Thoughts on Bolt’s 100m Dash Loss

Young Yohan Blake defeated training partner Usain Bolt at the Jamaican Olympic Trials. Blake, the 2011 100m dash World Champion, shaved off a staggering seven-hundredths of a second off his personal best to convincingly win over the World 100m and 200m record holder. Blake stopped the clock in 9.75s to Bolt’s 9.86s. Asafa Powell was third in 9.88s.

The powerful Powell had a cracking start. The former world record holder actually led the field until the 60 meter mark, when Blake turned on his afterburners. Even Bolt’s usually dominating finish proved insufficient to turn the race into his favor. Although Bolt pipped Powell at the tape, by two-hundredths of a second, Blake scored a convincing victory.

This was Bolt’s first loss in the 100m dash since Tyson Gay beat him in Stockholm back in 2010.

Read: “Thunder Bolt”

Usain has shown chinks in his armor the past few races. At the Ostrava Golden Spike meeting this year, he ran a little over 10 seconds after a lackluster start. Although he has run the two fastest times in history (9.58s and 9.69s), other talented albeit slower sprinters are ready to pounce once Bolt lets down his guard.

Bolt at his best is practically unbeatable in the half-lap sprint. The 100m dash is a different ballgame altogether, considering the fact that the comebacking Gay had run 9.69s in the past. Powell (9.72s), despite his penchant for choking, has the necessary speed to edge out Bolt. With Blake’s victory in Kingston, a talented and confident challenger comes to fore.

Click here to view the 100m dash all-time list

Gay, Powell, and Blake has what it takes to beat Bolt in London.

Bolt’s loss at the hands of his training partner, as well as the near-missed he has had this season, could be beneficial in his defense of his Olympic titles. Bolt, after all, is human. He is no stranger to finishing second fiddle, having had a forgettable string of seasons prior to his breakout performance at the Beijing Olympics.

Usain Bolt, like the champion that he is, shall learn from this losing experience.

The Versatile Rosolova

I first learned about Denisa Rosolova while watching last year’s European Indoor Championships. It was remarkable how a former champion heptathlete and world class long jumper shifted to the quarter mile and strike gold! I admired her athletic talent and versatility. More importantly, Rosolova has the audacity to try something unorthodox. For this, she has reaped dividends.

Read more…

Marathon Athletics Coverage

I’ve always rued the lack of athletics coverage here in the Philippines. When there is a major championship, I almost always watch the festivities from those bootleg live streaming links. But thanks to Destiny Cable and Eurosport, I’ve been getting consistent coverage of the Diamond League circuit and the European Championships.

It’s quite weird, really, how my track & field addiction seemed to have grown exponentially after I hung up my spikes. Hence, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time staying up late to watch the aforesaid athletics competitions.

Eurosport’s coverage of the Helsinki European Championships is admirable. My favorite channel has been showing ALMOST EVERY SINGLE FRIGGIN’ EVENT. Because of the time difference – and my rekindled athletics addiction – I’ve been burning the midnight oil since the Euro Champs started last Wednesday. With the European Football Champs and Wimbledon also ongoing, I was tempted not to turn off the boob tube and shun sleep!

Despite the fact that I’m probably the lone Filipino losing sleep over the European Athletics Championships, I am a truly happy athletics afficionado!

Track Beauty of the Week: Dafne Schippers

Dafne Schippers is this week’s Track Beauty!

Schippers started out as an excellent heptathlete in her junior and youth days, but has since ventured to the sprints. The Dutch athlete won the World Junior title in Moncton back in 2010, scoring 5,967 points. A year later, she topped the European Junior Championships in Tallinn, amassing a total of 6,153 points.

Click here to read the full article…

Tiina Lillak: Finnish Javelin Legend

When I was watching the javelin qualification rounds of the Helsinki European Championships, I noticed a prominent banner. Written in bold letters were the words: “Finland the Javelin Country.” Indeed, the javelin throw is a national past time in the Nordic countries. Of the sixty-nine medals awarded in the event since 1896, a staggering thirty-two medals had been won by troika of Sweden, Norway, and Finland. In fact, Finland had swept the medals twice in Olympic history.

