adidas has launched a new website focused on adidas-sponsored athletes who are likely to compete in the Olympic Games across the full spectrum of sports. The site, roadstobeijing.com, includes athlete profiles, videos, photos, blogs (still in development) and polls.
“Most of us only get to see the athletes in the competitive arena and, understandably, rarely fully appreciate what it takes to get to the top of their sport,” said Jocelyn Robiot, adidas’s head of global sports marketing through a media release. “RoadstoBeijing.com breaks new ground and offers a unique insight into that journey.”
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Fleshman’s Feat Overshadowed By Bolt’s Record
The track world is abuzz with talk of Usain Bolt’s sizzling 100m world record of 9.72 at the Reebok Grand Prix, but Lauren Fleshman brought some heat of her own that day, winning the women’s 5000m in 14:58.48, the 8th fastest time ever run by an American.
More: The Register-Guard, OR
Bislett Games to Host Greatest Female Steeplechase Ever?
Oslo, Norway’s Bislett Games have long been known for their premier event, the “Dream Mile.” This year, the “Dream Steeplechase” is loaded with talent and threatens to overshadow it. World-record holder Gulnara Samitova-Galkina takes on Yekaterina Volkova, Tatyana Petrova and Eunice Jepkorir, who finished 1-2-3 at the Osaka world championships
More: IAAF
Coach: Liu Xiang Not Injured
Although world and Olympic champion and world-record holder Liu Xiang withdrew from the Reebok Grand Prix 110m hurdles this past weekend, his coach Sun Haiping claims that move was precautionary and not due to an injury.
More: Yahoo! Eurosport, UK
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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.
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.
Those fortunate enough to secure a ticket to this afternoon’s 26th edition of the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games in Hengelo witnessed a pair of stellar performances that will not be quickly forgotten: a legend of the sport who stubbornly and thankfully refuses to step aside, and the possible birth of another.
14 years after setting his first world record on the Hengelo track, Haile Gebrselassie (Pictured) returned to the venue carrying the role of sentimental favorite in the 10,000m, but in reality was an underdog in his quest to achieve a qualifying performance for a fourth consecutive Olympic team berth.
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Haile Chooses Berlin Over Beijing
Haile Gebrselassie will run in the Berlin Marathon, not the Olympic Marathon in Beijing. The reason? He wants to run a sub 2:04 and “no athlete has ever broken a world record for the marathon at the Olympics.”
Read more at: [Xinhua, China]
The Long Green Line Wins Award
The documentary The Long Green Line was awarded the best feature documentary award at the Lake Forest Film Festival. The film documents a season in the life of the York High School Cross Country team - the most successful cross country team in history. Head Coach Joe Newton is coaching in his 50th season, and his team is going for their 25th state title.
Read more at: [LongGreenLineMovie.com]
Gaffigan Ready To “Re-calibrate Some Gauges”
Ann Gaffigan, in her new blog entry on Steeplechics.com, discusses the effort that gained her entry into the Olympic Trials. After a long, mysterious illness that has wreaked havoc on her confidence, the former American record holder is ready “to do it over again after re-calibrating some gauges” and wants to “take more risks to test my limits without paying so dearly for it.”
Read more at: [Steeplechics.com]
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Who is the greatest male runner of all time? If you ask ten different track aficionados, you’ll probably get ten different answers, but I thought I’d take a look at some statistics to try and arrive at my own conclusion. I based my analysis on the fastest 50 performances of all time in every Olympic running event from 100 meters all the way up to the marathon. I tallied the number of times each name appeared in any of the events (100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 5000m, 10000m, Marathon, 110mH, 400mH, 3000mSC) and then added the totals if any athlete had top 50 performances in more than one event. Most of the athletes who had 10 or more top-50-alltime performances have done so in more than one event.
Of all the runners who had 10 or more top-50 performances, which nations were most represented? Not surprisingly, the United States was represented by the most with 6 athletes, followed by Ethiopia with 2 and then 6 countries with 1 athlete each: Denmark, Jamaica, Kenya, Morocco, Qatar, and Trinidad. Based on that information alone, you can probably guess some of the names on the list.
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Welcome to the official blog of top U.S. distance runner Ryan Hall as he begins his quest for Olympic gold! Check back every other Friday for Ryan’s latest entry at http://ryanhall.thefinalsprint.com/
I consider myself blessed to be able to look back on my marathon debut at the 2007 Flora London Marathon with fond memories. This time last year, to say the least, I was a little timid of the new and daunting distance I would be racing. I think every marathoner can probably look back on their first experience and recall their nerves. I remember very well being quite nervous as we ate our pre-race pasta dinner. I sat with my Mom and wife, my eyes drifted to the 2006 ING New York City Marathon champ, Gomez de Santos, who was finishing his meal quietly. One table over sat another ING New York City marathon Champ, Hendrick Ramaala, laughing as they chatted casually. It amazed me how relaxed and composed everyone seemed to be with less than 24 hours to go before gun time. As for me, I had to get out of that room if I was going to keep my composure, so my wife and I headed up to our room. On the way up we shared a memorable elevator ride with then-world-record-holder, Paul Tergat. To break the awkward silence Sara asked him what he was up to, but he misunderstood and responded, “Tomorrow is going to be fast, very fast.” Now I was really getting nervous.
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Kenyan Athletes To Restore Country’s Tarnished Image?
