Thanks for the memories, Daegu
The 2011 World Championships have come to an end. For a track & field geek like myself, this meet is pretty much Christmas everyday for a week. I am in heaven when I am attending the World Championships. For this year’s World Championships to end with a world record was icing on the cake.
The meet itself is spread out into morning and evening sessions. Heats and qualifying rounds are run in the mornings, with semi-finals and finals in the evenings. The schedule is timed perfectly. In less than a three hour period in the evening there will be eight to ten events plus medal ceremonies. The events are spaced so perfectly that you can watch pretty much all the action on the track and in the field events. With the jumbotron screens, Seiko scoreboards on the field, and expert announcing, spectators are kept abreast of all the action as it happens. The events are timed in such a way that there is never anything happening on the track when the final attempts are made by the medal winners in the jumps and throws. That way all the attention is focused on the often overlooked field event athletes. David Storl of Germany used this attention from the fans to his advantage, throwing 21.78 meters on his last throw in the shot put to move from the silver medal to the gold medal.
I am also particularly fortunate that my wife, Malinda Walker (a.k.a. The Track Widow) is willing to foresake typical vacations to travel across the world so I can watch track & field. Our experience at these meets is enhanced thanks to the kindness of Shannon Rowbury, who does all that she can to get us access to things like the Nike hospitality area and athlete’s village. It was quite an honor to time some of her 200’s on the practice track one day during our trip.
This year’s meet in Daegu was particularly interesting because of the great seats that we had. The price of the ticket was 112,500 Won, which is in the ballpark of $112 (USD). They weren’t cheap but they were quite reasonable for where they were located. We were in the section just adjacent to the press area, right on the finish line. I had a better seat for World Championships than I did for the California High School State Meet.
From our vantage point, I was able to get to Shannon to give her a hug after her semi-final race. We could also see the look of pure joy on Jenny Barringer Simpson’s face when she realized that she had 
won the 1500. We were just yards away from Vin Lannana as he reached over a railing to congratulate Matt Centrowitz on his bronze medal. After the 200 and 4X100 relay, hundreds of fans crowded the press area hoping to get a picture or autograph of The Man, Usain Bolt. I was one of those hundred. Malinda and I proudly waved our American flag throughout the meet and I swear if we had been in row five instead of row 10, Bernard Lagat would have taken our US flag to use for his victory lap (he looked up at us and I could tell he was trying to decide if we were close enough for him to get our US flag).
In addition to the best seats I may ever have for an international championship meet, our tickets came with dinner in the Premiere Lounge every night before the meet. The same menu got a little tiresome but how could I turn down free kimchi and beer?
Sadly this year’s meet is now over and it’s time to head home. I’ll post a blog or two about the meet when I get home before I turn my attention to London 2012 and Moscow 2013.
One one-hundredth of a second
Shannon Rowbury battles Christin Wurth-Thomas at the finish of the women's 1500 meters at the 2011 USA Championships
One one hundredth of a second. That’s faster than you can blink. That’s faster than the time it takes to read the word “fast.” That can also mean the difference between qualifying for the USA team for the World Championships in Daegu and staying home.
Ten years ago in 2001, at the end of her junior year, in the middle of a rainstorm at the Adidas Outdoor National Championships, Shannon Rowbury edged out Adrienne Anderson by one one-hundredth of a second to win the 800 meter national championship, 2:12.00 to 2:12.01. That day, just like at the 2011 USA Championships today, I would be cheering on Shannon at the 200 meter to go mark and would be unable to see the finish, relying on the video scoreboard and public address announcer to find out the result.
After battling injuries this past off-season and then running two races that by her own definition were “mediocre,” Shannon arrived at the 2011 USA Championships in a different position than she has been. For the first time in the last three years, she was not one of the favorites for a top three finish.
The USA system for selecting its team for the World Championships is very objective. In a nutshell, the top three finishers in each event get to represent the USA. Having a bad race two weeks before the USA Championships doesn’t matter. You just have to get it together and be in the top three at the USA Championships. Having the fastest time so far this season does not guarantee anything. You still have to be in the top three. Having the fastest lifetime PR does not guarantee anything. You still have to be in the top three. Having the potential to improve over the next two months to be the fastest runner in the country come the week of the World Championships does not matter. It’s what you do at this meet. You have to be in the top three. Two-time USA champion? World Championship bronze medalist? Highest finish by an American woman in the Olympic 1500 meters in history? That looks good on the resume but to stamp your passport to Daegu, you still have to be in the top three.
Those were the circumstances facing Shannon and the third place spot would come down to one one-hundredth of a second.
Christin Wurth-Thomas set a blistering early pace, running 62.1 for the first lap. She built up a lead of up to thirty meters. With 300 meters to go Shannon, Morgan Uceny, and Jennifer Barringer Simpson started to go after Wurth-Thomas. Uceny would take the lead at the top of the final straightaway. Simpson would move into second place with about twenty-five meters to go. Shannon was closing ground on Wurth-Thomas. Wurth-Thomas’s form was really tying up. The question was, would Shannon run out of real estate or would she pass Wurth-Thomas to claim the third and final ticket to Daegu? From my vantage point at the 200 meters to go mark, I had no idea. I could hear the crowd gasp and the announcer say that it was too close to call. It took maybe 1500 one one-hundredths of a second (15 seconds) for the result to flash up on the scoreboard.
