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Sanya Richards put to bed all debate about who is the best women’s 400 meter, running 49.89 on Thursday night.
Afterwards Richards said “I was very happy to go sub 50 seconds. Today might have been the worst day for sprinting, it was very windy down the backstretch. I am extremely happy to have executed a race that allowed me to finish in the top three. Her fiancé, New York Giants corner back Aaron Glenn was in the stands to watch her victory.
Joining her on the Olympic Team is Mary Wineberg (50.85), and Dee Dee Trotter (50.88). Trotter managed to make the team even though her right knee needs surgery at the end of the season. “I was like Tiger [Woods] at the U.S. Open, only I was running at the Olympic Trials to qualify for Beijing.“
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1 LaShawn Merritt Nike 44.00
2 Jeremy Wariner adidas 44.20
3 David Neville Nike 44.61
4 Reggie Witherspoon Nike 45.01
5 Calvin Smith Florida 45.57
6 Darold Williamson Nike 45.58
7 Greg Nixon Asics 45.64
8 Lionel Larry U S C 45.82
Sanya Richards, America’s dominating 400m medal threat, continued on the road to Beijing by running the fastest time (51.08) in today’s women’s 400m quaterfinals. In addition to Richards, who easily won the third heat, Mary Wineberg, Natasha Hastings and Dee Dee Trotter all won their respective heats.
After the race, Richards remarked: “I was so excited to watch Lauryn Williams make the team again last night. I couldn’t imagine being on the team without her … not that I’ve made it yet. I was anxious to get out there today. The fans are incredible. Coach wanted me to run the first 200, then maintain and control the race enough to win it. I’m as close as I can be to 100 percent healthy. I’m very motivated. Last year at Nationals I was fourth. I haven’t forgotten that.”
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My rankings are being run on a pilot program this summer and I’m sharing them with the track community via The Final Sprint. Last year I did a trial run on just the men’s 100 meters and it correctly predicted the World Championships medalists in order, and then by the end of the summer readjusted to match Track & Field News’ world rankings nearly exactly.
The system is based on that of the IAAF’s World Athletics Tour standings, but with a few twists–most importantly, all kinds of meets are included in the standings and athletes can earn bonus points for fast times. At this early time in the season, athletes are given points for the results of their best four meets (one of which can be in a different event).
100 meters
1. Usain Bolt 46
2. Nesta Carter 42
2. Olusoji Fasuba 42
4. Kim Collins 38
4. Mike Rodgers 38
6. Darrel Brown 34
6. Tyson Gay 34
8. Derrick Atkins 32
8. Michael Frater 32
10. Ivory Williams 30
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Bislett Games To Wean Golden League Million Dollar List
That list of contenders for the Golden League million dollar jackpot always looks impressive after the first meet of the year. It only starts becoming meaningful, though, after the second meet, because only undefeated athletes can contend for the million dollar prize. The list below should be quite a bit shorter after this weekend’s Bislett Games, the 2nd installment of the six-meet series:
Men
100m - Nesta Carter (JAM)
400m - LaShawn Merritt (USA)
1500m - Augustine Choge (KEN)
400m Hurdles - Bershawn Jackson (USA)
Long Jump - Hussein Al-Sabee (KSA)
Javelin Throw - Tero Pitkämäki (FIN)
Women
200m - Sherone Simpson (JAM)
800m - Pamela Jelimo (KEN)
100m Hurdles - Josephine Onyia (ESP)
High Jump - Blanka Vlasic (CRO)
IAAF
Gatlin Decision To Be Published On Friday
Track fans around the world will know the fate of disgraced sprinter Justin Gatlin by Friday afternoon when the CAS publishes its decision. Gatlin is hoping o get a two-year reduction of his four-year suspension, which would make him eligible to try qualifying for the US Olympic Trials which will be held later this month in Eugene, Oregon.
AFP
Adam Goucher: Kara In Best Shape Of Her Life
As Kara Goucher prepares to face world-record holder Meseret Defar in the Prefonaine Classic 5000m, her husband Adam has stated that she is “strong. Hands down, the best shape of her life. So strong, and ready to go. It’s going to be a great year.”
USA Today
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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.
IAAF May Change Doping Rules
AP writer Raf Casert has reported that the IAAF is considering the possibility if changing its doping rules in the wake of the Trevor Graham trial. Olympic gold medalist Antonio Pettigrew admitted to having doped since 1997 which would have put him beyond the reach of the current IAAF doping rules. Current IAAF doping rules stipulate that retroactive sanctions can only go back 8 years.
More: WRAL
Wariner Says Golden League Schedule Will Benefit Him
Defending Olympic 400m Gold Medalist Jeremy Wariner has mapped out an ambitious season for himself. He wants to win another gold medal or two (400m and 4×400m relay), break Michael Johnson’s 400m world record of 43.18 and, to top it all off, he wants to win the million dollar Golden League jackpot. He’s got his work cut out for himself, but, according to an article by the Press Association, the 24-year-old Waco, Texas resident believes the timing of the Golden League events will benefit him. “We felt it was a great opportunity to get some competitions in before then (the US trials and Olympics)… It will allow myself to prepare mentally and physically for both big contests.”
More: Press Association
Jordan Hasay Eyes 3200m 4-Peat
Mission Prep (San Luis Obispo, CA) junior Jordan Hasay is going for a 3-peat of the 3200m California state title this weekend. But the ambitious 16-year-old runner is already contemplating doing something no other California high schooler has ever done: winning the state title in the 3200m run 4 years in a row.
