This weekend, track and field had the perfect storm. Non-Championship year? Check. Athletes chasing records and paydays? Check. High quality meets with top-notch facilities and meet directors servicing the athletes' every desire? Check. Below are my semi-organized thoughts on the athletes and events that made it a memorable weekend.Kings of the Weekend:
1. David Rudisha owned the weekend with two tremendous performances in a span of roughly 48 hours. First in the Memorial Van Damme, much as I anticipated, he turned the matchup with Abubaber Kaki into a dud. I don't think there is any better way to assert one's confidence or dominance than what Rudisha did. Rudisha ran from the front and eschewed the hot early pace. He chose to do that knowing full well that slowing from 400m-700m kept all of the competitors, including Kaki, in the race. At just before the final straight, after he had allowed Kaki to assume prime position next to him, he decisively blew him out along with the rest of the field. It looked like Rudisha was running a prelim race while world #2 Kaki was running the final. Well, essentially, that was the case, for Rudisha ran his world record attempt just two days later. As the relatively perceptive of you know by now, Rudisha set his second world record in a week with a 1:41.01. The dynamics of his race were similar to his first World Record with his personal pacemaker Sammy Tangui setting an even hotter pace, a staggering 48.20 at 400 meters. Rudisha was well off the pace like last time, and without better video it's hard to tell what his split was. He did receive an extra 50 meters (to about 500 meters) of pacing this time and even some drafting from second pacemaker in countryman Jackson Kivuva as well as some futile chasing by Kivuva. Rudisha's 600 split was marginally slower (1:14.59 to 1:14.54) and doing some quick arithmetic his last 200 was .13 faster. The guy is amazing and his undefeated campaign in the 800 now rivals the best of the G.O.A.T., Wilson Kipketer. In 48 hours, Rudisha showed us he can run an easy 1:43 to crush the world #2, and that he is the fastest 800m runner of all time. Not a bad weekend. Finishing in Kipketer's wake was training partner Boaz Lalang, who ran what would usually be a headlining 1:42.95 for second. Showing well behind him was Nick Symmonds who ran a PB of 1:43.76 for second, and European runner-up Michael Rimmer who joined the 1:43 club with a 1:43.89 clocking.
2. Another man to pull off two victories in 48 hours was Kenyan Asbel Kiprop. Kiprop is an astounding 7 for 7 in his most recent 1500/mile races. I already did a wrap of his Brussels race, but any doubts of Kiprop's form, which might have arisen after Leo Manzano nearly chased him down, were alleviated in Rieti. 48 hours later, Kiprop, for all his dominance, never runs a fast time or competes in a fast race (unsurprisingly these are connected), was only too happy to slow the Rieti race down to set up his kick. After de facto lead-out man Augustine Choge took the lead from 400 out, the battle was on between 3:29.21 man Silas Kiplagat and Kiprop. Kiprop emerged victorious again and even celebrated meters from the finish. You can throw out PB's when Kiprop toes the line, he has earned the mantle of the favorite in any 1500 race. He also is the only man to practice enough finger-wagging and crossing to make Sammy Sosa and Dikembe Mutumbo jealous.
3. Event Leaders/Headliners continue their dominance:
A. Alysson Felix won the 200 in Brussels, this doing just enough to pull it out. The victory was certainly not a work of art, and it was kind of unnerving to see Felix struggle somewhat to edge out a group of athletes that she should dominate. It makes sense, though, when you consider the number of races Felix has contested as well as some grueling 400 meter races and even some occasional doubles
B. David Oliver won the Rieti 110m hurdles in 13.01. Sadly, he could not challenge the world record, but it has been an astouding season to remember for the broad-shouldered beast of a man.
C. Vivian Cheruiyot clinched her Diamond League title by easily dispatching Sentayehu Ejigu and a Tirunesh Dibaba-less field with a 61 plus last lap to win in 14:34. In that same race, the American record was broken by Molly Huddle who finished in....10'th with a 14:44.76. With the shifts in the tradionally patriarchal societies in Kenya and Ethiopia rapidly altering the landscape in women's distance running, the task for American women has never been tougher.