4:06.20 to 4:06.21. Third place and a ticket to the World Championships in Daegu….by one one-hundredth of a second. Congratulations, Shannon!
2011 USA Championships Day One – Trials
Action from heat 1 of the women's 1500 at the 2011 USA Championships
Day one of the 2011 USA Championships are done. Whew! Trials meets are very nerve-raking! As a coach and fan of the sport, I know that trials are part of the sport. But that doesn’t mean they are easy to stomach. My feeling is that nothing great can happen at trials. If you are seeded high and expected to qualify for the finals, then if you qualify it’s no big deal. If you don’t qualify, it’s pretty much a disaster. The higher one is seeded, the worse the disaster. My favorite mantra at trials meets is, “live to run again.” Championships are not won on trials day, but they can be lost.
This year alone I’ve anxiously lived through our league (WCAL) and secion (CCS) trial meets. Both those days were pretty successful with the bulk of the athletes that I coach qualifying for the next round. No one that I expected to qualify “stubbed their toe” and failed to move on.
On day one of the 2011 USA Championships, I sat in the stands nervously awaiting the women’s 1500 trials. Unlike the WCAL and CCS trials, I wasn’t on the track talking to the athletes. I was up in the stands with nothing to do but be nervous for Shannon Rowbury’s race. How many times have I told her, “All you want to do is live to run again.”?
With one lap to go, Shannon was boxed in. At about fifth place she fought her way out of the box and started moving up around the curve. With 300 meters to go she was pressing Jennifer Simpson for the lead. Then she passed Simpson and took the lead with 200 meters to go. She held the lead down the homestretch until a couple athletes inched by her. It was a blanket finish:
1 Jennifer Simpson 4:14.20
2 Gabriele Anderson 4:14.25
3 Anna Pierce 4:14.32
4 Shannon Rowbury 4:14.40
5 Treniere Moser 4:14.41
6 Jackie Areson 4:14.42
The top four were automatic qualifiers so by virtue of beating Moser and Areson by 0.01 and 0.02 seconds respectively, Shannon was automatically qualified for the final (with Simpson, Anderson, and Pierce). Moser and Areson would have to await the results of heat two to see if they qualified for the final based on time. I felt that up to eight runners in heat two could potentially break 4:14 so I would have been unbelievably nervous if Shannon were in Moser and Areson’s position. As it turned out heat two went:
1 Christin Wurth 4:08.32
2 Morgan Uceny 4:08.68
3 Katherine Follett 4:09.94
4 Brie Felnagle 4:09.95
5 Emily Infeld 4:10.02
6 Jordan Hasay 4:14.85
Wurth, Uceny, Follett, and Felnagle were automatic qualifiers from heat two with Infeld, Moser, Areson, and Hasay the four qualifiers for the final on time. Hasay beat out Lauren Hagans from heat one by one hundereth of a second, 4:14.85 to 4:14.86. That is why coaches always train athletes to run through the finish line, those hundedths of seconds can make a big difference.
Today is Friday, June 24, 2011. The 1500 meter final is tomorrow. That means the nervousness from yesterday’s trials is behind us and the sweaty palms for the final are still a day away. Today is a day to just enjoy some track & field action. But tomorrow? With a trip to the 2011 World Championships on the line and only the top three earning a spot on the team, tomorrow is bound to be filled with heartpounding excitement. Go Shannon!
Memories from the 2010 USA Championships
The 2010 USA Championships at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa are now over. There were some exciting races and great performances (American records in the women’s javelin and high jump). However, there being no international championship in 2010, this meet lacked much of the drama of the past couple USA Championship meets when berths on the USA team for the Olympics and World Championships were on the line.
However, I still enjoyed the experience in Iowa. A big reason I like to attend meets like this is to interact with other track geeks like me (one of Malinda’s reactions when she first went to a big meet with me was, “My gosh, these guys here are just as geeky as Andy!”) On more than one occasion I have heard people remark that no matter where you are, in your seat at the track or in the sports bar after the meet, you can start talking to the person next to you and discover you have much in common – mainly a love for the sport of track & field. You are bound to be introduced to someone’s friend by a friend of a friend and next thing you know you are giving your opinion on the 800 meter final tactics of Nick Symmonds and exchanging e-mall addresses. So even though there was a little less energy at this meet than there was in Eugene the last two years and even though there was no Villard Street Pub to meet up with people after the meet, I still had some memorable conversations over the weekend.
On the first day Malinda and I sat in our seats in Section V, Row 15, Seats 12 and 13. Sitting next to us in Section V, Row 15, Seats 14 and 15 were a married couple. After some time I could tell they must have a daughter running in the meet. And a bit later I realized that the daughter was in the 1500, just like Shannon Rowbury. “This could be awkward,” was my initial thought. Fortunately Shannon was in heat one and their daughter was in heat two. I figured out from their cheering that their daughter’s name was Lauren – so after consulting my heat sheet, it had to be Mr. and Mrs. Centrowitz or Mr. and Mrs. Hagans sitting to my right. A couple of quick glances at what they were wearing did not solve the mystery but eventually I figured out it was the proud parents of Lauren Hagans sitting next to the proud high school coach (and his wife) of Shannon Rowbury.
