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Faces in Races: Lagat, Teg, Solinsky and Curtis Look to Dominate Men’s 5000m
Posted June 30th, 2008 at 8:00 AM by Jared Markowitz
Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics
The men’s 5000m features several potential Beijing medalists and is one of the most wide-open events of the 2008 US Olympic Trials. Again the A standard will be in play, as seven finalists have run 13:21.50 or better (Tegenkamp, Solinsky, Asmeron, Lagat, Vaughn, Dobson, Riley) in the qualifying window. The US Olympic team will be comprised of the top three finishers who have attained the A standard, either in the final or in a previous race. This sets up a dynamic where the aforementioned men can run for place while the rest of the field needs to ensure an honest pace. With several studs who have not yet achieved the A standard and the impressive list of those who have, the men’s 5000m final promises to be one of the most exciting races of the 2008 US Olympic Trials.
Velow we take a closer look at four of the favorites in this race: Bernard Lagat, Matt Tegenkamp, Chris Solinsky, and Bobby Curtis. To reward readers who get to the end of this article there will be some poorly thought out, undoubtedly biased, and completely unofficial picks for this showdown.
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Note on the News: Runner and Coach Overcome Adversity
Posted June 7th, 2008 at 9:00 AM by David Monti
Section: News & Results, Road Racing
A very nice profile of Blake Russell and her coach Bob Sevene by journalist Liz Robbins is posted on the website of the New York Times. Russell is in New York to run tomorrow’s NYRR New York Mini 10-K along with the other two USA Olympic women’s marathon team members, Deena Kastor and Magdalena Lewy Boulet.
You can read Liz’s story at this link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/07/sports/othersports/07runner.html?_r=1&ref=sports&oref=slogin
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Olympic Marathon Trials ‘08:
Elite Athlete Profile:
DEENA KASTOR
Posted April 12th, 2008 at 6:22 AM by thefinalsprint.com
Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics
As Deena Drossin she first attracted attention as a high school freshman when she finished 11th in the Kinney National Cross Country Championships. Her extensive performance portfolio now includes 24 U.S. national titles in cross country, track, and on the roads. She set a U.S. record for 10,000m (30:50.32) in 2002 and has other track personal bests of 4:07.82 in the 1500m, 8:42.59 in the 3,000m, and 14:51.62 in the 5,000m (all set in 2000).
Kastor was recognized as the recipient of the 2003 Jesse Owens Award as USA Track & Field’s most outstanding woman athlete. Her first marathon in New York in 2001 was an American debut record and after another 2:26 in Chicago, made a major breakthrough with an American record 2:21:16 for third at London in 2003. Leading up to that race, she won her fourth consecutive U.S. 15K road race title in 47:15, bettering her own American record of 48:12 set at the 2002 Championships, and won the silver medal at the World Cross Country Championships for the second consecutive year.
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Olympic Marathon Trials ‘08:
Elite Athlete Profile:
KATE O’NEIL
Posted April 12th, 2008 at 6:17 AM by thefinalsprint.com
Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics
Kate O’Neill was a seven-time NCAA All-American at Yale University, and was runner-up in the 10,000m at the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Track Championships. She graduated from Yale holding school records in the 3,000m, 5,000m and 10,000m.
In 2004 she placed third at the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 10,000m, and went on to become the first Yale graduate since Frank Shorter to compete in a distance event in the Olympic Games. O’Neill was the top U.S. finisher at the 2004 World Cross Country Championships, placing 15th in the 8K race.
She made her marathon debut at the 2007 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon, placing third overall and running an “A” standard qualifying time for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials-Women’s Marathon. O’Neill then won the 2008 USA Half Marathon title in Houston, posting a time of 1:11:57, and beating a field heavy with Olympic Trials qualifiers.
