Track is my field: Mark Cullen's international track and field website featuring storytelling, commentary, predictions and event analyses.
Sunday, August 21, 2016
Closing Ceremonies Weather Concerns
After days of hacking away with the cough that has plagued our tour the past week, I woke up this morning with the full-fledged chest cold that has been its inevitable destination.
I had planned on visiting the Christ the Redeemer statue early this Sunday morning, but it was pouring, I didn't feel well, and most of all, the men's marathon was up - event #47 of 47. I saw a few brief minutes of it out on the course and returned to my hotel to watch the finish. Galen Rupp earned himself a worldwide audience for the medal ceremony during Closing Ceremonies tonight with his third-place bronze.
Later in the afternoon, after a restorative nap, I decided to give the trip to the statue another try, and this time they did everything but tell me they had closed down the gondola. A windstorm had come up, and my guess is that gusts in my neighborhood exceeded 40 mph. As I was walking back to the hotel, I heard corrugated metal ripping from a roof. Just across the street, a palm tree shed its fruit with a small but startling explosion all its own. The television in my room has gone on and off of its own accord twice, and a neighboring back door light gave its own show.
Now we are minutes from the start of Closing Ceremonies. I can only hope they will not be disrupted by the storm outside. Maracana Stadium is open in the center and so the performers likely will be affected, but I fear those in attendance will have stood in the usual long lines to get in, and this time in the rain and wind.
As for me, I'm going to head for the same place I watched Opening Ceremonies, the Catete Grill, and see how the neighbors view the end of their big event.
With some luck we'll get the real deal this time: Hela Pinto, the true inspiration for "The Girl from Ipanema," and not that same imposter we had during Opening Ceremonies.
I had planned on visiting the Christ the Redeemer statue early this Sunday morning, but it was pouring, I didn't feel well, and most of all, the men's marathon was up - event #47 of 47. I saw a few brief minutes of it out on the course and returned to my hotel to watch the finish. Galen Rupp earned himself a worldwide audience for the medal ceremony during Closing Ceremonies tonight with his third-place bronze.
Later in the afternoon, after a restorative nap, I decided to give the trip to the statue another try, and this time they did everything but tell me they had closed down the gondola. A windstorm had come up, and my guess is that gusts in my neighborhood exceeded 40 mph. As I was walking back to the hotel, I heard corrugated metal ripping from a roof. Just across the street, a palm tree shed its fruit with a small but startling explosion all its own. The television in my room has gone on and off of its own accord twice, and a neighboring back door light gave its own show.
Now we are minutes from the start of Closing Ceremonies. I can only hope they will not be disrupted by the storm outside. Maracana Stadium is open in the center and so the performers likely will be affected, but I fear those in attendance will have stood in the usual long lines to get in, and this time in the rain and wind.
As for me, I'm going to head for the same place I watched Opening Ceremonies, the Catete Grill, and see how the neighbors view the end of their big event.
With some luck we'll get the real deal this time: Hela Pinto, the true inspiration for "The Girl from Ipanema," and not that same imposter we had during Opening Ceremonies.
Day 10: Men's Marathon Fearless Picks and Predictions
Sunday, August 21
UPDATE: It's pouring rain 15 minutes before the start of the race at 09:30 Rio time.
M Marathon
A World champion at 5,000m as a 19-year-old in 2003, 32-year
old Eliud Kipchoge has been running at the highest levels for 13 years. He has
made the transition from track to the roads far more successfully than some of
his more famous counterparts, and now his fame rivals theirs.
Starting with wins at the Rotterdam and Chicago Marathons in
2014, Kipchoge won marathon majors London and Berlin in 2015, and added the
London title in 2016 in 2:03:05, just 8 seconds off Dennis Kimetto’s (Ken)
world record. Kipchoge is everyone’s favorite, including mine.
I had thought that two-time (’13 and ’15) Boston winner
Lelisa Desisa would be on Ethiopia’s team, but instead it’s this year’s Boston
winner, Lemi Berhanu (Eth) who will run in Rio. He was called a surprise winner
in Boston, just as he was 15 months earlier when he really was an unknown when
he won the Dubai Marathon. A medal for him will not be a surprise.
Tesfaye Abere Dibaba caught the attention of many when the
then-unknown ran away from the field and won the Dubai marathon on a hot early
morning this January in a fast-for-the conditions 2:04:24. There may well be
very similar conditions here in Rio.
When it comes to looking for medalists who might not win,
Kenya’s Stanley Biwott, 2nd at London this year in 2:03:51, has a
remarkable record in the last four years (including half-marathons): 4 -1sts, 3
- 2nds, and a 4th and a 5th. His London race is
especially impressive, to hang on so well when 1st is long lost.
It’s hard to know what to make of the top three in last
year’s World Championship race, held in a sauna in Beijing. The only one I
think is likely to make an impact here is the winner, Ghirmay Ghebreslassie of
Eritrea, who showed himself to be a master (and confident) tactician under some
of the most challenging conditions ever encountered in a major championship.
Galen Rupp of the United States is intriguing; the slower
the pace the better his chances, and he ran a particularly impressive marathon
debut in winning the US Trials with relative ease – and on a hot day. He has
not helped himself by running the 10,000m first.
Speaking of London, Uganda’s Stephen Kiprotich was the
unexpected winner of London ’12 Olympic gold. But that is usually how it turns
out in these marathons – the favorites aren’t as favorite as we thought, magic
takes place on the roads, and someone’s life is changed forever.
As for Kipchoge, the fact that during the dip in his career
between track and roads he followed me on twitter without any prompting from me
only adds to his luster.
Well, for some of us. OK, for one, but I’m doing the picking
here.
1. Eliud Kipchoge, Ken
2. Tesfaye Abere Dibaba, Eth
3. Stanley Biwott, Ken
Saturday, August 20, 2016
Of Horses and Swansongs
Good Morning, Campers.
Well, 46/47 previews and predictions are posted. I'll post the men's marathon before its early start tomorrow. It has been a new and different experience writing the previews for a much broader audience on RunBlogRun. With more explanation of references and the need to establish context for that wider audience, the individual previews bloomed from 250-350 words to an average of 460 each this time.
Well, 46/47 previews and predictions are posted. I'll post the men's marathon before its early start tomorrow. It has been a new and different experience writing the previews for a much broader audience on RunBlogRun. With more explanation of references and the need to establish context for that wider audience, the individual previews bloomed from 250-350 words to an average of 460 each this time.
Friday, August 19, 2016
Day 8 - Olympic Track+Field
Fearless Picks and Predictions
for events beginning on
Day 8 – Friday, August 19
M 50k Walk
There is always a risk in being repetitive when evaluating
the walks, as so many racewalkers cross over and do both the 50k and 20k. There
is little action on the 50k front so far this year, as racewalking 31.1 miles
is a little like running a marathon, only farther. You don’t want to do it too
often, and you want to save yourself for the year’s biggest race.
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Day 7 Olympic T+F Events Previews and Picks
for events beginning on
Day 7 – Thursday, August 18
M Shot Put
Until the US Olympic Trials, this seemed like an easy call.
