Long Distance
World-Class Americans, 2008 (800m - 10000m)
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008Here’s the list of all American runners from 800m through 10000m who made the IAAF top lists in 2008 and the events for which they made the list:
Swiss You Can’t Miss
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008
Bob Ramsak has posted a preview of the Weltklasse Zürich meet over at the IAAF’s Golden League website. Don’t forget to join Tom Borish over at TrackShark.com for a live video feed and some live blogging of the meet this Friday, August 29th!
Steeplechaser-Turned-Marathoner Kemboi
Sunday, August 24th, 2008Spikes Magazine reports that Ezekiel Kemboi, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist in the 3000m steeplechase, will become a marathoner and attempt to make the 2012 Kenyan Olympic team in that event after failing to defend his title in Beijing.
Clay claims “world’s greatest athlete” moniker, wins Olympic decathlon
Friday, August 22nd, 2008
BEIJING - Bryan Clay upgraded his 2004 silver medal to 2008 gold in the decathlon, dominating competition during Friday evening action at the "Bird’s Nest" National Stadium.
Clay (Glendora, Calif.) got his evening off to a very strong start, throwing a season-best 70.97m/232-10 to place third in the javelin. The performance earned him 904 points, bringing his total up to 8,269 with one event remaining in the 10-event competition. Ahead of the field by 479 points, his only competition was himself in the final event, the 1,500m.
Never a favorite event for Clay, he endured through the accumulated fatigue of two days of competition to finish in 5:06.59 for 522 points, bringing his winning total to 8,791 and becoming the first U.S. gold medalist in the event since Dan O’Brien in 1996. Andrei Krauchanka of Belarus took the silver with 8,551, and Leonel Suarez of Cuba finished third with 8,527.
Dibaba Outkicks Defar In Painfully Slow Beijing Women’s 5000m Final
Friday, August 22nd, 2008[I'm doing what you might call a little live-blogging here with plenty of post-race editing...] They’re absolutely jogging. Gulnara Samitova-Galkina (RUS), the gold medalist in the women’s steeplechase, leads the field through the 1st 1000m in an embarrassingly-slow 3:39.20, on track for a time of 18:16.00. High schools meets are faster than this race. The field is all bunched up and the kickers must be licking their lips.
Elvan Abeylegesse leads the field through 2000m in 6:45.41. She’s picked up the pace by a little bit, but not by much, having run the last 1000m in 3:12.72. Now they’re on pace for a 16:36.9 an they’re still bunched up in a tight group. Samitova takes back the pacing duties and passes the 3000m mark in 9:58.13. She’s slowed it down again, and everybody in the field seems okay with that. They’re on track for a laughable 16:36.9 now. Tirunesh Dibaba takes over and passes 4000m in 13:04.77. The last 1000m split is 3:06.64, on pace for 16:21. Her compatriots Meseret Defar and Meselech Melkamu are there, as are the three Americans (Kara Goucher, Shalane Flanagan and Jen Rhines), the three Kenyans (Sylvia Jebiwott Kibet, Vivian Cheruiyot, Priscah Jepleting Cherono) , the Turk (Elvan Abeylegesse) and both Russians (Samitova and Liliya Shobukhova).
Men’s 5000m Heats: Ruthless Rules Of Engagement Cause More Notable Casualties In Beijing’s War Of Attrition
Wednesday, August 20th, 2008
The qualifying rules for the three heats of the men’s 5000m are ruthless: the top 4 from each each plus the next 3 fastest runners advance to the final. Here are the weather conditions at race time: 79°F Clear. Humidity: 74%. Wind: SE 9 mph. Chance of Precip.: 20 %. Let’s see how the heats play out in this soupy humidity. Here we go:
Heat One: Matt Tegenkamp should buy Alistair Ian Cragg (IRL) a pint or two for doing all of the heavy lifting in round one. Cragg took the field through 1000m in 2:45.6 and the 2nd 1000m in 2:45.9. They were on track for an honest sub-3:50 race. Aadam Ismaeel Khamis (BRN) passed the 3000m mark in 8:19.3, the 3rd 1000m having been run in 2:47.7. Then it slowed even further, but not by much. Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) hit that split in 11:08.4, a 2:49.1 for the 4th 1000m, and they were still on track for a sub 14:00. They ran the last 1000m at a sub 4:00 mile pace and Matt Tegenkamp came home first in 13:37.36, followed by Kipchoge (13:37.50), Tariku Bekele (ETH, 13:37.63) and Kidane Tadasse (ETH, 13:37.72). If my eyes weren’t deceiving me, it looked like Tegenkamp busted through a box down the home stretch by splitting it down the middle like a cruise ship busting through a group of sea kayaks and left all the little Africans in his wake. Maybe I was seeing things but it looked pretty cool. Cragg finished 6th, but his 13:38.57 should get him through to the next round.
Will Men’s 5000m Be Yet Another 4000m Jog/1000m Dash?
Tuesday, August 19th, 2008
Get this: eighteen men on the start list for tomorrow’s 5000m heats have PR’s that are faster than the Olympic record of 13:05.59 which was set by Said Aouita way back in 1984. That includes three Ethiopians (world-record holder Kenenisa Bekele, his little bro’ Tariku Bekele, Abreham Cherkos), three speedy Kenyans (Eliud Kipchoge, Thomas Pkemei Longosiwa, Edwin Cheruiyot Soi), a plucky Australian (Buster Mottram) who thinks that African distance runners can be beat, a pretty dangerous Ugandan (Moses Kipsiro) and even a couple of guys (Bernard Lagat, Matt Tegenkamp) who are a part of the American distance resurgence.
Most Olympic 5000m finals are tactical affairs. Take for instance the 2004 Games. The first 1000m split was 2:58.5, on pace for an embarrassing 14:52 finish. The next 1000m split was a respectable 2:37.5, a pace which would have yielded a final time of 13:07. The 3rd 1000m split was a serious 2:34.9, on pace for a scintillating 12:54.5. The fourth 1000m found the runners putting on the brakes again. The split at the 10 lap mark was 2:37.7, which would have been good for a final time of 13:08.6. Finally, it got down to the 1000m race it really was all along. The final 1000m was run in an unseemly 2:25.8, which would have translated to a 12:08.9 final time had some super human been able to run that pace for twelve and a half laps.