copyright 2018, Mark Cullen/trackerati.com, all rights reserved
I set out to watch the Birmingham Diamond League Meet from my hotel in Berlin.
If only.
In much the same manner as US
cable companies, there are different levels of access for different levels of
cost here in Germany, and the DL broadcast was not included in my hotel’s cable
package. Interesting that this is the media hotel from the recently concluded
European Championships.
I embarked upon a social
media quest to keep up with the events in as close to real time as possible. Several
major outlets were quick with updates on Twitter, and the Diamond League
website did a fine job of keeping up-to-date a rapidly-produced written report. They type faster than I do.
I’ll note some highlights
here and then post a link to the results page. It’s not my goal to be
comprehensive, but I hope you’ll enjoy several reflections on today’s
events.
One of the oddest entry lists
you’ll ever see was for the Emsley Carr Mile. World and Olympic 5,000m medalist
Paul Chelimo’s (US) outdoor PB was listed at 4:08.6 (indoor was ten seconds
quicker at 3:38.59, run this past February). 4:08.6 was accurate until he spun
a 3:55.96 to finish third today.
It’s quiz time. From which
continent do the top two in the men’s mile hail?
Nope, not Africa. Or Europe.
Or North America. Gold star to those who said Australia, as Stewart McSweyn and
Ryan Gregson gave the Aussies a 3:54.60-3:55.10 1-2 surprise.
Sandi Morris (US) defeated Katerina
Stefanidi on a blustery day in Birmingham,
a 10cm win, 4.62 (15-1 ¾) - 4.52
(14-10).
“You can’t change the
weather, you can only make the best of it,” said Morris in her Twitter feed.
More was expected from the
women’s 400m hurdles as well, one of the deepest events on the tour this year.
Switzerland’s Lea Sprunger won in a slow-ish 54.86.
Not a surprise was Emmanuel
Korir’s 1:42.79 meet record thrashing of the men’s 800m field. In fact, Kenya
swept the top 4 places. Jonathan Kitilit was second in 1:43.53, while 1500m World
Champion Elijah Manangoi set a personal best of 1:44.15, a fact that should
strike fear in the hearts of 1500m competitors in the upcoming Diamond League
final.
The 800m results by continent
look like this:
1-4 – Africa
5-7 – Europe
7-9 – North America.
A perplexing part of that outcome
was US Olympic bronze medalist Clayton Murphy’s 9th in 1:47.80.
The women’s 200m lived up to
its billing as the deepest event of the day. Bahamas’ Shaunae Miller-Uibo set
the meet record in a stellar 22.15, and Great Britain’s triple European gold
medalist Dina Asher-Smith took second in 22.31. A season-long star in the 100m,
Marie-Josee Ta Lou (CIV) was 7th here in 22.88.
Miller-Uibo, known for her
prowess at 400m, said, “The 200 isn’t a race that I love - I really do like it,
but not as much as the 400. I love to compete especially in competitive races
like this.”
The hyper-competitive men’s
100 featured yet another tie that was decided by thousandths – which doesn’t
make it a tie anymore. Christian Coleman (US) edged Reece Prescod (GB); both
were given times of 9.94, one of which was faster than the other.
Germany’s European champion Malaika
Mihambo set a meet record in the long jump at 6.96 (22-10) in an unusual field.
Unusual? Colombia’s triple jump legend Caterine Ibarguen took on the long jump and
finished 2nd in 6.80 (22-3¾), which helps you understand why she’s an
all-time great when she adds two more jumps.
Unable to solve the wind in
Berlin a week ago, Germany’s European silver medalist in the javelin, Andreas
Hofmann, found an answer today – an 89.82 (294-8) second-round throw that won by over three meters from German
teammate, Julian Weber. European champion Thomas Rohler was an uncharacteristic
4th in 84.33 (276-8).
Anticipating the thriller the
Diamond League final should be, Hofmann said,“My hopes and dreams are to throw
like this for the title in a few weeks.”
It was 'end of an era' time for
Great Britain’s outstanding big-meet long jumper, Greg Rutherford. While he may
well have played out the string for too long after having been beset by
injuries for several years, the 2012 London Olympic champion called it a career
today.
Rutherford said, “In a sign
of how my mindset has changed, a year or two years ago I would have been like ‘right
now I need to try and beat you,’ but now I am watching it and going, ‘what a
fantastic performance, good for him’ and it is the competitive side that I just
don’t have the ability to respond to anymore.”
Time to retire indeed, and
props to Rutherford for knowing it.
 |
| Greg Rutherford, GB, in Beijing's Bird's Nest, 2015 2012 Olympic and 2015 World Champion Beijing World Championships photo credit: Getty Images/IAAF |
I
I’ll post previews of both finals in
the run up to the meets.
Results link:
credits: flash quotes from
the Birmingham Diamond League website https://birmingham.diamondleague.com/home/
Great stuff! Thank you!
ReplyDelete