Joe Kovacs (US) moved up through the ranks in a predictable path to greatness –
predictable because it’s a path pupils of his coach, Art Venegas, tend to
follow. His culminating achievement was a win at the World Championships last
summer and he seemed well on his way to Olympic glory. He may well be… but then
the Olympic Trials happened. Ryan Crouser (US, OR) blew his PR out of the water
with his 22.11/72-6 ½, just two centimeters short of Kovacs’ 22.13/72-7 ¼
/world leader.
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
The Late Olympics
The scheduling of the events of these games is heavily dependent on television broadcast schedules - not that that is anything new. Rio is 4 hrs ahead of Pacific time, 1 crucial hour ahead of Eastern, 3 hours behind GMT, and 5 hours behind Amsterdam. The Eastern time difference makes the 'packaging' of the events much easier for NBC and played a substantial role in their decision not to broadcast the evening events live.
Day 6 - T+F Events Previews and Picks
for events beginning on
Wednesday, August 17
Decathlon (M)
1. Yo, Ashton!
2. See #1.
Ashton Eaton (US) is as prohibitive a favorite as there is
in these Games. The world record setter, World Champion, and Olympic Champion
is truly in a class of his own, as he usually wins by margins of 300 points or
more.
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Day 5 - T+F Event Previews and Picks
for events beginning on
Day 5 – Tuesday, August 16
W 5,000m
The ’15 World Championship 5,000m was an Ethiopian sweep,
but not nearly in the order anyone might have predicted. Genzebe Dibaba was a
prohibitive favorite to win, but her 1500/5000 double was not to be; gold and
bronze is never a bad meet, unless you’re the queen and you don’t want to give
up your crown.
Monday, August 15, 2016
World Records All Over the Place!
Who knew that a lithe 400m runner from South Africa could steal the spotlight from Usain Bolt?
Wayde van Niekerk accomplished that unlikely feat last night in Estadio Olimpico when he set the 400m world record of 43.03.
Van Niekerk broke Michael Johnson's 43.18 set 17 years ago in the World Championships final in Seville; I have the rare privilege of having seen the last two M 400m world records.
This morning Poland's Anita Wlodarczyk shattered her own world record in the hammer throw by 1.21 meters with a remarkable 82.29/269-11.
In a series for the ages, she had three of the top 5 longest throws in history; three times she moved her own previous bests down the lists! It is not overstating it to say that she is competing with herself, as she won by 18-2/5.54.
With that margin, she could win the pole vault.
While the hammer dramatics were taking place, Brunei's Ruth Jebet scared the steeplechase world record when she won in 8:59.75, missing the current world record by less than a second.
Jebet had 70 seconds to complete the last lap - well within her reach - and set the new record, but she slowed dramatically as she approached the finish line, seemingly more from joy than fatigue. After all, she was about to become Olympic champion, and no one else was close.
About that Bolt guy... the atmosphere in the stadium last night was electric, and the anticipation of the men's 100m final so high that the volunteers who brought out the blocks got a wild ovation from the crowd! And with all the anticipation of the 100m, van Niekerk stepped in to show there's more to the world of track and field than Mr. Bolt... and then Mr. Bolt stepped up to remind us that our sport truly can't live without him.
One of my favorite nights in 45 years of track and field.
If you didn't see it last night, you might enjoy my twitter feed of the evening, which includes several photos: @trackerati.
In a rather humorous moment, late in the evening just before the men's 100m started, I got a text message.
"Oh, great," I thought, "someone's responding to my tweets!"
It was our friends at AT+T saying, "Dude, you're blowing your data plan out of the water!"
On a personal note, I am now up to five event coverage assignments for Track and Field News. Two of them are - get this - the women's hammer and the women's steeplechase. Today I covered my first world record and came within a second of covering two at the same time.
Not sure if someone's going to wake me up and tell me that actually I'm at the Oregon Twilight Meet. More like the Twilight Zone, perhaps, but I do know this. I am #livin'thedream.
Wayde van Niekerk accomplished that unlikely feat last night in Estadio Olimpico when he set the 400m world record of 43.03.
Van Niekerk broke Michael Johnson's 43.18 set 17 years ago in the World Championships final in Seville; I have the rare privilege of having seen the last two M 400m world records.
This morning Poland's Anita Wlodarczyk shattered her own world record in the hammer throw by 1.21 meters with a remarkable 82.29/269-11.
In a series for the ages, she had three of the top 5 longest throws in history; three times she moved her own previous bests down the lists! It is not overstating it to say that she is competing with herself, as she won by 18-2/5.54.
With that margin, she could win the pole vault.
While the hammer dramatics were taking place, Brunei's Ruth Jebet scared the steeplechase world record when she won in 8:59.75, missing the current world record by less than a second.
Jebet had 70 seconds to complete the last lap - well within her reach - and set the new record, but she slowed dramatically as she approached the finish line, seemingly more from joy than fatigue. After all, she was about to become Olympic champion, and no one else was close.
About that Bolt guy... the atmosphere in the stadium last night was electric, and the anticipation of the men's 100m final so high that the volunteers who brought out the blocks got a wild ovation from the crowd! And with all the anticipation of the 100m, van Niekerk stepped in to show there's more to the world of track and field than Mr. Bolt... and then Mr. Bolt stepped up to remind us that our sport truly can't live without him.
One of my favorite nights in 45 years of track and field.
If you didn't see it last night, you might enjoy my twitter feed of the evening, which includes several photos: @trackerati.
In a rather humorous moment, late in the evening just before the men's 100m started, I got a text message.
"Oh, great," I thought, "someone's responding to my tweets!"
It was our friends at AT+T saying, "Dude, you're blowing your data plan out of the water!"
On a personal note, I am now up to five event coverage assignments for Track and Field News. Two of them are - get this - the women's hammer and the women's steeplechase. Today I covered my first world record and came within a second of covering two at the same time.
Not sure if someone's going to wake me up and tell me that actually I'm at the Oregon Twilight Meet. More like the Twilight Zone, perhaps, but I do know this. I am #livin'thedream.
Day 4 - Previews and Picks
for events beginning on
Monday, August 15
M Triple Jump
Olympic and two-time World champion Christian Taylor was
ranked second in the world among all athletes behind only Ashton Eaton in 2015.
He won the World title in Beijing and scared the world record; his winning
59-9/18.21 jump set the American record and just missed the 60’ barrier. He has won 18 Diamond League meets in the
last 4 years. ‘Nuff said, he’s the favorite.
Sunday, August 14, 2016
Last Throws
Michelle Carter (US) won the Olympic shot put title on Friday evening at Rio's Estadio Olimpico. In what has become her signature, she won on her last throw, just as she did in Portland in March to win the World Indoor title, and just as she did in Eugene in July to win the US Olympic Trials.
Three major championships, three last throw wins.
Here is a link to the article I wrote about Carter for the IAAF website in April:
https://www.iaaf.org/news/feature/michelle-carter-shot-diva
Carter sure has been waving to crowds a lot this year.
Meanwhile, in the men's discus, Germany's Christoph Harting won on - guess what? - his last throw to upset World champion Piotr Malachowski (Pol). Harting is likely already sick of being referred to as discus king Robert Harting's little brother (CH is 6' 8 3/4", RH is three-time World and 2012 Olympic champion).
Research mavens are hard at work trying to find out if siblings have ever succeeded each other as Olympic champions in the same event; none found so far.
