Run-Down Forums

[Kishan Gill]

So far aside from gatlin , obikwelu and brown have impressed me so far winning their rounds comfortably whereas scott seemed to be giving it over 90% in each round and crawford is definetely not the sprinter he was last year.

Interestingly we have all overlooked obikwelu despite his 9.86 athens silver which may be mainly because of a so so european season so far.
It seems he was aiming to peak at the right time.

Burns and zakari haven,t looked too good so far and didn't seem to be holding back much.

I still think Gatlin would have to run a terrible race to be beaten. Obikwelu and brown for silver and bronze but pognon,scott and crawford may have something to say about that.

[Kishan Gill]

I made an oversight by not mentioning dwight thomas who has shown the potential to medal with a consistent set of races.

All in all it is a tough one to call for the lesser medals as their doesn't seem much in it which makes for a terrific final !

[Conway]

Its been interesting so far ... I like how Gat has looked .. After that I don't know ... Obikwelu is a hard one to read ... He can look good and still not come through .. So far only one race (Athens final) has turned out right for him ...

Crawford looked rusty to me ... Like he was trying to shake the cobwebs off ... I think he may look different tomorrow ... The rest look fairly even to me ... Gonna be a fight in the semis to make the final cause only a few guys look ahead of the rest ...

I see a possibility for an American sweep ... But just as easily only Gatlin could medal ... That's how "close" this field is this year ...
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Conway
Speed Thrills

[Kishan Gill]

I think the 200 will be quite interesting this year with four guys vying for the top spot.
definitely one to look forward to.

[Conway]

After that UGLY 100 anything can happen ... But the US squad is looking best through these horrible rounds ...

I'm in Disnyland with my family and have been for the past few days (since the 100) ... Scheduled the trip after the 100 and will be back in time for the 200 and 400 finals ... And unfortunately haven't missed much due to the rain ... This is not how a major meet is supposed to unfold !!!!

Capel has looked surprisingly good so far ... And Bolt has NOT looked that good to me ... Never thought I would say it but at this point looks like the US could take top FOUR spots !!!
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Conway
Speed Thrills

[Kishan Gill]

I was surprised too by capel and with bolt we will have to see if he can up his game in the semis.

I don't know whether you heard about spearmon and gay moving out of the athletes village because of some silly prank greene,capel and some other guys were planning to pull on the two as part of some initiation for international debutantes. wisely they have decided to stay away so they can focus on the races.

The 100 went as expected as far as gatlin was concerned.
The race has shown the importance self-confidence can play in running well. Seems like zakari just can't handle the pressure of a final after finishing 8th for the fourth time in major championships . This was his best year so far and could have easily medalled. On the other hand collins seems to revel under the pressure and gets a medal when it looked like he would not even manage to make the final. He is not ever going to be at the same level as a gatlin or a greene but he sure can run when it counts. I think a lot of athletes could use some psycology lessons from him on preparing for finals.

I am really hoping for tim benjamin to upset wariner in the 400m especially after britains best male medal hope nathan douglas failed to make the cut in the triplejump although it seems a tall order.

Anyway, enjoy your stay at disneyland.

[Dan]

The thing about Zakari seems to be he's running at max effort every race, so there's no room for improvement (or gas in the tank) for the big ones. He's running his 10.00 to 10.09 over and over again and simply getting beat by faster guys in the big finals. In small meets, he's the head of the class when less of them show up. I think the injuries are a bit like Michael Johnson's, where MJ would always get hurt when pressed. Zakari isn't able to step up against the strong fields and pushes too hard for his ability trying to do so.

Dan
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[X King]

[Kishan Gill]

Spearmon and Gay are the top 200m runners this season despite gatlins US title win.

MJ made a good point in that Gatlin is not as good a 200m runner as he can be as he is specialising more on the 100m. He also went on to say that Gay and Spearmons inexperience may show and may be intimated by Gatlins accomplishments.

I would like to add that Capel seems to have found some of his form and despite being defending champion will not be running under any pressure as their are no expectations and he has the experience to boot.

I will go for :
1 Spearmon
2 Capel
3 Gatlin

I agree Bolt will find it very hard from lane 1 being the tall rangy athlete that he is.

Going back to zakaris run, aside from gatlin he lost to athletes who were not really any faster but it is possible that he pushes himself too hard in the earlier rounds unlike collins who left his best to last. The same problem could be applicable to scott. However I still feel that Zakari just has some sort of mental breakdown when he gets to a major final. He just can't handle it.

