by Larry Eder
Usain Bolt, 2011 WC, 100m qualifying, photo by PhotoRun.net
Well, Tyson Gay and Maurice Greene were asked about the 100 meters to be held tonight. Tyson could not vote against Usain Bolt. But Mo Greene? Well, he thinks Yohan Blake is the new star of the sprints. We shall see in just a few hours!
Walter Dix, 2011 WC 100m qualifying, photo by PhotoRun.net RBR’s picks for the men’s 100 meters: Bolt, Thompson, Dix, Spoiler: Christophe Lemaitre for a medal
Ato Boldon picks Lemaitre to medal, do you? photo by PhotoRun.net
RBR’s picks for the men’s 10,000m: Farah, Bekele, Rupp, Spoiler: Any of the Kenyans running out of their minds
QUOTE OF THE SESSION
“We went our pace, the coaches told us the leaders will not survive
and it was true. After 15 km we attacked,” Vladimir Kanaykin beeing
second at 20 km walk.
RESULT OF THE SESSION
LaShawn Merritt world lead in the heats 44.35, fastest heat time in
the history. So far the fastest 44.41 by Steve Lewis at Olympic Games
1988.
SURPRISE OF THE SESSION
Four sub 45 seconds time in the 400 m first round.
FAVORITES FALLS
Injured former European champion Francisco Fernandez of Spain did
not finish the walk, Italian Giorgio Rubino while second was
disqualified. Both Brits (Bleasdale and Dennison), Slovenian record
holder Sutej out of pole vault. Korean and Swiss record not enough to
qualify (450 for Buchler and Choi). Title defender at 110 m hurdles Ryan
Brathwaite out in heats (he had not the shape from 2009). World
medalist (silver in Berlin) Lisa Dobriskey out from 1500 m heats. US
Champion Tony McQuay out from 400 m heats. Another for US team, Mikele
Barber out from 100 m heats.
STATS (by Ken Nakamura)
Men’s 20Km walk: Valeriy Borchin became the third walker (after
Damilano and Perez) to defend the title at this event. Vladimir Kanaykin
became the first World Youth Champion (at 10000mWalk) to win a medal in
the World Championships. Luis Fernando Lopez, fifth in Berlin in 2009,
became the first athlete from Colombia to win a medal in the World
Championships.
SPECTATORS
25 000 + 5000 on the road circuit (EME NEWS guess, not official
figures)
AGENTS RANKING (by medals after 3 events)
Aleks Porkhomovskiy 1-1-0, Ricky Simms 1-0-1, Brendan Reilly 1-0-0, Federico Rosa, Chris Layne
0-1-0, Gianni de Madonna, Alberto Armas 0-0-1
OTHER NEWS
BUTCHER: Pat Butcher´s blog at www.globerunner.org called Kenyan women lead the way.
NEW ZEALAND: Valerie Adams ruled shot put qualification 19.79. 13 achieved the standard.
ETHIOPIA: Kalkidan Gezahegne was included into the women 1500 m
semifinals after a collision with Nikki Hamblin of New Zealand. So there
will be 25 runners in the semifinals.
SOUTH AFRICA: Oscar Pistorius clocked in 400 m heats his second fastest time ever 45.39.
NORWAY: Ezinne Okparaebo clocked new national record in heats 11.21 (+1.4).
SWEEPS: First to fourth sweep happened three times: at 200m in 2005 by
USA, at W5000m in 2005 by ETH and now at W10000m in 2011 by KEN.
USA: US decathletes fighting for top spot, after 7 events Hardee has 6239 and Eaton 6231. Situation for bronze is open.
SPRINT WARS: Tyson Gay and Maurice Greene, the two fastest American
sprinters of all-time, made their own predictions. Gay, who ran an
American record 9.69, but was well beaten by Usain Bolt at the Berlin
World Championships, was quick to say he could not bet against this man.
“It’s hard to bet against Bolt. He is a championship performer,” Gay
said without even elaborating. However, Greene believes the fact that
Bolt is not at this best, Jamaican Yohan Blake is the star that will be
born in Daegu. That was before the 100 m heats. Michael Johnson said he
thinks Bolt could not be beaten even by Gay or Powell.
SAD NEWS
PRAGUE (CZE): At age of 97 Jan Haluza former coach of Emil Zatopek died.
Haluza coached Zatopek in the time before the Second World War.
RESULTS
MERKSEM (BEL, Aug 27): At the Atletiek Gala meet solid sprints by
Jamaican Ryan Shields 10.37 (+1.9) and French David Alerte 20.86 (+2.1).
US Ryan Fontenot clocked 13.75 with +2.4 at the hurdles. Talented Nancy
Chepkwemoi of Kenya won the 1500 m in 4:17.14.
