Some Updates
Until the start of our MART/ACI basketball league, I haven’t played the hoops game since our ABL defeat last February. Unsurprisingly, I was rusty. To make matters worse, I am not in tip-top shape, since taking a one-month break from almost everything physical. My coordination and shooting was off. What limited basketball I.Q. I have was stunted by a lack of practice!
Thankfully, I have such able teammates. I can ride the bench anytime I make a series of fumbles. During D2003′s ill-fated ABL 2012 campaign, I could not even take a one-quarter break amidst the absence of our big guys.
With the Philippine National Games in Dumaguete going to full swing, I need an outlet for all my excess energy, lest I don my track kit again. These basketball games are perfect avenues to do just that. I can take a step back with youthful abandon. Despite my obvious lack of basketball moves, it feels superb to be able to unleash all these pent-up athletic energy. More importantly, there’s an excuse to focus on my fitness again. During my month-long hiatus, my body experienced withdrawal symptoms as it ingested more and excreted less endorphins.
I had an interesting talk with a couple of my athletics friends. One of them advised me stay in shape, just in case. Just in case, I have a change of heart.
For now, however, I shall take a low profile.
Vamos, Luguelin Santos!
The quarter miler from the Dominican Republic is just 18-years old. Despite his youth, Luguelin Santos has made waves in the 400m dash in 2012 – against much older competitors. At the Doha Diamond League last May 11, Santos finished behind LaShawn Merritt, the 2008 Olympic Champion. The 18-year old ran an impressive 44.88s against Merritt’s 44.19s, a world-leading time. Santos came close to his 2011 lifetime best of 44.71s, which he set at altitude in Guadalajara, Mexico.
But the best was yet to come for the Dominican. Two years after finishing in sixth place at the Moncton World Junior Championships, Santos streaked to 44.45s at the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games in Hengelo.
Santos had overtaken Kirani James (44.72s), the World Junior Champion from Moncton and the reigning World Champion, in the 2012 top list. Santos’ dominant Hengelo showing is the eighth fastest time ever run by a junior. The Dominican junior is in illustrious company in the juniors all-time list, as he trails only Kirani James and the 1988 Olympic Champion, Steve Lewis!
The Dominican Republic definitely has a new track star, the heir apparent to Felix Sanchez.
In a span of two years, the 18-year old dramatically bettered his lifetime bests - from 46.19s in 2010 to 44.45s in 2012.In the run-up prior to the London Olympics, the 400m dash will feature talented youngsters, like Santos and James, pitted against experienced quarter-milers like Merritt. The 400m dash will be one for the books.
Back to the Podium (9 February 2006)
While scouring my old Livejournal for a school paper I wrote years ago, I came across the following post. I wrote it hours after winning my first UAAP medals in the seniors division! More than six year had passed since that moment. I can still feel the sheer adrenaline rush of that day. It’s a pity that we didn’t have fancy DSLR cameras or high-res videos back then.
At least I was able to express the emotions that I felt through prose.
Finally. Got a silver this afternoon in the hurdles. I topped the overall list of qualifiers (15.88) but sadly, finished 2nd in the final heat. Damn. I was 0.03s away from the gold. To add insult to injury, I celebrated too early by raising my arms half a meter before the finish line. That cost me the race since I wasn’t able to outlean the gold medallist, whom I edged out in the same qualifying heat.
Nevertheless, this feels great. How badly I had missed finishing at the top echelons of the field. The cheers of my teammates were incomparable treasures. Seeing them happy because of what I had achieved made this victory a hundred times more sweet.
Track Beauty of the Week: Laura Ikauniece
Laura Ikauniece is this week’s track beauty!
The Latvian is a rising star in the multi-events. She struck athletics success early, winning the silver medal at the 2009 World Youth Championships in Brixen. Ikauniece scored a then personal best of 5,647 points (girls’ implements) – less than a 100 points from the Youth champion, Katarina Thompson of Britain. Laura failed to barge into the top three at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Moncton, finishing in sixth place.
Photo from Wikimedia
The statuesque Latvian bounced back in 2011, as she snared a European Juniors bronze medal. En route to her return to the podium, Laura scored a then personal best of 6,063 points. Ikauniece’s best events are the high jump and the javelin throw. The fact that she had jumped 1.82m twice as a 17-year old, speaks volumes of her talent. Her lanky figure is remiscent of the Tia Hellebaut – a heptathlete-turned-Olympic champion high jumper. Laura had recently set a new personal best of 53.73m in the javelin throw.
The 2012 athletics season, Ikauniece’s first full year as senior athlete, has exciting prospects. with the European Championships and the Olympic Games in the calendar. Laura is still barely out of her teens. She has fine athletics pedigree, being the daughter of Vineta Ikauniece, a retired sprinter who still holds several Latvian records. More importantly, Laura exudes both seriousness and enjoyment when she competes – a potent combination for champion athletes.
