London Olympics Preview: The 200m Dash

Photo from Nigel Chadwick

Women’s 200m Dash

The ladies’ half-lap sprint, like most of the most of the dashes, will pit the United States versus Jamaica. With the Olympics barely two months away, the U.S. holds a commanding lead against the Jamaicans – on paper, at least.

 

Felix (L) and Campbell-Brown (R). (Photos from Erik van Leeuwen)

Out of the top ten performances this year, nine were run by Americans. The only exception is Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the Beijing 100m dash champion, who ran 22.10s at the Jamaican Olympic Trials. Allyson Felix is the world leader at 21.69s, the the fifth fastest all-time. The other two American bets in the 20m dash, Sanya Richards-Ross (22.09s) and Carmelita Jeter (22.11s) are ranked 2nd and 4th, respectively.

The American squad is a potent mix of quarter-mile talent (Richards-Ross), brute explosiveness (Jeter), and all-around sprinting excellence (Felix).

Going head-to-head against the Americans are experienced Jamaican troika of Fraser-Pryce, Veronica Campbell-Brown (22.38s), and Sherone Simpson (22.37s). The 27-year old Simpson is the 100m dash silver medalist from Beijing, behind Fraser-Pryce. Campbell-Brown is a living athletics legend, who is gunning for her third consecutive Olympic 200m dash title. VCB, as she is fondly called, ruled the 100m and 200m in Daegu, taking gold ahead of Jeter and Felix, respectively.

   

Richards-Ross (L), Fraser-Pryce (C), and Jeter (R). (Photos from Erik van Leeuwen [Richards-Ross and Fraser-Pryce] and André Zehetbauer [Jeter])

Other candidates for a spot in the final are Murielle Ahoure, Nercely Soto, Semoy Hackett, Blessing Okagbare, and Sheniqua Ferguson. The strongest European hopes are Ukraine’s Elyzaveta Bryzgina and Mariya Ryemyen and the Netherlands’ Dafne Schippers.

In terms of personal bests, Felix (21.69s – 2012) and Campbell-Brown (21.77s – 2008) are ahead of the pack, being the only two sprinters who had run below the 22-second barrier. Simpson has a personal best of 22.00s from 2006, set when she was just 21-years old. Richards Ross and Jeter, who had set their respective bests at the Olympic Trials in Eugene, are low-22 second speedsters.

Felix, Richards-Ross, Fraser-Pryce, and Jeter, in light of their recent lifetime bests, have the statistical upper hand. But VCB, as the two-time Olympic champion and the reigning world titlist, could just make it three straight. A repeat of Felix and Campbell-Brown’s Daegu duel could happen. The 200m is tough to call; it could go both ways.

As much as I’d like to see VCB take her third, straight half-lap gold, I have a strong feeling that London 2012 will be Allyson Felix’ dance with Olympic glory.

Top Three Predictions

Gold: Allyson Felix

Silver: Veronica Campbell-Brown

Bronze: Carmelita Jeter/Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce/Sanya Richards-Ross

Men’s 200m Dash

The top two spots in the men’s race is a two-pronged slug fest between training partners Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake.

 

Bolt (L) and Blake (R). (Photos from Erik van Leeuwen)

Bolt’s recent double defeats to Blake have exposed chinks in the Lightning Bolt’s armor. While his 100m dash defeat was not entirely shocking, considering the starting lapses Bolt has made of late, Blake’s 200m dash win is more surprising. Even if the 2011 100m dash World Champion owns the second fastest 200m clocking of all-time at 19.26s, Bolt’s 19.19s from Berlin is considerably faster.

At his best, the 100m/200m world record holder is undefeatable in the half-lap – even to an in-form Blake.

   

Lemaitre (L), Spearmon (C), and Martina (R). (Photos from Erik van Leeuwen [Lemaitre and Martina] and Eckhard Pecher [Spearmon])

With the absence of the injured Walter Dix (19.53s PB) and the comebacking Tyson Gay (19.58s PB) in the 200m dash field, the next best, non-Jamaican challenge will come from Wallace Spearmon (19.95s SB). Spearmon is the seventh fastest in over the distance, having a personal best of 19.65s from 2006.

