Run-Down Forums

Conway · Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2002 3:35 pm Post subject:

Bailey was extremely lucky ... But he DID take advantage of his luck .. Bailey was never dominate on the circuit .. Bailey's career is really based on 3 races ..

1. 95 Worlds .. Bailey won this one .. But .. His US competition was almost non existent at that time .. Dennis Mitchell, injured in round one .. Mo Greene who was an international neophite and 2 seasons away from blossoming .. And Mike Marsh who while a very good and solid 100 man was not great at that distance .. And his top outside the US competition was injured (Christie bad hammy, Stewart - never the same after bad hammy), not yet there in Boldon, and never in 1st in Fredericks .. Ergo all he had ot do was beat his friend Bruny to get the gold .. During the Euro circuit a healthy Christie shown what should have happened in Goteborg ...

2. 96 Olympics .. Everyone frazzled by all of the false starts and Christie is thrown out of the race .. His number one contender for gold gone, and everyone else thrown off their game .. Now to HIS credit he held his composure better than everyone else ... But ... In the process he gota world record out of what proved to be probably the fastest manufactured track in history .. He probably should have been somewhere near the 9.97 he ran in winning the 95 worlds ...

3. 97 match race with MJ .. He wins in an average time due to MJ pulling up lame !!!!

3 times big races .. 3 times his main competition is lame or missing .. And nothing done in between (on the circuit) to indicate he was the superior athlete .. During every other athlete's (100 sprinters) period of glory they had dominate years on the circuit .. Carl was the man .. Ben was the man .. Linford was the man .. Bailey was an also ran .. over and over .. With the line being that he saved his for the big one's ..

Well from 97 thru 00 his luck ran out .. He did run creditably in the 97 World's in what I consider to be his best ever race (9.91 for second to Greene) .. NO other medals outside that .. Nothing on the circuit .. had the Olympics been hel on any other track he may have gotten the win but not the record and it was the RECORD which gave him his status ..

So there is my take on Bailey .. A nice guy .. I always liked his personality .. I ihave nothign against him .. Just don't think he was the "champion" as the title was bestowed upon him .. Of course at the end of the day he still has the medals .. Smile

Dan · Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2002 9:19 am Post subject:

Speaking of Graf and hot times in the women's 800, here's an exciting result from the European Indoor Championships:

1) Jolanda Ceplak 1:55.82, WR
2) Stephanie Graf 1:55.85

Your recap of Bailey's career fits pretty well with what I remember of him. I'm not sure I'd call it luck (good luck is something we create through hard work and preparation, after all), but he certainly was at the right place at the right time and made the most of it.

Dan

Conway · Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2002 12:37 pm Post subject:

Awesome running in Europe .. The men's 800 was just as hot and Bucher DIDn't win either !!

Jason Gardner ran a hot 60 @ 6.46 .. Curious as to Justin's take on the race ..

But ... What about Pate jumping 28'2 at the US championships ??? Could we have another long jumper maybe ??? Or how about Teter running 1:58.71 ??? (She prepped in Sacramento and is now training about an hour doown the road from me) ..

I also found it interesting that Stember has been running the 800 and working on his "speed" .. Smile

..

Justin · Varsity Joined: 08 Oct 2001 Posts: 312 Location: London

Gardener ran 6.49, with Mark Lewis-Francis second in 6.55. Gardener was the class of the field, L-F clearly next best. Made up for the disappointment of Christian Malcolm being beaten by Marcin Urbas in the 200m. Colin Jackson won the 60mH at age 35.

Both 800m races were wonderful. Ceplak led from 0-700m in a fast pace, Graf came past on schedule and looked to be about to power away, but she never did and Ceplak came by down the straight. A really great race - Graf broke the WR which has stood for 15 years but lost!

Bucher also looked odds-on to win when he hit the bell in front but he was also run down - by a Pole who ran 52.5 and 52.2 400m splits. Even-paced running is the way to go!

Another WR for Feofanova (or Upanova as one witty friend called her). All in all it was a very good championships. Poland look to have a very strong team - watch for them at the EC later this year.

Justin

[ This Message was edited by: Justin on 2002-03-05 04:45 ]

Conway · Posted: Tue Mar 05, 2002 11:36 am Post subject:

Good that Gardener looked good .. I would like tosee him do well on the circuit this year .. I think healthy he will perform well .. Same for MLF dropping his indoor PR this year .. I have a feeling that this is going to be one of the more awesome seasons on record for the 100 ..