The Euro Sport announcers then went on to talk about a certain Tiina Lillak, and how she snatched the inaugural World Championships gold on her final throw – in front of thousands of ecstatic Finns.

Tiina Lillak circa 1983. (Photo from Jos Hendrix)

Britain’s Fatima Whitbread threw down the gauntlet at the first round, throwing the spear to a distance of 69.14s. Lillak was in second place, with distances of 67.34m and 67.46m achieved in the first and fifth rounds. As the legendary Finn prepared for her final throw, the camera focused on Lillak. She was the portrait of sheer determination. Just from her expression, it was apparent that Lillak was summoning something grandiose.

And it was an epic throw, indeed. The moment the Finn released the javelin, the crowd let out a collective roar. When it struck the ground, beyond the Briton’s erstwhile leading mark and beyond seventy-meters (70.82m), the tens of thousands in attendance cheered even louder.

Coming from a country where athletics is nothing more than a fringe sport, the thought of a jam-packed stadium and a dramatically triumphant hometown bet gave me goosebumps.

The Euro Championships Men’s Javelin final will be held tonight. The resurgent 2007 World Champion Tero Pitkämäki and the exuberant Ari Mannio lead the Finnish charge. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed as I cheer for hometown duo, hoping to witness an epic in the making.

Source:

Wikipedia

Thoughts on Felix and Tarmoh’s Dead Heat

I’ve always been fascinated by the touching story of Sueo Oe 大江 季雄 and Shuhei Nishida 西田 修平.  The two Japanese pole vaulters won bronze and silver at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The two vaulters were very good friends. When they arrived in Japan, they went to a jeweler and had the two medals cut in half. Both Nishida and Oe had equal halves of bronze and silver, aptly called the Medal of Eternal Friendship.

Read: “The Medal of Eternal Friendship”

In sport, people often say that only one person (or team) can emerge victorious. True enough, that is almost always the case in competitive sport, especially in athletics. Unless there is a dead heat.

The U.S. Olympic Trials featured one of the most high profile deadlocks in a running event the past few years. At the 100m dash final, the fast-finishing Allyson Felix caught up with her training partner Jeneba Tarmoh. Third place – and the coveted spot in the U.S. lineup – was originally awarded to Tarmoh. A closer review of the photo-finish tapes revealed that the sprinters actually clocked identical times of 11.068s.

The U.S. Trials is a cutthroat method of selection, where the top three finishers in each event are automatically given outright slots to a major championships, provided that they had met the entry standards. Considering the vast talent pool of the U.S., the competition for those berths are naturally tough (even tougher than the Olympic Games itself, some say).

Read: “Running a Dead Heat – Twice”

However, it turns out that there was no clear cut policy on settling dead heats in the running events. Since countries are only allowed to send a maximum of three participants in the Olympic Games, a clear victor must be chosen between Felix and Tarmoh. After much deliberation, the USATF crafted a set of guidelines in dealing with these rare occurrences:

Screenshot from the USATF Website

Read: USATF Dead Heat Procedures

Felix and Tarmoh, simply put, will be given the option of a coin toss or a run-off. Considering how competitive these ladies are, it is almost certain that the latter will be chosen.

Dead heats, because of its rarity (well, not for Yevgeniy Borisov and Konstantin Shabanov, I guess), is a refreshing twist to the black & white outcome of a track race. As spectators and competitors alike, we have been accustomed to seeing one person stand on each rung of the podium. In this day and age of fast-pace lifestyles and cut throat ways of life, it seems almost heartwarming to see two (or even three) people share a coveted prize.

For Felix and Tarmoh, however, they can share the bronze medal but only one can be sent to London.

Post-Race Interviews:

With Felix:

With Tarmoh:

Additional Links:

IAAF article

Bob Kersee’s Thoughts

Running A Dead Heat – Twice.

I was supposed to write about the dead heat between Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh, but something much more interesting caught my attention.

As I was scouring Google for more articles on the 60m Hurdles at the 2011 Russian Indoor Championships, where Yevgeniy Borisov Евгений Борисов and Konstantin Shabanov Константин Шабанов shared the national title, it turns out that the Russian hurdlers ran a dead heat again -  at the very same competition!

