{"id":414,"date":"2010-11-05T16:38:00","date_gmt":"2010-11-05T23:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=414"},"modified":"2010-11-05T16:38:00","modified_gmt":"2010-11-05T23:38:00","slug":"the-best-of-2010-the-meet-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=414","title":{"rendered":"The Best of 2010 \u2013The Meet of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"float:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/view.picapp.com\/pictures.photo\/sports\/track-and-field-ncaa\/image\/9162522?term=ncaa+track+and+field+championships\" target=\"_blank\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/view.picapp.com\/pictures.photo\/image\/9162522\/track-and-field-ncaa\/track-and-field-ncaa.jpg?resize=234%2C297\" border=\"0\" width=\"234\" title=\"Track and Field: NCAA Championships\" height=\"297\" oncontextmenu=\"return false;\" ondrag=\"return false;\" onmousedown=\"return false;\" alt=\"Jun 12, 2010; Eugene, OR, USA; Keshia Baker of Oregon (right) edges Jessica Beard of Texas A&amp;M on the anchor of the women's 4 x 400m relay, 3:28.54 to 3:28.57, in the 2010 NCAA Track &amp; Field Championships at Hayward Field. Photo via Newscom\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"clear:left;height:0px;overflow: hidden;\"><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/view.picapp.com\/\/JavaScripts\/OTIjs.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>As I continue to take a look back at the 2010 season, I\u2019ve looked at some standard \u201cawards\u201d (Athlete of the Year) as well as some not so standard (Top Breakthrough Americans).<\/p>\n<p>This is another of those non standard awards. Though I think there should be some way of&nbsp; evaluating how well our meets do every year. If for no other reason than to tweak them for the better. Because the better we present our product, the better the sport should become. <\/p>\n<p>So, what meets caught my eye in 2010? Well, Stockholm\u2019s DN Galan meet gave us the match up of the year as Tyson Gay defeated Usain Bolt to lay claim to the title World\u2019s Fastest Human of 2010. While Berlin may have had the year\u2019s most magical moment as Dsvid Rudisha toured two laps of the bright blue oval in 1:41.09 to take down one of the sport\u2019s most revered records \u2013 Wilson Kipketer\u2019s 1:41.11 from 1997! But both lacked depth throughout.<\/p>\n<p>The European Championships in Split saw many of Europe\u2019s best post their best marks of the year, but the results on the track were far below par in most cases compared to the best of the rest of the world.<\/p>\n<p>And with no Major Championship berths on the line, most national championships were a cut below what we\u2019ve become accustomed to. Leaving us with a lot of \u201cgood\u201d meets but not many great meets.<\/p>\n<p>Zurich and Brussels were the finale meets for the inaugural Diamond League. Which means that they brought together the largest contingent of top athletes on the circuit. And Zurich gave us an outstanding showing of speed with Campbell Brown and Jeter turning in identical 10.89\u2019s with Veronica winning&nbsp; by a whisker. Wallace Spearmon (19.79) and Jeremy Wariner (44.13) showing nice returns to form. David Oliver (12.93) once again under 13 seconds and the US 4&#215;1 blazing to a 37.45. Throw in a 5000 meters with six men under 13 minutes and a 71\u2019 9\u201d shot put by Christian Cantwell, and you have my #2 meet of the year.&nbsp; <\/p>\n<p>Because for #1 I\u2019m choosing a meet that had everything that I think a track meet should have. Stirring competition throughout. Several personal best performances. Upsets. Relays. A full schedule that included ALL of the events for both men and women. And a team competition that came down the the final event of the meet! For those who haven\u2019t figured it out yet, I\u2019m referring to this year\u2019s NCAA Championships \u2013 the only meet of the year that had EVERYTHING that makes for an outstanding meet!<\/p>\n<p>The NCAA Championships kept me engaged for the better part of a week. It offered online streaming and TV. There were story lines galore to follow including the back and forth team battle on the men\u2019s side; the ongoing battle between the Oregon and Texas A&amp;M women; Wheating and the double; upsets in both men\u2019s hurdles; a double in the women\u2019s hurdles; and so many more. <\/p>\n<p>For my money the Meet of the Year. I\u2019m sure there will be some that agree, and those that have their own ideas. So I\u2019ve put up a poll at the top of the page where you can register your votes for the meet you feel was the best of 2010. And feel free to leave comments as I\u2019m curious as to how you viewed this year\u2019s meets. Especially with the Diamond League in it\u2019s first season. