{"id":2858,"date":"2024-08-20T08:22:18","date_gmt":"2024-08-20T15:22:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=2858"},"modified":"2024-08-20T08:22:18","modified_gmt":"2024-08-20T15:22:18","slug":"my-favorite-moments-from-paris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=2858","title":{"rendered":"My Favorite Moments From Paris"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>There was a lot of anticipation leading up to the Paris Olympics. That happens when an Olympics follows a Games where something notable has occurred. Like when Munich followed Mexico City. After all the record breaking that had occurred in Mexico. It was impossible to live up to that. Then there was Los Angeles following the boycotted Moscow Games. Where western countries hadn’t competed for eight years. This year Paris got to follow Tokyo which had the misfortune of being an Olympics devoid of fans due to Covid. It had been eight long years since we’d had a “normal” Olympics, and you could see and feel it in the stadium. The joy of the athletes was visible in the competition. As was the enthusiasm of the fans! After all was said and done and the curtain finally fell on the closing ceremony, we had witnessed perhaps the greatest Olympics ever from a track and field point of view! While there were not as many records set as there were in Mexico City. It’s only because of how high the ceiling has been raised in the decades since. As the performances were arguably more impressive across the board. Track and field, men and women. The only disappointments being when favorites lost. Their disappointment at falling to those that raised their own performances to new levels. This was a competition for the ages and today I’m going to list some of my favorite moments from Paris ’24.<\/p>\n

Mens 100m<\/strong> – I’m a big fan of the 100m. Worlds Fastest Human. This was one of the most exciting races that has been run in my lifetime. A brilliant start. Strong finishes. The wait while the photo had to be reread on one of histories closest races. A race that ended with seven men between 9.79 and 9.89! Five thousandths of a second separating gold and silver. It doesn’t get any better than this. Prior to the meet, I ran it over and over in my mind coming out with different results every time. This race lived up to the hype. For my money this was the most complete field ever. Everyone in that final belonged there. Everyone ran well, living up to the moment. You can’t ask for better as a fan.<\/p>\n

Women’s 200m<\/strong> – I was disappointed when Shericka Jackson pulled out, but had expected it after watching her get injured prior to Paris. Sometimes an athlete will drop their guard when their primary competition is missing. That was not the case with Gabby Thomas. She destroyed the field early and won easily. Her closest competition being the Olympic 100m champion. One of my favorite races because of her dominance which I think is finally getting her the attention she deserves. Hopefully elevating her to the level of being one of the many faces of track and field.<\/p>\n

Mens 200m<\/strong> – No, Noah didn’t win. A big surprise to some, but I knew that Tebogo was always going to be a threat. I said so when fans were predicting a US sweep. Letsile is too good for that to ever be on the table. Frankly with or without Covid, I believe the lane draw was against Noah. In lane five with his top opposition in outside, more favorable lanes, it was never going to be easy. One just has to tremendous how close the Trials were. Tebogo took advantage with a fast bend and now the world knows who he is. At only twenty years old, he’s going to be a problem for a while.<\/p>\n

Women’s 800m<\/strong> – Athing Mu was left at home. Leaving this race a duel between Mary Moraa and Keely Hodgkinson. These are the women that have dominated the event for the last half decade. Prior to the Games, Keely showed that she was the one to beat. Running a blistering 1:54.61. She controlled the race in Paris, easily outrunning Moraa in the final 100m to win in 1:56.72. No, there was no Athing, the defending champion. But if you’ve watched the sport, Athing has not been runner for a couple of seasons now. While both Hodgkinson and Morra have improved. This race simply proved Keely’s current dominance.<\/p>\n

Mens 400m<\/strong> – Chatting with some friends before Paris, I told everyone that my favorite for gold was Quincy Hall. Why? Because he reminds me of the late Lee Evans. The Mexico City champion who was the first man under 44.00. Neither would ever be accused of being a “pretty” runner. Ironically the last Quincy to win this race, Quincy Watts, was a beautifully fluid runner. Who flowed around the track. Mr Hall, on the other hand, has arms and legs going everywhere – and that’s just fine, because he gets to the finish on time! His theme music should be “Atomic Dog”, because it’s nothing but the dog in him!<\/p>\n

Women’s 4×1<\/strong> – This was not the win I had envisioned before the gun. I had a slightly different squad in mind, and a time under 41.00. So, why is this a top moment for me? That anchor by Sha’Carri. That was reminiscent of 1988 and the come from behind anchor by Evelyn Ashford against East Germany. Running by everyone to win the gold. A beautiful run. Never panicked. Just give me the baton and let me work. That was the Sha’Carri that everyone was expecting to see in the 100m. Cool, confident, and dominant. Hopefully this will set her up for a good end of season.<\/p>\n

