byLarry EderGood morning fellow track enthusiasts! It is morning session in Valencia, Spain. So, grab the coffee ( it better be Peets or something good!), some yogurt and sit back and read your fave blogger’s diatribes:
Morning Session
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Valencia, Spain
Heptathlon, Men
The 60 meters
Bryan Clay, the current U.S. multi stud, is off and running this morning. In the 60 meters, Clay took no prisoners and ran a fine 6.71 for 988 points. Behind him was Andres Raja of Estonia, with his 6.95 and 900 points, Donovan Kilmartin of the US, the new boy wonder of the multis, with his 7.02 and 875 points, Mikhail Logvinenko in 7.03 and 872 points, Aleksandr Pogorelov of Russia in 861 points and a time of 7.06. Roman Sebrle, Czech deca deity, is in sixth with 826 points for his 7.16 run for 60 meters.
The long jump
Bryan Clay is all dressed up and no place to go. In the long jump, he went 7.56m for a seasonal best, then busted a 7.75 for 997 points and a total of 1985.
Andres Raja, from Estonia, a country obsessed with multis ( look, every two years, they have a double decathlon, with all the sadism of the regular dec, plus steeple, 5k, 10k, marathon, come on,
and they get over two hundred, how shall we say, ” multi enthusiasts”?–I would suggest all participants get a free month in a little white room, with nice little doctors to help them with their obsessions! Sorry, I digressed.. Andres Raja jumped 7.42m for 915 points and with his total of 1815, remains in second.
In third, Aleksandr Pogorelov of Russia jumped 7.48 meters for 930 points and a total of 1791 after two events.
Roman Sebrle of the Czech Republic is one wily competitor. The silver medalist in Sydney in the dec, the gold medalist in Athens. At Worlds, he took the silver in Helsinki and gold in Osaka. In 2001, at Gotzis, Roman Sebrle became the first man over the mythical 9000 points, scoring five personal bests. If that does not intimidate you, then consider this: Roman has completed twenty one decathlons over 8,500 points, another 44 over 8,00o points. Let’s see, 22 plus 44 equals, yes,
66!
Indoors, Roman is only second on the all time list with 6438 for the heptathlon and he won the title in Budapest in 2004. Sebrle long jumped 7.60 meters for 960 points, moving himself up to fourth in 1786.
In fifth is Andrei Krauchanka of Belarus, with 1783 after his long jump of 7.63 for 967 points.
The US’ Donovan Kilmartin, long jumped 7.36 m for 898 points and two event total of 1775.
Women’s 60 m hurdles
Heat 1
Susanna Kallur showed why she is the queen of her domain. Hurdling well, but with the slowest start of any in the field, Kallur ran 7.87 to win her heat. Lacena Golding-Clarke, of Jamaica ran 8.01 for second. In third was Eline Berings of Belgium, in 8.05, in a national record. In fourth was Angela Whyte of Canada, in 8.16. The top three qualified from this heat.
Susanna Kallur of Sweden thrilled the audience when she spoke in Spanish today, noting after her race;” I am feeling good here in Valencia. I know that it is a fast track. I felt hard underfoot, and that is good for me. I don’t know if I will break my world record this evening. But I would like to get the victory like the European Indoor Championships in Madrid three years ago.
Heat 2
Nevin Yanit of Turkey won here, in 8.09, Yuliya Kondkova of Russia was second in 8.13 and Cindy Billaud of France in 8.20. The first three from each heat move on to round 2.
Heat 3
Anay Tejeda of Cuba won here in 7.93. Candice Davis of the US took second here, in 8.02 and Micol Cattaneo of Italy took third in 8.02 with all three qualifying.
Heat 4
Spain’s Josephine Onyia hurdled 7.84 to run a personal best to take heat 4. After the race, this was her comments on her hurdling, : ” I am now going to rest a little and do some stretching before the semi final. I hope to run faster later on today and maybe get a record. I feel I could have run a 7.80 as I came off the final hurdle a little bad, but now I just want to run stronger later today.”
In second was LoLo Jones of the US, who looked strong and relaxed, in 7.96. Aleksandra Antonova ran 8.05 for third. Sarah Claxton of Great Britain took fourth in 8.12 and Yevgeniya Shihur of the Ukraine ran 8.16 in fifth. Due to the quickness of the heat, the top five moved on to round 2.
My picks so far-Kallur, Onyia an Jones. Jones has to focus and get into the groove, and she has a strong shot at silver. Kallur, if she stays on, could break her world record, this track is fast.
Men’s 60 M Hurdles
Heat 1
Jackson Quinonez of Spain ran 7.58 to move, thrilling the crowd. Thomas Blaschek of Germany ran 7.61 for second, with Adrien Deghelt of Belarus in 7.73 was third in a personal best. Damjan Zlatnar of Slovenia ran 7.76 for fourth, moving on.
Heat 2, Xiang Liu gets a flyer, Robles stops
Lesson number 1-Never, ever, stop in an international race until you hear that false start gun. I remember a story about the World Cross Country. Frank Shorter was speaking to some of the young guns on the team ( circa 1975) and was quoted as telling them, that the race was notorious for false starts. He told them to watch Gaston Roelants, and if he goes, run like mad.
It seems apparent that there are some issues with the reaction timing device. Reaction times of .101 are not physically possible, times under .150 are suspect. Please, please turn off la machine and get the issues worked out! For athletes and coaches, do not stop running until you see the rest of the field turn around.
