The Week in the Rear View: Racing News May 26 – June 1
Posted June 2nd, 2008 at 11:00 AM by Jay Hicks
Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Columns, Week in Rear View
The Week In the Rear View is a weekly column wrapping up the week’s events in running and track & field. I am normally found at PreraceJitters.com, writing about the fast life of track and field.
Everyone in the track world is talking about Usain “Lightening” Bolt. He shut ‘em down—literally! Bolt quieted his critics with a 9.72 seconds World Record performance with World Champion Tyson Gay in the race. Tyson Gay looked in good shape for this time of season running 9.85, which was good enough for second. Doesn’t that sound crazy? Bolt is now the favorite in Beijing, but two months is certainly a long time from now.
You could call it the law of averages. The Jeremy Wariner vs. LaShawn Merritt race in Berlin resulted in the end of Wariner’s winning streak that dates back to 2005. Merritt was superb. He executed a perfect race strategy to deliver the win. Before the media writes the early demise of Wariner, it should be noted that he isn’t in top shape, not yet—that will be in Beijing.
Trevor Graham was convicted of 1 out of 3 charges in the doping case by the government. It’s only shocking if you’ve been locked in a basement cellar for the last decade!
This trial underscores the complexity that the sport’s federation has been dealing with to fight doping. The quiet whispers and rumors do not equal actionable information to take disciplinary actions against coaches and athletes. Hopefully, we can look back at this moment and bookmark this point in history as the end of the drug era as we know it in track and field.
What kind of race shape is Liu Xiang in just two months before the Olympic Games in his home country? He pulled out of the Reebok Grand Prix with a sore hamstring. Xiang has run just a couple races so far this season, and mean while David Oliver has run 12.95, the fastest time so far this season. Terrence Tremmell (13.11) looks to be progressing well in his victory Saturday night in just his second race of the season. Only time will tell what is up with Mr. Xiang.
The women’s 800 may very well have a new contender and emerging star. Pamela Jelimo of Kenya knocked off the field, coming through the 400 in 55.46 and keeping her foot on the gas to win in 1:54.99. This is the fastest time the event has witnessed in ten years. It got to the point where Jelimo looked so good and unbeatable that you forgot she was competing against some of the world’s best pros.
This article was written by TheFinalSprint.com guest contributor Jay Hicks of the popular running blog PreraceJitters.com.
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Tags: 100m, 110m hurdles, 400m, 800m, DKB ISTAF, doping, drugs in sport, Jeremy Wariner, LaShawn Merritt, liu xiang, Pamela Jelimo, Reebok Grand Prix, steroids, trevor graham, tyson gay, Usain Bolt, world record
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The Final Sprint
Hey! Really Merritt was superb, a perfect race strategy to deliver the win.
June 2nd, 2008 at 6:20 pm