Read: “A Dead Heat!”

Borisov (orange vest) and Shabanov (blue vest) in 2011. Both hurdlers time 7.63s. (Photo from Athletics Russia)

In 2011, the Russian duo both clocked 7.63s. Even if the judges went to the photo-finish tapes, the race was too close to call; hence, they shared the gold. This time around, both Borisov and Shabanov were one-hundredths of a second slower. And still inseparable. For the second time in two years, the two hurdlers again shared the top spot on the podium.

Shabanov (L) and Borisov in 2012. Both athletes time 7.64s and share the gold again! (Photo from Athletics Russia)

A dead heat, especially in the running events, is a rare occurrence in itself. But to do it twice? Now, that’s uncanny!

Interestingly, the 2012 edition  of the Russian Indoor Championships featured closely-fought contests:

1. Women’s Pole Vault (2012): Ludmila Yeruemina and Angela Sidorova both cleared 4.32m. Two bronze medals were awarded.
2. Men’s 60m Dash (2012): Yevgeniy Ustavshchikov and Mikhail Yegorov both ran 6.74s. Again, two bronze medals were given! The battle for first place was also close, but the photo-finish cameras were conclusive. Aleksandr Brednev and Mikhail Idrisov were both credited with 6.72s, but the former took the gold medal.

Sources:

EAA article on the 2011 Russian Indoor Championships

IAAF article on the 2012 Russian Indoor Championships

EAA article on the 2012 Russian Indoor Championships

Track Beauty of the Week: Gesa Felicitas Krause

Gesa Felicitas Krause is this week’s track beauty!

Krause is the other half of Germany’s women’s steeplechase duo. The young German had a breakout year in 2011. After finishing fourth at the World Junior Championships in Moncton, Krause won the European Junior 3,000m steeplechase title in Ostrava.

The best was yet to come for German distance runner.

Click here to read the full article…

The Adidas Grand Prix Hurdles Fiasco

At first, I had qualms about the “no-false” rule in athletics.  It’s not that hard to re-start a sprint race, unlike in swimming where the process of climbing up a pool is relatively more cumbersome. The old rule seems aptly just: the second athlete who false starts gets disqualified. But then again, rules are rules. The implementation of the no-false start policy is marginally better for TV coverage, as it facilitates a quicker turnover of events.

But what happens when an official is at fault?

When I was watching the Adidas Grand Prix a few weeks back, I was appalled by the quality of the official starters. The pause before the retort of the gun was too long. Naturally, this unsettled the sprinters more – the 110m high hurdlers in particular. The sprint hurdles is a highly technical event that puts emphasis on rhythm. Once you have these consistently long pauses in the start, the hurdlers become unsettled.

Aries Merritt, the newly-minted American record holder, was shown a red card because of an early twitch in his foot. He was allowed to run under protest, but false-started again (I won’t delve into this running-under-protest issue. I have to do my research first). The third attempt to restart the race was just ugly, with Jamaican Hansle Parchment twitching his foot. By this time, David Oliver was visibly pissed. He shook his head as he made his way back to the starting line. Jason Richardson, the 2011 World Champion, sat down on the track and gave out an exasperated smile.

When the race finally got underway, everyone’s rhythm was thrown off equilibrium. Parchment clipped the second hurdle and lost his balance, dropping out of the race. Dwight Thomas crashed into the final barrier and fell flat on the track. Both incidents were scary, from the vantage point of a sprint hurdler. It’s a good thing nothing serious happened to Parchment and Thomas.

The Jamaican even managed to finish the race despite his nasty crash. My hat is off to Thomas for doing a Derek Redmond.

What was billed as a match up between Merritt, Richardson and Oliver turned into a farce. Richardson won the event in 13.18s, with Jeff Porter (13.26s), the promising Cuban Orlando Ortega (13.35s), and Oliver (13.37s) rounding up the next three.

Track Beauty of the Week: Kristi Castlin

Kristi Castlin is this week’s track beauty!

