TheFinalSprint.com - Track & Field, Marathons, Racing News, Training Advice, Elite Athlete Blogs, Interviews, Podcasts, Videos and More! - TheFinalSprint.com is the Premier Destination for Track & Field, Marathon, Cross Country, Olympic and Road Racing Enthusiasts.
Flag Bearer Lomong Living American, Olympic Dreams
Posted August 8th, 2008 at 2:00 PM by David Monti
Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Columns, Olympics, SPOTLIGHT
For the USA flag bearer for tonight’s Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, Lopez Lomong, his journey from war-torn Sudan to the National Stadium here is one of the great miracles of these Games. He is truly the embodiment of both the American and Olympic Dreams.
The 23 year-old 1500m runner, who is competing in his first Olympics, told his story of escape, survival and ultimately athletic fulfillment to a room of hundreds of reporters at the Main Press Center here. Wide-eyed and deliberate, he explained how he escaped from the clutches of the Janjaweed militia with three friends he called his “Angels,” making it to the Kenyan border after three days on the run.
“‘At midnight we’re going to go home,’” Lomong recalls his Angels telling him. He was only six years-old at the time. “We escaped through a crack in the door. We started crawling. That’s where my race started.”
Read the rest of this entry »
Lomong To Be U.S. Flag Bearer at Opening Ceremony
Posted August 7th, 2008 at 2:14 PM by David Monti
Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics
USA Track and Field announced here yesterday that 1500m runner Lopez Lomong, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, would be the flag bearer at tomorrow night’s Opening Ceremony at the 29th Olympic Games. Lomong, 23, who was raised by adoptive parents in Tully, N.Y., was informed of the decision by telephone in Dalian, the Chinese coastal city where the American athletics team has its training base.
“This is the most exciting day ever in my life,” Lomong said in a statement released by USATF to the media. “It’s a great honor for me that my teammates chose to vote for me. The Opening Ceremony is the best day and the best moment of Olympic life. I’m here as an ambassador of my country and I will do everything I can to represent my country well.”
Lomong made his first Olympic team by finishing third at the U.S. Trials, just 1/10th of a second behind second place finisher eonel
Manzano, the former University of Texas star. The Trials race was won by two-time Olympic medalist, Bernard Lagat, completing a full three-man team in that event, all of whom were born outside of the United States. Lomong had also competed in the 800m at the Trials, finishing fifth, one week earlier.
Read the rest of this entry »
Lagat Wins 1500m Final; Webb Misses Out on Beijing
Posted July 6th, 2008 at 10:00 PM by Adam Jacobs
Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics
Image details: U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials - Day Eight served by picapp.com
The Men’s 1500m at the 2008 US Olympic Trials was billed as a showdown of America’s finest milers and certainly didn’t disappoint. Much of the attention leading up to the race was given to reigning World Champion Bernard Lagat, Alan Webb (the American Record holder in the mile), and former national champion Gabe Jennings. Five runners (Webb, Lagat, Leonel Manzano, Lopez Lomong, and Jon Rankin) achieved the Olympic A standard in previous races, while the rest of the field needed it in this meet to get to Beijing. The US team in each event is made up of the top three Trials finishers who have attained the A standard in the Trials or in a previous race, meaning that the five runners mentioned above could focus on place while the rest of the field needed to watch the clock as well.
The race got out to a fast start in the first 100m with double World Champion Bernard Lagat reaching the pole first. Lagat immediately slowed the pace, bunching up the field and causing a lot of pushing and jostling right behind him. With the A standard already slipping away, Gabe Jennings took the lead at the 300m mark (reached in 47s) and picked up the pace. The field reached the 400m mark in 1:01 and the 800m mark in 2:00.70 as Jennings continued to lead but wasn’t able to make up time on the standard.
Read the rest of this entry »
Webb is Back, Back Again
Posted July 4th, 2008 at 12:31 AM by Stephanie Lowe
Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics
Image details: U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials - Day Five served by picapp.com
The much-anticipated U.S. Olympic Trials men’s 1500 meters finally started today with three action-packed qualifying races.