Meanwhile, this morning the women's Olympic marathon passed about 10 minutes from my hotel. Why it started at 9:30 instead of 7:30 is beyond me. It was hot just standing there and watching.
Meanwhile, I believe there's a little gathering of sprinters tonight. If I see any, I'll be sure to let you know.
Three major championships, three last throw wins.
Here is a link to the article I wrote about Carter for the IAAF website in April:
https://www.iaaf.org/news/feature/michelle-carter-shot-diva
Carter sure has been waving to crowds a lot this year.
Meanwhile, in the men's discus, Germany's Christoph Harting won on - guess what? - his last throw to upset World champion Piotr Malachowski (Pol). Harting is likely already sick of being referred to as discus king Robert Harting's little brother (CH is 6' 8 3/4", RH is three-time World and 2012 Olympic champion).
Research mavens are hard at work trying to find out if siblings have ever succeeded each other as Olympic champions in the same event; none found so far.
Meanwhile, this morning the women's Olympic marathon passed about 10 minutes from my hotel. Why it started at 9:30 instead of 7:30 is beyond me. It was hot just standing there and watching.
Meanwhile, I believe there's a little gathering of sprinters tonight. If I see any, I'll be sure to let you know.
Day 3 - Previews and Picks: W Marathon + M High Jump
for events beginning on
Sunday, August 14
Sunday, August 14
W Marathon
Mare Dibaba (Eth) had a pretty nifty 1-2 last year: 1st at Worlds and 2nd at Boston. And her fastest race of ’15? A scintillating 2:19:52 at Xiamen. As she showed at the World Championships, she has the unnerving ability to run fast over the last 9 km as well as the ability to run fast over the last 100m.
Saturday, August 13, 2016
Day 2 - Event Previews - Fearless Picks + Predictions
2016 Olympic Track and Field / Day 2 – Saturday, August 13
M 100m
Funny, I think there’s not a lot to say about the men’s
100m. Or maybe it’s all been said so many times that it seems repetitive. So
I’m going to stay away from the good guy/bad guy storyline and just stick with
the facts.
Friday, August 12, 2016
Small Bits of Insanity
Ethiopia's Almaz Ayana ran into history in Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro this morning with her historic 29:17.45 decimation of the 10,000m world record.
The previous world record of 29:31.78 was held by China's Wang Junxia, set 23 years ago in 1993.
In the greatest 10k of its era and certainly one of the two or three greatest in history - women's or men's - the all-time lists were completely rewritten as four runners broke 30:00 minutes.
There are small bits of insanity in these results.
Eight national records were set, including that of the United States by Molly Huddle in 30:13.17 in 6th place.
The first 13 runners set personal bests and 18/35 finishers did so.
Former US citizen Alexi Pappas, now running for Greece, set the Greek national record of 31:36.16 - and finished seventeenth.
Most striking is simply this:
1. 29:17.45
2. 29:32.53
3. 29:42.56
4. 29:53.51
Kenya's Vivian Cheruiyot was second, Ethiopian legend Tirunesh Dibaba 3rd, and Kenya's Alice Nawowuma finished 4th after having done much to set up the race for Ayana in the first 5 kilometers.
If anything, it appeared Nawowuna was headed for bronze until Tirunesh Dibaba and she traded places twice between 7 and 8 kilometers, with the Ethiopian veteran pulling away to win the battle for 3rd.
Imagine running 29:53.51 and finishing 4th.
In my preview of this race I suggested that it was time for the 22-year-old Nawowuna to run an open 5,000m race to break her prodigious 15:16.74 - run when she was 16 years old.
Today she did just that.
She led the race at 5,000m in 14:46.81.
The previous world record of 29:31.78 was held by China's Wang Junxia, set 23 years ago in 1993.
In the greatest 10k of its era and certainly one of the two or three greatest in history - women's or men's - the all-time lists were completely rewritten as four runners broke 30:00 minutes.
There are small bits of insanity in these results.
Eight national records were set, including that of the United States by Molly Huddle in 30:13.17 in 6th place.
The first 13 runners set personal bests and 18/35 finishers did so.
Former US citizen Alexi Pappas, now running for Greece, set the Greek national record of 31:36.16 - and finished seventeenth.
Most striking is simply this:
1. 29:17.45
2. 29:32.53
3. 29:42.56
4. 29:53.51
Kenya's Vivian Cheruiyot was second, Ethiopian legend Tirunesh Dibaba 3rd, and Kenya's Alice Nawowuma finished 4th after having done much to set up the race for Ayana in the first 5 kilometers.
If anything, it appeared Nawowuna was headed for bronze until Tirunesh Dibaba and she traded places twice between 7 and 8 kilometers, with the Ethiopian veteran pulling away to win the battle for 3rd.
Imagine running 29:53.51 and finishing 4th.
In my preview of this race I suggested that it was time for the 22-year-old Nawowuna to run an open 5,000m race to break her prodigious 15:16.74 - run when she was 16 years old.
Today she did just that.
She led the race at 5,000m in 14:46.81.
Day 1 - Event Previews
2016 Olympic Track and Field
Fearless Picks and Predictions
Day 1 – Friday, August 12
Thursday, August 11, 2016
Circle the Wagons!
I've been kind of quiet here the last few days as I've pulled together my quadrennial 'fearless picks and predictions' of the track and field events of these Olympic Games.
This tome is over forty pages now and tomorrow's previews are queued up and ready to go. The men's discus will get these Games underway at 9:30am local time.
It is done in spite of the exasperation of my hotel having lost internet connectivity at the height of my work on the preview - for 36 hours. Yowza! My blood pressure is fine now - no, really.
You can see my tweets even if you don't subscribe to twitter. Just go to their website and plug in @trackerati and you can see my communications there.
Some of you may have seen my 'Grim Reaper' tweet a couple of days ago. There is more in that pic than meets the eye.
Notice the badge hanging around my neck? After an application process that lasted four months - and a week into my stay here - I was issued a pass to the Rio Media Center. This gets me into a great place to work, a place where numerous press conferences are held, and best of all, a place where I mingle with journalists from around the world.
To be clear, this is neither an all-access (royal blood required) nor single-sport pass, both of which are quite hard to come by (Track and Field News, the publication of record in international track, gets one sport specific pass per Olympics).
But it is certainly enriching my experience here, to wit:
Word went out that the media centers were under supplied - little liquid and less food. Circle the wagons! Enterprising food truck operators flocked to the two media centers and no one has gone hungry since.
Tonight a gracious couple, Patricia and Sidney, who are Cariocas - Rio residents - made room for me at their table and we hung out for a good - no, a great - half hour. She works in insurance security and he with a prominent energy company. They could not have been more welcoming - or funnier! We truly did have the best time. Thank you, Patricia and Sidney, for such a gezellig evening! Yes, we discussed language, among many other things.
Oddly, finishing the previews frees me up to do a greater variety of writing, even though track starts on Friday. I am eager to get a post up about the beach volleyball I attended, as I lucked into a historic match on the women's side when the Egyptian women's team played. I'll get that posted this weekend.
The press pass came about, in the end, in a rather funny way. After months of the most picayune picking apart of my application, I knew we had it down to the last possible detail. One last submission and... I waited. And waited. Again. For two more days.
In the meantime, I had met Heloisa Pinto.
The light went on.