Castlin was poised to make an impact at the 2012 World Indoor Championships in Istanbul. She ran the world’s fastest time, a personal best of 7.84sA, en route to winning the tough U.S. Indoor Championships in Albuquerque. The faulty acoustics of the Istanbul stadium, unfortunately, cost her a probable World indoor medal.

Click here to read the full article...

London Olympics Preview: The 400m Dash

The one-lap sprint is one of the most nail-biting athletics events. It tests the threshold of human speed endurance. The race is a thrilling display of tactics, proper-timing, speed and heart.

Photo from Nigel Chadwick

Women’s 400m Dash

The fight for the quarter-mile gold medal would we between 2009 World Champion Sanya Richards-Ross (48.70s PB) and the 2011 World Champion Amantle Montsho (49.56s PB). The versatile Allyson Felix (49.59s PB) could make the battle three-pronged, but then again, the 100m/200m combo seems the more practical route for Felix, instead of the more grueling – and rarer – 200m/400m double.

 

Richards-Ross (L), Montsho (R). (Photos from Erik van Leeuwen and Yann Caradec)

I don’t expect the defending Olympic Champion Christine Ohuruogu (49.61s PB) to contend for gold, in light of the recent drop in her form. However, the hometown crowd could push Ohuruogu all the way to a podium spot, or a good showing in the finals at the very least.

Richards-Ross had run the fastest time this season, with her 49.39s world lead at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene. Montsho came second to the American in that same race, submitting a time three-tenths slower (49.69). Jamaican Novlene Williams-Mills (49.63s PB, 49.78s SB) is the only other sprinter to dip below 50-seconds.

Francena McCorory, a 4x400m relay gold medalist from Daegu, is in tip-top shape, having set a new personal best of 50.06s at the Adidas Grand Prix in New York. The Russians, as always, will be well-represented. This season, the top Russian quarter-milers are Yulia Gushchina Ю́лия Гу́щина (50.01s PB, 50.26s SB) and Kseniya Ustalova Ксения Усталова (49.92s PB, 50.48s SB). The experienced Anastasiya Kapachinskaya Анастасия Капачинская (49.35s PB, 51.17s SB), the bronze medallist from Daegu and the 2003 200m World Champion, is several rungs lower than her compatriots.

Richards-Ross has finally recovered from her an injury sustained a couple of years ago. After a disappointing campaign at the Daegu World Championships, the American sent a strong message to her rivals when she dominated Montsho in Eugene. The Botswanan (and Felix, if she decides to compete in the quarter-mile) will be hard-pressed to edge out Richards-Ross for first place.

Top Three Predictions

Gold: Sanya Richards-Ross

Silver: Amantle Montsho/Allyson Felix (if she runs the 400m)

Bronze: Francena McCorory

Men’s 400m Dash

The Americans have been the dominant force in men’s quarter-mile sprinting for the longest time. In the last three editions of the Olympics, the Americans have swept the event twice (2004 and 2008). They took the top two spots at the Sydney Olympics. The Americans are just as dominant in the World Championships, taking the World title in 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2009.

Jeremy Wariner (43.45s PB, 44.96s SB)has won the 2004 Olympic Gold, an Olympic silver, 2 World titles, and a World Championship silver. LaShawn Merritt (43.75s PB, 44.19s SB), meanwhile, has the 2008 Olympic Gold, one World title, and two World Championships silver medals to his name.

 

James (L) and Merritt (R).(Photos from Erik van Leeuwen, MachoCarioca, and Yann Caradec)

Wariner’s form has dipped in the last two years, as Merritt served a suspension for failing a dope test. Several new challengers – and a new quarter-mile king – have emerged. The young Kirani James (44.36s PB, 44.72s SB) convincingly won the 2011 World Championships over Merritt, a year after claiming the World Junior title in Moncton. Another veteran from the Moncton World Juniors is the 18-year old Luguelín Santos from the Dominican Republic. The fleet-footed Santos had set a new personal best of 44.45s last May, the second-fastest time this season and the eight-quickest ever by a junior athlete.