Jordan McNamara of the University of Oregon led the first heat, with Steve Sherer close behind. McNamara stumbled in the third lap, but reacted quickly to hold his front position. However, he did not have enough gas left in the end as he ended up last. Sherer finished strongly in second-place (3:44.71) after Gabe Jennings‘ outstanding kick for first (3:44.39).
The second heat had Lopez Lomong (3:43.38) and Leonel Manzano (3:48.41), who finished first and second. The most exciting moment was Andrew Acosta’s fall. He fell hard, did a back flip and got back up to finish the last laps despite having no chance to catch the rest of the field.
In case you were worried, Webb is back. Alan Webb had a lot to prove after recent performances, but he did well tonight with a 3:41.27, the fastest time of the quarterfinals. Behind Webb were Said Ahmed (3:41.92) and Christopher Lukezic (3:42.10). Bernard Lagat, who already made the Olympic team in the 5000 meters, looked relaxed in the back for most of the race, but eventually finished fourth (3:42.11).
Read the rest of this entry »
Pile-Up in Women’s 800m Sends 12 Athletes To Final
Posted June 29th, 2008 at 8:00 AM by David Monti
Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics
Image details: AT&T USA Outdoor Track And Field Championships - Day 2 served by picapp.com
On a blazing hot day here, a pile-up about 250 meters into yesterday’s first heat of the women’s 800m semi-finals at these U.S. Olympic Trials sent four women tumbling to the track, splitting the field, and initially crushing some long-held Olympic dreams.
“I remember getting grabbed then getting physical with someone,” said Nikeya Green who finished third in a race where only the top-4 finishers would qualify for the final. “I don’t know. It wasn’t my fault, but it just kind of happened.”
Just behind Green, Kameisha Bennett, Latavia Thomas and Becky Horn fell hard. Nicole Teter (Pictured above) then went down as she tried to jump over the pile-up.
Read the rest of this entry »
Lomong, Symmonds and Wheating Win Men’s 800m Prelim Heats
Posted June 27th, 2008 at 11:45 PM by Stephanie Lowe
Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics
The men’s 800-meter Olympic Trial prelims brought the crowd to their feet. In the first heat, 2004 Olympian Jonathan Johnson took the lead early, passing through 400 meters in 53.23 seconds. The race intensified in the final lap as Lopez Lomong, also a favorite in the 1500, dominated the race in 1:46.91. Sam Burley was right behind Lomong in 1:47.02, followed by Duane Solomon in 1:47.35. One of the favorites, Khadevis Robinson, surprisingly placed sixth in 1:48.04.
Oregon fans roared as Oregon Track Club athletes Nick Symmonds (Pictured) and Matt Scherer raced in the second heat of the men’s 800-meter prelims. Symmonds won in 1:49.01 and Scherer was fourth in 1:49.38. Ryan Brown (1:49.20) and Jebreh Harris (1:49.21) were between Symmonds and Scherer.
University of Oregon runner Andrew Wheating excited the crowd with his 1:47.85 win in the third heat of the men’s 800 meters, followed by Oregon Track Club runner Christian Smith (1:47.97). University of Texas star Jacob Hernandez led the first half, but finished third in 1:48.01.
Read the rest of this entry »
Walker breaks AR, Mutola wins for 16th time at Nike Prefontaine Classic
Posted June 8th, 2008 at 11:34 PM by thefinalsprint.com
Section: News & Results, Track & Field
Meet records fell across all event groups, none bigger than Brad Walker’s American record in the pole vault, and Maria Mutola had a historic exit Sunday at the Nike Prefontaine Classic.
The fourth event of USATF’s Visa Championship Series, the Nike Prefontaine Classic drew a meet-record 14,221 fans to Hayward Field, site of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Track & Field June 27-July 6. They were treated to a formidable show, including no fewer than eight meet records and Walker’s AR.
