byStuart Weir
Mujinga Kambunji, set Swiss records at 100m and 200m. Her 100m last a mere five minutes! photo via TV by Kathy Camara
Stuart Weir has a , well, eccentric sense of humor. I called him a Scotsman for two years before he told me he was English, just living near the Scottish border.
This is his favorite column, on Quirky things.
The Quirky side of Tokyo
Red tape
Anna Cockrell lost her red tape measure, which she uses to set her starting blocks, and had several officials looking for it. She explained: “There was a bit of a translation issue because it was like how do you translate a red tape measure in Japanese”. And because this is the column that brings you the stories others don’t, we can reveal that before getting a red tape measure, Anna had a yellow one.
Dqed and re-instated
Amalie Iuel (Norway), running in the 400 hurdles seemed to be disqualified, allowed to run under protest, and re-instated but she did not make the final.
Misjudgment of the day
Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson – who won bronze in the 100m – finished fourth when she sensationally eased down too soon, missing out on the qualification places by four one-thousandths of a second.
Most generous comment about a rival
“It’s just good to see him back. It’s been a long season without him. He’s my good friend. We all want the best for each other”, Steven Gardiner on Wayde van Niekerk.
Record breaker
Mujinga Kambundji set new Swiss records for 100m and 200m. Her 100m record lasted all of 5 minutes until Ajla Del Ponte beat in in the next heat.
Quotes of the day
“My eyes almost look like somebody punched me, but that is what championship is a lot.” Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce
“Without coffee I would never be Olympic champion” Sifan Hassan.
Disturbing incident
Belarusian sprinter, Kristina Timanovskaya claimed she was pressured to leave the Olympics over her complaints about Belarusian sporting officials. A statement from the Belarus National Olympic Committee said the athlete is “safe and secure” and was withdrawn from the Tokyo Games on doctors’ advice about her “emotional, psychological state”. She has now been offered asylum in Poland after heading to the Polish embassy in Tokyo.
Slow
Adam Gemili felt his hamstring just after the start of the 200 prelims. He walked to the finish and his time was officially recorded as 1:58.58.
Protest
The USOPC has confirmed it will not take any action against Olympic shot put silver medallist Raven Saunders who raised her arms and crossed them to form an “x” while standing on the shot put podium.
Christine Mboma
Congratulations to Christine on winning silver in the 200. But she is 18. She is not eligible to run in the 400 because of testosterone levels and five minutes later she is beating Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Gabby Thomas. No blame for Christine but questions have to be asked.

MBOMA Christine
