{"id":225,"date":"2009-08-23T21:50:00","date_gmt":"2009-08-24T04:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=225"},"modified":"2009-08-23T21:50:00","modified_gmt":"2009-08-24T04:50:00","slug":"world-championships-closing-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=225","title":{"rendered":"World Championships &#8211; Closing Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/view.picapp.com\/default.aspx?term=2009 world championships berlin&#038;iid=6135843\" target=\"_blank\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/b\/1\/1\/d\/12th_IAAF_World_b988.jpg?resize=380%2C570\" width=\"380\" height=\"570\"  border=\"0\" alt=\"12th IAAF World Athletics Championships - Day Nine\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.pis.picapp.com\/IamProd\/PicAppPIS\/JavaScript\/PisV4.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>An interesting World Championships for the US  came to a close with one more relay disaster, but a lot of promise elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>After the debacle of the US men&#8217;s 4&#215;1 squad there was hope that redemption would come in the form of the women&#8217;s team. But that was not to be as the women also failed to get the baton around the track. This time second leg Alexandria Anderson ran up too quickly on Muna Lee. But if that alone weren&#8217;t enough Lee pulled up in the process, and had to be taken off the track with an injury &#8211; while the squad got to watch their heat go in a pedestrian 43.07! This is two meets in a row that both the men and women&#8217;s teams failed to make the relay finals. There was a lot of talk after Beijing about the poor job done at relay camps in previous years. But apparently not having any camps at all wasn&#8217;t the solution either.<\/p>\n<p>Without the US as combatant, the squads from Jamaica had things their own way. For the men there was much anticipation of a potential WR in the 4&#215;1. That, however, was not to be as Jamaica merely cruised to victory  in a meet record 37.31 &#8211; the #2 time ever.  While not as fast compared to all time performances, the Jamaican women still had an easy time in winning in 42.06. The wins gave Jamaica a sweep of the 100 meter related events.<\/p>\n<p>Likewise the US pulled out a sweep of the 400 related events as open winners Lashawn Merritt and Sanya Richards anchored  victories in the men and women&#8217;s 4&#215;4&#8217;s &#8211; the women&#8217;s 3:17.89 being the 6th best performance in history. With Usain Bolt winning the men&#8217;s 200 and Allyson Felix the women&#8217;s, it gives the US and Jamaica an even split in the battle for global sprint gold! A split that we need to look at rectifying in future meets. Something I&#8217;ll be talking about in future posts.<\/p>\n<p>Likewise in our quest for &#8220;30&#8221; medals, while we closed well this weekend, we fell well short of the goal. The weekend showed much promise, however, as we won a pair of gold medals  in the men and women&#8217;s long jump &#8211;  Brittney Reese with a world leading 23&#8242; 3.5&#8243; jump that was also a personal best. And in the middle distances we added to the medal count as Shannon Rowbury claimed bronze in the women&#8217;s 1500 while Bernard Lagat turned in a herculean effort in the 5000 running winner Kenenisa Bekele to the line and losing by only .24 &#8211; with stitches in his foot! And that women&#8217;s 1500 saw Christin Wurth Thomas and Anna Willard go 5th and 6th. Giving us three finishers in the top six! Outstanding improvement and huge promise for the future.<\/p>\n<p>But this meet has been another indication of how much the world has caught up, and how poorly we have reacted to the challenge. I hope it finally serves as a wake up call, and a catalyst for true change within our system. And I&#8217;m talking about real change and not rhetoric.  A year of rhetoric has brought us a total of one FEWER medals than in Beijing &#8211; a  move in reverse!<\/p>\n<p>Still a few more meets left this season, starting with the always excited Weltklasse in Zurich at the end of this week. But I think its time for some real soul searching for the US. I know I&#8217;ll be taking a look.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An interesting World Championships for the US came to a close with one more relay disaster, but a lot of promise elsewhere. After the debacle of the US men&#8217;s 4&#215;1 squad there was hope that redemption would come in the form of the women&#8217;s team. But that was not to be as the women also failed to get the baton around the track. This time second leg Alexandria Anderson ran up too quickly on Muna Lee. But if that alone weren&#8217;t enough Lee pulled up in the process, and had to be taken off the track with an injury &#8211; while the squad got to watch their heat go in a pedestrian 43.07! This is two meets in a row that both the men and women&#8217;s teams failed to make the relay finals. There was a lot of talk after Beijing about the poor job done at relay camps in previous years. But apparently not having any camps at all wasn&#8217;t the solution either. Without the US as combatant, the squads from Jamaica had things their own way. For the men there was much anticipation of a potential WR in the 4&#215;1. That, however, was not to be as Jamaica merely cruised to victory in a meet record 37.31 &#8211; the #2 time ever. While not as fast compared to all time performances, the Jamaican women still had an easy time in winning in 42.06. The wins gave Jamaica a sweep of the 100 meter related events. Likewise the US pulled out a sweep of the 400 related events as open winners Lashawn Merritt and Sanya Richards anchored victories in the men and women&#8217;s 4&#215;4&#8217;s &#8211; the women&#8217;s 3:17.89 being the 6th best performance in history. With Usain Bolt winning the men&#8217;s 200 and Allyson Felix the women&#8217;s, it gives the US and Jamaica an even split in the battle for global sprint gold! A split that we need to look at rectifying in future meets. Something I&#8217;ll be talking about in future posts. Likewise in our quest for &#8220;30&#8221; medals, while we closed well this weekend, we fell well short of the goal. The weekend showed much promise, however, as we won a pair of gold medals in the men and women&#8217;s long jump &#8211; Brittney Reese with a world leading 23&#8242; 3.5&#8243; jump that was also a personal best. And in the middle distances we added to the medal count as Shannon Rowbury claimed bronze in the women&#8217;s 1500 while Bernard Lagat turned in a herculean effort in the 5000 running winner Kenenisa Bekele to the line and losing by only .24 &#8211; with stitches in his foot! And that women&#8217;s 1500 saw Christin Wurth Thomas and Anna Willard go 5th and 6th. Giving us three finishers in the top six! Outstanding improvement and huge promise for the future. But this meet has been another indication of how much the world has caught up, and how poorly we have reacted to the challenge. I hope it finally serves as a wake up call, and a catalyst for true change within our system. And I&#8217;m talking about real change and not rhetoric. A year of rhetoric has brought us a total of one FEWER medals than in Beijing &#8211; a move in reverse! Still a few more meets left this season, starting with the always excited Weltklasse in Zurich at the end of this week. But I think its time for some real soul searching for the US. I know I&#8217;ll be taking a look.