by Larry Eder
Mo Farah & Galen Rupp go 1,2 in London 10,000m,
photo by PhotoRun.n
For me, the Olympics began on Friday night, with the opening of track& field. Last night, after watching the best 100 meters that I have ever seen, I was asked by BBC TV and BBC radio Newsday show to comment on US medal count, the 100 meters, Mo Farah and Galen Rupp, and of course, Usain Bolt.
The SuperSaturday, when Greg Rutherford won the LJ, Jessie Ennis won the Heptathlon and Mo Farah and Galen Rupp went 1,2 in the 10,000 meters had to seen to be totally appreciated. The crowd of 80,000 British fans was overwhelming in their adoration and support of the athletes.
BBC TV told me that Galen Rupp had mentioned that he was nervous during the race, and Mo Farah told him to hold back. When they went, both running their own races, it showed that the Alberto Salazars’ plans were working. On Saturday night, an hour before the race, UK Athletics’s Ian Stewart sent a note via a friend, ” Last week workout by Mo Farah showed he was ready.”
Jessican Ennis, Gold medalist, London heptathlon,
photo by PhotoRun.net
Jessica Ennis had the weight of the country on her shoulders. Pressure must have been intense, yet she performed brilliantly. Her new British record of 6,955, with pbs in javelin of 47.49m and British 100m hurdle record of 12.54, showed her amazing talent. It also showed the strength of coach-athlete relationship between Jessie Ennis and Coach Toni Michiello.
Galen Rupp, Alberto Salazar, Mo Farah,
photo by PhotoRun.net
Greg Rutherford won the long jump with a series of strong jumps, finally hitting 8.31m to hold off a building onslaught of premier jumpers. Within 20 minutes of his jump, we had Jessie Ennis winning gold, and Mo Farah winning the 10,000m-the best half hour in British Track & Field history! (Watch for pics of Greg Rutherford in our upcoming feature on Greg!)
Women’s 100m final, Fraser-Pryce, Jeter, VCB,
photo by PhotoRun.net
Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce defended her 100m title from Beijing with a tough race, as Carmelita Jeter was second and Veronica Campbell-Brown was third. Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce joines only Gail Devers and Wyoma Tyus as women sprinters who have defended their 100 meter titles in the Olympic Games.
As Usain Bolt was starting his race, a crazy fan, who was then punched by an Olympic medalist, and arrested, threw a bottle behind the start of the 100 meters. Bolt ran 9.63, a new Olympic record and joined Archie Hahn and Carl Lewis as the only men to defend their 100 meter titles.
And we are only on day 4!!!!!
OLYMPIC GAMES
QUOTE OF THE DAY
„Yohan gave me a wake-up call, he knocked on my door and said,
Usain, this is olympic year,” says Usain Bolt.
RESULT OF THE DAY
9.63 second fastest 100 m ever, in 17 degrees, Usain Bolt, starting
reaction 0.165, 41 steps. Simply the best, sings Tina Turner. Jamaica leads
over USA in sprints 2:0.
SURPRISE OF THE DAY
Best 100 m race in depth despite not too warm weather. No US 400 m runner
in the finals for first time since 1896.
FAVORITES FALLS
Asafa Powell with possible back spasm and slight tear in the groin could
perform at top level in the men 100 m final. Experienced triple jumpers
not good (Savigne, Lebedeva, Aldama). McQuay and Nellum out in 400 m semis
(huge improvement for Lalonde Gordon of Trinidad from 45.02 to 44.58).
Vania Stambolova stumbled at first hurdle in the 400 m hurdles heats.
Shustov and Barry with Baba major HJ qualification casualties. Lilya
Shobukhova not finishing women marathon.
SPECTATORS
80 000 1st day morning and evening
75 000 2nd day morning and 80 000 evening
80 000 3rd day evening
AGENTS RANKING (by gold medals)
Jos Hermens and Ricky Simms 2, Czeslaw Zapala, Mark Wetmore, Adrian Laidlaw,
Daniel Wessfeldt, Tony Minichiello, Jon Regis, Enrico Dionisi, Attila Spiriev,
Sharon Richards, Valentina Fedyushina each 1
STATS
USA for first time not in the men olympic 400 m final (except Moscow 1980).
First women TJ gold with result under 15 meters.
First 100 m race with 3 under 9.80 and 7 under 10.
BEIJING DEFENDERS
yes (4): Majewski, T. Dibaba (10k), Fraser-Pryce, Bolt (100)
no (10): K. Bekele (10k), Saladino, Borchin, B-Trafton, Dita, Dobrynska,
L.Merritt, Kipruto, Kozmus, Ohuruogu
nc (1): Mbango
DAEGU WINNERS
yes (1): Kemboi
no (12): Storl, V. Cheruiyot (10k), Borchin, Jeter, Li Yanfeng, Chernova, E.
Kiplagat, Murer, Blake, Murofushi, Montsho, Saladukha
nc (2): Jeylan, D. Phillips
WORLD LEADERS 2012: Ennis hept, Bolt 100 m, Sanchez 400mH sf
EUROPEAN LEADERS 2012: Majewski shot put, Pavey 10k, Martina 100m
OLYMPIC RECORDS: 20 km walk men, marathon women, 3 heptathlon marks, 100 m men
NATIONS:
Medals: GBR 3-1-0, JAM 2-1-1, ETH 2-0-1, USA 1-2-4, KEN 1-2-2 (19 countries)
Points: USA 76, KEN 47, ETH 42, GBR 41, JAM 40, CHN and RUS 28 (42 countries)
STATS
Marathon: 5 sec margin of victory is the smallest ever in OG. Best marks for place
in OG was set for top 8.