At the International Combined Events Meeting held in Talinn, Estonia last April, Ikauniece’s vast untapped potential took centerstage. Laura set personal bests in four out of five events, as she improved her pentathlon personal best to 4,346 points to grab top honours. At the Hypo-Meeting in Götzis last 27 May 2012, Ikauniece achieved lifetime bests in four disciplines (200mD – 24.43s, 800mR – 2:13.68, 100mH – 13.90s and Shot Put – 12.67m), and tied her three-year old high jump mark. The rapidly improving Latvian was rewarded with an impressive 6,282 point-total – a new personal best and an outright ticket to the London Olympics.
In the coming months and years, watch out for this talented Latvian heptathlete.
Additional links:
TDYSTAR (Teddy Tamgho) – Joyeux Noël
I must admit that I was quick to pillory Teddy Tamgho when I learned about his 12-month suspension. Tamgho figured in a brawl with a 19-year old female athlete at a training camp in Southern France. The details over the internet were scant. From the reports, the world indoor triple jump record holder was slapped with a fine, 50 hours of community service, and was suspended from athletics competition (although he’ll be eligible to compete in London).
Tamgho en route to his World Indoor gold (Photo from Wikipedia)
Read: “French triple jumper Teddy Tamgho banned for six months for fighting”
Read: “Teddy Tamgho suspendu six mois pour une altercation avec une athlète”
While looking into the aforesaid controversy, I stumbled upon Tamgho’s music video in reaction to all his critics. It was in French, of course, so I didn’t catch a single word.
Violence against women (or against any human being, for that matter) is deplorable. Since the punishment meted on Tamgho was considerably harsher than that given at the aftermath of the Baala-Mekhissi-Benabbad punching incident, one can only assume the gravity of circumstances, in light of the lack of details.
Despite all these, two things are certain: 1.) Tamgho is a talented athlete and 2.) He belches out a decent rap.
The 110m high hurdles in the 38th Prefontaine Classic has the makings of an epic race. Eugene, the United States’ Tracktown, is the fourth stop of the Samsung Diamond League.
Read: “Pre Classic Men’s 110-Meter Hurdles – Can It Get any Better Than This?”
For the first time since the controversial sprint hurdles final in Daegu last year, Liu Xiang 刘翔 will square off with world record holder Dayron Robles. Not to be outdone, a formidable array of American hurdling power is slated to defend home soil. At the forefront of the U.S. challenge is 2011 World Champion Jason Richardson, 2012 World Indoor Champion Aries Merritt and 2008 Olympic bronze medalist David Oliver.
Britain’s Andy Turner, the bronze medalist from Daegu, will also be in the thick of battle, as well as Liu’s understudy, Dongpeng Shi 史冬鹏 .
An interesting addition is Ashton Eaton, the heptathlon world record holder. Eaton, who attended the University of Oregon, will go head-to-head against the aforesaid sprint hurdling specialists onhis home track.
In terms of personal bests, Robles leads the pack with his current 12.87s world record. Liu (12.88s) and Oliver (12.94s) are the only one who had run below the 13-second barrier. Merritt (13.03s) and Richardson (13.04s) have almost identical lifetime bests. Shi had run an impressive 13.19s at the Osaka World Championships final, but have failed to replicate that form the past five years. Turner (13.22s) and Eaton (13.35s) round up the bottom two.
Liu, the 2012 world leader with 12.97s, is my pick to win the race (of course!), in light of his dominating performance at the recently concluded Shanghai Diamond League. I expect Robles (who is still recovering from an injury) to figure in a tight battle for second place with the in-form American sprint hurdling troika.
The talented Eaton could spring a surprise. If Shi and Turner perform below par, they could get beaten by a multi-eventer.
I know I’m getting ahead of myself when I say this, but the Eugene protagonists could possibly figure in the greatest sprint hurdling spectacle of all-time. We could see a new world record, should the conditions be conducive. The foursome of Liu, Oliver, Merrit and Richardson could all dip under 13-seconds. We might even see a rare dead heat! Regardless of the outcome, this race shall be one for the books.
The Manchester Mix-Up
I was dumbfounded to read about the organizing gaffe at the 2012 Manchester GreatCity Games. Jessica Ennis, the poster girl of Britain’s Olympic campaign, had just run a personal best in the 100m hurdles – albeit over nine flights of hurdles, instead of ten. Naturally, Ennis was “annoyed.” The diminutive heptathlete had beaten the 2008 Olympic champion Dawn Harper and 2011 World Championships silver medalist Danielle Carruthers.
Read: “Jessica Ennis denied personal best at Great CityGames in Manchester”
Things could have been much worse for Ennis and the rest of the hurdling ladies in Manchester. The race organizers could have set some of the hurdles closer than the standard marks, like what happened at a regional track meet in Anchorage, Alaska.
The sprint hurdles is all about rhythm, speed and constant repetition. Hurdlers take three steps in between barriers as fast as possible. Once the barriers are moved closer (or farther) – unbeknownst to the athletes – a hurdles crash is a certainty. The boys in Anchorage were fortunate to finish the race without any bones. In hindsight, Ennis et. al were much more fortunate than the lads in that Anchorage race.
With the London Olympics barely three months away, the Manchester mix-up is a black eye for the novel street-racing event.