I wrote them a rather cheeky message and said, "While awaiting your reply, I wrote a story about meeting the "Girl from Ipanema" - thought you might enjoy it." And sent them the link.
I had the pass 2 hrs, 44 minutes, and 42 seconds later.
Three years and two days after I started this blog.
Happy Birthday, indeed.
Addendum
No sooner had I pressed 'post' than I received an email message from Track and Field News. That men's discus at 9:30 tomorrow morning? I'll be covering it for them.
This tome is over forty pages now and tomorrow's previews are queued up and ready to go. The men's discus will get these Games underway at 9:30am local time.
It is done in spite of the exasperation of my hotel having lost internet connectivity at the height of my work on the preview - for 36 hours. Yowza! My blood pressure is fine now - no, really.
You can see my tweets even if you don't subscribe to twitter. Just go to their website and plug in @trackerati and you can see my communications there.
Some of you may have seen my 'Grim Reaper' tweet a couple of days ago. There is more in that pic than meets the eye.
Notice the badge hanging around my neck? After an application process that lasted four months - and a week into my stay here - I was issued a pass to the Rio Media Center. This gets me into a great place to work, a place where numerous press conferences are held, and best of all, a place where I mingle with journalists from around the world.
To be clear, this is neither an all-access (royal blood required) nor single-sport pass, both of which are quite hard to come by (Track and Field News, the publication of record in international track, gets one sport specific pass per Olympics).
But it is certainly enriching my experience here, to wit:
![]() |
One of the great hangout places on the planet. Food trucks and picnic area outside the Rio Media Center. |
Tonight a gracious couple, Patricia and Sidney, who are Cariocas - Rio residents - made room for me at their table and we hung out for a good - no, a great - half hour. She works in insurance security and he with a prominent energy company. They could not have been more welcoming - or funnier! We truly did have the best time. Thank you, Patricia and Sidney, for such a gezellig evening! Yes, we discussed language, among many other things.
Oddly, finishing the previews frees me up to do a greater variety of writing, even though track starts on Friday. I am eager to get a post up about the beach volleyball I attended, as I lucked into a historic match on the women's side when the Egyptian women's team played. I'll get that posted this weekend.
The press pass came about, in the end, in a rather funny way. After months of the most picayune picking apart of my application, I knew we had it down to the last possible detail. One last submission and... I waited. And waited. Again. For two more days.
In the meantime, I had met Heloisa Pinto.
The light went on.
I wrote them a rather cheeky message and said, "While awaiting your reply, I wrote a story about meeting the "Girl from Ipanema" - thought you might enjoy it." And sent them the link.
I had the pass 2 hrs, 44 minutes, and 42 seconds later.
Three years and two days after I started this blog.
Happy Birthday, indeed.
Addendum
No sooner had I pressed 'post' than I received an email message from Track and Field News. That men's discus at 9:30 tomorrow morning? I'll be covering it for them.
Monday, August 8, 2016
Chorus of Squeals
Then... Now... Women's Gymnastics
Montreal '76 and Rio '16
Montreal
I had two tickets to women’s
gymnastics on the first day of competition of the ’76 Montreal Olympic Games,
the day after Opening Ceremonies.
The tickets indicated the
sport, gender, place, time, location, and seat, but not the teams, and teams
are all in women’s gymnastics.
My first seat was in the
rafters of Montreal’s Forum – a partially obstructed view of the four teams
that marched in. We did not know which teams would appear until that moment;
these turned out to be among the lowest seeded teams in the tournament,
including the United States and its one individual star, Cathy Rigby.
At last the Forum was
emptied, and I could only hope that my second ticket would produce a higher
level of competition. This time I drew a once-in-a-lifetime gymnastics seat; I
was at eye level with and directly in front of the uneven parallel bars.
Seated next to me was a young
woman who was as passionate about gymnastics as I am about track and field. She
was eager to share her knowledge and I was a more than receptive audience.
The crowd buzzed with
anticipation, and then burst into applause as Romania, Hungary, East Germany,
and the USSR marched in – the four best teams in the world.
First-round tickets were
never so good.
Ever, as it turned out, as we
were about to witness history.
Over the previous winter,
Omega Timing staffers had approached the International Olympic Committee to
make sure they had the score display design correct – three digits or four?
Three, they were told, as a 10.00 is impossible.
Romania’s Nadia Comaneci -
all of 14 - put the experts in their collective place when she completed her
historic uneven parallel bars routine that earned the first 10.00 in Olympic
history. We knew we had witnessed something special, and after her breathtaking
routine the rousing applause continued… and continued.
There was a lengthy delay in
the posting of her score. Finally, I leaned over to my seatmate and said, “Maybe the scoring system can’t handle a
10.00?”
You’ll win many a bar bet
with the answer to this question: What did the scoreboard display?
1.0
That’s right, a 1.0, 9 full
points short of the score she had earned.
The British newspaper The Guardian has Comaneci’s perfect 10
as the #5 greatest moment in Olympic history (of course, this must be viewed
with some skepticism as they have Jesse Owens at #6).
Rio
I did my best to replicate my
Montreal tickets, and ended up with ducats to the 1st and 3rd
preliminary round sessions of women’s gymnastics. In ‘the more things change
the more they remain the same’ category, these first rounds took place exactly
one day later in the Olympic schedule than in 1976.
In the first session, this
Geography teacher got schooled by geography, as well as by the entire
transportation and spectator entry process. Suffice it to say that I could have
entered Olympic Arena with 2 minutes left before the finish of this
‘subdivision,’ and decided instead to learn the layout of the Olympic campus
and get a head start on my second session, scheduled to begin at 2:30.
The first group teams had
been similar to those in Montreal, and the quality was much higher for Rio’s
2:30 round, which included Germany, Russia, Belgium, China, and a “mixed group
of 8” individuals, the individual stars of countries/territories like Sweden
and Guam whose team had not qualified - the notion of Guam not having a
national gymnastics team had not occurred to me.
And one more country:
Brasil!!!
I shoulda brought earplugs.
It was just me and 15,000
screaming, shrieking, and – to coin a possibly new term – shrilling Brazilian
teenage girls.
They did not wait until a
routine was complete to voice their approval. Rather, when one of theirs completed
an individual move, they went crazy. A
pirouette, backflip, cartwheel, side aerial, straddle backward roll (do not
attempt this if you’re over 18), a front walkover – the result was the same.
A chorus of squeals.
Under this relentless pressure
from the crowd, not to mention the television cameras in their faces as they
left each apparatus, the Brazilian team did admirably well – and what I saw
Sunday afternoon is on the front pages of newspapers here today.
Brazil’s first two athletes
were a bit wobbly on the balance beam but they hung in there – on there, actually
– and stuck their landings.
Bedlam.
I was impressed at the
variety of cheers, and looked forward to the ‘BRA-SIL clap!clap!clap!’ every
time it came around. I became quite convinced that there’s a special cheer of
encouragement reserved for those climbing back onto the balance beam.
Flavia Saraiva had one of the
best performances of the day – a 15.133 on balance beam; neither perfect scores
nor 14 year-olds are allowed at the Olympics anymore. But as she nailed each
element of her program the roar grew and then she, too, stuck her landing.
Crocodiles in the Amazon dove
under water.