France’s Christophe Lemaitre (20.31s SB) has a fair chance of landing a podium spot. Still only 22-years old, the Frenchman has a lifetime best of 19.80s from the 2011 Daegu World Championships where he took bronze, behind Bolt and Dix.

The other protagonists are Churandy Martina (19.94s SB) and Warren Weir (19.99s SB), both sub-20 sprinters this season. Martina initially won 200m dash silver in Beijing, but was disqualified due to a lane infraction.

Top Three Predictions

Gold: Usain Bolt

Silver: Yohan Blake

Bronze: Christophe Lemaitre/Wallace Spearmon/Churandy Martina.

Source:

IAAF

Gutted: Thoughts on the Daegu 2011 Men’s 4x100m Relay

The Men’s 4x100m relay was bizarre, to say the least. At the last baton exchange, Darvis Patton (USA) clipped the elbow of the massive Harry Aikines-Aryeetey (GBR). The Doc lost his balance and fell to the track, rolling over to the adjacent lane of the Trinidad and Tobago quartet. Richard Thompson (TRI) narrowly missed running over Patton. Aikines-Aryeetey apparently went out too early. Marlon Devonish (GBR) failed to catch his compatriot, throwing the baton in frustration. The Americans also failed to finish, negating a splendid world-leading performance in the semis. The unfortunate Trinidadians were the unassuming collateral damage of the sprint relay carnage, as their quartet finished dead last.

The Usain Bolt-anchored Jamaican team was unstoppable, en route to breaking their 2008 world record. A pumped-up Bolt stopped the clock in a blistering 37.04s. The French and the quartet from Saint Kitts and Nevis emerged victorious with the minor medals. The prolific Christophe Lemaitre added a relay silver to his 200m dash bronze, whilst the evergreen Kim Collins hauled another bronze medal to his collection.

The Americans, even with a healthy Tyson Gay in the fold (and a smooth baton exchange), would have been hard-pressed to win over the Jamaicans. Nevertheless, the loss of any major championship medal was heartbreaking. Prior to these championships, I never really found the time to sympathize with these oft-brash American sprinters. But reading the Doc’s posts and tweets, I felt gutted – not just for the US team, but for the Trinidadians and British as well.

One can pillory these professional athletes for certain lapses of judgment. Before hitting the “enter” button in Twitter, Facebook or your blog, find the time to go over the words of the athletes themselves. They’re only human, after all.

Additional links:

Official results of the Men’s 4x100m relay

Mail Online article

Telegraph article

Blake takes gold as Bolt crashes out

With Eurosport Asia not airing the ongoing Daegu World Championships, I had to content myself with stop-motion live streaming (I have crappy internet connection), live tweets and the IAAF live updates.

I was browsing the aforesaid information sources when I learned about the unthinkable: Usain Bolt has been disqualified for false starting. Some people opined that the starter held out too long, but frankly I couldn’t see what was wrong. Bolt went out of the blocks too early. It was as clear as daylight.

Read: “The disqualification of Bolt”

Young Yohan Blake took up the cudgels for Jamaica, as he crossed the line in 9.93s. The fast-starting Kim Collins (the oldest 100m dash World Champ finalist since Linford Christie) actually led the race until the halfway mark, when the fast-finishing duo of Blake and the American champion, Walter Dix, ate up the 2003 World Champion’s lead.

Christophe Lemaitre (10.19s) was a tenth behind Collins. Antigua’s Daniel Bailey (10.26s) edged out the 19-year old Frenchman, Jimmy Vicaut (10.27s) for fifth place.

It was great to see Collins back on the podium! He had shown promise at the start of the year, but got injured soon after. With this unexpected third place finish, the pride of St. Kitts and Nevis now has three bronze medals (100mD – 2005, 200mD – 2001) on top of his 100m dash World Championship gold  – spanning ten years!

Although I’m far from an Usain Bolt fanatic, seeing the iconic Jamaican sprinter crash out is disappointing. Some would argue about scrapping the new rule altogether, that the one-false start rule is just way too harsh. Unlike swimming, restarting a sprint race isn’t all that hard. The previous rule (which imposed a warning to the entire field) was sufficient, to say the least. Athletes and race officials are human; hence, susceptible to mistakes.

But then again, rules are rules.

Additional link:

Race results