Day 1 Reflections

 First Day Reflections

by Mark Cullen

US 1^st, 2^nd, and 5^th, with Canada 4^th and 9^th.

US 2^nd, 5^th, and 12^th.

Looks like North America is dominating the downhill again.

There has never, ever been a hammer throw performance like this for the United States.

All three men made the final.

All three women made the final.

In World Championships history, never had more than two men and women combined made their finals. Today’s performance shattered that record by 4.

Add Canada’s two women’s finalists and you have North American domination of the women’s hammer throw qualifying.

Not so fast I hear you say, and you’re right: the recent US history has been of throwing well in qualifying, getting tight in the finals, and not executing to pre-meet potential.

And yes, Daniel Haugh in 2^nd is surrounded in 1^st and 3^rd by the defending World and Olympic champions from Poland. Duly noted.

Nonetheless, the US throwers are performing as a team in a way that has been unheard of until now.

But it’s not a team competition, I hear you say.

Right again. Yet the opportunity for changing the face of an event lies in the hands of these six.

US men’s hammer finals qualifiers: Daniel Haugh, Rudy Winkler, and Alex Young.

US women’s hammer finals qualifiers: Brooke Andersen, Janee Kassanavoid, and Annette Echikunwoke.

(At the conclusion of this post are quotes from Janee Kassanavoid and Daniel Haugh.)

Meanwhile, the qualifying rounds of the men’s 100m showed once again that while we are welcoming the world… well, not everyone who cannot get a visa for this meet would agree.

In rather dramatic fashion – would lane 3 of the 100m be occupied or not? – Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala did indeed fill lane 3 after a tense week that saw him landing in Eugene only a few short hours before his race. He advanced to the semi-finals and has less than a day to prepare.

Via Track and Field News, the BBC’s article on marathoner Chris Thompson depicts the human cost of this situation: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/athletics/2022/07/15/chris-thompson-absolutely-devastated-visa-farce-ruins-world/

One of the more engaging aspects of World Championships is often the 100m preliminary round in which single athletes are entered as the only representatives of their countries - in the entire meet. 

The whole world is watching as they run times in the 10.50 – 12.00 range. Today, Bhutan’s Mipham Yoezer Curung ran a personal best of 11.86, while equaling his PB of 12.22 was Tonga’s Nehumi Tuihalamaka.

But the saddest sight of all on this first day was seeing Fiji’s Ratu Benuve Tabakaucord walk away from his blocks, disconsolate at having false started. And the margin by which he missed a fair start?

4/1000 of a second.

That will be one long plane ride home.

Meanwhile, all of you who picked the Dominican Republic to win the 4x400m mixed relay with the Dutch 2^nd and US 3^rd, well, step right up – there’s room on the pickers’ podium for you!

Of the many statistics provided us by World Athletics about Allyson Felix’s stellar career, this one struck me the most: she won World medals over a span of 17 years.

If you think this photo needs a caption,

you just haven't been paying attention.

Photo credit: Getty Images for World Athletics

Daniel Haugh

If you have the right intensity, you’ll produce a large throw. You have to have a good plan and execute it. If you execute a bad plan, it’s not going to turn out well.

I really wanted to open up with the standard and go home. I think it ended up working well… at the end of the day I got 5 throws up there: 2 warmups and 3 competitions, so it’s 5 throws now in the circle and now I’ve got my physical and my visual Q points and I feel comfortable and ready to put some big throws tomorrow in the final.

Haugh on Japan’s Olympic gold medal hammer legend, Koji Mirofushi:

I look up to him, he has beautiful technique, and he was a guy - in high school I’d bring my lunch into the library and I’d watch him throw on You Tube. He’s a guy I’ve always looked up to and studied his technique. I’d love to meet him one day.

I’m in personal best shape – training has indicated that… I’d love to open up right in that 77-80 meter range and then just build it and keep improving like I did today. If I can leave here with a personal best it’s hard to be upset. Just want to execute and get a throw I’m proud of.

The field is absolutely stacked. There are some big guys and they’re older, they’re veterans. I kind of like the baby in this!

I need to focus on me, on my throw, and I believe I’ll be on the podium.

Janee Kassanavoid (courtesy USATF)

In her comments today, Kassanavoid echoed what she said at US Nationals: that she needs to pause and focus and take a deep breath.