I will say that at times all
this seemed a bit much. Pity poor Amy Tinkler of Great Britain. She waited a
lifetime to perform her floor exercise and got off to an inspired start. Then
the crowd erupted over a Brazilian’s move and quite truly, Tinkler’s music
could no longer be heard.
As this crowd represents a
nation in crisis, I find myself torn between the hokiness of it all and the
visceral response of a nation desperate for something to cheer for. I’ll err on
the side of the latter every time, in spite of the challenges presented all the
athletes in this rotation who competed in the same subdivision as the host
nation.
There was lamentable in-house
commentary.
“You’re great,” said an announcer
to a Brazilian who had fallen short. “You’re awesome.”
Funny, he never said anything
like this to anyone else.
As one of the Brazilian
gymnasts made the shape of a heart with her hands, we were implored by the
announcer’s female counterpart to “… send some love back…” to her.
Adults should know better.
India’s Dipa Karmakar made
Olympics history by being the first from her country to qualify for an
individual event final. She performed magnificently on vault to etch her name
in the history books, not quite the same way Comaneci did in ’76, but a
magnificent moment of its own, nonetheless.
Flavia Saravaia won this
subdivision of qualifying, and Brazil was only .067 of a point behind Germany
going into the final rotation, the uneven parallel bars. Could Brazil actually
win against one of the traditional European powers?
Here, I’m afraid, the
storybook ending fails. The last of Brazil’s uneven bars competitors stuck the
landing prematurely when she fell off, and Brazil’s team score plummeted to 4th.
This did not faze the two
women who sat next to me, both from Brazil, and both beaming at the end of this
competition, regardless.
As for the engaging woman
next to me in Montreal, the one who so generously gave me an insider’s view of
the greatest moment in gymnastics history? To this day I wish we had stayed in touch, but
in those times asking for someone’s contact information was asking for home
address and telephone number.
I am quite sure she has been
to as many gymnastics meets as I have been to track and field, and to this day
I am grateful that as tour guide to my first gymnastics meet, she was a perfect
10.00.
Saturday, August 6, 2016
Opening Ceremonies at the Catete Grill
The Catete
district is a middle class neighborhood southeast of downtown Rio de Janeiro and
north of the famous beach areas of Copacabana and Ipanema. It will be my home
for the next two weeks. It seems a much more realistic view of Brazilian life
than the one I had near the beach during my first week here – or is it?
I had
attended Opening Ceremonies in Montreal in '76, and as much as I would have
liked to be in Maracana Stadium on Friday night, I found myself with a question I could begin to answer only outside the stadium.
How deeply
do these Olympic Games reach into the lives of everyday Brazilians?
During Opening
Ceremonies, I visited five local restaurants/cafes/bars/hangouts in Catete,
most of them a combination of all four. I wondered: with room for 80,000 in the
stadium, what was this experience like for the 7,000,000 Cariocas (natives of Rio) who did not get to attend?
Opening
Ceremonies began at 8:00 pm local time. I started at the Deca Bar and Cafe at
7:55, and already the place was crowded. This is not a challenge for a space perhaps
7m across and 30m long, but everyone was frozen in the position of the
evening: seated, facing in one direction, and looking up.
I moved
along to a neighborhood landmark, the Catete Grill. It’s opposite of the Deca -
a vast space with the buffet of a lifetime (pay-by-weight buffets are very
common in Brazil), seating for well over a hundred, and numerous huge flat
screen TVs.
As the
ceremonies began with an airplane flying towards the stadium, everyone turned
and toasted each other.
This night, people were dining and staying.
One woman in particular caught my attention. She (right, with her daughter) sat riveted and unmoving -
but clearly not unmoved - for four hours.
As I
contemplated her age and her rapt attention, I wondered what her life has been
like, lived under a military dictatorship for 21 of her years.
A poignant
scene, too, as a young man staffing the buffet line stopped in front of a
screen to watch the proceedings. That he had to work during Opening Ceremonies
broke my heart and likely his. He kept one eye on the food and the other on
the screen.
I saw him
repeat this move numerous times during the evening, the events on the screen
clearly so much more compelling than yet another night working the line. What
does his future offer him? I estimate that he is 21, which means he’s been
anticipating this event for 1/3 of his life. Numerous young staffers lingered whenever they could to catch a glimpse of their
moment of untold pride.
Three
times, young adult men came in with their mothers on their arms. The treat was
Opening Ceremonies at the Catete Grill and each mother was beaming. (Those were their mothers, weren’t they?!)
I left at
10:00 to visit other gathering places and found much the same: people glued, a
younger crowd, perhaps, at the watering holes a block or two north, but the
same rapt we’re-not-leaving-this-until-it’s-over attention.
I’d
become attached to the scene at the Catete Grill and returned at 10:30.
Countries beginning with S were marching
in; anticipation was building to the proverbial fever pitch.
Zambia
was announced, and a woman clapped and shouted what everyone knew: “Braaaaziiiiilll!!!!!” was up soon.
A glimpse of the flag at the head of the Brazilian team.
The Catate
Grill crowd erupted.
And did
so again when the flame was lighted, though there was palpable disappointment that
it was not Pele.
I may not
understand Portuguese, but I understand ‘It’s not Pele.’
There was one
particularly memorable moment at the Catete Grill, one which will bring a rueful
smile every time I think of it and of the place of the US in the world.
During
the environmental segment, the issue of rising seawaters was raised, and a
number of places were shown with projected levels of future inundation. Each
location got a murmur of knowing commentary from the patrons of the Catete
Grill.
Then
Florida appeared, half submerged.
Apart from the entry of Brazil and the lighting of the flame, I’ve
never heard such clapping and cheering.
This Catete crowd was deeply connected - to all the events on the screen.
Friday, August 5, 2016
The Summer Winter Games
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40 years have elapsed (or lapsed, depending on your point of view) since I attended the Summer Olympics in Montreal. Those were, from a geographer's perspective, noteworthy for having been held in summer, unlike these games, which are being held in Rio's winter. Good thing, too, as today was the first day in a week that could reasonably have been called hot.
'16 feels very much like a major case of second verse same as the first: in '76 the state of the unfinished facilities was bemoaned, the worst traffic in world history was expected, the East Germans were accused of using performance-enhancing drugs - and were later found to have run a state-sponsored doping system... does all of this sound familiar?
The cast of characters has changed, but the drive to excel and the desire to be the best haven't - thankfully - changed a bit.
Sooner or later, someone will touch the wall first. Someone will lean at the finish and win by a hundredth, and we will adjudge one performance as better and more significant, no matter the path. Someone will rip the entry. Someone will score a penalty kick, rip off her jersey, and change sporting life for a generation of girls. Someone will stick the landing.
We'll never forget it.
Today my tour group went to Sugarloaf, one of Rio's vertical promontories, and we had much excitement when the return gondola was closed in anticipation of the arrival of the Olympic torch. There we were, stranded at the intermediate station, but with views like this, that's some kinda stranded.
The torch didn't arrive while we were there, but it was interesting to see how the possibility of it turned us into giddy children.
There is magic left in all of this after all.
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
The Girl from Ipanema
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trackerati meets Heloisa Pinto, inspiration for "The Girl from Ipanema" |
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Aren't we a lovely couple?! |
Today I walked from Copacabana to Ipanema and I was on a mission. My destination was the bar where the song "The Girl from Ipanema" originated in 1962. This bossa nova classic - the second most recorded song in history behind "Yesterday" - was part and parcel of my childhood as it was played repeatedly at home.