Athletes on the world stage, like it or not, are often ambassadors for their nations. It looks like it’s up to the diminutive distance runners of Kenya this time. An article om allafrica.com states that Joseph Ebuya and crew have the “extra burden of restoring the country’s soiled image” at the upcoming IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Read more at: [All Africa]
Speaking of Great Kenyan Runners…
Is Margaret Wangari, who made her first Kenyan world cross-country team last week ahead of even the great Vivian Cheruiyot, the next Kenyan world beater? She certainly seems to have the right attitude, saying that ” As part of the team, I expect to perform well” at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh, Scotland on March 30th.
Read more at: [Standard, Kenya]
IOC President: Olympic Marathon Bigger Than Haile
IOC President Jacques Rogge was doing some major PR today for the Olympic movement, saying not only that “the Games are far stronger than the individual” (translation: Haile Gebrselassie’s withdrawal doesn’t diminish the Beijing Olympic Marathon. Yeah, right!), but that awarding the 2008 Games to China was a good idea in the first place.
Read more at: [Canadian Press][Reuters]
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Hi, this is my blog in TFS’s Elite Athlete Blog Series. Bookmark http://kateoneill.thefinalsprint.com/ and check back every other Monday for my latest entry as I strive for the 2008 Summer Olympics!
As I write this blog, I am on my way back from the Lisbon, Portugal. My plane is about to land in Frankfurt, Germany where I have a five hour layover before my 11 hour flight back to the US. So I still have a long day of travel ahead of me! On the bright side, the change in time zones will make St. Patrick’s Day seven hours longer for me! As someone who is 99.999% Irish I’ll try to find some joy in that fact, even though St. Patrick’s Day hasn’t really been the same since I moved from the East Coast and started missing my parents’ annual corned beef and cabbage dinner.
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Kenyans Prepare To Storm Edinburgh
Even though (or perhaps because) no individual Kenyan athlete has won the individual men’s title since 1999, if you were a betting person, then one of the 37 athletes on the Kenyan cross-country team going to Edinburgh, Scotland for the 2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships would be as sure a bet as any you could make.
Read more at: [IAAF]
NCAA Replay on ESPN2
If you’re a track fan, you know the drill. Just about any meet you watch on TV is going to be a delayed broadcast. The 2008 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships are no exception. Better late than never, though, right? You can catch them Thursday, March 20th, 2008 at 4:00 PM on ESPN2.
Read more at: [ESPN Guide]
Gerbrselassie: No Sub Two-Hour Marathon
Marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie said that “it’ll be hard to get under two hours in the next 20 years.” He also talked about Beijing’s pollution, which an analysis by the IOC has determined does pose some risk to athletes in outdoor endurance events.
Read more at: [IHT][AP]
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As ING New York City Marathon director Mary Wittenberg once said: “You can’t script sport.”
Haile Gebrselassie’s world record attempt Friday at the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon veered off plan when the great Ethiopian scorched the first half in 1:01:27, at least half a minute faster than he had intended. He had hoped to run […]
Pat Butcher reports that Haile Gebrselassie has hit the half-way mark at the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon in 1:01:27. He hit the half in 1:02:29 in Berlin last September when he set his 2:04:26 world record.
More later…
Here are the start lists for tomorrow’s Dubai Marathon:
MEN -
1, Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopia, 2:04:26
2, Fabiano Joseph, Tanzania, 2:13:24 (pacer)
4, Jackson Koech Mengich, Kenya, 2:08:02 (pacer)
5, Eshetu Wendimu, Ethiopia, DEBUT (pacer)
6, Dereje Tesfaye, Ethiopia, 2:11:10
7, William Todoo Rotich, Kenya, 2:09:53
8, Raymond Kipkoech, Kenya, 2:06:47
9, Sammy Korir, Kenya, […]
Setting a world record is never easy, but it’s particularly difficult in the marathon. Not only must an athlete spend three to four injury-free months training for a single competitive effort, he must have near-perfect conditions: a flat course, excellent pacemaking, ideal weather, and a well-marked and measured course. A little luck doesn’t […]
With the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon looming in just 11 days, Haile Gebrselassie and Lornah Kiplagat are making their final preprations, each facing their own special challenges.
Gebrselassie, the world record holder and #2-ranked marathoner in the world last year in Race Results Weekly’s rankings, is dreaming of the $1 million bonus on the line for […]
Race Results Weekly, the wire service of distance running, announced today that Ethiopian Gete Wami and Kenyan Martin Lel were the top-ranked marathon runners of 2007. RRW produced for the third time an annual top-10 marathoner ranking based on key victories, head-to-head competition, fast times, consistent performances in multiple races and, in some cases, […]
Both Haile Gebrselassie and a one million dollar prize money purse will be on the line for the 9th edition of the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon set for Friday, January 18, in the United Arab Emirates.
Gebrselassie, who knocked down Paul Tergat’s marathon world record in Berlin last September to a previously unimagined 2:04:26, will be […]
World, national and course records, thrilling finishes, more than 300,000 participants, and a championship race that went down to the final day highlighted the inaugural 2006-2007 World Marathon Majors Series, and ushered in a brand new era of growth and excitement in the sport.
After a six month break, the excitement will continue at the 2008 […]
Three-time World Outdoor champion and 2007 Jesse Owens Award winner Tyson Gay was named the Male World Athlete of the Year at the World Athletics Gala in Monte Carlo over the weekend.
Gay had an historic year in 2007, sweeping the 100 and 200 meters at both the IAAF World Outdoor Championships in Osaka and the […]
Meseret Defar and sprinter Tyson Gay were named the World Athletes of the Year for 2007 at the World Athletics Gala held in Monte Carlo last night.
Defar, 24, shattered her won world record in the 5000 meters, running 14:16.63 in Oslo in June, breaking her own previous standard by more than eight seconds. The reigning […]
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