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As I continue to take a look back at the 2010 season, I\u2019ve looked at some standard \u201cawards\u201d (Athlete of the Year) as well as some not so standard (Top Breakthrough Americans). This is another of those non standard awards. Though I think there should be some way of&nbsp; evaluating how well our meets do every year. If for no other reason than to tweak them for the better. Because the better we present our product, the better the sport should become. So, what meets caught my eye in 2010? Well, Stockholm\u2019s DN Galan meet gave us the match up of the year as Tyson Gay defeated Usain Bolt to lay claim to the title World\u2019s Fastest Human of 2010. While Berlin may have had the year\u2019s most magical moment as Dsvid Rudisha toured two laps of the bright blue oval in 1:41.09 to take down one of the sport\u2019s most revered records \u2013 Wilson Kipketer\u2019s 1:41.11 from 1997! But both lacked depth throughout. The European Championships in Split saw many of Europe\u2019s best post their best marks of the year, but the results on the track were far below par in most cases compared to the best of the rest of the world. And with no Major Championship berths on the line, most national championships were a cut below what we\u2019ve become accustomed to. Leaving us with a lot of \u201cgood\u201d meets but not many great meets. Zurich and Brussels were the finale meets for the inaugural Diamond League. Which means that they brought together the largest contingent of top athletes on the circuit. And Zurich gave us an outstanding showing of speed with Campbell Brown and Jeter turning in identical 10.89\u2019s with Veronica winning&nbsp; by a whisker. Wallace Spearmon (19.79) and Jeremy Wariner (44.13) showing nice returns to form. David Oliver (12.93) once again under 13 seconds and the US 4&#215;1 blazing to a 37.45. Throw in a 5000 meters with six men under 13 minutes and a 71\u2019 9\u201d shot put by Christian Cantwell, and you have my #2 meet of the year.&nbsp; Because for #1 I\u2019m choosing a meet that had everything that I think a track meet should have. Stirring competition throughout. Several personal best performances. Upsets. Relays. A full schedule that included ALL of the events for both men and women. And a team competition that came down the the final event of the meet! For those who haven\u2019t figured it out yet, I\u2019m referring to this year\u2019s NCAA Championships \u2013 the only meet of the year that had EVERYTHING that makes for an outstanding meet! The NCAA Championships kept me engaged for the better part of a week. It offered online streaming and TV. There were story lines galore to follow including the back and forth team battle on the men\u2019s side; the ongoing battle between the Oregon and Texas A&amp;M women; Wheating and the double; upsets in both men\u2019s hurdles; a double in the women\u2019s hurdles; and so many more. For my money the Meet of the Year. I\u2019m sure there will be some that agree, and those that have their own ideas. So I\u2019ve put up a poll at the top of the page where you can register your votes for the meet you feel was the best of 2010. And feel free to leave comments as I\u2019m curious as to how you viewed this year\u2019s meets. Especially with the Diamond League in it\u2019s first season.<\/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-414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa3DCY-6G","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":403,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=403","url_meta":{"origin":414,"position":0},"title":"Top Breakthrough Americans of 2010","author":"CHill","date":"September 27, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"At the end of every season, the awards start pouring out. Typically everyone identifies their Athletes of the Year, and Performances of the Year. There are also awards for Collegiate Athletes (Bowerman) and lists of the top athletes. Between now and the end of the calendar year I will also\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"EUGENE, OR - JULY 03: Kara Patterson of USA throws the javelin during the IAAF Diamond League Prefontaine Classic on July 3, 2010 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey\/Getty Images)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/view.picapp.com\/pictures.photo\/image\/9284486\/prefontaine-classic\/prefontaine-classic.