I found the bar and knew that Heloisa Pinto, the inspiration for the song, had a boutique nearby; turns out it's next door. I had seen her picture online and was startled to see her inside. As I started to enter her boutique, she was joined by a man and they left right in front of me. Squandered opportunity of a lifetime, I thought.
But no, this one was meant to be. They went into the bar next door, were joined by another man, and began to sit down. The server asked me where I'd like to sit; instead I gestured towards Pinto with my phone and he said, knowingly, "Ahhhhhh."
Apparently they've been down this road a few times before.
He arranged for her to join me, and her friend took the photos. Helo - her nickname, one which I'm free to use now that we're such good buds - was nothing but gracious and welcoming, asked me where I'm from, and what sports I will see in the Olympics.
Get this: The Girl from Ipanema has my trackerati business card. Here's hoping she sees this post.
Meanwhile, take another look and ponder this: she's seven years older than I am. I mean, is that remarkable?
And all this on a day when I was given a senior discount without anyone asking! I assure you, I'll gladly balance that with the rest of what the universe offered me today.
"Tall and tan and young and lovely..."
Yes, she still is.
"Tall and tan and young and lovely..."
Yes, she still is.
trackerati in Rio!
Greetings from Rio de Janeiro - the River of January. I arrived several days ago and am busy at work on my quadrennial preview and predictions tome - a preview of each of the 47 track and field events of the 31st Olympiad, complete with fearless picks and predictions.
For the first few nights I am staying at a hotel across the street from Copacana Beach. It's beautiful here, and interestingly, it hasn't been hot yet. "It's our winter," the locals keep saying. Also, I haven't encountered a single mosquito - nada, not one.
Tomorrow I will join the Track and Field News Tour as it arrives in Rio, and I'll be staying at one of their four hotels. While it's closer to the most of the Games sites, it's still a good hour from the stadium, with much yet to be resolved about logistics here.
I'm active on twitter: @trackerati.
More - much more - to come.
For the first few nights I am staying at a hotel across the street from Copacana Beach. It's beautiful here, and interestingly, it hasn't been hot yet. "It's our winter," the locals keep saying. Also, I haven't encountered a single mosquito - nada, not one.
Tomorrow I will join the Track and Field News Tour as it arrives in Rio, and I'll be staying at one of their four hotels. While it's closer to the most of the Games sites, it's still a good hour from the stadium, with much yet to be resolved about logistics here.
I'm active on twitter: @trackerati.
More - much more - to come.
Sunday, July 10, 2016
One for the Ages
52.82
Thoughts
and reflections on the 9th day of the US Olympic Trials
*It’s a given that the
Hayward Field crowd response to an Oregon athlete is amplified by the athlete’s
Duckness. I had already made a note to write about the crowd’s roar in Devon
Allen’s win in the third semi-final of the men’s 110m high hurdles. Then he won
the entire event.
Heard anything like that
recently? Well, yes – it was much the same with Ducks Jenna Prandini, Ariana
Washington, Deajah Stevens, and Galen Rupp all Saturday afternoon.
Then 41-year-old Bernard
Lagat won the men’s 5,000m.
In defiance of aging, Lagat
finished off his astonishing 5,000m victory with a 52.82 final lap. Saturday’s
roar joins legendary Hayward Field crowd responses to the men’s 2008 800m - when
three runners training in Oregon made the Olympic team - and Alan Webb’s 3:53.3
national high school record in the mile in the 2001 Prefontaine Classic.
Oh, yes - there was quite a
response several decades ago. Also the men’s 5,000m.
It may well have been 1972
when we last heard an Olympic Trials roar like this.
Lagat, who did not want to end
his Hayward Field career on a down-note, was worried after dropping out of both
the Olympic Trials 10,000m and this year’s Prefontaine Classic 5,000m. But he
kept perspective about the meaning of Saturday’s win to himself and his family.
He wanted “… to win in front
of my kids, who had been telling me we had to go. My daughter tells me, ‘Daddy,
I want to go back to the Olympics so I can watch gymnastics.’”
*So much rides on so little:
- Omar Craddock
finished 4th in the triple jump, 2”/5cm behind Chris Bernard.
- Eric Jenkins
missed the Olympic team by .06 in the men’s 5,000m. Try timing six
one-hundredths by hand on a stopwatch.
- Aries Merritt and
possibly the greatest story of the Olympics: he missed the team by an agonizing
1/100th in the men’s hurdles. The kidney transplant patient - who
won bronze at the 2015 Beijing World Championships 4 days before his transplant
- was the picture of grace in post-race interviews.
*Chris Lotsbom of Race Results Weekly asked this trenchant
question in a twitter post several nights ago: why do Hayward Field fans clap
and cheer for athletes who have failed drug tests? Granted, they have served
their time in suspensions, but this does not absolve them of their role in
cheating. When a LaShawn Merritt or Justin Gatlin wins, my small protest is
that I just don’t clap. Sound ineffective? What if we all didn’t clap and
cheer? The silence would be deafening – and eloquent.
*Meanwhile, speaking of
clapping, I have a peeve of my own: please, no rhythmic clapping or victory
cheers when athletes are in their blocks. Do the best fans in the world really
need to be told this?
*Galen Rupp showed up
bedecked in aerodynamic tape for Saturday’s 5,000m race. If it does, as he
claims, reduce air drag by up to 2%, it begs the question of when the line is
crossed between using technology for an ethical advantage and when technology
helps too much. Swimming had to address this question when full-body suits (based
in more buoyant polyurethane material) were banned in 2010 after a wholesale rewriting
of the record book once these suits were introduced.
*Special note to Olympic
Trials hurdles champion Devon Allen:
The universe has been telling you this for some time now. You’re the Olympic Trials champion and in the thick of a worldwide discussion of who the Olympic hurdle medalists will be.
Dude, it’s time to stop
playing football.
The universe has been telling you this for some time now. You’re the Olympic Trials champion and in the thick of a worldwide discussion of who the Olympic hurdle medalists will be.
This or 9 catches for 94
yards?
An Olympic Trials 4th of July
The 4th of July began early at the US Olympic
Track and Field Trials.
Or actually it began late.
Which was early.
It began the night of the 3rd with a fireworks
display at Autzen Stadium, one the entire city heard at 10:30 – no one could
escape it.
Including athletes trying to sleep the night before their
events.
So, not a great start to a great 4th of July in
Eugene.
The day itself dawned cool, sunny, spectacular – truly not a
cloud in the sky.
Matthew Knight Arena on the 4th of July
One option visitors have is to stay in the dormitories at
the University of Oregon. Deal of a lifetime. $99.00 a day - including three
meals - when motels across the street are going for $300-500 a night.
This is a throwback for me as I lived in these same
dormitories in the early ‘70s when I was an undergraduate here. I lived in
Dyment – rhymes with cement – and how many people can claim they lived in a dorm
so aptly named for undergraduate life?
It’s no coincidence that Animal House was filmed on this campus
several years later. I’ll move on so as to protect the guilty.
