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Lead Stories: Sunday, November 23, 2008

2008 Beijing Olympic Preview: Women’s Shot Put

Posted August 8th, 2008 at 9:00 AM by Jesse Squire

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics, Drugs In Sports

Women’s Shot Put
The Schedule: qualifying and final, Saturday Aug 16
The Americans: #6 Kristin Heaston, Jill Camarena, Michelle Carter
The Contenders: #1 Nadzeya Ostapchuk (BLR), #2 Valerie Vili (NZL), #3 Nadine Kleinert (GER), #14 Yulia Leantsiuk (BLR), #15 Meiju Li (CHN)
The Stats: Records, 2008 List, 2007 Worlds, 2004 Olympics
The Medal Picks: T&FN - Vili, OStapchuk, Natallia Mikhnevich; SI - Ostapchuk, Vili, Kleinert
The Story: This is a two-woman battle between Ostapchuk and Vili. The Belarussian has put up some very big numbers lately, but the Kiwi has won their last two championship meetings. In Osaka last summer, Ostapchuk led throughout the competition until Vili unleashed a Commonwealth Record on her last attempt.

Third will likely come down to Kleinert and Leantsuk, who have made the next best series of throws after the two leaders. Li, who won bronze at this year’s World Indoor championships, has an outside shot at the medal stand.

Youngsters in New Zealand have been challenged to invent a machine that can throw the 4kg shot further than Vili’s PR of 20.54 meters, and winners in two age groups will compete head-to-head with her after the Olympics.

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2008 Beijing Olympic Preview: Men’s Shot Put

Posted August 7th, 2008 at 12:10 PM by Jesse Squire

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics

Men’s Shot Put
The Schedule: qualifying and finals, Friday Aug 15
The Americans: #1 Reese Hoffa, #2 Adam Nelson, #3 Christian Cantwell
The Contenders:#4 Tomasz Majewski (POL), #5 Dorian Scott (JAM), #15 Andrei Mikhnevich (BLR)
The Stats: Records, 2008 List, 2007 Worlds, 2004 Olympics
The Medal Picks: T&FN-Hoffa, Nelson, Cantwell; SI-Hoffa, Nelson, Mikhnevich
The Story: Nelson has twice been an Olympic silver medalist, and this may be his last best chance at gold. In 2004 he lost on the tie-breaker, and in 2003 he was beaten at the Worlds by Mikhnevich, who had just come off a doping suspension, leaving Nelson infuriated. The Belarussian has mostly hid from the rest of the world this year but his results suggest he’ easily in form to put Nelson (or anyone else) out of the top spot again.

Cantwell dominated the early season but has fallen off over the last few months. Hoffa has been far and away the most consistent, so the safe money is on him. But when Nelson has hit it just right this year, which he’s done only twice, no one else can beat him.

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World Points Standings:
Women’s Throws

Posted June 18th, 2008 at 9:00 AM by Jesse Squire

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Rankings, World Standings

Shot Put
1. Valerie Vili, 74
2. Nadine Kleinert, 46
3. Nadzeya Ostapchuk, 43
4. Misleydis Gonzalez, 41
5. Meiju Li, 34
6. Anna Omarova, 31
6. Chiara Rosa, 31
8. Christina Schwanitz, 30
9. Kristin Heaston, 29
10. Cleopatra Borel-Brown, 26

Kiwi Vili dominated the indoor circuit and picked up right where she left off in a late-May meet held in the Beijing Olympic stadium. Ostapchuk has only competed three times this year and Kleinert didn’t do much indoors, otherwise they would be further ahead of the other throwers.
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World Points Standings:
Men’s Throws

Posted June 15th, 2008 at 12:51 PM by Jesse Squire

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Rankings, World Standings

Shot Put
1. Reese Hoffa, 71
2. Christian Cantwell, 63
3. Adam Nelson, 56
4. Tomasz Majewski, 39
5. Dorian Scott, 38
6. Garrett Johnson, 32
7. Rutger Smith, 31
8. Ryan Whiting, 28
9. Scott Martin, 28
10. Peter Sack, 26

Hoffa has a slight lead over Cantwell and Nelson, and these three are head and shoulders above the rest of the world. Cantwell missed Sunday’s Prefontaine Classic with an arm injury; in his absence, Nelson won with the second-longest throw of the year.
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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.
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Prefontaine Classic Preview: Field Events

Posted June 6th, 2008 at 9:33 AM by Jesse Squire

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Continuing with our preview of Sunday’s meet in Eugene, Oregon, here are the tentative start lists for the field events. The IAAF also has a field event preview.

Women’s Hammer Throw
3:10 p.m. EDT (12:10 p.m. local)
Hawyard Field & Pre Classic records: 229′ 1″ / 69.82 meters, Erin Gilreath (USA), 2006

Betty Heidler (Germany)
Superfan World Ranking: #2
PR: 76.55 meters (2006) 2008 best: 72.91 meters
The defending World Champion has thrown over 70 meters five times already this season; her lone loss came at the European Throwing Cup.

