Run-Down Forums

[Angelo Z]

I just finished watching the opening today, and I know that most people were sleeping in the U.S. Not only that, but I also watched Hicham's interview talking about what it was like not being on the track. They say that athletics start on August 15th. The opening was extremely phenomenal too with over 91,000 spectators.
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My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥

[AM_Runner]

I will be watching the Olympics reagardless of anything that goes on I absolutley love them - and look forward to every 4 years...
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The long run is what puts the tiger in the cat.

[Angelo Z]

Me too, although this is the first time on run-down during the summer Olympics for me. China's also going pretty hard now regardless of them getting creamed by the U.S. basketball team
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My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥

[Angelo Z]

It was scary watching those powerlifters through that bar up above their head while quickly moving their legs apart. Some of them couldn't even bear it and it looked like the weight was going to hit them.
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My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥

[Indeurr]

I did watch soccer.
I did see USA vs Nigeria.
Nigeria could have easily overrun the one-man--short team USA, if not for silly acts of selfishness and showboating. Within last ten minutes, I did count at least 5 such situations: in at least 4 cases, the Nigerian player would be near the edge of the goal box or 6--yard box being pressured by a defender and the goally and there would be another Nigerian player standing and waiting for a pass to push the ball from three yards away into the empty net -- the pass did never come -- in at least one more case, the Nigerian player did come through three or four American players, but was stopped by 5th -- he kept on trying go through him and, in the end, lost the possession of the ball.
The US lost one player due to the red card in the 3rd minute of the game.
The ref did feel for the short--handed team, but only a little: he did call 50/50 fauls against Nigeria over the last 30 minutes of the game.

Nigerians do not possess the almost balet like ability of the Brasilians to dribble the ball and to fake others, but they do come close to it; they are extremly explosive and powerful, tough.

As to Brazilians, all you need to do is to sweat on them; I learned it in street games (cultural differences) -- they do hate it.

How to play as a defensive player against a great dribbler?

It is simple defend against the intersection point between imaginary lines drawn from the center of the players gravity and the position of the ball as well as, to lesser extent, his easiest change in the position of gravity or the position of the ball.

Do not react to any meaningless moves; moreover, I add spite to it: I laugh: I call people dancers, even dance like them (ape), and call them balet stars.

Once you master it as a defender or a goally (look at the Poland vs. Austria game, Euro 2008 -- the Polish goally almost got caught, but besides that near miss, he was like a superman), there is one place that you must always keep in mind: the space in between your legs and the air above your head.


I saw a very bad ref in the women's game: both the main and the other side or assistant ref's were OK, but the other side or assistant ref got her call with respect to offsides only right, during the second half, within the last 10 minutes of the game: I am not certain who was playing against whom, tough.

Hey, I did like to watch swimming.
It is a little similar to watching track and field.
I would love to try water polo, but just try a couple times for fun, and that would be it.
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http://vincovitanj.tripod.com/Do_not_be_a_victim1/index.htmlhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u43o595CARQ
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one hand clapping

[Angelo Z]

I've watched women's gymnastics with China leading over Romania for the first time ever; and we had the first perfect 10 by Nadia. Anyways I didn't get to finish that, but I've watched swimming, Kayaking, Canoeing, men's cycling (although I don't know what type of cycling this was with special aerodynamic helmets and wheels with no spokes). I've also seen the women's 100 some kilometers cycling with Britain winning. Can't wait for tomorrow though, I'm filming tomorrow's 1500 and 100 for youtube, even though there's still finals to go. I never expected Haile to join in the 10K and Marathon run though, that's astonishing. Out of many runners, I'd have to say that Haile truly loves to run. And Lagat is also surprisingly going to participate. However I'm kind of dissapointed Hicham didn't go further but if taking care of his new family is what's most important to him, then all respect goes to him.
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My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥

[Angelo Z]

Just finished watching all the athletic events for today, and I thought it was a bit strange and impressive at the same time. First thing is that the shot put men did absoluptely terrible (well most of them). And as for Indeurr, Poland won in that event. The 100m heats for men was rather amusing too especially with Usain. There is just something about him, because when he ran to qualify, he was pretty much looking around him on the last 50 meters if he won, he literally made all the other sprinters look like they were running their hardest. Just by looking at many athletes you can just tell who's trained enough and who hasn't. Could it be talent, race, humidity? I think not, just as many women got left behind and overlapped in the 10K was a sign of fitness levels. Besides all thatwhat got my attention was the 1500 man who won-well the one that managed to come close to breaking the Olympic Record for the 1500m. He just rippd away from everyone else on the last 200m, and when he finished, he still looked calm. I think he might be Hicham's future successor, the present 1500m really doesn't have a dominator yet.
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My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥

[Dan]

[Angelo Z]

During the trials, it looked like he wasn't running faster than the others, he was "magically" just gaining more distance. I don't know how hard the others were working, but Bolt looked like he was going out for a warm-up. I think it's because he's really tall and his legs are probably much stronger. The only way you can gain more distance over the others without increasing leg speed is to have powerful legs to increase stride distance. 100m is way too short to judge who trains the most. I pointed that at the women's 10K. The Russians who stayed behind Ethiopia, Turkey, etc. for almost the whole race were not able to catch up with the pace. How come the women from Turkey and Ethiopia were the only ones to run faster? The one from Turkey started to lead at around 20 minutes in so that could be a factor, but all of a sudden she got left behind on the last 300m of the race by the Ethiopian. I also mentioned that the men's shot put was terrible too. Adam Nelson did not even throw within range, all of his first 3 throws were "x" until he eventually left.

Back to Usain Bolt, his reaction time was 0.165, relatively slow to the other sprinters. Even the news people or whatever they're called said how easily he ran that race. All 3 sprinters; Tyson Gay, Usain Bolt, and Asafa Powell started to go out with 50m left to go. He probably had a slower reaction time because he's huge at 6 feet 5 inches so it takes longer for him to get out of the blocks.
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My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥

[Angelo Z]

Wow, Usain Bolt does it again, but how, how how??? I think I also spotted Hicham giving out the medals to the winners from 20K walk. During the first race Usain looks around, on the second race he "relaxes" him self at 80m. He just gains distance no matter what over the other sprinters, I've tried to look as close as I could to his legs and upperbody as the other sprinters, but it's just way too small of a difference to point out.
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My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥

[Angelo Z]

DANG! Usain Bolt 9.69!!! I fell right on my knees after standing up watching him run the 100m. And even more impressive is that he let down in the final 30 meters!! What can I say? What is wrong with this man? Once again like I've mentioned before, he just GAINS DISTANCE, and I'm typing this right after he finished! He just has that power in his legs to gain distance over all the other sprinters in the final 50m.
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My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥

[Angelo Z]

Well it looks like Rashid Ramzi won the men's 1500m final. He accelerated with 250m to go, and Kirprop lost, because he led the pack most of the time. Once again, Rashid goes out with 200m left, but Hicham woul go out with 600m to go. Both method have similar times, but what does going out with 600m do to the runners psychologically? It looks like Hicham does not go out with 600m to go, but instead he just starts to lead the pack. The meaning out "going out" would have to be the WR in the 1500m. I don't know what's with the 1500m runners, but they're just afraid to rip away from everyone else on the last 500m mainly because they already feel like their heart will explode, but let's not forget-it doesn't make much of a difference at the end of the race. In the WR for example, it's not like Hicham showed signs of "extra exhaustion" just for those 4 faster seconds from 3:30. For the most part, I think it's about courage on the final lap. Even I get a tingling feeling of anxiety in my core right when I cross the line for the final lap.
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My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥

[Dan]

ElG's tactics you refer to were in rabbited races. He was not nearly as effective in tactical, championship affairs. Totally different scenario.

Dan
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[Angelo Z]

In the 1500m world record, he wasn't rabbited on the last lap, and the runner behind him wasn't much help as Ngeny was in the mile because Hicham left everyone behind. That last 300m kick alone made up for a few of the seconds needed to break the world record. I don't understand why runners don't do that most of the time and instead they choose to fight with the others for the finish. It requires more intensity, but it's also a lot safer in winning the race because of faster runners. From most mile and 1500m races that I've seen, it always starts with a pack and ends with a pack. Either no one wants to risk going out too fast, or ripping away from everyone else in the end. Hicham was indeed rabbited, but that's only when he had pace setters in front of him, which he didn't have on the last lap anymore.
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My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥

[Angelo Z]

Americans...Today the spokesperson got my attention. It is not permitted for a country with the most advanced equipment, research, and medicine to do more poorly than other countries especially 3rd world. If you just look at those athletes from Sudan, Qatar, etc. they have better results. They work harder that's the main thing. Whoever puts in the most blood and tears wins. Hicham is an example. He lost at Sydney and cried, he thought he dissapointed his whole country. Now how many athletes care about that? Most of them just say better luck next time, but in fact there is no luck. A true athlete goes home and and punishes himself. I also believe that advanced countries become a little too paranoid about health and injury, when athletes from Sudan run through terrorists and arid lands with no water, while the other countries care about tendon injuries.
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My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