An interesting aspect of dormitory life this time is that
one of the entry gates to Hayward Field is half a block away. I rise every
morning to the sight of growing lines of fans waiting to go through security,
and with protective fences, concrete blocks, federal marshals, and
bomb-sniffing dogs, we are reminded at every turn that track and field heaven
is part of the real world.
Security Force with Dog
I look forward to breakfast every morning, a place where new
friends are made and old are renewed. We discuss upcoming events and rehash
yesterday’s controversies. On this holiday morning I sit with newer friends,
ones I’ve gotten to know since returning to writing and starting my blog three
years ago. We have an animated discussion about the men’s long jump and the
qualifying process for the Olympics; we leave having clarified what we don’t
know.
One of the characteristics of an event such as the Trials is
what goes on beyond the track. A writer’s life can be pretty constrained during
an event like this. In my first three days here, my life took place in a
three-block radius: from my dorm to Hayward Field in one direction and to the
dining hall in the other. Not a bad radius when you think of it.
The late holiday start times at the track make possible a
number of options for visitors, and the Track and Field Writers of America (TAFWA)
hosts a morning social at the self-styled unofficial social center of the
Trials, the Wild Duck restaurant. First I speak with several of the eminent
LetsRun.com crew and finally I meet Steve Soprano, their mysterious “employee
1.1,” who has been so good to me with linking to my articles on their heavily
trafficked front page. I sit with Cheryl Treworgy, who as Cheryl Bridges set
the world marathon record of 2:49:40 in the 1971 Culver City marathon and
became the first woman ever under 2:50.
Treworgy has a very successful photography business called
PrettySporty; she is a familiar face at sporting events around the country,
including many beyond track and field. She is immensely proud of her two daughters
and we speak for some time about daughter Maggie’s service work in Africa.
Cheryl and I are teachers, and we have much to discuss about service, purpose,
and the magic of reaching a child. We also speak about her daughter, Shalane,
who, like her mother, runs a fair marathon, and will in Rio.
Next stop is the Caspian restaurant for lunch with friends.
The Caspian is a couple of storefronts down from the Duck Bookstore on the west
side of campus. It’s my favorite restaurant in Eugene; there is something for
everyone. While it focuses on Mediterranean food, it has an expansive menu that
will keep even the most enthusiastic carnivores satisfied. Best of all for
writing late, it’s open until 2:25am on weekends and 11:45pm on weeknights.
It’s
here I met Curtis Beach’s parents the night he waved Ashton Eaton home to a
world record in 2012. I told them it’s one of the greatest acts of
sportsmanship I’ve ever seen.
To the stadium after lunch and a meeting with my longtime
friend, Carol Coram, who sits on the Jury of Appeals. I always wish Carol an
uneventful day… and then there was the women’s 800m. I tried.
Enough for One Day
John Nunn won the Olympic Trials 20k race in Salem last
Thursday; I interviewed him there twice, once one-on-one and the other as part
of the group interview after the awards ceremony on the Capitol steps. Later
that evening in Eugene, I was at the campus alumni center to pick up my
accreditation and was directed to sit in a specific chair.
I look at the man next to me: “Hi, John.”
At the appeals tent today, two men sit down to discuss the
appeals process; one is an athlete liaison and advocate.
“Hi, John,” I say once more. “We can’t go on meeting like this.”
We walk out together and agree it’s time for me to do an
article about him, the universe having spoken rather clearly on this matter.
Olympian John Nunn with that stalkerish trackerati guy. No, no - Nunn's on the right!
The women’s steeplechase rounds are first up on the track, followed by the men’s. Next are the men’s 5k heats, and this sequence causes me
some confusion. After 5 steeplechase heats I keep expecting the 5,000m runners
to jump over something.
I have an idea about how to approach the 4th of
July interviews with the athletes; it’s time to have some fun. I ask athletes
who have advanced to the next round or who have just made the Olympic team,
“So, how’s your 4th of July going so far?”
Bridget Franek, who had just won her steeplechase heat:
“Going pretty well so far, I’d say! Came with my nice 4th of July
glasses and hat so I was ready to go and then that happened (winning her heat),
so it’s a good one!”
Shalaya Kipp, who advanced to the steeplechase finals: “You
know, it’s really great! It’s a really good 4th of July.”
Clayton Murphy, who won the 800m with a Wottle-esque kick: “I
told Boris: I’d love to be on a boat right now and having hamburgers and
grilling out with the family, but running the Olympic Trials on the 4th
of July is cool. So I’d say the 4th of July is going pretty well. A
boat does sound nice and floating down the river on the 4th of July
- but I think this is pretty good, this is better.”
800m Olympian Clayton Murphy
Boris Berian, who made the Olympic team in 2nd
behind Murphy: “I’ll save the boat – that is definitely a fun thing to do –
I’ll save that for later. I’m just proud to be an Olympian now.”
More smilin' Olympians! Murphy - Berian - Jock
Charles Jock, third member of the 800m squad, turns to Berian and says, “Well, I think you’ve still got some time to go floating down
the river!”
800m Olympian Charles Jock
Chrishuna Williams: When I ask the question, the 800m third-placer
grabs the microphone and says, “I’ll answer that!”
Williams and Coach Chris Johnson
“As soon as I crossed the line I saw that my name, Chrishuna
Williams, had the 3rd position, and just to represent the red,
white, and blue and have USA across my chest on the 4th of July –
I’m very ecstatic!”
Kate Grace, Ajee Wilson, Chrishuna Williams - US 800m Olympic Team
The fun in this question is that it was unexpected. When I asked it in both 800m press
conferences, the athletes cracked up laughing each time. They are so used to
similar questions, race after race, year after year. The grace of Allyson Felix,
for example, is how she makes it appear she’s answering each question for the
first time.
No one has as much grace as Kate.
I return to the stadium and bid farewell to my press row neighbor, Caitlyn Pilkington, a rising star who is now with Women's Running Magazine. She has covered the first half of the Trials and her publisher will be here for the second. We've made a nice connection and I know this is the first time we'll say farewell but by no means the last.
Sun sets on a dazzling 4th of July at Hayward Field
I remain in the stadium and write until 9:30 or so. The remarkable
facilities crew is raising the hammer throw cage. It’s not hyperbole to say
their work is never done.
Raising of the Hammer Barn
It’s time for dinner and I head for the Wild Duck. Note that I started and ended my day at the Wild Duck. Can the term ‘ubiquitous’ apply to a single business? It seems as if the Wild Duck is everywhere, even though it’s in one place.
I sit with my RunBlogRun
editor and publisher, Larry Eder, who is a connector if ever there was one. I
have told his son that my goal is to find a single person in track and field
Larry does not know. To my left is
the gifted writer, Dave Hunter, from whom I learn more about our craft every
time I read his work.
I am introduced to the man across from me and in the
enthusiastic noise of the late evening I misunderstand his name. He looks very
familiar, but the name I hear does not match my memory. I spend a considerable
amount of time thinking I’m speaking with a famous writer. It takes a while,
but finally I ask him to repeat his last name.
“Ahhhhhh,” I say. “Virgin. You are Craig Virgin.”
The two-time World cross country champion nods.
We’re joined by Bobby Hodge, he of the epic Greater Boston
Track Club team of the late ‘70s. Across the street in a motel meeting room I
encountered his voluble coach, Billy Squires, the day before the men’s Olympic
Trials marathon trials race in 1976. Squires and I hit it off and he coached me
by mail; we stayed in touch for a good 15 years. I sought him out in
Massachusetts a couple of summers ago, wanting to complete our story.
