by Larry Eder
In my mind, the best thing to happen in the Diamond League in 2010 was that Tyson Gay
defeated Usain Bolt. In showing that both superlative athletes are human, the DL will create much more value than if, ah, yawn, Bolt won everything in sight. Why?
Our sport is about, match-ups. Competition! Gay and Bolt straining to take the race will be
seen all around the world, even though Universalsports.com pulled the YouTube video of the
race (why do that? The more who see the race, the more valuable your sponsorship is!).
On the cover of SPIKES, a super British publication on athletics, they featured Tyson Gay and noted that Gay would be the guy to defeat Bolt. Nice piece, well done and timely. Usain has had some injuries this year, and Tyson is recovering from his. This race, and perhaps, if we are lucky, another, will have Usain and Tyson racing against each other in 2010. That will be discussed through 2011.
I am not sure why anyone was shocked. After all, both Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay are human and showed class in congratulating each other after the race! Great race on both of their
parts-heck, an epic race! Let’s see some more!
EME NEWS (AUG 6, 2010)
Two diamonds, Gay beats Bolt and Alice Cooper
STOCKHOLM (SWE, Aug 6): Excellent edition of DN-Galan Samsung Diamond
League meeting in nice weather, sold out stadium (15 472), two meet
records
(plus two more from shot put the day before) and hyped sprinting clash
won by Tyson Gay. On a sunny evening when Alice Cooper – playing in Stockholm this
weekend – had said an earlier hello to the fans.
Event by event review
men
100 m: Gay beats for first time non-shape Bolt, meet record in
wind-less conditions, still waiting for first years sub 9.80.
400 m: Non-DL race, African record holder Kikaya beats a decent
overseas field.
800 m: Great victory for Euro-champ Lewandowski, Kaki´goes out after
600 m in slow second half.
5000 m: First important win for Mark Kiptoo who is running only four
years. Merga third ( (PB), still good chances to win DR.
Steeple: Kipsiele loves Stockholm, clear wind, his 43rd sub 8:10 in the
career. This was non DL.
400mH: The second meet record of the evening, Batman rules in 47.65.
TJ: Tamgho beats local hero Olsson (still best of the year) and has
long foul in the last attempt.
JT: Pitkamäki wins for first time here and gives Thorkildsen a loss
after five wins in a row at DN-Galan. (Kovals was the best in the right
direction throwing and missed the target by only 0.36 m).
women
200 m: Felix won but was not that impressive as in the first part of
the season.
400 m: Barcelona winner Firova beat world leader and African with
Jamaican champ.
1500 m: Third DL win for oly champ Lagat, she wants to remain unbeaten.
Good chances as she beat nearly the whole world elite.
5000 m: Defar stopped to push after 3 km and wanted just to beat
Barcelona gold medalist Bekele. Succesfull. Non-DL affair.
Steeple: Zarudneva controlled Nairobi gold medalist Chemos.
100mH: Australian Pearson came late into the season and is more fresh
than the others, and also more motivated with Commonwealth Games
coming. Solid pro debut by Queen Harrison.
HJ: Empty Vlasic beats fresh Howard (this time daughter remained at
home, had one 620 long jump before), home crowds happy for third of
Green.
PV: Feofanova was not tired after Montjuic win, passed 481 and went for
486.
LJ: Junior Klishina landed her first DL win over world and European
champions.
Stat Notes
STOCKHOLM (SWE): The difference in the 100 m heat between Usain Bolt
and Richard Thompson was 0.001 (10.091 and 10.092). Best results ever
for August 6 were achieved by Tyson Gay at 100 m, Mark Kiptoo in the
5000 m, Yulia Zarudneva in the steeple. Bolt lost only two from his
finals since 2008 (and one race in 2007) when he started seriously with
the 100 m, that is 21 wins and two lost races counting only finals and
the 150 m race. His last 200 m defeat is dated back to September 14,
2007 when he lost to Wallace Spearmon and Xavier Carter at Van Damme
Memorial. Here his winning streak of finals is at 13.
OTHER NEWS
LONDON (GBR): August 7, 1995, will go down in athletics history as it
was on this day
that Great Britain’s Jonathan Edwards bounded out to 18.29m, a mark
which still stands today as the triple jump world record. Writes EA.
That mark was achieved 15 years ago at World Championships in Goteborg.
Edwards was in a role of BBC interviewer on Friday in Stockholm
together with fellow UK star Colin Jackson.
HAMILTON (BER): Bermudan media are informing that long jumper Tyrone
Smith (recently winning CAC Games and improving to 822) has leapt into
the Americas squad for next
month’s Continental Cup following his CAC Games gold medal heroics.