On Saturday we got to talking to the Hagans and learned more about Lauren. She graduated from Baylor in 2009 and just recently (in the last couple weeks) moved to Knoxville, Tennessee to be coached by J.J. Clark. But Lauren’s start in the sport is what was really interesting. She was a cheerleader in high school in Little Rock, Arkansas. The high school girls cross country team was so small that they didn’t have a full team. One day the coach asked Lauren, then a sophomore, to run at a meet so they would have five girls. Lauren’s parents were out of town so her grandmother was taking care of her. The grandmother called the parents and asked if it was okay for Lauren to go on, “some overnight track meet.” Lauren’s mom knew that it was the fall so it wasn’t a track meet but figured as long as it was school related it was okay. So began Lauren’s running career. Later that very season she was third at the state meet and the next year she was cross country state champion. She was also a multiple state champion in both indoor and outdoor track. Because the coach that recruited her to run cross country had a contact at Baylor, Lauren got a scholarship to run for Baylor. By her junior and senior year in college she was an All-American, held the school record in the 800, and qualified to run at the 2008 Olympic Trials. And now, less than eight years after trading in her pom poms for running shoes, she lined up at the 2010 USA Championships in position two, between Shalane Flanagan in position one and Shannon Rowbury in position three.
The Women's 1500 Final (Lauren Hagans, hip #2)
On Saturday night we had dinner with Shannon’s mom, Paula, and Keith Conning. Keith was a long-time Berkeley High School coach and is still heavily involved in Northern California high school running… and he knows a lot of people! On our way out of the Raccoon River Brewing Company, Keith stopped and introduced us to some friends of his. The next thing we know we are talking track with Lloyd (who lives down the 280 from us in Saratoga) and David and Don (who are from Akron, Ohio). I told David that I have always wanted to go to the Akron Marathon to run the marathon relay with a Pamakids team and he promptly handed me his business card.
On Sunday night, Malinda and I walked around an almost empty downtown Des Moines. Many restaurants were closed and there weren’t a lot of track & field athletes or fans out and about. We were about to head back to our hotel and start packing for the drive westward when I decided to call David. He was excited to hear from me and we agreed to meet at the Rock River Grill and Tavern in the Marriott Hotel. Again we had a great time telling stories, pausing only to take pictures with the costumed airport auditors across the way and to shake hands with 110 meter hurdle champion (and all-around super nice guy) David Oliver.
The Track Geeks Meet the Airport Auditors
My favorite story of the night came from Don. We were on the subject of healthy eating and Malinda explained how we gave up eating ice cream every night. Don made a pained look when she said this and I knew I had a friend. Don, much like me, is a fan of the ice cream. He said he does give up ice cream at the end of his marathon training – which means he is craving ice cream after the marathon so he has a Boston marathon ice cream tradition. Midway between the Boston finish line and his hotel is a Ben and Jerry’s. Twelve years ago he walked into that Ben and Jerry’s the day before the marathon with an envelope. Inside the envelope was a five dollar bill. Written on the envelope was his name, his bib number, and the words “Cherry Garcia.” He handed it to the scoop boy and told him he would be in the next day to get his ice cream. After the race, he walked over to Ben and Jerry’s and his bowl of Cherry Garcia was waiting for him. Twelve years later this has become a ritual. That scoop boy is now a regional manager for multiple Ben and Jerry’s in the Boston area, but he makes sure to be working at the store near the Boston Marathon finish line the weekend of Boston so he can get Don’s envelope on Sunday and serve him his ice cream post-race on Monday.
This last year, Don had some friends with him at the Sunday envelope drop off at Ben and Jerry’s. He brought some extra envelopes and asked if anyone wanted to join in the ritual. Two friends decided to do it. One friend finished a few minutes ahead of Don and headed to Ben and Jerry’s. Don decided to linger at the finish line longer than usual chatting and waiting for his other buddy, so he headed over to Ben and Jerry’s a little later than usual. When he arrived he saw his friend with his ice cream – signing a waiver of release and having his picture taken by a photographer from a major magazine. The photographer saw the marathoner chowing down on ice cream right after the race and thought it would make for a great photo. Isn’t that how it always goes? You have some creative idea and have been doing it for years. Then someone comes along, borrows your idea, and the first time they do it, they get all the recognition! Well, at least Don had a great story to tell us sitting around at the bar talking to his new friends from San Francisco.
Making friends and hearing stories from other track fans from around the country…that’s what makes attending the USA Championships a fun meet for me.
Summer Vacations
2010 USA Championships - Shannon Rowbury wins heat 1
Our summer vacation in 2008 included a trip to Eugene for the Olympic Trials and a trip to Beijing, China for the Olympics. In 2009 we went to Eugene for the USA Championships and to Berlin, Germany for the World Championships. This summer’s trip is a 4,500 mile road trip from San Francisco to Des Moines to Eugene, and then back home to San Francisco. Along the way we will see the 2010 USA Championships in Des Moines and the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene. For Malinda and me, summer vacations like these combine three of our passions: 1) travel, 2) track & field, and 3) cheering for Shannon Rowbury.
