The Week in the Rear View: Racing News May 19-25, 2008

Posted May 26th, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Jay Hicks

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Columns, Olympics, Week in Rear View

This is my first of what will be many weekly columns wrapping up the goings on in track and field. I am normally found at PreraceJitters.com, writing about the fast life of track and field.

Trevor Graham

This week the Trevor Graham trial had the full attention of track and field. So far, the trial has been a train wreck. Angela Heredia testified how he gave multiple drugs to Marion Jones before the 2000 Games. Antonio Pettigrew testified under oath that it was EPO and HGH that allowed him to run sub-44 seconds. Consequently, Pettigrew’s testimony puts the 4×400 meter relays teams of the 2000 Olympics and 2001 World Championships in jeopardy of losing their medals. Dennis Mitchell took the stand and testified Graham injected him twice with HGH. Jerome Young also testified that he took banned drugs.

On the track, Liu Xiang flew over the 110 hurdles in 13.13 at the warm up meet held at the Bird Nest in Beijing before the Olympic Games. The time marks Xiang’s fastest of the season, and the second fastest time run overall this year.

Haile Gebrselassie found himself in the unusual role of an underdog. In order to be considered for the 10,000 Ethopian team, the former two-time Olympic champion at 10,000-meters had to place in the top two against some of the world’s top 10,000 runners at the London Grand Prix in Hengelo, The Netherlands. Gebrselassie stayed in striking distance of the lead the entire race before sprinting to second place in 26:51.20, behind the winner compatriot Sileshi Sihine in a 26:50.53 victory.

The most exciting news of the week is that the IAAF Golden League meets will air on ESPN. Fans will be able to check out the reruns on ESPN2 due in part to the work of the folks at the sports marketing company IMG/TWI.

Ebonie Floyd is a name to remember. The Houston native ran 51.36 in the frigid 53 degree weather at the BYU High Performance meet in just her second 400 of the season. The 100 and 200 will be loaded at the Olympic Trials. Floyd, a traditional 100/200 runner, may very well contend for a spot on the Olympic team if she can roll 50 point in the 400 at Eugene.

This article was written by TheFinalSprint.com guest contributor Jay Hicks of the popular running blog PreraceJitters.com.

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