Smith, 24, said he would be targeting another podium finish at the
Continental Cup as he aims to maintain his medal-winning momentum ahead
of the Commonwealth Games, held in Delhi, India in October. “I’m
excited, it’s a huge team to make, to be considered as one of the
top long jumpers not just in the Caribbean or North American but in the
whole region,” said Smith, who is competing at meets in Italy and
Slovenia prior to the Continental Cup. The second jumper for America
could come from trio which is ahead of Smith in the world lists Dwight
Philips, Alain Bailey and Irving Saladino.
SPLIT (CRO): Who will run for Americas Team the 100 m at IAAF
Continental Cup in Split? The team should be selected based on world
lists as at July 31. That would mean first choice for Asafa Powell or
Usain Bolt. But Powell is injured and Bolt is not planning to compete
in Croatia. Next choice is Tyson Gay and Yohan Blake. If Gay will not
accept the invitation then next is Ivory Williams followed by Walter
Dix from US. If not Blake next is Daniel Bailey from Antigua. In the
teams for Continental Cup only one athlete per country is able to
compete and each of four teams will have two representatives in each
event.
LUZERN (SUI): Latest addition into the Spitzenleichtathletik Meet in
Luzern (Nottwil) on Sunday (EA Classic meet) is olympic silver medalist
Sherone Simpson of Jamaica. She will race at the 100 m against Kerron
Stewart as both tied the second place in Beijing.
Athletes having 69 olympic and world championships medals will compete.
Wallace Spearmon runs the 200 m and hopes to improve his own meet
record 20.29.Eurosport will show the meet live from 4.30 pm local time.
HOKKAIDO (JPN): Top invited runners for Hokkaido Marathon on Aug 29 are
Kenyans Mekubo Mogusu and Daniel Njenga along with Japanese Masaru
Takamizawa. In women section Yumiko Hara, Mizuho Nasukawa and Yukari
Sahaku.
MONACO (MON): IAAF ratified road 25 km world records from Berlin in
May. The 1:11:50 of Samuel Kosgei and 1:19:53 of Mary Keitany.
LONDON (GBR): Sportcal website informs that, adidas financial results were boosted by FIFA World Cup.
BUDAPEST (HUN): Stockholm DN-Galan meet is fourth in the current
All-Athletics.com one day meeting rankings. Top three places for Paris,
Monaco and Lausanne.
MOSCOW (RUS): Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev supported financial
rewards for Barcelona medalists during a special meeting with them.
Walking winner Olga Kaniskina invited Russian President to visit
Mordovia, what is the main walking area within Russia. High jump
European champion Aleksandr Shustov expressed thanks for the support of
the sport. At the meeting also Federation president Valentin
Balakhnichev took part along with head-coach Valentin Maslakov and
personal coaches of the medalists. Balakhnichev was recently elected
into the new Russian Olympic Committee board which was reduced from 27
to 20 persons.
RESULTS
PATIALA (IND, Aug 6): Downpour of rain, just prior to the start of
evening session on the
second day at national inter-state athletics championships here, did
not deter the ambitions of athletes as they showered with several good
performances. Mayookha Johny registered a new national record 13.68 in
the triple jump. The partially wet track on the NIS grounds saw the
fastest timing by
an Indian on home soil as Pankaj Dimri emerged as a
winner in a highly tactical men’s 800m race. He missed Sriram Singh’s
34-year-old national mark (1:45.77) and the Indian all-comers’ record
held by Kenyan Billy Konchellah (1:45.93) by a whisker as he returned a
time of 1:46.26. Writes Murali Krishnan. Mandeep Kaur won the women 400
m in solid 52.13.
SCHLANDERS (ITA, Aug 6): Czech win at 10th Pole Vault meet in North of
Italy. Michal Balner cleared as the only one 563 before a 1000 crowd at
the city square. He then had close attempts at new meet record height
of 575. “It was very close,” he said. Germans followed in the results.
Raphael Holzdeppe and Richard Spiegelburg both with 553.
ULM (GER, Aug 6): German Dennis Lewke who was second at European Youth
Olympic Games Trials in May won the national title in his category with
21.15 (5 kg) improvement.
KAJAANI (FIN, Aug 6): Oli-Pekka Karjalainen won the hammer at Finnish
Championships with 75.20. The 100 m title went to Joni Rautanen
clocking 10.66 against -0.7 wind.
JINAN (CHN, Aug 6): New national pole vault record highlighted the
second day of Chinese Championships, informs Tilastopaja. Yang Yansheng
cleared 575 and improved his own mark from this June by 3 cm. Lao Yi
clocked 10.31 to win the 100 m (0.0) and Chang Pengben improved to
45.98 to be the best in the 400 m. In women events season best for
olympic hammer medalist Zhang Wenxiu (73.83) and other good marks for
Zheng Xinjuan in high jump (191) and Tao Yujia in 100 m (11.42, 0.0).
Reigning Asian Games winner Xue Fei won the 5000 m (15:41.60).
