The men’s 10000m final at the 2008 US Olympic Trials should be a wide-open affair, with several men who could potentially take the title. Leading the way will be Abdi Abdirahman, whose 27:16.98 at the Prefontaine Classic a few weeks ago makes him a slight favorite. He will have to battle with 2004 Olympic Marathon silver medalist Meb Keflezighi, 2007 USATF 10k national runner-up Galen Rupp, Colorado alum Jorge Torres, and rising stars Josh Rohatinsky and Scotty Bauhs. Dathan Ritzenhein, a 2008 Olympian in the marathon, is also entered in the race but has been focusing on marathon preparation.
As in the other races, the top three finishers in this race who have achieved the A standard will make the US team in the 10000m. The A standard in this event is 27:47:31, which has been achieved by six athletes (Abdi, Rupp, Meb, Torres, Ed Moran, James Carney) in the qualifying window. These six athletes can afford to focus on place while the other competitors must keep an eye on the clock to see their Olympic dreams fulfilled. Below we profile three of the competitors (Abdi, Meb, Rupp) and offer some thoughts on how we think this race will play out.
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Hayward Field was made for the 5000 meters. The men’s preliminary race was highly anticipated Friday night.
In the first heat, Thomas Morgan led most of the race by a large margin. Eventually the gap was closed by Matt Tegenkamp (Pictured)(13:54.62), Jonathon Riley (13:54.69) and Bernard Lagat (13:54.93).
The pressure was on for University of Oregon star Galen Rupp in the second heat. He lived up to the hype by winning in 13:59.14. Rupp is a favorite in the 10000 meters, so he is still unsure if he will compete in both finals. The pack stayed tight throughout the entire race, with Chris Solinsky (13:59.85) and Robert Curtis (14:00.00) finishing the top three.
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Walter Dix Advances To 100m and 200m Finals at NCAA East Regional
FSU senior Walter Dix has been hampered by a hamstring injury all season so it’s no wonder he coasted to the finish line in both the 100m and the 200m heats at the 2008 NCAA East Regional Championships. In fact, he finished 3rd behind his FSU teammates. With Dix’s help, the Seminoles are in good position to win their 4th straight NCAA East Regional team championship.
More: Tampa Tribune
Aussie Tamsyn Lewis Prefers Stiff Competition
Surprise world indoor 800m champ Tamsyn Lewis of Australia begins her outdoor campaign by facing 2007 outdoor champ Janeth Jepkosgei of Kenya at the DKB-ISTAF 2008, an IAAF Golden League meet in Berlin . Her reasoning? “I’d prefer to be in a field like that than an easier race. The only way to get ready for the Olympic Games is to race against these women some time. It might as well be now.”
More: The Age, Australia
Kara Goucher Aims For Olympic “A” Standard Tonight
The USATF recently announced that all Team USA athletes must have met their Olympic “A” standards either before or during the Olympic Trials, not after. It is much easier to achieve that standard without the added pressure of having to claim one of three spots in a major competition. That may be why Kara Goucher has decided to go for her “A” standard of 31:45 in the 10000m at a low-key meet in Oregon tonight. Galen Rupp will be running the 5000m.
The Oregonian
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Organizers have secured great line-ups for Sunday’s adidas Track Classic at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., and that includes the middle and long distance events.
The men’s 1500m is shaping up to the the top event, led by double world champion and two-time Olympic medalist, Bernard Lagat. Commonwealth Games medalists Nick Willis of Australia and Nate Brannen of Canada are also in the field, along with perennial Canadia star Kevin Sullivan and former NCAA ace Lopez Lomong. Nick Symmonds will be moving up from his usual specialty, the 800m, while 5000m man Adam Goucher will be moving down for a speed workout.