Our latest journey began last week. We have stayed in Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, and are now in the heart of the heartland, Iowa! Along the way we have had a great time. In Reno, Nevada we met up with 1984 Olympian Ruth Wysocki and went for a thirty minute run with her (shake out run after a long drive…although Malinda said it was more like a tempo run for her). In Boulder, Colorado we stayed with our friend, and running and triathlon enthusiast, Jim Moriarity. Jim drove us up to 8,300 feet so we could run on the road made famous by the University of Colorado and Chris Lear’s book, Running with the Buffaloes – Magnolia Road. Also in Boulder we met two elite athletes who were staying with Jim, Fiona Docherty (who competed in the 2009 World Championships Marathon) and Alice Mason.
It’s been an exciting week for a sports enthusiast. Before starting our drive on Wednesday we were riveted in front of the television set like many others just hoping the USA could score a goal against Algeria…and Landon Donovan delivered in extra time! I just read about the Wimbledon match that lasted eleven hours and five minutes, spread out over three days. 70-68 in the fifth
set! That is crazy! The final day’s drive to Des Moines brought us through Omaha, Nebraska and it just so happens to be the week of the College World Series. So of course we made a quick stop to see Rosenblatt Stadium, which has hosted the College World Series since 1950. It turns out this is the last
The College World Series - Rosenblatt Stadium and the vendors on the street
College World Series in the famous stadium as a new downtown stadium will be completed in time for the 2011 event. Perhaps even more memorable than the stadium was the street outside the stadium, jam packed with vendors selling College World Series merchandise.
Anyway, back to track & field. You never know what’s going to happen at a USA Championship in a year like 2010 when there is no international championship later in the summer (like it was in 2007, 2008, and 2009). There is less pressure on the athletes to place in the top three to qualify for the Olympics or the World Championships. Some of the top athletes are not even here; they are skipping this meet in favor of the Prefontaine Classic next week or for meets later this summer in Europe. Some other athletes are competing in their “off” event.
Shannon ran a very controlled race in the 1500 trials on Thursday evening. It was a very slow pace early on (2:22 at the 800 meter mark) and she just stayed with the pack. When the pace picked up (63 for lap three) she smoothly put herself in the top three. In the last lap she looked effortless, covering the lap in 60.8 seconds to win her heat easily and qualify for the final at 2:26 P.M. central time on Saturday.
It’s fun to look back at what I was thinking over the last four years.
Four years ago – 2006
Shannon placed 6th at the 2006 USA Championships in Indianapolis:
1. Treniere Clement, 4:10.44
2. Lindsay Gallo, 4:10.72
3. Sarah Schwald, 4:11.60
4. Carrie Tollefson, 4:12.23
5. Christin Wurth, 4:12.82
6. Shannon Rowbury, 4:12.86
At the time, I remember the feeling was, “she needs to move up three places in the next two years to be an Olympian.” Easier said than done….or was it?!
Three years ago – 2007
Shannon was injured and Malinda and I spent the summer focused on our wedding.
Two years ago – 2008
Shannon was the favorite in the 1500 at the 2008 Olympic Trials after her breakthrough 4:01.61 at a meet in May. She would win the Olympic Trials and go on to place seventh at the Olympics, but boy was it nerve-racking at the Olympic Trials.
One year ago – 2009
Suddenly the competition in the women’s 1500 jumped up a level. Jenny Barringer broke four minutes at Prefontaine. Christin Wurth-Thomas and Anna Willard were on top of their game. Running four minutes low in the 1500 was no big feat anymore. With this backdrop Shannon stepped up when it counted, and even though Wurth-Thomas had built up a big lead, Shannon made up a lot of ground on the last lap to win her second straight USA 1500 championship.
2010
Just three weeks ago Shannon was at Kezar posing for a compression sock photo with the Pamakids.
3 weeks before USA's - Shannon comes to Kezar for a compression sock picture
Now it’s the day before the 1500 final and this more or less marks the halfway point between Beijing and London. Shannon will go after her third straight USA championship. Wurth-Thomas, Willard (now Anna Pierce), and others will do everything they can to beat her. What better way to spend your summer vacation!
Bronze!
Wow! Talk about a memorable day!
I assume most of you already know the good news that Shannon Rowbury won the bronze medal in the women’s 1500 at the IAAF World Championships here in Berlin. It was a roller coaster of emotions. First there was her fall on Tuesday in the first round when she did not qualify and we had to wait some anxious hours until we got confirmation that she was advanced to the semi-final on appeal. Today there was another fall…but I am getting ahead of myself.