Was surprised that Urbas won the 200 .. He has done nothing since his 19.99 semi at the '99 Worlds .. How was the race ?? I would imagine that Malcolm would have had the early lead ... 200 meter oval I assume ??

Colin's times have looked very good this year .. I think this is going to be another very hot event this year .. And am going to say that I think the 12.90 barrier could finally fall .. Colin, Allen Johnson, Anier Garcia, and perhaps one of the young Americans could push each other to something special this year .. Especially since the hurdlers do not duck each other .. Smile

..

And I really like the name "Upanova" ... :smile:

[ This Message was edited by: Conway on 2002-03-07 11:20 ]

Justin · Varsity Joined: 08 Oct 2001 Posts: 312 Location: London

Malcolm had lane 6, Urbas lane 5. They both said they'd have liked it the other way around. Nonetheless, Malcolm led all the way to the final short straight, and Urbas just came by him in the last stride or two, by 0.01. It was a very high quality competition - 5 athletes under 20.70.

Justin

Conway · Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2002 8:23 am Post subject:

Sounds like an awesome race .. You know it is interesting that while everyone wants to be king of the 100 meters, it seems that it is the 200 that is becoming deeper - even though the number of athletes running sub 20.00 has been going backwards .. Sad

Dan · Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2002 9:42 pm Post subject:

Micah Ward · Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2002 5:02 am Post subject:

Hey guys, you have all been strangely quite about the US indoor champs. Any thoughts or observations? Teter looked good in the 800 and Regina in the mile.

Conway · Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2002 8:45 am Post subject:

I thought the US champs were good but unspectacular .. Teter's race was a good breakthrough, but then Graf and Ceplak did what they did and it becomes just ok .. Sad

..

I was very impressed by Pate's long jump ... Puts him at the front of the pack heading outdoors .. Regina was good as usual .. I guess that is what we have come to expect of her .. Not sure if that is good or bad ..

I was actually disappointed in the 60 .. Very close but not fast enough ... Crawford was decent in the 200 .. 400 was disappointing .. 800 was good but then what they did in Europe !!

We'll see what the outdoors bring .. Just about time to start talking about that !!!! :smile:

[ This Message was edited by: Conway on 2002-03-08 13:32 ]

Dan · Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2002 8:52 am Post subject:

I didn't see the meet and haven't seen much of the results, so I have no real basis for commenting on anything... Teter's 800 provides a glimpse of some exciting battles to come on the outdoor circuit, especially if Kelly Holmes is at full strength once again.

Dan

Conway · Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2002 10:57 am Post subject:

Are we talking about battles for 3rd & 4th ?? I would think that as of now Ceplak and Graf would be early season favorites ot run away with the 800 with Mutola just a shade off of them .. I love what Teter has done as she is now competitive ... And may just be our number one .. Which is nice since we have been stale in this event for many years now - no offense to any of the other women ..

I would love to see someone move up from the 400 .. We have many middle of the road 400 runners who I bet could move up to this and do well ..

Dan · Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2002 12:01 pm Post subject:

I was actually talking about 1st through 5th. Heck, we could have another surprise winner like Formanova (uh-oh, another "upanova"!) a few years ago. Keep in mind, you also thought Graf handily beat Mutola head to head last year. Wink

In no particular order:

Graf
Mutola
Ceplak
Holmes
Teter

Granted, Teter is a stretch off of two good indoor races, but she's definitely shown the potential to hang with a fast pace. With that many runners capable of 1:55 to 1:58, anything can happen!

Dan

Conway · Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2002 2:39 pm Post subject:

I would buy that 5 as the early season cream of the crop .. And I would actually maybe give Teter a fighting chance off of a slow pace as she is going to be stronger than the others .. And speaking of Upanova isn't Formanova coming back this year .. That would make it 6 at the top .. The one thing about Teter is thatshe has always been consistent .. So if she is now in the 1:58 range then she will probably be there consistently .. Course if she can run 1:58 indoors I would think that perhaps she can go 1:57 outdoors .. OR maybe dip into the high 1:56's ... That would definitely put her in the hunt ... Of course the others should run faster outdoors too !!! Smile

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