I am ready to go, just had to take a deep breath when I got in. Then I just did what I have been doing every day. Got the Q with the first round and now ready for the next one. I think the hammer throw is open no matter who is number one or the last person to make it to the meet. 

I know that I am capable of making great things, PR, WR and things like that. So it is about who wants it the most. My personal coach is here and I got couple of my friends coming here to support me. 

I love my journey.

The Barbers of Brisbane

by Mark Cullen

Mike and Kelsey-Lee Barber

The 7th in my series of memorable World Championships experiences wrote itself at the University of Washington track this morning, where Australia, Greece, and Poland were holding practice.

After Kelsey-Lee Barber's epic last-round Worlds javelin win in Doha in 2019, I struck up an online correspondence with her husband and coach, Mike, about my track and field collection. I promised him it would be on display in Eugene and that I'd give him a personal tour. Alas, it's not on display, and yet I wanted to keep my promise to Mike, at least in part. So on what was really a last-minute inspiration, I went to my bank on my way to the track and checked out the Bowerman waffle iron shoes.

I arrived to hear that 'the Australian team had left 15 minutes ago.' Gut punch! I was really disappointed to have missed them. Not that the Polish hammer throwers didn't give me a lot to observe (3 athletes respresenting 5 World/Olympic golds were here), or the Greek Olympic champion in the long jump... you get the idea.

I waited for my track and field friend and guru Paul Merca to return, but by 11:00 it was hot and I needed to get ready for Eugene. I was on my way out when two Australians (identifiable by their green and yellow outfits, which ought to get them far in Eugene!) walked across the track.

The Barbers.

I was astonished and delighted; 30 seconds either way and we would have missed each other. Turns out only part of the team had left. I am very appreciative of their keen interest in this part of track and field history, and a terrifically engaging conversation was had by all. Then off we went with good wishes both ways for a successful time in Eugene.

 (The first 6 experiences can be found on my facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cullen.7946)

 

The Guy with the Shoes.com

I’m launching my new website featuring my collection of running shoes and memorabilia from the University of Oregon’s 1970s Golden Age of track and field. 

TheGuywiththeShoes.com

30 pairs of shoes and over 270 pieces of memorabilia are featured.

These are all items I saved when I was in Eugene from 71-76; I have never intentionally added to this archive, though I have been given several items over the years.

There are 140 pages of text and over 35,000 words in the website. The website is best utilized when you click on Read More, which will get you a closeup of the artifact, more text, or both.

Highlights include: 

Bowerman waffle iron shoes (yes, handmade by the master himself, with waffle soles from the waffle iron).

Two pairs of shoes handmade by Dennis Vixie, prototypes of the Waffle Trainer and the LD-1000.

Blue Ribbon Sports shoes, receipts, and boxes.

Nike’s first product catalogue

1968 Mexico City victory stand image signed by Tommie Smith and John Carlos.

Two of the earliest books on women’s running.

The classic 1972 Track and Field in Oregon poster featuring Rich Clarkson’s photo of steeplers at the water jump at Hayward Field.

Among the first items I ever saved were the famous Afro Ducks - a t-shirt and a window decal. Designed by Tinker Hatfield, who later designed the Air Jordan for Nike, the Afro Ducks are believed to be the first representation of an NCAA Division I school mascot as African American.

Sadly, a photo of Steve Prefontaine taken May 29, 1975 – this may well be the last photo taken of Pre in a competitive setting. It has not previously been seen by the public.

I especially hope that this website will serve as a resource for the 2022 World Championships, to be held in Eugene, Oregon, July 15-24, 2022, and that it might enhance the exerience of all who attend.

I hope you will enjoy this website as much as I have enjoyed developing it. It is a true labor of love, and I hope it will become a lasting and trusted resource for this remarkable era of track and field.

I welcome your responses, especially new information and insights. With 300+ items in the collection, it will always be a work in progress.

Tired Legs

Note: this website was down for several weeks and I sincerely apologize for that. Thank you, loyal readers, for returning to the fold! Special thanks to Jake Willard for assuring the joyous reunion of Trackerati's content with its domain name.