For the first 2 1/2 laps there was a lot of shoving but Shannon looked confident and well positioned. Her strong kick at Friday’s semi-final gave me some great hope for how the final 200 might go. In fact this morning my text message to her was: “The Rowbury kick is there. The competition better watch out. Good luck. Love, Andy, Malinda, and Sherie.” With a lap to go there was still a pretty good size pack but with about 350 meters to go the leaders started to separate and Shannon was in that lead group. I started thinking to myself, maybe this is her day. With 200 to go there were 5 of them battling for the medals. I didn’t see it live but on replay it was pretty clear that Rodriguez from Spain pushed Burka from Ethiopia. Burka fell and Shannon had to dance around/over the fallen runner. With 100 to go it was Rodriguez, Jamal from Bahrain, Dobriskey from Great Britian, and Shannon. Shannon stayed close but crossed the finish line 4th. I was happy for her because it appeared that she ran the race she wanted to run and competed well, battling for a medal right up until the finish line.
Then the replay came up on the scoreboard and we realized that Rodriguez might be DQ’ed. None of the 1500 athletes took the ceremonial victory lap so we knew there was an appeal. I spent the next half hour watching the finish area through binocolars, hoping to see Shannon come running on to the track with a USA flag for a victory lap. Then Shannon’s mom, Paula yelled down to me and gave me a thumbs up. Moments later the German man sitting next to me tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to the scoreboard which showed the revised 1500 results with Shannon getting the bronze.
The next hour, waiting for the medal ceremony was weird. I don’t think I
believed it had happened. But all of a sudden there was Shannon on the podium getting her medal. I’ve been told that some combination of me, Malinda, and Sherie were on TV/universalsports.com waving our Go Shannon banner.
After the medal ceremony I got a text from a friend of Shannon’s congratulating me. That’s when it hit me that this was really happening. I was shaking as I texted back to him. The people in the stands near us had figured out who we were so loudly cheering for and many of them took pictures of us with the banner and smiled or congratulated us. What a feeling to be in the stadium and watch it unfold when Shannon won her first World Championship medal.
It’s 2:37am and we just got back to our apartment. We went to the Hilton to
celebrate with Shannon, her parents, agents and several other close friends. It was pretty special to be there in person with her for this special evening. And I can’t wait to show people the pictures and swag that we got! I like my Bolt Arms…but I love this Team USA jersey!
Checking in from Berlin – August 23, 2009
There’s a big 1500 meter race tonight and we fly out early tomorrow so this may be my last update from Berlin. Sadly it’s the last day already. It’s been a great trip. I am lucky I have a wife that will travel with me to international track meets. The trip has been made even better having Sherie in Berlin with us. And we’ve made two new German friends – Judith and Jurgen. They have seats two rows behind us. Judith helped us with the German words for good luck so we could add that to our Go Shannon banner. We also keep bumping into them around town – on the subway, watching the marathon, at the 10K race. We’ve had a drink with them the last two nights after the meet and have exchanged running and non-running stories alike.
Going to a high level track meet for nine days in a row is basically athletics heaven for me. Since we are there everyday and watching almost all the rounds of all the events (we’ve skipped most morning sessions), I’ve been able to follow a lot of storylines and athletes/events that I would not normally follow.
FRIDAY RAIN
It actually rained a lot and there was a 30-40 minute delay. The long jumpers had to keep going but they stopped the javelin and even though the high jumpers had started warming up they pulled them off. The meet officials had some good weather forecasts because they resumed around 8:00pm and it was still raining but within 10-15 minutes the rain stopped.
4X100 RELAYS
The USA just seems to be cursed in this event. Friday the men seemed to have safely qualified but when we got back to the apartment I went online and read about their DQ for a zone violation on the final exchange. That exchange was right in front of us and it looked good to me so I am curious to see the video replay. On Saturday the US women never even got the baton to in front of us. On the second exchange, they missed the baton exchange on the first try and either in panic or in an attempt to get the baton exchanged before the end of the zone Muna Lee appeared to pull her hamstring. More 4X1 heartbreak of the Americans. More practice would help and in the prelims more focus on moving the baton and less on speed would be good. The Germans showed that good team chemistry can get the job done as they grabbed the bronze in the women’s 4X100. I am not sure who they ran but they did not have any big name 100 meter runners so they did it with smooth passing of the baton more so than with raw speed. Speaking of raw speed, with the Americans out of the 4X100, the Jamaicans appeared to run “safe” in both the men’s and women’s 4X100. Their baton passing wasn’t super crisp so no world record…just two golds!
KENYA VS. ETHIOPIA
Saturday was a good day for Kenya in this rivalry of east African distance powerhouses. Kenya went 1-2 in both the men’s marathon and women’s 5000. Ethiopia had to settle for bronze in both races.
WOMEN’S DISCUS
What a difference a year can make. Last year Stephanie Brown-Trafton (from Northern California) won the gold, this year she did not make the top 8. The winner, Dani Samuels from Australia, reminded me of a quote I read somewhere this week: “Sometimes dreams you didn’t even know you had come true.” Samuels certainly was not one of the pre-meet favorites. Her PR coming into the event was 62.95, which seeded her 11th out of 12. She fouled her first throw then threw 59.05 to be in 9th place on throw #2. A near PR 62.71 on throw #3 catapulted her into medal territory. Then she went crazy. It was one of those things. You could see she was in the zone. Throw #4 was 64.76 and she was now in 1st place. As she stepped into the ring for throw #5 you could just tell she was going to PR again. She was hot and she looked so confident. And there it was – 65.44. She improved her PR 2.49 meters in one magical night of throwing…your new World Champion – Dani Samuels.