Mens 4×4<\/strong> – I’ve been telling people all year, we have to watch out for Botswana in that 4×4. Nah, no one else has the depth that we do, is the response I’ve gotten. I don’t think most people have really paid attention, because Botswana has had a few guys running between 44.1ish and 44.2ish. And I’ve been a Tebogo fan since he won his first U20 100m title.’ He ran 44.27 early in the year, and without a 4×1 in the mix, I thought they would use him in the 4×4. All of these things came true. Botswana matched us leg for leg, including the greatest anchor duel in history between Tebogo and Rai Benjamin. A classic. The result, the second and third fastest runs ever, and a total of ELEVEN 43 second splits. As seven squads ran under 3:00. We may never see as great a battle. Then again, they could run it back next year in Tokyo. That alone is reason to tune in next year!<\/p>\n

Mens 1500m<\/strong> – This was a fantastic race. You had two rivals in Jakob Ingerbrigtsen and Josh Kerr, that creates a competitive vibe before the gun goes off. Then you add a field of talented individuals, that refuse to be bit players in their race. As quick as Ingerbrigtsen made the pace, everyone continues to stay with it. The final 200m created an all time classic, as everyone did their best to move into contention. Then of course we had the final 50m. An opening inside. The two Americans surging and the two favorites beginning to fail. In the blink of an eye the podium changed. Ingerbringtsen off and Kerr barely holding on for silver. As two Americans etched their names into the history books. Nice job guys!<\/p>\n