100 m: 9.82 Gatlin fastest semifinal time at OG. 10.04 by Bledman did not make the
final; it is the fastest time that failed to make the final.
400 m: 0.17 is the smallest margin between 1st and 3rd. Sanya Richards become the first
World Indoor Champion to win the Olympics.
3000mSC: Kemboi became the second two-time winner at 3000mSC; and he is the only one
to regain the title 8 years later. Kenyan winning streak continues at 8.
MONDAY MORNING
100mH : 12.57 by Pearson in 100mH is the fastest 1st round time in OG,
replacing 12.62 by Devers from 2000. However, because, only three rounds
are contested in London, it may be said that relevant comparison is with QF.
The fastest QF time in OG is 12.43 by Lolo Jones from 2008. Sensation out
Brigitte Foster-Hylton.
SP: 20.76 by Ostapchuk is the longest SP in qualifying round of OG replacing
20.39 by Losch from 1988. Sensation out Nadine Kleinert and Jill Camarena-Williams
with 2000 gold medalist Yanina Karolchik-Provalinskaya.
1500m women: 4:04.55 is the fastest first round time in Olympic 1500m heat.
Sensation out Genzebe Dibaba (leg injury).
800 m men: Al-Azemi disqualified for obstruction, Lewandowski advanced
after he was pushed by Al-Azemi. Makhloufi (just started his race, one
wonders why his team confirmed him for the 800 m 24 hours ago) disqualified
from the further events due to rule 142.4 as he did not provide a bona fide effort.
OTHER NEWS
LONDON (GBR): The next summer Olympic host country Brazil has spent close to USD
11,000,000 for its London headquarters Casa Brasil. AP reviewed all the national
houses and voted the Czech House as one of the top.
LONDOIN (GBR): The BBC attracted its highest audience so far for a sports event at the
London Olympics as a peak of more than 20 million viewers tuned in for Jamaican sprinting
star Usain Bolt’s victory in the 100 meters.
LONDON (GBR): Man Punched by Judo Medallist, then Arrested, for Throwing Bottle onto
Track at 100m Final. A beer bottle was thrown from the stands and landed near Usain
Bolt in the moments before the 100-meter final Sunday night in London. It harmlessly
bounced in the lane belonging to Yohan Blake and didn’t appear to cause a distraction
to the runners, who started a split-second later. Police took the man into custody and
he will appear in court on Monday morning.
LONDON (GBR): In the lead for the WMM 2011-2012 Series is still Mary Keitany with
65 points. Second is Edna Kiplagat (50 points/KEN) while Sharon Cherop (45 points/KEN)
is in the third position. That is after Olympic Marathon which also counted for
the series.
LONDON (GBR) : Dutch multi talented Dafne Schippers will not run the 200m in order to
focus on the 4x100m relay. Schippers confirmed that her foot and knee started hurting
during the heptathlon competition and now is not risking her relay position.
BRUSSELS (BEL): Both Borlée brothers told Belgian media they are happy with their
performances in the semi finals and believe they will go faster in the finals of
the 400m. Jonathan Borlée, who blazed to a 44.43 in the heats confirmed he had
sustained a small strain to the squad but is confident it will be healed before
the finals reports sporza.be.
BRUSSELS (BEL): Ahead of the start of the Olympic decathlon, Belgian decathlete
Hans Van Alphen told Belgian media he considers himself an outsider for a medal.
Top 8 has been Van Alphens goal but with his current form a medal could be within
his reach writes sporza.be.
LONDON (GBR): Coach Stephen Francis has called the starting blocks at the
London Olympic Games substandard. Francis was quoted as “of all the behind
the scene problems, the starting block issue is the most glaring” reports
Trackalerts.com.
LONDON (GBR): Liu Xiang is determined to regain his Olympic 110m hurdles title
from Athens. Xiang’s coach Sun told Xinhua Agency a foot injury has flared up
in his final preparations while in Germany but confirmed the injury will be
under control by the time Xiang is competing.
AUCKLAND (NZL): The New Zealand Olympic Committee is refusing to answer any
questions over how someone forgot to register defending champion and gold
medal favourite Valerie Adams for the 2012 Olympic Games. The startling
mistake emerged only hours before Adams’ Olympic shot put title defence,
forcing the NZOC to plead for an emergency amendment from the IOC and the
IAAF. The IOC and IAAF have relented and Adams is in, but serious questions
remain around the oversight which angered Adams on the eve of her
Olympic title defence writes stuff.co.uk.
MOSCOW (RUS): Russian male walkers already returned home after disastrous men 20 km
competition. Valeriy Borchin who collapsed in the final stages race is not
remembering the last part of the race.
CORRECTION: Oscar Pistorius is the first male Paralympian at the Games.
But we need to remember the US miler Marla Runyan (nearly blind) who won
paralympic golds in 1992 and 1996 and competed at Sydney Games 2000 as
8th in the 1500 m. Informs Martin Neumann.
NON-OLYMPIC RESULTS
ASIKKALA (FIN, Aug 5): Solid scores from Belarus athletes in Finland. Nikolay
Shubenok 8055 in decathlon and Yekaterina Netsvetayeva 5940 in hepthathlon.
KEURUU (FIN, Aug 5): Kenyan Lewis Korir clocked 27:57.07 in the 10 000 m.
MOLNDAL (SWE, Aug 4): At the Folksam Challenge meet Brian Gregan of Ireland
clocked 46.19 in the 400 m. German Georg Fleischhauer 50.37 in the 400m hurdles.
Lithuanian Darius Aucyna won both jumps 785 (+0.7) and 16.70 (+2.1, legal 16.63).