Ivana Brkljacic (Croatia)
PR: 74.08 meters (2007) 2008 best: 73.62 meters
Has competed only twice this year (and hence not in my World Rankings), but has put up very big marks both times.
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TFS News Briefs: 3/21/08
Special NCAA Track & Field Edition

Posted March 21st, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, TFS News Briefs

2008 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field: Week 1
The 2008 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field season officially kicks off in fine style this weekend with 38 (count ‘em, 38!) meets throughout the country. The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association has links to all of them on their website. Schedules like this one are truly a track junkie’s dream come true.
Read more at: [USTFCCCA]

ASU Opens Outdoor Season At Home
ASU, the 2008 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Champions, will open their outdoor season at home this weekend at the Baldy Castillo Invitational. Both the men’s team and the women’s team won the NCAA national titles last weekend. The meet will be contested on the Joe Selleh Track at Sun Angel Stadium in Tempe, AZ.
Read more at: [Sun Devils]

Oregon Host First Meet At Revamped Hayward Field
The University of Oregon’s historic Hayward Field has had an $8 Million facelift in preparation for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials, and now the Ducks want to show her off to the world. Folks will get their first look at the freshly-reminted stadium by hosting the Oregon Preview on Saturday, March 22nd, 2008. Over 550 athletes from throughout the Northwest will be competing in the meet.
Read more at: [Go Ducks][Hayward Field]
Image courtesy of GoDucks.com.
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TFS News Briefs: 3/07/08

Posted March 7th, 2008 at 5:30 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Drugs In Sports, TFS News Briefs

IAAF World Championships Event Reports/Previews
You can read up on all of the happenings in the World Indoor Championships by going to the IAAF’s Valencia ‘08 website. So far, gold medals have gone to Christian Cantwell (USA) in the men’s shot put, Angela Williams (US) in the women’s 60m dash, Tia Hellebaut (BEL) in the women’s pentathlon and Olusoji A. Fasuba (NIG) in the men’s 60m dash. Read more at: [IAAF WIC 08]

Coverage of World Championships on WCSN, VERSUS
You can catch the action from Valencia both online and on TV. Links to this coverage are available on Track & Field News’ home page (in section titled Latest Results).
Read more at: [Track & Field News]

Dwain Chambers Wins Silver Medal, Vows To “Do It Clean”
After his silver-medal-winning finish at the 2008 World Indoor Championships, Dwain Chambers has vowed to “put out a new script that you can do it clean.” He is getting the word out in an anti-drug campaign in which he will “start going into schools, use myself as an example to talk to kids to not go down the road I took.”
Read more at: [Times Online, UK]
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TFS News Briefs: 2/26/08

Posted February 26th, 2008 at 11:00 AM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Cross Country, Track & Field, Olympics, TFS News Briefs

Controversial Front-Runner For USATF Presidency
Montreal 4×400m gold medalist Herman Frazier is being considered for the role of president, according to an article on the UH website. Frazier is a controversial choice, having made some unpopular decisions while athletic director at two different universities.
Read more at: [University of Hawaii][Wikipedia]

Incipient Shot Put Feud?
Christian Cantwell may have begun a feud with fellow shot-putter Reese Hoffa by calling him a hypocrite when Hoffa refused to bring Cantwell’s shot put to the US Indoor Championships. Hoffa defended himself against the volatile Cantwell, saying he wasn’t going to help his competitor. Adam Nelson was mentioned during the verbal exchange. Is this fuel to spark the big men’s competitive fires, or is it a major distraction in an Olympic year?
Read more at: [Boston Globe]

Pre-Worlds Profile of the Great Maria Mutola
The IAAF website has a profile of the great 800m runner Maria Mutola, who will toe the line in Valencia, Spain for her 8th gold medal in the indoor world championships. Mutola will retire after the Beijing Olympics to devote her time to her charity Foundation in Mozambique.
Read more at: [IAAF]
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Nelson Launches Huge Throw at Tyson Invitational

Posted February 16th, 2008 at 10:00 AM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

The most decorated shot putter in World Outdoor Championships history, Adam Nelson continued a streak of amazing performances to win the Visa men’s shot put Friday night in front of 4,519 screaming fans at the 2008 Tyson Invitational.

The fourth stop of the 2008 USA Track & Field Visa Championship Series, the Tyson Invitational will be televised on February 17 from 5-7 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN.

Nelson’s world-leading throw of 22.40 meters/73 feet 6 inches in the Visa men’s shot put is the third-best performance of all time in the shot, and he offered it up in front of the second-largest crowd in meet history at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville. For his efforts, the four-time World Outdoor medalist was named the Team USA Athlete of the Meet, presented by Visa.
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