<\/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":[],"class_list":["post-225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa3DCY-3D","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":283,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=283","url_meta":{"origin":225,"position":0},"title":"US Sending Strong Team to Doha","author":"CHill","date":"March 4, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The roster for the US team for the World Championships in Doha was released today. The team appears to be quite strong with several gold medal possibilities. Among those that I feel have a strong shot at gold:Ivory Williams - Men's 60Carmelita Jeter - Women's 60Bershawn Jackson - Men's 400Debbie\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Track and Field: USA Indoor Championships","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/1\/c\/4\/8\/Track_and_Field_f7db.JPG?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":188,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=188","url_meta":{"origin":225,"position":1},"title":"Do They Really Understand Track and Field in Oregon Outside of Eugene ?","author":"CHill","date":"June 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"While scanning the internet for articles on this week's National Championships, I came across an article in the Oregonian that really took me by surprise. While host city Eugene prides itself as being \"Track Town USA\", the primary paper in the larger City of Portland talked about the National Championships\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":424,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=424","url_meta":{"origin":225,"position":2},"title":"X-mas List Item #2 \u2013 Free Live Streaming","author":"CHill","date":"December 16, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"If Track Santa is kind enough to give me some exciting matchups this coming season, I\u2019d love to be able to actually watch them as they occur. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I love YouTube \u2013 because everything ends up on YouTube sooner or later. But there is something to be\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 4 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 4 comments","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=424#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"BERLIN - AUGUST 23: South Korean athletes carry a banner for the 2011 games in Daegu, South Korea during day nine of the 12th IAAF World Athletics Championships at the Olympic Stadium on August 23, 2009 in Berlin, Germany.  (Photo by Mark Dadswell\/Getty Images)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/view4.picapp.com\/pictures.photo\/image\/6136302\/12th-iaaf-world-athletics\/12th-iaaf-world-athletics.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":430,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=430","url_meta":{"origin":225,"position":3},"title":"Ten Things to Watch in 2011","author":"CHill","date":"January 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Goodbye 2010. Welcome 2011. Last year was fun, but there is something special about having a Major championship to look forward to. It makes the season seem more \u201cofficial\u201d.The athletes seem to feel that way anyway. Last year saw many athletes take time off, and end season\u2019s early. We may\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"BERLIN - AUGUST 20:  The logo for the Daegu 2011 World Championshisp on display during day six of the 12th IAAF World Athletics Championships at the Olympic Stadium on August 20, 2009 in Berlin, Germany.  (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein\/Bongarts\/Getty Images)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/view3.picapp.com\/pictures.photo\/image\/6089676\/12th-iaaf-world-athletics\/12th-iaaf-world-athletics.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":468,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=468","url_meta":{"origin":225,"position":4},"title":"Will the US PASS the Relay Test","author":"CHill","date":"April 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s relay season here in the U.S., and with the Texas Relays up this weekend and talk of some top level athletes getting together on a couple of 4x1\u2019s, and 2011 being a World Championships season, it\u2019s time to once again begin talking about the U.S> 4x1\u2019s. The U.S. should\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"image","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lh3.ggpht.com\/_q69RXDGKhjE\/TZ3dVUtcU5I\/AAAAAAAAAJo\/nRv1IRAC70Q\/image_thumb.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":768,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=768","url_meta":{"origin":225,"position":5},"title":"How to Create a True World Championships","author":"CHill","date":"January 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I was taken aback when reading the TFN Editorial for January, as it stated that the writer saw no way that there would ever be a \u201cTrue\u201d World Championships. It seems, among other reasons given, that the thought is the various member nations would never vote for a \u201cTrue\u201d World\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"World Championships\"","block_context":{"text":"World Championships","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?tag=world-championships"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/osaka2007.iaaf.org\/MultimediaFiles\/Photo\/Competitions\/WorldChampionships\/40784_W600XH400.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225","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=225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}