Olympic Marathon Trials ‘08:
Elite Athlete Profile:
ELVA DRYER
Posted April 12th, 2008 at 6:10 AM by thefinalsprint.com
Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics
A two-time U.S. Olympian, Elva Dryer has developed her athleticism since high school with patience and hard work. She first began to train seriously at Western State College in Colorado, refining her skills for a promising career on and off the track. She was a 16-time NCAA Division II All-American and a seven-time national champion at Western State.
After graduating in 1996, Dryer continued to race and train. She posted respectable indoor times in the mile, 3,000m, and 5,000m events before extending her skills to the roads, cross country and outdoor track. In 1998, Dryer produced several strong international performances, placing eighth at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships 4K and ninth in the mile at the Goodwill Games with a PR of 4:31.12.
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NYC MARATHON 2007:
Elite Athlete Profile:
JELENA PROKOPCUKA
Posted November 4th, 2007 at 9:30 AM by thefinalsprint.com
Section: News & Results, Marathons
After an outstanding season of summer racing, during which she established four new national records on the roads and track, Latvia’s Jelena Prokopcuka returns to attempt something only Grete Waitz has accomplished: a third consecutive ING New York City Marathon title.
In 2005 she was voted the country’s most popular athlete. Prokopcuka is married to Aleksandr Prokopcuk, the Latvian men’s record-holder in the marathon, and they reside in the resort town of Jürmala, near the Latvian capital of Riga. She finished second to fellow ING New York City Marathon entrant Lidiya Grigoryeva in the Boston Marathon earlier this year.
NYC MARATHON 2007:
Elite Athlete Profile:
Marilson Gomes dos Santos
Posted November 4th, 2007 at 9:15 AM by thefinalsprint.com
Section: News & Results, Marathons
Brazil’s Marilson Gomes dos Santos returns as the defending champion of the ING New York City Marathon, a race in which he defeated a stellar field.
A superstar in his sports-mad country, he won the prestigious São Silvestre Road Race (over three-time Boston Marathon champion Robert Cheruiyot) on New Year’s Eve 2006 and established new Brazilian records over 5000 and 10,000 meters in one three-day span in June of that year. Gomes finished 10th in the 2005 IAAF World Championships Marathon; most recently, he was sixth in a personal-best 2:08:37 at the 2007 London Marathon.
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NYC MARATHON 2007:
Elite Athlete Profile:
PAULA RADCLIFFE
Posted November 4th, 2007 at 9:00 AM by thefinalsprint.com
Section: News & Results, Marathons
Great Britain’s Paula Radcliffe has won six of the seven marathons that she has started, the only exception being her DNF at the Athens Olympics. She has smashed the world record twice, and she also holds the world bests at 8K, 10K, 15K, 10 miles, 20K, the half-marathon, 25K, 30K, and 20 miles.
Radcliffe won the ING New York City Marathon 2004 over Susan Chepkemei by three seconds, the closest finish in the history of the women’s race. She recently returned to competition following the birth of her daughter, Isla, in January and an ensuing stress fracture of the sacrum; the ING New York City Marathon 2007 will be her first marathon in two years.
NYC MARATHON 2007:
Elite Athlete Profile:
HENDRICK RAMAALA
Posted November 4th, 2007 at 8:45 AM by thefinalsprint.com
Section: News & Results, Marathons
After his breakthrough win at the ING New York City Marathon 2004, South Africa’s Hendrick Ramaala finished third at the 2005 Flora London Marathon. Later that year, he lost one of the most memorable duels in the sport’s history at the ING New York City Marathon 2005, finishing less than one second behind winner Paul Tergat.
He broke into London’s top five again this year with a strong 2:07:57. A three-time Olympian, Ramaala holds several South African records, including 59:20 for the half-marathon. Ramaala holds a law degree from Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg and does nearly all of his marathon training on a single 3.5K loop near the Johannesburg Zoo.
NYC MARATHON 2007:
Elite Athlete Profile:
CATHERINE NDEREBA
Posted November 4th, 2007 at 8:30 AM by thefinalsprint.com
Section: News & Results, Marathons
Perhaps no distance runner in history has been as dominant as World Marathon Champion “Catherine the Great” of Kenya.
