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Beijing Flash! "Usain Bolt Runs His Heart Out", Takes Gold, Sets New WR of 19.30! by Larry Eder

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 07:08:11 -0800

Usain Bolt now has two world records, the 100 meters and the 200 meters. His 200 meter record of 19.30, broke a twelve year old record by Michael Johnson, which I also witnessed. Bolt's dominance of the sprints has the track & field world talking, this is how I saw the race...

Beijing Updates, August 20, 2008, by Alfons Juck, EME News, Notes by Larry Eder

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:21:42 -0800

Here Alfons Juck continues to update us on the global world of the sport, plus offers some perspective on the events of last night, Day five in Beijing Track & Field.

Nick Willis, third in the men's 1,500, gave his country New Zealand their first Olympic medal at the event since 1976, when John Walker took the gold!

Beijing Flash, Rashid Ramzi Not to Run 5,000 meters, by Alfons Juck

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:13:30 -0800

EME NEWS (AUG 20, 2008) FLASH

Ramzi not running the 5k

BEIJING: Fresh 1500 m olympic winner Rashid Ramzi will not run the 5000 m heats today. His management confirmed that he is too tired to compete today as he got back to his accomodations last night well after midnight.

Used with permission of Alfons Juck, Publisher of EME News.

Beijing Perspective: Bolt to Chase History Tonight, by Bob Ramsak, Note by Larry Eder

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:04:45 -0800

Here Bob Ramsak gives you some background into Usain Bolt, how his competitors view him and a consideration of what Bolt can do when he runs his heart out. It is my belief that Bolt will run 19.4-19.5 for the win, other medalists-Spearmon and Dix.

Beijing Perspective-Upsets, Vindication Highlight Day Five In Beijng, by Bob Ramsak, Note by Larry Eder

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 03:54:02 -0800

Bob Ramsak, of the highly regarded newsletter Track Profile.com digs deeper into the stories of Tuesday night, August 19, 2008.

Delloreen Ennis-London of Jamaica, took fifth in the 100 meter hurdles, with the same time as Damu Cherry of the US in fourth, both in 12.65.

Beijing Perspective-Stage Set for Wariner-Merritt and Dibaba-Defar Clashes, by Bob Ramsak

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 03:44:39 -0800

Here, Bob Ramsak wisely writes about two of the upcoming clashes in Beijing!

Beijing Flash! Rhashid Ramzi wins Olympic 1500 meters, silver to KIprop and Bronze to Willis! by Larry Eder

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 02:09:45 -0800

The Olympic 1,500 meters is one of the most grueling events in sport. With two rounds before the final, all over five days, the event is not for the faint hearted. Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain felt he had something to make up for in his career-his exit in the semi finals in Athens. His double win in Helsinki did not clear it up and his rough 1,500 meters in Osaka only made his more resolved....

Beijing Perspective-The Significance of Stephanie Brown Trafton and a response to the San Jose Mercury News, by Larry Eder

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:08:05 -0800

Stefanie Brown Trafton, first Olympic US track & field gold in Beijing and first women's gold in discus since 1932! (First Olympic womens discus medal since
1984 by Leslie Deniz)

The San Jose Mercury News, one of the most respected newspapers in the country, continues to play the same old record. Anne Killion and Mark Purdy, two of the top writers and two of my favorites ( I lived an coached in the bay area for nearly two decades) note the demise of American Track & Field, yet fail to truly do their homework. Mark Purdy, in a column on Stephanie Brown Trafton notes that the performances were sub par, and the top performer in the world was caught as a drug cheat. So, Purdy is suggesting, that even though Brown Trafton gave the US track team its first old medal, it was really an easy and sub par field. Nice way to pat a local on the back. I am not sure Mark would say the same thing about the Earthquakes, the Giants or other teams, but that is his perspective.

I wanted to provide you with a few facts, but lets start with this--that the Russian discus thrower was not here was because she made the decision to cheat, and that is what drug testing is supposed to do-test drugs. Track & field tests more than any sport either Killion or Purdy write about, including NFL, MLB, MLS, NBA combined.

