Weekend Cooldown: London Wrap Sprints/Brit Announcers

Before I begin the recap, a few words on the excellence of British announcers. Last week I commented on how difficult it is to comment on hurdle races and pick out the winner. Well, the Brit announcers, that you can hear in all their resplendent glory live or archived on selected events on universalsports.com, knocked it out of the pitch on this one. Sure, their knowledge of the events, the competitors, and the tactics are great and set them apart, but their sense of the moment and their authentic joy is what is striking compared to our bland domestic commentators. The accents don't hurt either. If you want to see what I mean go to: http://www.universalsports.com/video/assetid=c0264beb-9168-443a-b877-993c1f427f38.html?__source=newsletter&cid=. At :42 in might be the most awesome (sorry no better word) moment of all as the announcer declares in a deep, whispering tone "The Stadium is silent (deep pause) in anticipation". His call of the race is fantastic too, and I find the analysis of all of the other events uniformly good.
Now onto the actual racing. I will logically start with the event I just referenced:

Men's 110mH:

Just as expected, David Oliver destroyed the field and won easily. His time was a solid 13.06, which likely was due to a combination of a run-of-the-mill start, a bunch of clanged hurdles, and, probably most critical, poor conditions (headwind and cold). His signature toppling finishing lean that I highlighted in the day one preview was somewhat restrained, but I hope that is not a trend. Until Dayron Robles, Ryan Brathwaite or a reinvigorated Liu Xiang return, Oliver will be king of this event and the only suspense will be his finishing time (and for me his dramatic lean).

Women's 200m and 400m (Felix Doubles):

On day one in the 200m, Alysson Felix won easily in crummy conditions against an overmatched and undercredentialed field. In day two she found herself against a stronger field, just as she was likely still feeling the effects of her 200m win. So what did Felix do? In work(wo)manlike fashion, she gutted it out. Tatiana Firova used an even-paced strategy that would have demoralized a lesser competitor. Felix, however, summoned just enough to pull her back and beat her to the line. My pre-race pick, Shericka Williams, went out hard but fell apart the last 150 meters when Firova mounted her charge. The times for everyone in the 400 were slow, but the level of competition was high.

Race Dynamics: I think this race really began with 100 meters to go. At that point, Alysson Felix, held a very narrow lead over the two athletes beside her, Debbie Dunn and Tatiana Firova. Both athletes narrowed the gap to nothing by 50 meters. At that point, Dunn seized the lead briefly only to have Firova take it almost immediately from her with a stronger move. Felix reacted with a subtle surge at 25 meters to go with whatever she had in reserve to take it just barely at the line. Both Firova and Dunn were unable to react to her subtle move, and had to settle for a narrowly beaten second and third. Great double for Felix, and this race confirms that she is a great competitor.

Men's 100m:

I know this would lead almost anywhere else, but by now you've probably heard and seen that Tyson Gay ran one of the more impressive 100 meters of all time. His time of 9.78 would be enough to confirm that, but the dreadful conditions (cold & wet) and the headwind (-0.4) make it all the more impressive. Gay got off to an amazing start, and ran the rest of the race tenaciously as well. One thing that you can count on from Gay is that he always puts forth his best effort. His injuries, the elements, the competition all are rendered irrelevant in his mind when he lines up on the track. In a final, he always runs as hard as he can through the line and never leaves any doubt.

Athletes and Storylines that Might Interest Only Me:

1. Jamaican youngster, Yohan Blake, was overshadowed by Gay, but ran a new personal best of 9.89. Even more encouraging, was that he ran 9.89 with a slow-ish start and kept pace with Gay the last 50 meters. For a guy, who nearly closed down Gay in a 200 earlier this year, that isn't a shock, but it's nice to see him finish that way again. Blake could become a powerful new addition to the trio of Bolt, Gay and Powell if he can improve his start.

2. American comeback man, J-Mee Samuels, solidified his 10.03 clocking in Luzern with a creditable 4'th place finish in 10.10 seconds. I'm very pleased to see Samuels running within .05 seconds of 2008 Olympic Silver Medalist Richard Thompson.

3. While Thompson had a decent race, Olympic fourth placer Churandy Martina continued his struggles, failing to even make the finals of the event. He did finish 2'nd in the 200m, but some .30 behind Wallace Spearmon.

4. Second favorite and 9.88 man Walter Dix pulled up midway through the race with a pulled hammy. Unfortunate for him, though, I'd be remiss not to note that he was not competitive at that juncture of the race after a poor start. I'm not sure if Dix ever will have the start and drive phase to compete with an on-form Bolt, Gay or Powell, but in the 200 he is a force who is always a medal threat.

Men's 400m:

Jeremy Wariner won with what he would later describe as a "stupid race" that included a late 100m surge that was just enough to defeat world leader Jermaine Gonzales.