MEN’S POLE VAULT
The pole vault pit is clear on the other side of the track from where we are sitting so it’s a little hard to follow. I knew from reading online that Olympic gold medalist Steven Hooker was injured and just barely qualified for the final. Hooker was even quoted as saying he might be too hurt to vault in the final. He passed the first four heights and did not come in to the competition until 5.85 and missed! This was starting to look a little like Russia’s Yelena Isinbayeva. Hooker passed the rest of his attempt at 5.85 and the bar went to 5.90. In his second (and what would turn out to be last) vault of the night cleared, Hooker cleared 5.90. When two athletes from France both missed in their attempts at 5.90, Hooker was World Champion.
WOMEN’S HAMMER
Another event I do not normally follow. Betty Heidler from Germany was obviously the crowd favorite and she took the early lead with a 75.10 in the first round. Heidler would go on to throw a German national record of 77.12. In fact she had an amazing series that included the 75.10, 75.38, 76.44, and the record 77.12. But it wasn’t enough. Poland’s Anita Wlodarczyk set a new world record with a throw of 77.96 on her second attempt (old world record – 77.80). Wlodarczyk apparently hurt her ankle on this record throw. She passed the rest of her attempts and was sitting on the field with a bag of ice on her ankle for the rest of the competition, relegated to watching Heidler’s big night of consistent throwing. Move over Usain Bolt – you are not the only one setting world records here!
Checking in from Berlin – August 20, 2009
Day 7 at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium had 4 main highlights for me.
- I was excited for Bernard Lagat, Matt Tegenkamp, and Chris Solinsky (high socks and all) for qualifying for the 5000 meter final. Maybe this is a new generation of US distance runners that can compete at the world level.
- In the first heat of the mens 5000, before the runners competed the first lap, something happened to Ethiopian Ali Abdosh. I don’t know exactly what happened but when I looked up on the big screen Abdosh was frantically trying to put his shoe back on. It seemed to take him forever. By the time he did the pack was 200 meters ahead of him. Abdosh, with a 12:59 5000 PR, took off after the pack. He may not have been in a full sprint but it was close. He slowly closed the gap on the last runner and the crowd was really cheering him on. For a brief time I thought the runners at the front of the pack actually had slowed the pace down (ala Tour de France) to allow their fallen comrade to get back into the pack. Abdosh caught the last runner by the 5:45 mark of the race (it basically took him 4 ¼ laps of hard running to catch the one person). He looked like he might actually get back into the front pack and qualify for the final. With four laps to go he was about three seconds behind the last runner in the front pack. But he stayed in that position for two laps and I realize he was just out of gas after working so hard to get close. In all honesty, his best strategy at that point was to back off and save his legs in the hope that he gets into the final on an appeal (assuming there was some type of contact/collision that caused him to lose his shoe – I don’t know if there was…I didn’t see it). I just checked the IAAF website and there is a “q” next to Abdosh’s name so he will be in the final. Hats off to him for a gutsy race today after losing his shoe.
- Speaking of hats off, Malinda and I have really taken a liking to US high jumper Chaunte Howard. Howard went to high school in California so I must have been at some of the same meets as her in the 2000-2002 era but I never got to watch her compete. I don’t know too much about her…but we like her! We first noticed her at the Beijing Olympics. After she was eliminated in the high jump, she stayed in the competition area and cheered for the remaining competitors. When eventual gold medal winner Tia Hellebaut set a new personal record by clearing 2.05, Howard jumped up and down and ran over to Hellebaut and hugged her. You would have thought it was Howard that won the gold medal based on the smile and joy on her face. This year we again noticed what a people person she is. She could be seen interacting with her fellow high jumpers during the preliminaries. During introductions before the high jump final tonight, after her name was called she stayed in the area and clapped for everyone that was introduced after her. All the other jumpers waved to the crowd when introduced and then went back to their warm-ups. Throughout the competition, Howard was cheering people on. She led the rhythmic clapping when Amy Acuff cleared 1.92 and Howard was on her feet cheering and trying to use some body English of her own to help Acuff clear 1.95. Acuff has been competing since long before Howard was even in high school. I am sure Howard looks up to Acuff and she showed tremendous respect for Acuff tonight in what was probably Acuff’s last international championship meet. When US runner Marshevet Hooker pulled up in the 200 meters with an apparent hamstring injury, who went over to see if she was OK? Chaunte Howard! I am just very impressed at the positive sportsmanship and friendly personality that Howard displays. It’s refreshing to see and she certainly makes a great role model for young athletes.