Well Dayron Robles had one of those bad days in the office. LIned up in an early heat, heat two of the 60 meter hurdles. This event sh ould have been the race of the weekend. However, the race went off, and Robles got caught in the blocks, obviously thinking the race would be called back, it was not. Xiang Liu of China took second in the heat, with a reaction time of .105-come on! Liu ran 7.73 for his seasonal best. Stanislav Olijrars of Latvia won the heat in 7.72. Maksim Lynsha of Belarus was third in 7.80 and Samuel Coco-Viloin of France was fourth in 7.85, the fop four moving on.
Truth is, the Cuban is experienced enough to know one does not stop racing until the rest of the field stops. Not in a World Champs.
But Dayron Robles, who was given a time of 8.53 will not be in the mix at this World Championships.
Heat 3
Petr Svoboda of the Czech Republic ran 7.71 to take heat three. In second was Robert Kronberg of Sweden, in 7.73, in third was Yoel Hernandez of Cuba, in 7.74, always a threat, and in fourth was Evgeniy Boris of Russia hurdled 7.79 to also move on.
Heat 4
Allan Scott of Great Britain was the winner here, in 7.64. Allen Johnson, who first competed at a World Indoor in 1995, took second in 7.67. Paulo Villar of Columbia was third in 7.68. The speed of this heat meant all six made the next round! In fourth ws Dongpeng Shi of China, who ran 7.72 for a seasonal best. Masato Naito of Japan set a national record in fifth in 7.75 and Stanislav Sajdok of the Czech Republic ran 7.81 for sixth. All six moved on.
Heat 5
The U.S. hurdler David Oliver ran a scorching 7.59 to take heat five. Maurice Wignal of Jamaica ran 7.61 for second, his seasonal best. Willi Mathiszik of Germany hurdled 7.70 for third and Alexandru MIhailescu of Romania hurdled 7.88 for fourth. All four moved on.
My picks, Xiang Liu, Oliver, Johnson.
Shot Put Discussions-Can’t we all just be friends?
During a post event interview last night, shot put Gold medalist was a bit miffed from an earlier
disagreement with Reese Hoffa around the US indoor champs. I will not get into the story here, by I have provided a link. However, Mr. Cantwell did suggest that when he was buried, he should be
placed to that his backside was pointed up and the purported offender could the embrace his backside. For the link, http://www.boston.com/sports/other_sports/articles/2008/02/25/shot_put_lands_in_controversy/ .
Now, we all have bad days and good days. I would suggest that Mr. Cantwell just use that anger and get that indoor world record.
I stay out of the we are the world, we are the children stuff.
Long Jump Qualifying, Women
No surprises here. Naide Gomes lead in 6.72m with Eloyse LeSuer of France in 6.67m, Maurren Higa Maggi in 6.65m, and Concepcion Montainer of Spain in 6.64m and Irina Simagine of Russia in 6.60m. All five met the auto standard of 6.60 meters. Ineta Radevica of Latvia, in 6.52m, Janice Josephs of South Africa jumped 6.51m for a personal best and Keila Costa of Brazil jumped a seasonal best of 6.41m to fill out the field for the long jump final.
The US jumper Lela Nelson reached 6.31m and ranked 11th. She does not move on.
Women’s 1,500 meters qualifying
Heat 1
Gelete Burka took the lead in a genteel 36.38 for 200 meters. The 400 was passed by Nataliya Tobias of the Ukraine in 70.26. Tobias lead at 600 meters in 1:45.08. At 800 meters, the US runner, Christian Wurth-Thomas charged to the lead in 2:17.59, cutting the pace to a 67. Wurth-Thomas lead at 1000 meters in 2:48.99 and was overtaken by Yelena Soboleva of Russia, who lead the 1200 in 3:21.21.
Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain took over at 1400 in 3:52.39 and won in 4:07.43. In second was Soboleva of Russia ran 4:07.85, Gelete Burka of Ethiopia ran 4:08.24 for third, Daniela Yordanova of Bulgaria ran 4:08.44 for fourth. That was the last qualifier from this heat.
Christin Wurth-Thomas of the US ran gutsy, finishing sixth, in a personal best of 4:10.56. Note that in eighth place, Mari Jarvenpaa ran 4:13.24, a national record for Finland.
Heat 2
Bouchra Ghezielle of France lead, hitting 32.94 for the 200 meters. Sonja Roman of Slovenia took the lead at 400 m in 65.42, then Yuliya Fomenko of Russia began to control the race. Fomenko lead the 600 m in 1:37.83, 800 meters in 2:10.55, and 1000 in 2:42.90, just about 64 second pace.
Fomenko lead at the 1200 meters in 3:15.78 and took the win in 4:05.94. Liliana Popescu of Romania took second in 4:06.68. Sonja Roman of Slovania took third in a seasonal best of 4:08.12. Bouchra Ghezielle of France was fourth in 4:08.83. Siham Hilali of Morocco scored personal best in fifth in 4:10.09. She was the last qualifier.
Jemma Simpson of Great Britian ran 4:11.17 in a pb for sixth. Jenelle Deatherage of the US ran a smart race, starting in back and moving up through 1200 meters, finishing strong in 4:14.27, with Kajsa Haglund, who Deatherage had moved through the field with, scoring a personal best in 4:14.82.
US fortunes at the 1,500 meters for women and men had not been good here. Myers ran smart and competitively, as did both of the women today.
Well, that is it for the morning session. Out for some meetings, some sun and see you back in five hours!
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