D. Tariku Bekele continued his exemplary running with his second straight 3000 victory with a 7:28.70 win and new world leader. Stealing some of the spotlight was Bernard Lagat's American record of 7:29.0. A very good performance without question by Lagat, but not unexpected from a 12:54 5000m man with some 1500m speed left in his old legs. I thought this one was a matter of time, though I was discouraged by his 7:35 in Berlin. Also, in the field Edwin Soi ran a PB of 7:29.75, and Chris Solinsky ran 7:34.32, which by qualifying as a "letdown" reaffirms how good a year Solinsky has had.
E. Wallace Spearmon continued his winning ways with a 19.85 meet record (no small feat) in Rieti. The Spearmon swagger is back, and I'm holding out hope that the man who used to beat Bolt and Gay routinely can become a giant killer in the next couple years. In second place, Angelo Taylor ran 20.23 for another 200m personal best. Odlly enough, just as Taylor's flat performances have peaked this season his hurdling performance have bottomed out. To wit, two days before Taylor barely broke 50 in the 400m hurdles. It's probably prudent to give Taylor the benefit of the doubt because the 2000 and 2008 Olympics are great examples of him melding his superior flat speed with his precarious hurdling form at the exact right moment.
F. Bershawn Jackson won the 400m hurdles in Brussels with considerable ease as he pulled away the last 100 meters to beat a solid effort from European Champion David Greene. Jackson has ruled the event this year, but winning the USA Championships figures to still be a daunting task. Down as they are this year, Angelo Taylor and Kerron Clement are both 47 second 400m hurdles guys who have often brought their best in championship years.
4. Minor Upsets/Surprises:
A. 2007 World Champion Janeth Jepkosgei clinched a big payday with a win in the 800 that garnered her the Diamond League Title. Tactics and positioning played a huge role in her triumph. Pacemaker Karen Shinkins took the field through in 56.14 second and handed over the lead to Indian (!) runner Tintu Luka and traditional front-runner Alysia Johnson. At 600 meters, the race outcome was still very much in the balance as Jepkosgei made her move to the front with pre-race favorite Mariya Savinova marking her every move. The order was particulary important as Jepkosgei was able to avoid being boxed or stuck in traffic. The slender Jepkosgei needed to avoid the physicality of the race and did. Her kick outlasted Savinova's who ran out of gas with about 30 meters to go, and did not have the same amount in reserves that she had at Weltklasse Zurich. Back in the field, 2009 World Champion Caster Semenya ran a slugglish first 600 meters before kicking nicely to pick up 3'rd. Semenya is still the athlete to beat in my view, as the IAAF's ruling on her eligibility was only a month or two ago and her 2009 gold-medal winning 1:55 can not be matched by any woman in the world.
B. 2007 and 2009 World Champion Maryam Yusuf Jamal halted her struggles with a remarkable change of form in a 3:58.93 victory in the 1500. The early pace was overly ambitious as they reached 61 for the first circuit before a 2:08 split at 800. I'm not quite sure who the impostor was masquerading as her for the first two months of her campaign, but now I'd be intrigued to see this edition of Jamal take on Nancy Langat.
C. European Steeplechase champion Mahiedine Benabbad shook off his disappointing showing in Zurich by beating Paul Koech with a substantial 4 second personal best of 8:02. The gap was built completely in the last lap where Benabbad surged past a noticeably tired Koech and ran a scorching, but extremely painful-looking last lap. It was the type of move that will be required to beat the likes of Ezekiel Kemboi who has the same trademark move.
Tyson Gay/Nesta Carter: I thought Tyson Gay's 9.78 in Brussels was pretty absurd when he ran it. His start and first 20 meters were way off, the weather was around 60 degrees and the wind was still. Yet, he ran 9.78. Tempering my wonderment was the fact that Nesta Carter PB'ed with a 9.85. At that time, I thought Carter was a Tier 2 level talent on par with say Walter Dix in the 100. Two days later in Rieti, Carter ran 9.78. Juiced track suspicions aside, Carter is now a contender considering his consistently great starting ability, and, well, the guy can apparently run 9.78. In the race, budding American phenom Ryan Bailey ran 9.88 and continued his breakout campaign. The Great White Hope Christophe LeMaitre also ran 9.97 for a new French national record. It's a bit scary to see the Jamicans have 3 athletes(Carter, Forsythe, Frater) run 9.98 or faster in a race missing Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell. The 4x100 World Record stands to break into the 36 range very soon.
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