This was as great a meet as we’ve seen. Perhaps the best ever seen in the Olympic Games. This is why track and field is the greatest sport on the planet. I truly believe that. Everything that exists in every other sport, can be found in ours. It’s a great spectacle when we get our best together to compete. The Olympics is good for track, because it amplifies our audience. But we can do better as a meet. How can I say this? I can say it, because far too many of our best athletes are left at home. We have five more meets to enjoy – Lausanne, Silesia, Rome, Brussels, and Zurich. After which I will tell you how I think we can improve our championships.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There was a lot of anticipation leading up to the Paris Olympics. That happens when an Olympics follows a Games where something notable has occurred. Like when Munich followed Mexico City. After all the record breaking that had occurred in Mexico. It was impossible to live up to that. Then there was Los Angeles following the boycotted Moscow Games. Where western countries hadn’t competed for eight years. This year Paris got to follow Tokyo which had the misfortune of being an Olympics devoid of fans due to Covid. It had been eight long years since we’d had a “normal” Olympics, and you could see and feel it in the stadium. The joy of the athletes was visible in the competition. As was the enthusiasm of the fans! After all was said and done and the curtain finally fell on the closing ceremony, we had witnessed perhaps the greatest Olympics ever from a track and field point of view! While there were not as many records set as there were in Mexico City. It’s only because of how high the ceiling has been raised in the decades since. As the performances were arguably more impressive across the board. Track and field, men and women. The only disappointments being when favorites lost. Their disappointment at falling to those that raised their own performances to new levels. This was a competition for the ages and today I’m going to list some of my favorite moments from Paris ’24. Mens 100m – I’m a big fan of the 100m. Worlds Fastest Human. This was one of the most exciting races that has been run in my lifetime. A brilliant start. Strong finishes. The wait while the photo had to be reread on one of histories closest races. A race that ended with seven men between 9.79 and 9.89! Five thousandths of a second separating gold and silver. It doesn’t get any better than this. Prior to the meet, I ran it over and over in my mind coming out with different results every time. This race lived up to the hype. For my money this was the most complete field ever. Everyone in that final belonged there. Everyone ran well, living up to the moment. You can’t ask for better as a fan. Women’s 200m – I was disappointed when Shericka Jackson pulled out, but had expected it after watching her get injured prior to Paris. Sometimes an athlete will drop their guard when their primary competition is missing. That was not the case with Gabby Thomas. She destroyed the field early and won easily. Her closest competition being the Olympic 100m champion. One of my favorite races because of her dominance which I think is finally getting her the attention she deserves. Hopefully elevating her to the level of being one of the many faces of track and field. Mens 200m – No, Noah didn’t win. A big surprise to some, but I knew that Tebogo was always going to be a threat. I said so when fans were predicting a US sweep. Letsile is too good for that to ever be on the table. Frankly with or without Covid, I believe the lane draw was against Noah. In lane five with his top opposition in outside, more favorable lanes, it was never going to be easy. One just has to tremendous how close the Trials were. Tebogo took advantage with a fast bend and now the world knows who he is. At only twenty years old, he’s going to be a problem for a while. Women’s 800m – Athing Mu was left at home. Leaving this race a duel between Mary Moraa and Keely Hodgkinson. These are the women that have dominated the event for the last half decade. Prior to the Games, Keely showed that she was the one to beat. Running a blistering 1:54.61. She controlled the race in Paris, easily outrunning Moraa in the final 100m to win in 1:56.72. No, there was no Athing, the defending champion. But if you’ve watched the sport, Athing has not been runner for a couple of seasons now. While both Hodgkinson and Morra have improved. This race simply proved Keely’s current dominance. Mens 400m – Chatting with some friends before Paris, I told everyone that my favorite for gold was Quincy Hall. Why? Because he reminds me of the late Lee Evans. The Mexico City champion who was the first man under 44.00. Neither would ever be accused of being a “pretty” runner. Ironically the last Quincy to win this race, Quincy Watts, was a beautifully fluid runner. Who flowed around the track. Mr Hall, on the other hand, has arms and legs going everywhere – and that’s just fine, because he gets to the finish on time! His theme music should be “Atomic Dog”, because it’s nothing but the dog in him! Women’s 4×1 – This was not the win I had envisioned before the gun. I had a slightly different squad in mind, and a time under 41.00. So, why is this a top moment for me? That anchor by Sha’Carri. That was reminiscent of 1988 and the come from behind anchor by Evelyn Ashford against East Germany. Running by everyone to win the gold. A beautiful run. Never panicked. Just give me the baton and let me work. That was the Sha’Carri that everyone was expecting to see in the 100m. Cool, confident, and dominant. Hopefully this will set her up for a good end of season. Mens 4×4 – I’ve been telling people all year, we have to watch out for Botswana in that 4×4. Nah, no one else has the depth that we do, is the response I’ve gotten. I don’t think most people have really paid attention, because Botswana has had a few guys running between 44.1ish and 44.2ish. And I’ve been a Tebogo fan since he won his first U20 100m title.’ He ran 44.27 early in the year, and without a 4×1 in the mix, I thought they would use him in the 4×4. All of these things came true. Botswana matched us leg for leg, including the greatest anchor duel in history between Tebogo and Rai Benjamin. A classic. The result, the second and third fastest runs ever, and a total of ELEVEN 43 second splits. As seven squads ran under 3:00. We may never see as great a battle. Then again, they could run it back next year in Tokyo. That alone is reason to tune in next year! Mens 1500m – This was a fantastic race. You had two rivals in Jakob Ingerbrigtsen and Josh Kerr, that creates a competitive vibe before the gun goes off. Then you add a field of talented individuals, that refuse to be bit players in their race. As quick as Ingerbrigtsen made the pace, everyone continues to stay with it. The final 200m created an all time classic, as everyone did their best to move into contention. Then of course we had the final 50m. An opening inside. The two Americans surging and the two favorites beginning to fail. In the blink of an eye the podium changed. Ingerbringtsen off and Kerr barely holding on for silver. As two Americans etched their names into the history books. Nice job guys! This was as great a meet as we’ve seen. Perhaps the best ever seen in the Olympic Games. This is why track and field is the greatest sport on the planet. I truly believe that. Everything that exists in every other sport, can be found in ours. It’s a great spectacle when we get our best together to compete. The Olympics is good for track, because it amplifies our audience. But we can do better as a meet. How can I say this? I can say it, because far too many of our best athletes are left at home. We have five more meets to enjoy – Lausanne, Silesia, Rome, Brussels, and Zurich. After which I will tell you how I think we can improve our championships.<\/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":[652,651,636,189],"class_list":["post-2858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-botswana","tag-hodgkinson","tag-tebogo","tag-thomas"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa3DCY-K6","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":258,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=258","url_meta":{"origin":2858,"position":0},"title":"Time to Tweak the World Championships","author":"CHill","date":"December 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I remember looking forward to the first World Championships back in 1983. We had boycotted the 1980 Olympics, so the last time the US had participated in a global championships had been the Games of 1976! So it had been an eternity for track fans salivating for a global event.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Track and Field: 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/5\/8\/3\/2\/Track_and_Field_3c02.JPG?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":542,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=542","url_meta":{"origin":2858,"position":1},"title":"How Important Is Daegu?","author":"CHill","date":"August 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Or more to the point, how important are the World Championships? Where do they stand in the grand scheme of the sport? I ask because with just under a month until our \u201cBig Meet\u201d the season has seemed a bit, lackluster. Tyson Gay out. Usain Bolt subpar. 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I remember championship races outside of the Olympics.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/trackchill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/E84FD72B-E78B-4313-B88E-EF5F420C1A1B-150x150.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2746,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=2746","url_meta":{"origin":2858,"position":3},"title":"Time for a Worlds Revision","author":"CHill","date":"October 4, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The World Championships have concluded and everyone is already looking forward to Paris 2024! Because that is the event that EVERYONE puts stock into. So much so, that several high level athletes bypassed this year's World Championships in favor of preparation for the Olympics. 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(Photo by Daniel Berehulak\/Getty Images)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/view1.picapp.com\/pictures.photo\/image\/9831349\/incident-weightlifting\/incident-weightlifting.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2858","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=2858"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2858\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2860,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2858\/revisions\/2860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}