Times Press Recorder, CA
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After the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned a ban Friday by the International Association of Athletics Federations, double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius can compete in the Beijing Olympic Games. What does this mean for the future of track and field?
Pistorius, 21, is a South African athlete who has excelled in Paralympic competition. He holds Paralympic world records in the 100, 200 and 400-meter events. His strongest event is the 400, in which he has a personal-best time of 46.56 seconds.
The Olympic “A” standard in the 400 is 45.55 seconds. After the debate over allowing Pistorius to compete against able-bodied athletes, will he even make the team? If not, he still has a shot at the South African 4×400-meter relay team, which does not require a qualifying time. He also plans to compete at the 2008 Paralympic Games, in Beijing, Sept. 6-17.
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Trevor Graham Trial to Begin This Week
The trial of Marion Jones’ former coach, Trevor Graham, begins this week in a San Francisco, CA federal court room. Several prominent names expected to take the stand as prosecution witness include Antonio Pettigrew, Jerome Young, Calvin Harrison and Dennis Mitchell.
More: HeraldNet, WA
Sebastian Coe: Get These People Out Of Our Sport
Lord Sebastian Coe, a vice-president of the IAAF and one of the best middle-distance runners of all time is not pleased with Dwain Chambers’ attempt to get back into track & field, saying, “The way we move away from it [the drugs issue] is we have got to get these people out of our sport. I don’t recognise a particularly principled stand in the last few days.”
More: Times Online, UK
Wariner Not Too Concerned About Tight Hamstring
Despite a timid start because of soreness in his hamstring, Jeremy Wariner predicts that he will be ready to “run with everybody else” by the time he toes the line at the US Olympic Trials in Eugene next month.
More: Reuters
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Politics Rears Its Ugly Head
Political friction between Qatar and Ethioipia has resulted in a boycott by the Ethiopian federation of the Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix meet. Indoor world champions Deresse Mekonnen (1500m) and Tariku Bekele (3000m) had been scheduled to run.
More: PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung), Austria
Instead…
of the Ethiopians, look for some superstars at the Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix meet. Jeremy Wariner will run the 200m, Allyson Felix will run the 400m and Blanca Vlasic will compete in the heptathlon. Just kidding, she’s sticking to what she knows - the high jump (with Wariner and Felix branching out from their usual events, I couldn’t resist!).
More: IHT
Where In The World Is…
Tuvalu? It’s a tiny island nation in Oceania located northeast of Australia. It boasts a population of 11,992 and a land area of 10 square miles. “So what?” you ask. Well, it is the newest member country of the IAAF, the world’s governing body of track & field, which now has a membership of 213.
More: Afrique en ligne, France
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Michael Johnson: I Played No Part in Wariner’s Decision
World-record holder Michael Johnson says he played no role in Jeremy Wariner’s decision to split with long-time coach Clyde Hart. He also said that it won’t affect Wariner’s chances of winning the 400m gold medal in the Beijing Olympics.
Read more at: [Guardian Unlimited]
Defar To Try For 3000m […]
IAAF Overrides British Governing Body Ruling
British sprinter Dwain Chambers got support from the IAAF when UK Athletics ruled him ineligible for a “comeback” because of a 2003 positive test for steroids. In a messy dispute that could end up in court, UKA is sticking to a ruling stating that retired athletes must undergo a year […]
If you take a peek at the top women sprinters so far in this early 2008 indoor season, you’ll see that the lists are dominated by the Russians in the 60m, 200m and 400m dashes.
That will soon change, for the Americans and Jamaicans are sprinting juggernauts. Veronica Campbell and Torri Edwards dominated the 100m […]
Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell will continue their 100m rivalry in 2008. Powell has yet to prove that he has the head game to win a big meet, so that leaves the gold medal in Beijing to Gay unless Powell can work past that deficiency. One of the two should break Powell’s world record of […]
British 400m Runner Admits To Missing Tests, Accepts ‘Very Strict System’
British 400m Runner Tim Benjamin revealed that, like fellow one-lapper Christine Ohuruogu, he missed some drug tests in 2005 due to the “very strict [drug-testing] system” in Great Britain, but he also said that he thinks it is needed. Read more at: [SportingLife.com]
Des Moines Wins […]
Jones Stripped of Medals
The IOC has officially wiped every trace of Marion Jones from their record books and has stripped her of the five Olympic medals (3 gold, 2 bronze) that she won unfairly at the 2000 Sydney, Australia Games while using steroids. Said IOC vice president Thomas Bach, “it was an easy decision. The […]
In lieu of a cold, harsh indoor season, world and Olympic 400m champion Jeremy Wariner will begin his 2008 Olympic-season campaign outdoors in Australia. Although he usually begins racing in March, he is set to begin his season next year in February, a warm summer month in the Southern Hemisphere. He will be joined in […]
European Athletics recently spent 5 minutes with British 400m runner Christine Ohuruogu. Although no stranger to public scrutiny, this soulful 23-year-old sprinter has proven she can be tough in the face of adversity, learning from her past mistakes and rising again to tackle new challenges.
If hanging on to faith doesn’t work for this British World […]
Yesterday we took a look at the top male triple-threat sprinters of all time. I had been curious to find out whether or not any man has ever run a world class time in all of the following events: 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m. No man has ever done so. What about the women?
I turns out […]
I was curious to know whether or not any single runner has posted world-class times in all of the following events: 100m, 200m, 400m and the 800m. I didn’t expect to find any (I didn’t) but I was shocked to learn that only 4 men have run world class times in the 100m, 200m and […]
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