As I started running in Bill Bowerman’s beginning running
class in the fall of ’71, I have long wondered if anyone else has been coached
by both.
Virgin peels off, then Hodge - it’s time to bring this 4th to a close. I realize I didn’t see any fireworks this year, but then I remember the women’s 800m.
I did see fireworks after all.
Good Night, Coach.
Thanks for teaching me how to run.
Saturday, July 9, 2016
Mirror Image: Men's Steeplechase
Men’s steeplechase final takes on a
familiar look
Apparently the men’s
steeplechasers did not wish to be upstaged by Thursday’s dramatic women’s
steeplechase final. The men’s race mirrored the women’s: similar tactics,
similar pacing, similar last lap sprints – and similar bumps and falls over the
crucial last water jump.
Evan Jager was his usual
masterful pacing and tactical self. He took the lead earlier than he had
planned and tightened the tourniquet on this accomplished field by running the
last 4 laps in 64-62-62-62. That’s world class and no one could stay with him.
The American record holder finished in 8:22.48, won his fifth consecutive US
title, and made his second Olympic team.
NCAA champ Mason Ferlic led
the pack through the first kilometer in a slow 2:58.04 – warmup pace for this
deep and talented field. Then Jager took over.
Friday, July 8, 2016
Women's Steeplechase
It Helps to Be an NCAA Champion
Emma Coburn and the deepest field in US history gave Hayward Field fans what they came for: a fast, dramatic, and compelling Olympic Trials race. Halfway through it was no surprise that behind Coburn, nine still had a chance to make the Olympic team.
“I was just trying to stay relaxed, and in a steeplechase especially there’s so much risk and drama with the barriers, so I was just trying to stay relaxed and confident,” said Coburn, who won in 9:17.48 and is now US steeplechase champion for the fifth time.
Behind her, relaxation was hardly the word to describe what unfolded.
Monday, July 4, 2016
Historic Men's Long Jump
Unexpectedly, Men’s Long Jump is One of Greatest in History
Olympic Champion Greg
Rutherford has spent a lot of time since the London Olympics defending the long
jump, an event which clearly has been in a slump since he struck gold in 2012.
Indeed, going into Sunday’s
US Olympic Trials finals, it seemed as if the entire track and field universe
was focused on the day’s other finals, especially the men’s and women’s 100m
dashes. If not those, then Ashton
Eaton in the decathlon. If not Mr. Eaton, then Allyson Felix and LaShawn
Merritt in the 400m. If not the veterans, how about teenage sensation Vashti
Cunningham – the World Indoor champion – in the high jump?
While pre-meet anticipation
of those events was justly rewarded, no event was more compelling – or deeper –
or more riveting - than the overlooked men’s long jump.
“Today's men's long jump competition
was the greatest all-conditions (including wind-aided marks) in history with
seven men over 27 feet,” said USATF. That ought to knock this event out of its
doldrums. Nine men jumped over 8 meters (26’3”) and two over 28 ft.
Jeffery Henderson won the jump-fest
at 28’ 2 ¼”, a scant half inch ahead of Olympic teammate Jarrion Lawson. “I put it all
out there on the first jump and hit the board,” said Lawson. “I’m really happy
to get the 28-foot barrier with a legal wind.”
Henderson was jumping in his sprint spikes as he left his jumping
spikes at home. “I left my spikes at home by accident,” he said. “It worked out
– I still made the team and I got first. I’m glad that I won and got a good
mark out there.”
Will Claye and Marquis Dendy both jumped
27’ 7 ½” to tie for third, with Claye having the tie-breaking longer second
jump.
So why does Dendy go to the Olympics
but Claye does not?
Most unfortunately for Claye, all of
his marks were wind-aided on a blustery day in Eugene, and since he didn’t have
a legal qualifying jump in any other competitions coming into the meet, he will
not make the trip to Rio in the long jump. He missed Rio by a centimeter, as
his legal best of 8.14m just missed the 8.15 (26’9”) Olympic standard.
The triple may well be another matter.
“This has made me more hungry,” said
Claye. “I went out here and gave it my all but I didn’t have the “A” standard,
so this has given me motivation for the triple jump.”
Meanwhile, Dendy, who had a legal
qualifying mark in the 3rd round, becomes the third member of the
Olympic Team. However, a re-injuring of his pesky ankle on his subsequent jump puts
his status for Rio in considerable jeopardy.
Meanwhile, Sunday’s Ironman award goes
not to Ashton Eaton but to Jarrion Lawson, the NCAA triple champion at
100m/200m/long jump. Lawson started his afternoon by sprinting the 100m
semi-final in 10.01 and earning a spot in the final. Then he took four jumps
until he was satisfied that his fourth-round 28’ 1 ¾” would stand up for
landing him on the Olympic team, which it did. (Not incidentally, as it was not
wind-aided, this jump is the longest legal jump in the world this year.) No
sooner was the long jump over than Lawson found himself in the starting blocks
of the 100m final, where he would finish 7th in 10.07.
Ashton, step aside.
“I’m ecstatic,” said Lawson. “This is
what I’ve been working for since 8th grade.”
In what is surely the
understatement of the day, Henderson concluded by saying, “The competition was
stacked.”
And as for Rutherford?
“I know he’ll be surprised to
see the results. This competition will probably go down in history.”
It already has.
Saturday, July 2, 2016
Follow the Leader
US Olympic Trials
Women’s 10,000m
Molly Huddle took the lead on
the opening step of the women’s Olympic Trials 10,000m race and never
relinquished it - not even an inch.
“You don’t want to risk
anything at the Olympic Trials by trying to run a fast time,” said Huddle, “so I just tried to keep it as relaxed as I
could until the last mile and still stay out of trouble.”
Instead, Huddle was trouble
for everyone else.
An Olympic Trials schedule
which models that of the Olympic Games - today’s race started at 11:04am - gave
the contestants challenging conditions in heat which is sure to be worse in
Rio.
Huddle ran to burn off the
competition and remarkable negative splits of 16:09/15:33 more than
accomplished that mission. Her final time was 31:41.62, with Beijing 10k bronze
medalist Emily Infeld second in 31:46.09 and Nike’s Marielle Hall third in
31:54.77.
Kellyn Taylor was a distant 4th
in 32:11.30, and with 1200m to go, Olympic team membership was never really in
doubt. The only question was the order.
Friday, July 1, 2016
Changing of the Guard - Men's Shot Put
The United States men’s shot
put entered a new era today. With only one major meet medalist among today’s
Olympic team qualifiers, the podium took on a surprisingly youthful look.
Darrell Hill served notice
that he would come into a meet as underdog for the last time when he led after
the first round with his 20.93m/68’ 8’. Heretofore, Hill’s highest major meet
finish was 2nd at the 2015 NCAA Championships. Hill crashed the 70’
barrier for the first time with a massive second-round PR of 21.63/70’ 11 ¾”,
and demolished his previous best by over one and a half feet.
Not to be outdone, Ryan
Crouser - native Oregonian and member of the legendary throwing family - stepped
up next and showed that youth would indeed be served. His explosive 22.11m/72’
6 ½” PR would stand to win the meet.
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