- The high jump was billed as a battle between Vlanka Blasic from Croatia and Ariane Friedrich from Germany. It was a great high jump competition, living up to the hype. As was the case when German athletes have been in medal contention in other events, the crowd was very loud in showing their support for Friedrich. I was again amazed and impressed by the crowd’s knowledge of the small details of the sport. US decathlete Trey Hardee (probably referring to the large number of fans in the stands watching the decathlon from early in the morning to late at night) said, “I’ve never seen so many decathlon fans!” And he’s right. Not only do the fans cheer, they know what they are cheering about! The competition in the high jump was a back and forth affair between the two rivals Vlasic and Friedrich as well as Russian Anna Chicherova. Chicherova was actually winning on less misses when the event dwindled down to the final three, with the bar at 2.02 meters. At this point there was a short break in the high jump competition for a race on the track. It was only the men’s 200. And Usain Bolt only ran 19.19 for another world record. The crowd was on its feet again yelling and screaming, with loud music in the background. But as loud as Bolt can get the (I’m guessing) 70,000 fans to be with his record breaking runs, Friedrich can put one finger over her lips and get the entire stadium to go silent so she can concentrate on her jump. She got the whole stadium to come to a complete standstill – you could hear a pin drop. I was in utter amazement!
Checking in from Berlin – August 18, 2009
Thanks to Sherie’s arrival, we now have the wireless working in the apartment here in Berlin…who knew the difference between a capital C and lowercase c would be our Wi-Fi problem!
So now to send out some of my thoughts on the first few days of the World Championships.
Sunday was truly amazing – probably a night of track & field that may not be repeated in my lifetime. Starting at around 9:20pm and lasting for about 20-30 minutes it was athletics nirvana. First of all the pro-German crowd was already yelling, screaming, and rhythmically clapping for Nadine Kleinert every time she got in the shot put ring. Kleinert is a 3-time World Championships medalist and this is probably her last big meet. With the crowd behind her she was holding down the silver medal. At the same time, German heptathlete, Jennifer Oeser was competing in the last event (the 800) and contending for a medal. With 300 meters to go I heard a loud roar from the crowd. I couldn’t really understand why…Oeser was still in the middle of the pack. Then Malinda tapped me on the arm and pointed (she couldn’t say anything to me because it was too loud to hear her). Usain Bolt and the finalists in the men’s 100 were coming out of the tunnel and heading to the 100 meter start line. Back to the heptathlon, Oeser crosses the finish line in 4th and all eyes go to the scoreboard where they start putting up the cumulative heptathlon results. It got even louder when Oeser’s name appeared in the 2nd place position – a silver for Germany. Then all eyes back to the shot put. The knowledgeable crowd cheered when the Chinese athlete’s last throw did not beat Kleinert, guaranteeing at least a silver for Kleinert. And now ALL eyes went to the 100 meter start line. Bolt was his usual relaxed self, making faces and gestures for the camera. I used my flip video to video the crowd noise in anticipation for the race. It got amazingly quiet for the start, then it was yelling and screaming as the runners barreled down the track. And even though I thought it couldn’t get any louder, it did when Bolt crossed the finish line. I immediately looked at the clock and yelled to Malinda, “9.58, he ran 9.58.” You could see camera flashes going off all over the stadium as Bolt took his victory lap, posing for thousands of pictures along the way.
What an experience! Some day someone (maybe Bolt) will run faster. But it may be hard to ever top the atmosphere in the stadium for those 20-30 minutes thanks to the success the two German athletes had leading up to the 100 meter world record run.
My thoughts on Monday were on how perilous a top level athletes’ stay at the top can be. One year you are the man (or woman) and the next year, you may not even make the final. After the results from Sunday and Monday, I respect the long-term success of athletes like Sergey Bubka and Carl Lewis even more. For the last few years, Meseret Defar, Yelena isinbayeva, and Kenenisa Bekele have dominated their events (five gold medals among them in Beijing). But on Sunday, Defar looked beatable and she was…passed by four runners in the last lap to finish in 5th in the 10,000. On Monday, Isinbayeva passed the first four heights in the pole vault. Then missed at 4.75, passed to 4.85, and then missed again. It all came down to one vault – clear it and she wins the gold, miss it and she “no-heights” and finishes last. Keep in mind that Isi owns the world record at 5.05…4.85 should have been easy. But not on this day. She missed. Bekele made sure that these superstars did not go away empty handed, winning the 10,000 meters for the fourth time. He surged away to a decisive win.
Two Americans competing in what is probably their last international championship after years of success are Stacy Dragila and Amy Acuff. Dragila did not advance to the final in the pole vault, while Acuff lived to jump again, clearing 1.95 meters ( a season best) on her third attempt. It will be weird to not see these two, the poster girls (literally) of the pole vault and high jump, on future USA teams.
I’ve been impressed with the US distance runners. A lot of smart race plans and gutsy, leave it all out there running. First it was Amy Begley getting 6th in the 10,000 on the first night. Then it was Jenny Barringer in the 3000 steeplechase. She was quite a ways back early but the pace was fast and she was smart to hold back early. With about 3 laps to go she started moving up on the leaders and I noticed that the American record was in range. She kept on fighting and moved all the way up to 5th place, setting a new American record by 10 seconds. Then in the men’s 10,000 Galen Rupp and Dathen Ritzenheim showed they will not be intimated by the African runners. The two were in 10-12th place for most of the middle laps of this 25 lap race. Rupp was actually in front and looking strong while Ritz was plugging away. Halfway through I thought this is going to be Rupp’s day and that Ritz was in over his head and would probably fall back. Boy was I wrong. Rupp started to slow while Ritz maintained pace (running 65-67 seconds per lap). Ritz moved all the way up to grab 6th place and Rupp, while clearly looking exhausted and needing some medical assistance at the end, still managed 8th place. I got to give Ritz credit, twice he has been the top American at the international championship after being 2nd at the USA championship (2008-marathon vs Ryan Hall, 2009-10,000 meters vs Galen Rupp).