In 2001, she became the first woman to crack the 2:19 marathon barrier, a feat only one other woman, Great Britain’s Paula Radcliffe, has achieved since. In 2003, Ndereba was the first African woman to win the World Championships Marathon; she followed that with silver-medal performances at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens and 2005 World Championships in Helsinki before regaining her World Championships Marathon title in Osaka this year.
A four-time champion of the Boston Marathon and two-time winner of the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon, Ndereba has finished on the podium in an astonishing 16 of her 17 career marathon starts. She won the inaugural NYC Half-Marathon Presented by NIKE in 2006 and lost by as narrow a margin to Hilda Kibet this year.
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Page 2 Articles
- Olympic Marathon Trials ‘07:
Elite Athlete Profile:
ABDI ABDIRAHMANIt took someone other than Abdi Abdirahman himself to recognize the talent that he possessed. “When I came to the U.S.,” he said, “one of my friends, Martin Keino, the son of [legendary Kenyan runner] Kip Keino, told me I could be a good runner because of the way I look. I listened to him, […]
- Olympic Marathon Trials ‘07:
Elite Athlete Profile:
ALAN CULPEPPERIf it’s a major race, then Alan Culpepper is going to be on the starting line with an excellent chance to win. In the 2004 Olympic Team Trials – Men’s Marathon in Birmingham, Alabama, Culpepper outkicked Meb Keflezighi in an exciting dash to the tape to win in 2:11:42.
Nobody would dare disregard his chances to […] - Olympic Marathon Trials ‘07:
Elite Athlete Profile:
DATHAN RITZENHEINMany athletes would wilt under the pressure of being labeled “the future of U.S. distance running.” But Dathan Ritzenhein has been called that since his days as a schoolboy star in Rockford, Michigan. And he merely takes it in stride because his results strongly suggest the label fits.
Before he turned 22, Ritzenhein helped lead the […] - Olympic Marathon Trials ‘07:
Elite Athlete Profile:
KHALID KHANNOUCHIFor every athlete competing in the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Men’s Marathon, it will be a race against time. But the task will be even tougher for American record-holder and former world record-holder Khalid Khannouchi. At age 35, he’ll also be running against Father Time.
“I would prefer to be 25 with fresh legs,” […] - Olympic Marathon Trials ‘07:
Elite Athlete Profile:
FASIL BIZUNEHHe had already met the “A” standard time to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Men’s Marathon. But Fasil Bizuneh was not satisfied with his performance in either of his two previous marathons. So the four-time All-American at Arizona State changed his training regimen—dramatically—in the months before the November 3 race in Central […]
- Olympic Marathon Trials ‘07:
Elite Athlete Profile:
JAMES CARNEYTop-level runners may draw inspiration from one of their own previous performances or a performance by a competitor or childhood idol. But 30-year-old James Carney, who has overcome long odds to earn his place at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Men’s Marathon, is inspired by what may be the greatest upset in college football […]
- Olympic Marathon Trials ‘07:
Elite Athlete Profile:
RYAN SHAYHow any elite runners perform at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Men’s Marathon will depend on a number of factors, including health, training regimen, mental and physical conditioning, adaptability to the criterium course in Central Park with its undulating hills, and the performance of other athletes. For Ryan Shay, however, there’s another key factor: […]
- Note on the News: Excellent NYC Half-Marathon articles, athlete profiles, and interviews
In addition to The Final Sprint’s pre-race podcast interview with top American marathoner Peter Gilmore, I also highly recommend that you check out the following articles, athlete profiles, and interviews concerning the elite runners competing in tomorrow’s NYC Half-Marathon:
“Interview with Catherine Ndereba”
– FastWomen.com
“Haile Gebrselassie Takes on the Big Apple” (Video) — LetsRun.com
“A Brief Chat With […]
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