I am resuming with an article I posted on Facebook during the Prefontaine Classic:

Sifan Hassan

22:35 on August 20, 2021 

after her 5,000m world record attempt at the Prefontaine Classic

Mark Cullen photo

Tired Legs

During the Olympic Games, many worried that multiple event athletes like Sifan Hassan or Katie Ledecky might 'explode' from all the racing - that there might be a physical or mental breaking point. While that, quite fortunately, hasn't happened, late last evening Sifan Hassan acknowledged feeling fatigue in her legs as early as the 3rd lap of her 5,000m world record quest at the Prefontaine Classic. This after her double gold with a frosting of bronze at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

"I'm not fresh," she acknowledged.

"It was actually physically the hardest. I was so tired and I had to push to the limit."

She then said, quite cheerfully, that she'll be racing in the Diamond League soon. When one reporter suggested that being only 5 seconds off her PB and recording a seasonal best was, when all is said and done, not a half-bad result, Hassan offered perhaps unexpected perspective by saying, "I'm really happy! I was so tired ... I'm proud of today and I push myself, and I think Tokyo made me stronger." She was, indeed, quite pleased that she finished the race.

While the pace lights eventually became irrelevant to this race, she likes them nonetheless.

"If I don't feel OK, I can do without lights. It's good, actually, to have it," she said, but she did not feel discouraged when the pace lights got ahead of her.

Of the enthusiastic and supportive Hayward Field crowd, Hassan said, "I'm so happy to see them... because I have so many fans everywhere," and she looks forward to her return to Hayward in 2022.

On a night when a world record attempt was the focus of the meet, Hassan gently reminded us that there was much to celebrate in a 14:27.89.

There were three PBs behind her, most notably Alicia Monson's nineteen second drop from 15:07.65 14:48.49.

Meanwhile, Francine Niyonsaba took the measure of a star-studded world class field in the 2 mile, as her 9:00.75 left 5k and 10k world record holder Letesenbet Gidey and two-time world 5k champion Hellen Obiri in her wake.

Rebecca Mehra won the North American 1500m in 4:06.35.

New Zealand’s Geordie Beamish found himself a surprise winner of the International Mile in a stellar 3:54.86, while Craig Engels revealed a fundamental misunderstanding of the relationship of athletes to Hayward Field fans: Dude, they wave at you.

Golden Disc

Valarie Allman won the gold medal in the discus on Tuesday. The Stanford graduate nailed her first throw at 68.98/226-4 and was never headed in the diffcult conditions, which featured a Helsinki-esque downpour during which the event was suspended.

Germany's Kristin Pudenz picked a mighty fine time to record a personal best and won silver with her 219-4/66.86. Cuba's Jaime Perez was the defending world champion, and her 215-7/65.72 won her first Olympic medal.

In early 2020, Allman's coach Zeb Zion, the assistant at the University of Texas (and someone who should really renegotiate his contract now that he has coached an Olympic gold medalist) posted a video on Twitter of Allman's first throw of the year. This was over 17 months ago.

Here is the link to that video:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1232348391390240769

And here is my response:

Mark Cullen

@trackerati

·

Feb 25, 2020

Did you notice? That discus landed on the podium.

@vallman123

@CoachSion

@oiselle

@oiselle_sally

#Tokyo2020 #TokyoOlympics

@nationalthrows

@McthrowsDotcom #ThrowsBySion

@MTCthrowers

@GreyhoundPrezX

@SOJCtrack

Quote Tweet

Zebulon R. Sion

@CoachSion

· Feb 25, 2020

First full throw of 2020 for @vallman123 • #ThrowsBySion #Discus #Athletics Tokyo

Meanwhile, a note about the next several days... I was about to post this when a certain 400m hurdle race took place. There's another one tonight and I urge you all to watch. With the current and former world record holders going head-to-head in a matchup that is every bit as good as Warholm/Benjamin, Dalilah Muhammad and Sydney McGloughlin - and Holland's Femke Bol - are sure to light up Olympic Stadium once again.

I now move into a two-day period of writing for Track and Field News, and I'll post links to my hammer throw articles for them once they're posted. See you all on Thursday - and keep watching!

The Signature Moment of These Games

Every year Sports Illustrated chooses their Sportspeople of the Year. 

The 2021 competition is now over.

