw in Ostrava. Maybe we\u2019ll get that 9.7x he was predicting before Ostrava. Also looking to rebound is long hurdler Bershawn Jackson (US) who lead the world early in the season and was running rough shod over the competition until he suffered his first defeat in Ponce against Javier Culson (PUR) and his world leading 48.00. Both Jackson and Culson will be in Rome, and so will Brit David Greene who earlier started a war of words with the Americans over the reinstatement of quarter miler LaShawn Merritt. So expect a fired up \u201cBatman\u201d as he looks to avenge his earlier loss as well as American pride. The year\u2019s first sub 48 could be around the bend. As a matter of fact both long hurdle races could become redemption races as the women’s race will have World champion Lashinda Demus (US) who took a very uncharacteristic 6th in her season opener in Ostrava! She too will face tough competition with Jamaicans Melaine Walker & Kaliese Spencer and Czech Zuzana Hejnova in the field. Walker is the defending Olympic champion while Spencer & Hejnova were both finalists in Daegu – giving this race a definite \u201cchampionship\u201d vibe. Demus will need much better than the 57.43 she put down in Ostrava if she wants to be competitive in Rome, as this race should go somewhere in the 53 second range. Also needing a better performance than Ostrava is Berlin 800 champion Caster Semenya (RSA). Semenya’s 2:00.80 in Ostrava was well behind the 1:58.49 of world leader Pamela Jelimo (KEN) as Jelimo looked every bit the defending Olympic champion that she is. Semenya gets another shot at Jelimo in Rome AND teammate Janeth Jepkosgei, currently #2 in the world, as the two Kenyans have been on a resurrgence tour this year.. Throw in current World champ Mariya Savinova (RUS) and we could have a preview of what London may look like in this event. Another "mini" preview might also be in the offing in the women’s 1500, as last year’s #1, Morgan Uceny (US) is set to go up against Genzebe Dibaba (ETH) – who’s gone from being the baby sister of Tirunesh, to national record holder and world leader in the 1500 at 3:57.77! Uceny wins by getting great mid race positioning and finishing off the field over the final lap. Dibaba wins by turning up the heat early, and never stepping off the gas! The question going into this race is: how far out does Uceny let Dibaba get before trying to reel her in? This should be an exciting race to watch. The field promises fireworks too. One of the best matchups should be in the men’s pole vault, as world leader Renaud Lavillenie (FRA) goes up against World silver medalist Lazaro Borges (CUB), and defending Olympic champion Steven Hooker (AUS). Lavillenie and Hooker are two of only 15 men in history to clear 6.00m \/ 19′ 8.25" – and if Hooker is ready after a couple of down seasons this pair could push each other up above that barrier again this year. Ditto for the discus trio of Gerd Kanter (GER), Robert Harting (GER), and Piotr Malachowski (POL). Kanter is #3 all time, but it was Harting who left Daegu with gold – Kanter silver and Malachowski a finalist. Kanter is the defending Olympic champion however, and will be looking to put Harting in his place however. So expect their competitions to have a little extra \u201coomph\u201d this year. Sort of like the head to heads of shot putters Valerie Adams (NZL) and Nadzeya Ostapchuk (BLR). The gold and silver medalists in Daegu AND the gold and silver medalists indoors in Istanbul this winter, this pair enters Rome as the top two putters on the season – and by now Ostapchuk has got to be tired of being the runner up!. Adams is the defending Olympic champion and has won everything in between except for World Indoors in 2010 where Ostapchuk turned the tables. She\u2019ll be looking for a way to repeat that in London and her search will start in Rome. Potentially we have another Doha on our hands. Then we turn around in two days time and head to Eugene which is just as loaded with stellar fields in the 10,000 (Kenyan qualifier), shot, javelin, mile, 400 and more. I\u2019ll be back with a preview of \u201cPre\u201d right after Rome. Then a few days off and we head to Oslo and New York. This will easily be the best week and a half of track and field to date!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[328],"class_list":["post-1220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-rome"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa3DCY-jG","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":736,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=736","url_meta":{"origin":1220,"position":0},"title":"Finally, The Olympic Year has Arrived","author":"CHill","date":"January 1, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"At midnight all over the globe the world celebrated the dawning of another New Year. The dropping of the ball in Times Square didn\u2019t usher in just another year however. For those of us that love sport, especially track and field, this will be a special year. Because come August\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":124,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=124","url_meta":{"origin":1220,"position":1},"title":"Track Shorts","author":"CHill","date":"March 19, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"In a Track and Field News report from the Adidas Running camp it was revealed that Tyson Gay's fall and winter training were delayed due to a knee injury. While athletes need a good fall program to prepare them for the season, Tyson as the defending World Champion in both\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":325,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=325","url_meta":{"origin":1220,"position":2},"title":"Why Aren\u2019t American\u2019s Peaking at Big Meets?","author":"CHill","date":"May 14, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"A very good question that was put on the table by Track and Field News. I asked the very same question as I watched both Beijing and Berlin. Because as Mr. Hill observed (no relation to my knowledge), we have looked like gang busters at our selection meets, only to\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=325#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":110,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=110","url_meta":{"origin":1220,"position":3},"title":"The USATF Task Force Report","author":"CHill","date":"February 12, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"USATF CEO Doug Logan recently released the Task Force Report on the state of Track and Field in the United States. This report was created by a nine member task force that included former athlete Carl Lewis, current athlete Deena Kastor, and longtime coach Mel Rosen, among others, and had\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1254,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1254","url_meta":{"origin":1220,"position":4},"title":"Next Up – Oslo & New York","author":"CHill","date":"June 6, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Ok, we\u2019re nearly at the end of the first half of the season. Tomorrow Oslo, Saturday New York - and then National Championships & Olympic Trials. We\u2019ve pretty much seen most of the major players, so not sure we will learn much more before the Trials in a couple of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"New York\"","block_context":{"text":"New York","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?tag=new-york"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rome Stadium Finish Line","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/trackchill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Rome-Stadium-Finish-Line_thumb.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/trackchill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Rome-Stadium-Finish-Line_thumb.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/trackchill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Rome-Stadium-Finish-Line_thumb.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2822,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=2822","url_meta":{"origin":1220,"position":5},"title":"It’s All About Timing","author":"CHill","date":"May 2, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This past weekend track fans had events from Thursday thru Sunday! An entire weekend of track and field to enjoy. Literally nearly every corner of the globe was hosting a meet of some type. It was great to see so much action, especially with several meets being televised and streamed.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Paris\"","block_context":{"text":"Paris","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?tag=paris"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/trackchill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Screen-Shot-2022-06-02-at-8.51.14-AM-150x150.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1220"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1220\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1221,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1220\/revisions\/1221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}