The 2007 world champion, Walker looked magnificent throughout the competition. He had just one miss, at his opening height of 5.70m/18-8.25, then passed to 5.90m/19-4.25, which he cleared on his first attempt and which won the competition for him. Walker then elevated the bar to 6.04m/19-9.75. On his very first attempt, he cleared, brushing the bar just a bit, but leaving it up.
Read the rest of this entry »
Nick Symmonds: One More Hurdle Behind Me
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #14)
Posted June 2nd, 2008 at 8:39 PM by Nick Symmonds
Section: Elite Athlete Blogs, Nick Symmonds
Welcome to the official blog of elite American middle-distance runner Nick Symmonds. Be sure to check every other Monday at http://nicksymmonds.thefinalsprint.com/ for Nick’s latest entry! For more information about Nick, also please visit: www.nicksymmonds.com
With the state of my physical and mental well being left to much interpretation in my last blog, I thought I would take this opportunity to update everyone on how things are going here in Eugene, Oregon. After getting my knee sliced open at the Adidas Track Classic I returned home panicked and not totally sure what was going to happen to my season. I slept very poorly that night, woke up, and throwing all rational thought aside, decided to run 8 miles on my freshly sewed up knee. Crazy thing was, I felt great. My knee felt numb but did not bother me on this jog and I thought things were going to be just fine. However, once I got back home my knee began to swell and ache and ooze due to all the stress I had put on it.
Read the rest of this entry »
Distance Races Also Thrill At Reebok Grand Prix
Posted June 1st, 2008 at 3:46 PM by David Monti
Section: News & Results, Track & Field
It is true that most of the 6,000-plus spectators who filled Ichan Stadium here, especially the 1,000 or so Jamaicans, came to see explosive sprinters like Usain Bolt, Tyson Gay and Allyson Felix. Their cheers, deafening during the sprints, were largely lacking during the distance events, despite the entreaties of RRW’s favorite meet announcer Scott Davis.
However, some exciting sprint finishes in the longer races did get the crowds on their feet, in particular the finish of the men’s 5000m where Shadrack Kosgei of Kenya and Ali Abdosh of Ethiopia duked it out on the final 100m, the first race after a 45 minute delay caused by a heavy thunderstorm. The pair were running close to 13-flat pace throughout the race, and it took a 56-second final 400m by Kosgei to lock down the win by just 4/100ths of a second, 13:14.46 to 13:14.50. Abdosh was sprinting so fast in the final meters he nearly fell as he crossed the finish line.
“I thought the sprint was fantastic,” said a beaming Kosgei. “I was really strong.”
Read the rest of this entry »
Nick Symmonds: DNF
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #13)
Posted May 19th, 2008 at 12:34 PM by Nick Symmonds
Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Elite Athlete Blogs, Nick Symmonds
Welcome to the official blog of elite American middle-distance runner Nick Symmonds. Be sure to check every other Monday at http://nicksymmonds.thefinalsprint.com/ for Nick’s latest entry! For more information about Nick, also please visit: www.nicksymmonds.com
As I was hanging out with a few of my teammates this week we got to talking about dropping out in the middle of a race and how often it seems to happen in professional track and field. “You, know I have never DNF’ed (Did Not Finish) a race before,” I said to them proudly.
In hindsight, I was maybe setting myself up for something terrible to happen. I always felt that if you start a race you should finish it no matter how miserable you feel.
Up until this weekend I had stayed true to this belief, but it seemed that it wasn’t meant to be today at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA. I went into this race frustrated with my most recent performance in the 1500m and was determined to crack 3:40 and take some major scalps. Despite the 95 degree weather I was pretty confident I could keep my cool (uh, huh….major pun) and position myself well for a lethal final lap.
Read the rest of this entry »
Who had the more impressive Boston Marathon debut?
Recent Comments
Page 2 Articles
The Final Sprint
On March 10, 2010
Tami said:
ePfrect. www.thefinalsprint.com rocks.