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":372,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=372","url_meta":{"origin":414,"position":1},"title":"Verena Sailer wins Euro 100 \u2013 It\u2019s Been a Long Time Coming for Germany","author":"CHill","date":"July 30, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday Germany's Verena Sailer won the women\u2019s 100 meter title in a PR 11.10. Not big headline news when you consider that seven women have run under 11.00 so far this season, and four of them have run under 10.90! Makes Sailer\u2019s win seem rather pedestrian in comparison. But when\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=372#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"July 30, 2010 - 06244895 date 29 07 2010 Copyright imago Kolvenbach 29 7 2010 Athletics European Championships in Barcelona Spain Verena Sailer ger 100m cheering 29 7 2010 European Athletics Championships in Barcelona Spain Verena Sailer ger 100m Kolvenbach Athletics euro Barcelona women Single Vdig 2010 vertical Highlight premiumd Athletics European Championship.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/view.picapp.com\/pictures.photo\/image\/9453217\/sports-news-july-2010\/sports-news-july-2010.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":410,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=410","url_meta":{"origin":414,"position":2},"title":"Female Athlete of the Year \u2013 Sustained Excellence","author":"CHill","date":"October 19, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I pick up my end of the year reviews with my choice for this year\u2019s Female Athlete of the Year. The competition for the title was a bit different than it was on the men\u2019s side. While the men had two athletes that had record setting, all time list\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=410#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"Aug. 02, 2010 - 06261615 date 01 08 2010 Copyright imago GEPA Pictures Athletics EAA euro 2010 Barcelona Spain 01 Aug 10 Divers Athletics EAA European Championships 2010 High jump the women Picture shows the cheering from Blanka Vlasic CRO Keywords Flag PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxAUTxITA euro Single cheering happiness Vdig xub 2010 horizontal premiumd.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/view.picapp.com\/pictures.photo\/image\/9480198\/sports-news-august-2010\/sports-news-august-2010.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1250,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1250","url_meta":{"origin":414,"position":3},"title":"Tyson Gay to Debut in New York","author":"CHill","date":"June 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I know that the next meet up is the Oslo leg of the Diamond League and not New York, but the big news heading into the last two \u201cbig\u201d meets before the Olympic Trials is that Tyson Gay will run before the Trials and he will do so this weekend\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Gay\"","block_context":{"text":"Gay","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?tag=gay"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tyson Gay","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/trackchill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Tyson-Gay_thumb.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":380,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=380","url_meta":{"origin":414,"position":4},"title":"Bolt Cuts Season Short \u2013 Still Plenty to Watch","author":"CHill","date":"August 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The word this week on just about every media outlet available \u2013 track and field web sites, major newspapers, even USA Today and ESPN \u2013 is that Usain Bolt is calling it a season. Within days of his loss to Tyson Gay in Stockholm, Bolt announced that due to lower\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"July 17, 2010 - 06183190 date 16 07 2010 Copyright imago Panoramic Athle Meeting Areva Stade de France David Oliver 110m Haies  PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxFRAxITAxBEL Athletics Meeting Areva IAAF Diamond League Paris men Action shot Vdig 2010 horizontal premiumd.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/view1.picapp.com\/pictures.photo\/image\/9367747\/sports-news-july-2010\/sports-news-july-2010.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":259,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=259","url_meta":{"origin":414,"position":5},"title":"Happy New Year","author":"CHill","date":"January 1, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Happy New Year to all those that have visited my site this past year! I hope that the new year brings joy and happiness to all.Thank you for visiting in 2009, I hope you enjoyed my site in it's first year. To show my appreciation for your support my goal\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Berlin Welcomes 2010","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/a\/1\/3\/d\/Berlin_Welcomes_2010_7f31.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414","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=414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}