With their historic decision to share gold in the men's high jump, Mutazz Essa Barshim (Qatar) and Gianmarco Tamberi (Italy) made SI's job much easier. 

Nothing will top this this year, though it's not a reason to stop trying. 

Consider the worldwide reaction to the decision of these two close friends. 

Consider that Gamberi used his cast as his place marker for determining his steps, as if to thumb his nose at the injury.

Such profound admiration they have for each other.

Such deep and abiding respect.

Such caring during their respective devastating injuries, ones which for others might well have been career-ending.

The signature moment of these Games.

Finally - Finals!

After an extra year's wait and much anticipation, the first multiple-finals day of Olympic competition did not disappoint. 

Elaine Thompson-Herah sped to a 10.61 win in the 100m, a time so fast it knocked even Florence Griffith-Joyner's name off the masthead as Olympic record holder. Legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was second in 10.74, with Jamaican teammate Shericka Jackson third in 10.76. The depth of these times is remarkable, as is the Jamaican sweep - though a Jamaican sweep in the sprints is no longer a surprise. 

Their times rank #2, 8, and 11 on the world all-time list, and many are saying that this is the greatest women's 100m ever run. Tough to disagree, with the usual caveats for time (era), place (dirt track or Mondo), and shoe company. 

Meanwhile, the 4x100m world record is just as nervous as the other 7 teams in the sprint relay final.

Each of the medalists in the shot put has a story. China's Gong Lijiao won her third medal but got to stand on the podium for the first time. The other two times she advanced to the podium only after drug cheats ahead of her were DQed, long after the competition was over. Dame Valerie Adams (NZ) won bronze, her 4th Olympic medal, two of which are gold. Did I mention her 4 World Championship titles?

Raven Saunders (US) won silver. The courageous 3-time NCAA champ at the University of Mississippi, Saunders experienced a rough transition from collegiate to international competition. She was one of the first to come out publicly about the need for mental health awareness among elite athletes. Her path was cause for much concern; online, she was open and brutally honest about her struggle. 

With a newfound sense of her purpose - as well as her place - in the sport, she displayed in Tokyo a return to the confidence she exhibited early in her career.

Saunders made the most of her Olympic experience: not only did she win silver, she wore a "Joker" mask that got international attention as it went wild on Twitter. More seriously, she is direct in taking on anti-gay venom online. However, her online sweep is broad; she lamented her looming return to US toilet seats, the ones in Japan apparently having spoiled her for life. 

Highly recommended is her Twitter feed @ravenHULKSaunders. Do yourself a favor and follow her. She misses nothing.

(Update: no sooner had I posted this than I was made aware of Saunders' podium protest. I've not been seeking out medal ceremonies - perhaps I should.)

Sweden's Daniel Stahl was an expected winner of discus gold. It always helps to be grounded in the familiar in international meets far away from home. Training partner Simon Pettersson surprised no one more than himself by joining his close friend on the podium with silver and a discus 1-2 for Sweden.

Meanwhile, the path to 100m gold now seems to be through the 400m. Both Shericka Jackson (bronze) and Fred Kerley (silver) were 400m specialists before they stepped down (or up, depending on your point of view) to the 100m. How does 400m experience affect 100m performance? 

The 100m does not have single components in the Olympics in the same way a one-race invitational would. Rather, it rewards a combination of strength and speed as the event progresses through four rounds over the course of a day and a half. Strength helps. It's not uncommon for the finals to be slower than the semis, but this time around, the finals times were astonishing:

10.61

10.74

10.76

10.91

10.97

10.99

11.02

11.12

Imagine running 10.76 in your 4th race in a day and a half - and getting bronze!

In the US Olympics Trials women's 100m, the speed was in the semi-finals (3rd round), not the finals (4th).

Semis         Finals

10.64         10.86

10.83         10.99

10.84         11.03

10.95         11.11

10.96         11.15

10.96         11.16

10.98         11.20

11.03         11.22

Finally, Poland's surprise victory in the mixed 4x400m relay has been cause for much national celebration. And it's always a surprise when, no matter the format, a US 4x400 team is 3rd. But the Athletes of the Day are clearly the silver-medal winning team from the Dominican Republic. 

They were as unlikely to win silver as, say, an Italian winning the men's 100m. Who could ever imagine that?! (With apologies to Pietro Minnea...!)