Secondly, it is fine to write about the negatives, but how about equal treatment for the postive changes in our sport. It takes research so in the interest of saving the Merc some time and money, here we go....

Beijing Flash! Gerd Kanter takes the gold in the discus by Larry Eder

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:54:47 -0800

Watching a huge Estonian jog around the track and do his version of the lightning bolt of Usain Bolt was one of the true treats of the evening....

Beijing Flash! Andrey Silnov wins High Jump, by Larry Eder

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:50:32 -0800

Andrey Silnov won the Olympic high jump on his jump of 2.36 meters. This was Silnov's first Olympic trip and he had to fight dearly for his place on the Russian team-it required an additional jump off to determine his position. Those Russian selectors should get a few rubles for their wise decision here!

Beijing Flash!100m Hurdles- Jones Stumbles, Harper takes the gold!, by Larry Eder

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:05:16 -0800

It is a fact of life, in hurdle race, people hit hurdles..it is a fact of life, that Olympic races have lots of pressure and the urge to push harder than one can, to hurdle faster than one can need to be mastered..things happen and for Lo Lo Jones, it was a bad day. For Dawn Harper, it was a day of tremendous joy and surpise, but, this is the Olympics..

Beijing Flash! August 19, 2008-Christine Ohurugogu Wins Women's 400 meters! by Larry Eder

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:43:05 -0800

When Christine Ohuruogu won the gold in Osaka last year, with Nicole Sanders in attendance, the cynical observers said,well of course, the world's best is is not in the race...now, a year later, Ms. Ohuruogu is the Olympic gold medalist. This is how she did it and made Great Britain proud ( I had to say that, British Olympic committee is sitting right next to me)...

Beijing Diary, August 19, 2008-Evening Session, by Larry Eder

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 04:47:18 -0800

Welcome to day five, evening session. It is humid once again in Beijing, about 80 degrees with 40 percent humidity. My twenty minute walk from MPC-the main Press Centre had me dripping in my shirt. A good night of track and field in store!

Here is Walter Dix, one of my new favorite athletes. Walter knows how to get the job done and stays focused. That is a talent.

Beijing Update: August 19, 2008, Olympics Day 5, by Alfons Juck, Notes by Larry Eder

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 02:41:22 -0800

Welcome to day five. Well, the US finally had a decent day in Beijing on day four. Stephanie Brown Trafton takes the first US track gold in Beijing, and also first since 1984 for a US athlete and first for a US women since 1932! Jenn Stuczynski took silver in the pole vault and Angelo Taylor, Kerron Clement and Bershawn Jackson swept the 400 meter hurdles.

This morning all three US women ( Allyson Felix, Muna Lee, Marshevet Hooker) moved on in the 200 meters. Tonight we have the Women's 400 meter final, Women's 100 m hurdle final, Men's 1,500 final an Semis in the Men's 200m and 400 m, plus the Men's Discus final.

The mourning for Liu Xiang continues, Day 2. On Chinese TV there was a documentary about his family, his races, his coach on late last night and today it was announced that Liu Xiang apologized to the Chinese people for his injury. I do not know of anyone who had more pressure on them for the Beijing Games.

Athletes such as Liu Xiang, Tyson Gay, Bernard Lagat will have another day. This is the nature of our sport, pushing the body to its limits has its consequences. In the pursuit of excellence athletes push themselves, sometimes to the point of injury.

Take a moment and look at Osaka champions, many of them have fallen here. The Olympic stage is unforgiving....

Beijing Perspective: Jelimo Dominates, by Bob Ramsak, Notes by Larry Eder

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:28:28 -0800

The women's 800 meters, a 1-2 for Kenya, was the first gold medal for Olympic women in that event. It was also one of the furious of the middle distance races yet, in terms of pacing. Jelimo wanted to win, and lead the whole way, with Jepkosgei Busieni pushing her the entire race.

The men's steeplechase pace was strong, but not insane, which has happened in past, so that is part of reason why the unknown French steepler was in the game, but hats are off, as he broke up the top Kenyan runners in a race owned by Kenya for the past five Olympics.