[X King]

Gatlin wins impressively with 20.04 (-0.5m/s in cold, wet conditions) from Spearmon (20.31) who was making a great charge but it was too late especially after the awful start he had. Capel snatched the Bronze (20.31) with the same kind of time he ran 2 years ago in Paris to win. Gay was 2nd until about 140m and then Spearmon passed him and, eventually, Capel passed him to gain the Bronze was a final lean at the line

It was a good race, but Gatlin really should've broken 20.00 especially seeing as he was looking over (whilst kinda dropping his arms) at Spearmon in the final 10 metres of the race

USA 1-2-3-4 = History made

The relay looks very good and, weather and passing permitting, USA could have a legitimate shot at the WR
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Anon.

[Kishan Gill]

I got the first three right but in the wrong order.

Gatlins has really established himself as a great sprinter with the double.
As far as I can remember the only others in recent history have been greene and Lewis.

The time could have been faster but this race lived upto expectations which more than made up for it and once again exposed the dominance of american sprinting.

I personally don't believe a record is on the cards in the relay not just due to the weather conditions but I think the team lacks depth in experience. I think if a fit greene and crawford were there than they would have made a great compliment to gatlin and a realistic attempt on the record. it Just underlines how good the record is.

If the 200m was great then I can't wait for the high hurdles which I have always felt this year to be one of the hardest events to call.

[Dan]

I figured it would go:

1) Gatlin
2) Spearmon
3) Gay
4) Capel

But since I didn't post beforehand (didn't want to check in and ruin the surprise before seeing the tape delay coverage), I can't really boast about coming closest... I could tell Gatlin was ready, watching him pacing back and forth before the start. Spearmon's going to be really, really good, but I think Gay has just about peaked from the looks of things. I wasn't fully sure about Capel for top-4, but he was running well through the rounds and other than Bolt who had no chance in lane 1, the rest of the Final consisted of non-medal threats. Guys like Buckland and Unger are always there but not factors.

Before the start of the women's 100h, I said to myself, Hayes is going to screw up and Perry for the win... If you watch the tape, look at Hayes' face when she's introduced. She was jazzing herself up so much that she was nearly hyperventilating, and it was obvious she'd force it.

Dan
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[Kishan Gill]

Even though I tipped capel to be in the top three it still seemed a long shot but he turned out to be a real surprise this year.

Your assesment on hayes seems right. She did seem quite overwhelmed by the whole atmosphere that it may have been her undoing. In her interview she said she felt she may have tried bringing her trail leg down too fast on the ninth hurdle which caused her to hit the hurdle.

The mens race as you know is the toughest to pick but I will go for the following:
1. Doucoure
2. Johnson
3. Trammell

I'm backing the untested Frenchman because he just seems so good this year.

[Kishan Gill]

A landmark moment in the 400m as wariner becomes the first white runner to go sub 44.
A unique event in that the silver was one by another white american, something not seen since the days of eastman and carr over seventy years ago.
A great run by wariner who dominated the final straight. An outstanding talent backed up by a very accomplished team in clyde hart and MJ.
He feels he can better MJ,s record. He is supposedly much faster than johnson was as a junior over 200m but athletes develop seperately and I cannot see him dip under 43.5 (No mean feat in itself). He is not quite up there as johnson but close. I feel he maybe near his peak but I hope he proves me wrong. He has the best guidance available so he may be around for a while.

Great hurdles final as expected but not a fast time with the wind. I would have thought that the american trio, xiang and doucoure would have pushed the race to the low 12.9s but nevertheless it was one of the closest hurdles races in a while.

[Dan]

Excellent racing today. The 110h, men's 400, and women's 200 all lived up to their billing. Boy did Arron fade at the end of that 200... Doucore has the mid-race burst that could push Liu to sub-12.90 before long. I'd love to see Allen pulled along for the ride, but I'm not sure he's going to have enough left in his legs when that day comes.

In the men's 4x100, it was big of Scott to take the blame for the fumbled handoff, but it clearly was not his fault. Scales (?) just didn't get the baton fully into his hand, despite Scott doing everything textbook perfect. He then compounded things by holding onto the baton after the initial grab by Scott, and that's all she wrote. What was Scott supposed to do, let go and hope for a second pass??

Dan
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