The Borlées have run competitive times, with Kevin (44.56 PB/SB) having a quicker season’s best than Jonathan (44.71s PB, 44.88s). As a testament to the depth of American 400m talent, six Americans are in the top 10 this season: Merritt, Tony McQuay (44.58s SB/PB), Michael Berry (44.75s SB/PB), Joshua Mance (44.83s SB/PB), Gil Roberts (44.84s SB/PB), and Wariner. McQuay, Berry, Mance and Roberts are all younger than twenty-three!  Martyn Rooney (44.60s PB, 44.92s SB) and two-time Olympic 400m champion Angelo Taylor (44.05s PB, 44.97s SB) have also gone below 45-seconds this season.

Should Wariner be able to find the spring in his legs, the London Olympic final could feature a duel between generations – with Wariner and Merritt on one side, and James and Santos on the other. The other youngster, Santos, might just be too green to crack the top three. As much as I want to see Wariner add another Olympic title to his already impressive curriculum vitae, the signs are not pointing towards the right direction (sadly, Wariner failed to barge into the top 3 at the U.S. Olympic Trials).

But then again, the Olympics bring out the best in people.

I have a strong feeling that James has what it takes to do a Steve Lewis. Merritt is a grizzled veteran. The American (43.75s) also has a superior personal best than the Grenadan (44.35s). My sixth sense tells me that James’ youthful exuberance could spell the difference between silver and gold.

Top Three Predictions

Gold: Kirani James

Silver: LaShawn Merritt

Bronze: Jeremy Wariner/Either one of the Borlee brothers/Tony McQuay

Sources:

2008 Beijing Olympics Results

2011 World Championships Results

2009 World Championships Results

2007 World Championships Results

2012 World Indoor Championships Results

2010 World Indoor Championships Results

2012 Men’s 400m Dash Top List

2012 Women’s 400m Dash Top List

Athletics TV Coverage Pet Peeves

I was visibly pissed when Eurosport kept on showing a mediocre long jump competition at the New York Diamon League coverage. Save for the Australian duo of Mitchell Watt and Fabrice Lapierre, the rest of the field looked like last minute replacements. Aside from the aforesaid two, the rest of the competitors notched mundanely mediocre long jump marks more akin to low-level Philippine athletics than to the big-money Diamond League meetings.

Click here to view the New York Diamond League Results

To make matters worse, there were three field events that featured superior athletes and performances. The women’s triple jump field, led by Olga Rypakova, featured near-15 meter jumps. In the women’s pole vault, 2011 World Champion leaped to a new season’s best of 4.77m. The men’s high jump was even more exciting, as World Champion Jesse Williams squared off with the vastly-improved Robbie Grabarz.

And the producers of the telecast only showed snippets of these events. In contrast, they aired each and every sub-par round of the friggin’ long jump. Even the announcers were subtly disappointed, apologizing to the audience for not showing more of the aforesaid events.

Since I live in the Philippines, I’m only exposed to a handful of cable channels that feature regular athletics coverage: Eurosport and Star Sports. The latter is not even worth mentioning. It employs a lone announcer/commentator that is akin to Mr. Sandman himself. If I were not so interested in the sport, I would have fallen asleep.

Eurosport fares much better. It employs a knowledgeable British commentating/announcing duo. However, it needs a fresh dose of energy – and producers who employ common sense. I have yet to watch other broadcasting outfits, but the French guys and Ato Boldon look entertaining. To the guys over at Eurosport and Star Sports, here are a few suggestions:

1.) Please tell your producers to feature the most gripping of events, not the pedestrian ones. C’mon! Picking a long jump competition where most of the field jumped in the mid-7 meters over a high jump event featuring an unknown athlete leaping 2.36m? Get real.

2.) Air the post-race interviews. If the program is hard-pressed for time, you can always insert a small box at the bottom of the screen during those long-drawn distance races.

3.) Show the faces of the announcers for crying out loud! Put faces to the voices! The names of these guys are not even shown on TV.

4.) Employ some retired athletes or established event experts to give their thoughts. Don’t just friggin’ rely on jacks-of-all-trades doing all the commentating. And for the nth time, put their faces on a small box beneath the screen.