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Liberty University senior Josh McDougal is confident as he prepares for this summer’s U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. This past fall, McDougal became the 2007 NCAA Division I cross country national champion after he out-kicked Oregon’s Galen Rupp by one second. He was unsatisfied with his performances in the 5000 (5th place) and 3000 (6th place) at the 2008 NCAA Division I Indoor meet March 14-15, but remains optimistic as he builds his base for the trials.
“It’s been a rough few weeks,” McDougal said. “[But] I’m in good shape now.”
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The Modern Olympic Era
Of the 336 medals that have been awarded thus far in the men’s middle and long-distance track events during the Modern Olympic Era (1896-2004) here are some interesting statistics:
· A total of 42 Countries have won medals in these events.*
· Kenya (no surprise) has won the most medals, having won 43.
· USA is a close 2nd with 42.
· Finland (yes, Finland) is 3rd with 41.
· Great Britain is 4th, having won 35.
· Ethiopia rounds out the top 5 with 15 medals.**
· Finland can claim the most gold medals with 21. Kenya is 2nd with 15, followed closely by the USA and Great Britain with 13 each.
· In the silver-medal count, it’s Kenya (17), then United States (13), then Great Britain (12), then Finland (11). France rounds out the top 5 with a total of 9 medals.
· The top 5 in the bronze-medal count are: United States (16), Kenya (11), Great Britain (10), Finland (9) and Sweden (7).
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Here’s a homemade video I found on YouTube of the 2007 Millrose Games’ Wanamaker Mile, in which Bernard Lagat outkicked Craig Mottram to win in 3:54.26 to Mottram’s 3:54.81. The athlete introductions are pretty amusing, as they are so “pro-wrestling.”
The dynamic in this year’s race will be a little different with Lagat going for his 6th win and Galen Rupp trying to (as he has said) “stick his nose in it.” Expect Mottram to challenge again by going to the front with a few laps to go, just like he did last year. He has said he is “fit and strong” and Lagat has admitted he is distracted by the tragedy unfolding in his native Kenya. The 2008 race should be a classic just like 2007 race below:
Sources: [The Age, Australia][NY Times][IAAF]
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 WR in Stuttgart
Coming off a world-best in the unofficial 2-Mile Run in Boston, Meseret Defar is gunning for a world record in the 3000m at the Sparkassen Cup meet in Stuttgart this weekend. She holds the current record of 8:23.72. Her 2-Mile time of 9:10.50 in Boston was equivalent to a 8:29.8 in the 3000m.
Read more at: [IAAF]
IAAF Preview of 101st Millrose Games
The IAAF Valencia ‘08 site (the home of the 2008 Indoor Track & Field Championships) is featuring a preview of the 101st Millrose Games. The meet will be held in New York City’s Madison Square Garden on Friday night.
Read more at: [IAAF]
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When he steps on the track Friday night for the Wanamaker Mile at the 101st Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden, Galen Rupp will be looking well past the finish line, all the way to Eugene, Ore. It will be there in six months time that the 21 year-old NCAA 10,000m record holder will be trying to make his first Olympic team, and he wants to be ready if his 10,000m qualifying race comes down to a kick.
“Obviously, the 10-K is my best event and that’s what I’ll be running this summer and at the Trials,” Rupp said at today’s New York Track Writers’ luncheon as he sat next to his coach, Alberto Salazar. “The goal this winter is to drop down in distance.”
Rupp, who is on a leave of absence from the University of Oregon, has yet to break four minutes for the mile. He has terrific endurance, evidenced by his 27:33.48 10,000m personal best. But improving his raw speed, Salazar said, will give him another tool to win longer races, even if it means losing in the short term.
“I’m going to take my licks,” said Rupp boyishly.
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Richmond, VA Designated As U.S. Men’s 10K Championships Site
The Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10K road race in Richmond, VA will be the host of the U.S. Men’s 10K Championships this April 5th. Prize money will total $25,000 with the winner getting $7500.