Race Dynamics: Wariner chose lane 3, which basically ensures that as an athlete you will have full vision of your main competitors. Wariner typically goes out a little bit slower than other 400 meter runners, before his even pace yields dividends and he eats up any gaps. In this race his pacing was particularly drastic. Following the lead of countryman Ricardo Chambers, who quickly ate up the gap of the stagger on his inside, Gonzales went out quickly and built a lead on Wariner. Wariner gave Gonzales an awful lot of rope and from his post-race comments we can infer that he regretted his decision. Fortunately for Wariner, his easy pace the first 250 meters, which had allowed what looked like an insurmountable gap to grow, enabled him to shift gears and eat up distance on the fading Gonzales and Chambers. Able to see exactly his deficit, he correctly put in a big injection of pace and took the lead definitively with about 30 meters to go. Meanwhile, a blind Gonzales seemed to recognize Wariner's reappearance in the race a little bit too late. His last-minute surge at about 20 meters to go was too little, too late and he had to cruise in with second place.

Athletes and Storylines that may Interest Only Me:

1. Any racing for records was off with the inclement weather. Still, Ricardo Chambers went out aggressively as is his style and Gonzales was able to run a competitive, albeit not record time.

2. European Champion Kevin Borlee did nothing to show that his win in Barcleona was anything but a fluke. His time of 46.03 was awful, and he was beaten by all 3 Europeans in the race. Obviously, it was a bad race, but since it came this close to his championship I'm inclined to think his European Championships had more to do with the others getting it wrong than him getting it right.

3. As I mentioned in my preview, one area where Wariner has struggled in more this year than ever before is his last 100 meters. Here, his last 100 meters yielded him victory. However, to say that alone would oversimplify what transpired in the race. In fact, Wariner's last 30 meters or so were not very good. In the past, running the way he did for the first 200, that last 30 meters might have been where he really pulled away from the others. Here, he obviously did not have another gear. His finish still needs a lot of work, and it will face a far greater test if he runs the first 200m in a way that could get him under 44 seconds.

Men's 400mH:
Bershawn Jackson won a thriller of a duel with a strong last 30 meters to hold off the considerable lean of Javier Culson. The times were just over 48 seconds, which considering the conditions was not too shabby at all. The race followed the general rhythm of a Jackson race. In the early-going Jackson took the lead versus Culson. By the second hurdle, Culson began to cut into the early lead and he overtook Jackson on the back-straight. He continued to build his lead on Jackson to a few meters. At 150 to go, Jackson's consistency began to pay off and he cut into Culson's advantage no doubt benefiting from his inner lane draw. At 80 meters to go (hurdle 9), the two were virtually even. It was a dead heat- two great athletes fighting it out- over hurdle 10 and until about 30 meters to go when Culson began to unravel just a little bit, and Jackson employed his strength to keep an edge over the tall Puerto-Rican.

Athletes and Storylines that may Interest Only Me:

1. Young phenom, Jehue Gordon, struggled mightily in the race and was not a factor. He had an extremely difficult lane draw (lane 1) and stuttered and hit hurdles badly the last 100 meters. No doubt he has a bright future and will be starring in the middle of the track in the next few years.

2. Unfortunately, the camera angle did not show last week's false start victim, Felix Sanchez. I will say he did get out rather quickly the first 200. He faded dreadfully the last 100 meters, and his days of competitiveness are clearly drawing to a close. Still, it has been a great career for the former Olympic and World Champion. Perhaps for a number of years, he will maintain the dubious distinction of being the first and only elite 400m hurdler who was bounced out of a major race due to a false start.

3. You know who makes a habit out of winning the 600 yard event that is contested at the Millrose Games? Your winner, who happened to win it with his strength, Bershawn Jackson. I've always found it to be a tribute to his work ethic that Jackson would compete in a grueling event like the 600 yards, which requires a lot of strength and probably some difficult training during the winter-time. I'd like to think that the extra work he puts in, whatever it may be, is why he is the one of the strongest 400m hurdler finishers in the world.

Blurbs:
Women's 100m: Marshevet Meyers upset Carmelita Jeter in 11.01. What struck me during the race was how poorly Jeter looked in the middle of the race, which is usually her strength. Ato Boldon described her succinctly as "off". Certainly I'd agree- considering how slow she was up the middle I thought I must be watching Derek Jeter.
Men's 200m: Wallace Spearmon won easily in his trademark style of "sit-and-kick 200m racing". The time was actually pretty darn good for the weather and the -0.6 wind, 20.12. I like rooting for Wallace, but just once I want to see him run that turn hard. Wisely, I'm not holding my breath.
Women's 400mH: Was Kaliese Spencer competing against high schoolers or did it just look like that? This was about as big a blowout as you will see on the Diamond League Circuit as her 53.78 was almost a second and a half ahead of second place. A future matchup versus Lashinda Demus should be a fun one to watch.
Women's 100mH: An excellent start by Stockholm winner Sally Pearson was overshadowed by an even better finish by Priscilla Lopes-Schliep. Lopes-Schliep is probably the female equivalent of David Oliver as her start is the only part of her race that is problematic and she is pure power after that. It's worth noting that the winning time was a swift 12.51, and again this event is impossible to predict. Before I go, I'd recommend the video on universalsports.com for this one too- the Brits are awesome again.

Stay tuned for the Distance wrap, an off-beat entry, and a likely shorter preview of the next DL meet!