5.) Put a ticker at the bottom of the screen informing the TV audience of the current standings.

6.) Show more clips of the athletes warming-up, celebrating or interacting with the crowd.

I’ve accepted the fact that athletics shall remain second fiddle to football and basketball in terms of popularity. The nature of the sport is not spectator friendly. If the sports fan is not well-versed in the basics of athletics, he/she will be hard-pressed to appreciate the events. It helps the sport a lot when larger-than-life characters like Usain Bolt take center stage. But then again, Bolt is one-of-a-kind.

Inutile television coverage such as this only worsens this inherent disadvantage. It takes away the awe factor of a grossly-underrated sport.

‘Nuff Said.

Manny should have won. Check out the CompuBox stats below:

To the judges who gave the match to Bradley: Have your eyes checked. (Photo from Manny Pacquiao’s Official Fan Page)

The photo below says it all:

Photo from The Real Jeri Lee Fan Page

9gag says it best:

Manny Pacquiao – Para Sa’yo ang Laban na ‘To

Win or lose, you’re still my idol Manny!

Salamat, Manny!

10-for-10: Danielle Frenkel דניאל פרנקל talks about late starts and breaking records

Danielle Frenkel דניאל פרנקל answers the 10-for-10 quiz!

Frenkel is Israel’s top high jumper. Originally training to be a professional dancer in her teenage days, the Israeli gradually made the big shift to athletics. Her breakout year came in 2010, as she padded her lifetime best by 11 centimeters. En route to rewriting the Israeli national records (1.91m), Danielle also won her first ever national title.

Read: “Track Beauty of the Week – Danielle Frenkel דניאל פרנקל “

Danielle with her 2011 Israeli “Female Athlete of the Year” trophy. (Photo from Assaf Yekuel)

At the 2010 European Championships in Barcelona, Frenkel leaped 1.92m in qualifying, but finished in 12th place at the final. She fared much better at the European Indoor Championships the next year, jumping over 1.94m (new Israeli indoor record) in qualifying. Danielle placed a hard fought fourth (1.92m) in the final.

Click this link to visit and like Danielle’s Facebook page

A knee injury had temporarily put Frenkel’s high jumping aspirations on hold. After undergoing surgery early in 2012, Danielle is on the fast track to full recovery – and to greater heights.

1.) How did you get started with athletics?

At school, I have always stood out [in] sports. My first high jump competition was in a district meet when I was 14 and [I]won 1st place . My coach today [Anatoliy Shafran] spotted me and told me I am very talented, and with practice I can jump higher. Back then, dancing had a greater appeal to me.

Only 5 years later, a phone call from my coach who offered me to participate in a meet, and the following Israeli championships, where I took 3rd place, made me realize that high jumping is my real passion.

2.) What’s the most memorable moment of your athletics career?

The most memorable moment was in Israel’s 2010 championships. When I broke the Israeli record by 3 cm and became the first Israeli woman who ever jumped over 1.90. I felt so good that I finally proved my real potential.

3.) What is your life long dream?

My long dream is to reach my full potential, and I feel I have a long way to go.

4.) Let’s lighten up a bit! What would you rather wear and why? Short shorts or tights?

Short shorts for sure.

5.) What is your favorite sports movie?

Berlin 36.

6.) What’s the best pump-up song of all-time?

Black eyed-peas : Pump it.

7.) If you could spend the rest of your days at any place in the world, which would you choose?

I traveled for 4 months in central America and saw some amazing places. My answer would be any place, as long as I have my loved ones with me.

8.) What do you do in your free time?

Now I study for law and business degree. But I live very close to the beach. I like to go there and relax with friends.

9.) Name three things you just can’t live without:

My family and my boyfriend, chocolates, and [taking a ]bath.

10.) What advice would you give to the young athletes of today?

Be patient, explore all kinds of sports until you find the one that fits you and you love the most. I was a volleyball player and a ballet dancer. Only at the age of nineteen I realised that high jump is my destiny.

Sources:

Danielle’s Wikipedia profile

IAAF biography

Additional Links:

Danielle’s Facebook Page

All-Athletics Profile