The US qualified three out of four men to the 1500 final – the L triplets: Leo (Manzano), Lopez Lomong, and (Bernard) Lagat. Let’s see if these three can be competitive in the Final.
The women qualified three runners to the semi-final but it took some drama. I was pretty heartbroken for awhile when Shannon fell in the first 200 of her heat and appeared not to qualify. The fall was right in front of where we were sitting. She did all the right things after the fall – got up quickly, slowly caught back up with the pack (not sprinting to immediately catch up). But when it came time to kick in the last 300 it just wasn’t there. I did not see all of Shannon’s college races, but I believe this is the first time she’s fallen during a race. As we left the meet all we could do was hope the US could appeal that because she fell (even though it was unintentional), she did not get a fair chance to compete and should be advanced on to the next round. This often happens at championship meets (including on Monday with an 800 runner from Kenya), so I knew it was possible…but also that it was not guaranteed. What a relief it was when we heard she was going to be able to race the semi-final on Friday.
This success from the US in the distance races took some of the sting away when Maggie Vessey (and the other women 800 runners) did not qualify for the final. Vessey has had such a roller coaster of a season. She never really attacked in her semi-final, starting the race in more or less last place and finishing in that same spot.
At the track tonight (Tuesday), I was again most impressed with the knowledge and spirit of the German fans. The crowd gets very very loud (and rightfully so) in support of their home country athletes. Tonight it was for Steffi Nerius in the javelin. Nerius was clearly motivated by the raucous crowd and unleashed a big throw early in the competition to take the lead. The world record holder Barbara Spotokova did her best to spoil the German’s party. On Spotokova’s last throw the crowd let out a roar when the spear was still mid-flight…apparently this knowledgeable crowd could tell just by the trajectory that the throw was not good enough to beat Nerius. And the crowd was right. Germany had its first gold medal of the championships.
Checking in from Eugene
It’s Saturday June 27, Day Three of the 2009 USA Track & Field Championships. Thursday it was just me, Malinda, and Paul Zager at the meet. But by the time we settled in to watch the 5000’s Friday evening, John Spriggs and Asit Panwala had joined us and we had our Pamakid group of five.
It’s been a great time up here so far. Too many star athlete sightings on the Pre Trail to count. My favorite was a young woman named Stephanie, who I actually stopped and talked to. Stephanie is a big running fan and is relatively famous in running circles because of her posts on LetsRun.com under the nickname “Txrunnergrl.”
As usual, the Villard St. Pub is the happening place. At night after the meet it’s packed with fans, coaches (high school, college and professional), and athletes. On Thursday night I got to talk to John Godina. I know John from my UCLA manager days. He’s the nicest guy. Always says hi and talks to me at the meets when I see him. A 9-time medalist at World Championships and Olympics. Made TEAM USA in both shot put and discus. Nice story about his retirement and how he’s still supporting the sport that he loves can be found here: http://www.iaaf.org/news/kind=100/newsid=49498.html. My favorite story is he once won a fancy car for winning a major meet and he turned it in to get a pick-up truck that he could drive around the ranch when he was home in Wyoming. That’s John Godina for you. When we took this picture, he was joking with Malinda the whole time, “make me look pretty and slender” (we even switched sides to get his better side!
Last night Malinda and I caught Bob Larsen in a talkative mood (check here for a previous story I wrote about Bob: http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/chanman/22-the-bob-larsen-i-know-2007). One of the greatest coaches in the sport told us how Meb was doing, his opinion that athletes should take their turn leading long races like the 10,000 and not let everyone else do all the work, and some great insights about how the US should be developing steeplechasers better. It was amazing stuff! I also got to talk to Shannon’s college coach, Kevin Jermyn, and Shannon’s boyfriend when they were at Duke, Jon Amt. The three of us can proudly say we were the instrumental ones in developing the runner she’s become before John Cook took her to the next level.
This morning was the Hootie 5K, an informal race put on by the guys who organize the entertainment, vendors, and other activities at Villard St Pub. Before the race the adidas rep said they’d give us a free beer token if we tried on a pair of adidas racing flats and ran with them in the race. So why not? John and I took them up on the offer. The Pamakids were well represented with all five of us running and with me, John, and Malinda in our Pamakid uniforms. We were told we took home the team award but there was not actually a team category. Congrats to John who in the post-race raffle, won a pair of those very adidas racing flats.
I’ve commented to Malinda the last two nights that I am in track heaven right now. Eugene is the perfect venue. It’s small enough that everywhere we go we see someone we know. Although the energy isn’t the same as last year for the Trials, I love seeing so many of my track friends everyday. Some of these guys I only talk to once a year at this meet.
Oh yeah, there’s a meet going on, too.