Read more at: [USA Today]
Ultra-Runner May Get To Keep His Toes
Andrew Wells, an ultra-runner from Davenport, IA, who won the Frozen Otter Ultra Trek in Wisconsin last week but suffered severe frostbite, was scheduled for surgery to remove his toes. He may, in fact, get to keep at least some of his toes.
Read more at: [Des Moines Register]
Olympic Hurdles Champion Hayes, Other Stars to Compete at Millrose Games
Joanna Hayes, the Olympic 110m hurdles champion, and Kara Goucher, the world-championships bronze medalist in Osaka, will be competing at this Friday’s 101st running of the storied Millrose Games. A Stuczynski-Dragila showdown in the pole vault and a talented Wanamaker Mile field (Bernard Lagat, Craig Mottram, Nick Willis, Galen Rupp) are also among the highlights of the meet which will be held at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Read more at: [IAAF][Millrose Games]
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Galen Rupp: “I’m starting to come around”
Galen Rupp, in only his second cross-country race of the season (he had started his training cycle again after competing in the World Championships), finished 1st to lead the Oregon Ducks to a 1st-place team finish at the NCAA West Regional cross-country championships. He is considered to be a […]
Rupp, Ducks Win NCAA West Regional X-C Championships
The #1-ranked Oregon Ducks won the 2007 NCAA West Regional Cross-Country Championships on the strength of Galen Rupp’s 1st-place 29:35:45 finish in Eugene, Oregon. The Ducks scored 47 points to 2nd-place Stanford’s 76 points. The Oregon women’s team finished 2nd with 72 points to Stanford’s 1st place 33 […]
The University of Oregon proudly welcomes one of the top cross country meets on U.S. soil to Track Town, USA as the NCAA West Regional Championships make their first trip to the Springfield Country Club, Saturday, November 10.
On that day, Eugene-Springfield is one of nine host sites across the nation that automatically advance the top […]
Bolstered by the return of Galen Rupp, Oregon won its second straight Pacific-10 Conference title on Saturday and swept the first-place votes in this week’s Division I men’s cross country poll.
Rupp finished second to teammate Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott as Oregon scored 55 points to win the Pac-10 title in Corvallis, Ore., defeating Stanford (55) and Cal […]
The top-two nationally ranked Duck cross country teams savored some of their best showings ever Saturday in the Pacific-10 Conference Championships, hosted by Oregon State University at at Trysting Tree Golf Course.
Under sunny, 62-degree nearly cloudless skies, the No. 1 Duck men won their 15th league title and were led by juniors Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott and […]
Fast Times Vs. Competition
Interesting debate over at the Track & Field News Message Board about whether it is better to have fast marks or competitive races in Track & Field. Read more at: [Track & Field News]
Univ. of Arkansas Stripped of Two Team National Titles
The university of Arkansas Track & Field team has been stripped […]
Alberto Salazar, the American marathon legend who suffered a heart attack last June, had another heart episode, according to an article by Doug Binder in the The Oregonian newspaper.
Salazar, 49, felt dizzy and had an uncomfortable sensation in his neck and had to be driven to the hospital by Galen Rupp, the University of Oregon […]
The prince saw an opportunity to take the throne, but in the end the king’s reign would continue, at least for another two years.
That was the basic scenario which played out in tonight’s much-anticipated men’s 10,000m final which capped an exciting evening of middle and long distance running at the 11th IAAF World Championships in […]
The AT&T USA Outdoor Championships got off with a bang in Indianapolis yesterday when Breaux Greer extended his own national record in the javelin throw to 91.29m [299-6].
“I didn’t hit it hard but I hit it clean,” said Greer, whose massive effort eclipsed the 90.71 [297-7] mark he set at last month’s adidas Track Classic […]
At 6:25 p.m. tonight Bernard Lagat will line up for the first round of the men’s 1500m at the AT&T USA Outdoor Championships at the Michael A. Carroll Stadium at Indiana University-Purdue University here, the first step in defending his national title and earning a berth on the U.S. squad for the IAAF World Championships […]
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