Off and Running

With only one final in the books, the sport of track and field can at least claim a near classic. 21 year old Selemon Barega won the men's 10,000 meter race, holding off Uganda's dynamic duo of Joseph Cheptegai (24) and Jacob Kiplimo (20). Hard to believe these are Uganda's first track and field distance medals as Cheptegai has already won World track and cross country championships and set world records at both 5,000 + 10,000 meters. 

Barega was a relative unknown when he won the Diamond League final at 5,000m at age 18 in Brussels. He ran 4:01.1 per mile pace (pause and absorb that) for the entire race, and 3:58.88 for the last 5 laps!

Here was my take on that race, which I was beyond privileged to see in person; take a moment to absorb these epic stats:

http://www.trackerati.com/2018/08/epic-mens-5000m.html#more

There was considerable conversation about the chances of the US runners in a race in which they historically have not done so well (forgive me for saying so the day after the 57th anniversary of Billy Mills' astonishing win!). 

Why? Because they ran so well in blazing heat in Eugene to make the team to begin with. So it was not an entire surprise to see Grant Fisher finish 5th, but it certainly was a welcome one. With so much emphasis on shoes and surfaces and pacing lights, it's refreshing to know that a brilliantly executed strategy still has its place, for Barega as well as Fisher.

In the runup to the Olympics, there was, quite understandably, much emphasis on Covid. In the bid process for the Games, there was much discussion of the weather.

If not for Covid, the weather might be dominating Olympic conversation. It played a huge role in making the 10,000m a race rather than a time trial. US 400m hurdles runner, Anna Cockrell, said after her first round race today, "It's soupy out here," and "I'm burning up." Please credit this as the only publication to mention Cockrell without mentioning her teammates.

The empty stadium might well have played a role in an 800m heat. Immediately after the gun went off, a runner stopped as the sound of the starter's gun ricochet around the stadium. There was, however, no recall gun, but the race was restarted nonetheless. 

The day was marred when the whispers of the last 24 hours unfortunately came true. Rumors abounded that there had been a positive drug test of a major athlete. Sorry that it's Nigeria's Blessing Okagbare, nabbed for HGH - human growth hormone. 

Okagbare has had a lengthy career at the top, and I'll note her age - 32 - only to make that point that it's not unusual for athletes to take performance enhancers after the age of 30, presumably to extend careers and the attendant income-producing opportunities.

Meanwhile, on days when it's 90F and with 80% humidity in Tokyo, I hereby declare that it's tacky to call first-rounds 'heats' or paces 'torrid.' 

Dateline: The Couch

 Greetings track fans. Greetings field fans. The hardiest among you will be watching the 1st round of the women's 100m right now. This is where the Olympics is the Olympics. Athletes from around the world come in search of PBs, national records, and glories yet to be defined. They've traveled a long way and under possibly fearful conditions. 

Someone comes in with a PB of 12.25 and leaves at 11.74, never to advance but having done herself and her country proud. This is the Olympics, and we'll know better 10 days from now if it all will have been worthwhile. She thinks so.

I'm approaching these Games a bit differently than I have in all but one of the previous eight. The predictions I have done in the past will morph into commentary about the events as they progress, most especially once we know the finalists. But I will comment on those results and try to give them some context. Here in the Pacific time zone finals begin as early as 4:15 am. Have I mentioned I'm old?! 

I have an epic schedule on Tuesday and Wednesday when I'll be covering the women's and men's hammer throws for Track and Field News - all of a sudden the fifth time I'll be covering majors for the magazine. That went fast. The women's final begins on Tuesday at 4:35 am Pacific - with a deadline 12 hours after the event finishes! Wednesday: rinse and repeat, only with a 4:15 am start.

While I hope we can all revel - sooner or later - in the achievements of these remarkable athletes, I'm well aware that that enthusiasm might well be muted, especially at first. Imagine the crowd reaction - had there been a crowd - in the first men's steeplechase heat today when Japan's Ryuji Miura unexpectedly shattered the national record with his 8:09.92, which is fast even without barriers. Suddenly he's someone to watch - someone totally unexpected - and the excitement grows. 

Looking forward to having that excitement grow with you over the course of the next 10 days. Thanks for checking in.