Kerron Clement, the World Champion in the 400m hurdles, opted to face Jeremy Wariner and others over a lap sans barriers. Announcers Danny Lee and Carol Lewis mentioned nothing about Clement's WC title (and Lewis blamed Wariner's losses earlier in the season on a "brain cramp"); nonetheless, the race itself provided another world class effort from Wariner, who smoothly established himself at the front and controlled the race. Wariner seemingly cruised the last 40m en route to another standout 400m performance of 44.29. For an indoor world record holder at 400m, Clement looked sluggish throughout and wasn't a factor in the race (45.47). World Indoor gold medallist Tyler Christopher (Canada) likewise never mounted a challenge and finished in 6th (45.41), one spot ahead of Clement. Only Chris Brown of the Bahamas came reasonably close to Olympic and World Champion Wariner with a 44.53 in 2nd, while former Florida State ace Ricardo Chambers (Jamaica) was 3rd in 44.84. Brown is the 3rd fastest performer in the world this year, having clocked 44.40 in Oslo. Judging by recent performances, Wariner, LaShawn Merritt and Chris Brown are the three clear favorites to medal in Beijing. 

According to Lee, who continued to enlighten the viewers with the same remark concerning the winner of nearly every event, Wariner's victory earned him a "gold medal" (which will presumably complete a set with those perhaps-equally-significant gold medals he won at the Olympics and World Championships).

Men's 3,000m: Buster Bounces Back
Craig Mottram is back and appears in fine form heading into the Games as he took control late in the 3,000m and romped to an impressive 54.59 closer, blowing away the field for the win. Among the entrants were Mottram (the 2005 World Championships 5k bronze medallist), Isaac Songok (who sports PRs of 7:28.72 and 12:48.66), 12:52.99 runner Abraham Chebii, ageless Canadian Olympian Kevin Sullivan and American Matt Tegenkamp, who barely missed a 5k medal at last year's Worlds. The pacesetters took things out with a quick 28.0 opening 200m and tried to keep a sub-7:30 clocking in sight as the 1k was reached in 2:30.11. The rest of the field, however, had no interest in sticking with the rabbits and was 2 seconds back. After 1,400m in 3:35 for the main field, it was apparent no one wanted to take up the chase or lead on their own and the pace slowed even further (64+ for the next lap). By 2k (5:08.96), the field was tightly bunched and antsy, with Mottram lurking near the front among a slew of Kenyans. A 60.7 for the penultimate lap only strung things out a little, but the real fireworks started when Mottram took over with 450m remaining and charged around the turn and down the last backstretch with the chasers clawing in vain to cover the move. The Aussie had some pressure from behind the rest of the way but was never in jeopardy, as he ripped a 54.59 final circuit (2:28.77 last 1k) to finish in 7:37.73, taking the measure of Songok and Daham Bashir (Qatar) and celebrating in typical Buster fashion. Tegenkamp appeared stuck in the mosh pit around 7th for much of the last two laps but managed to get free near the finish and kicked well for 4th in 7:40.75. The 34-year-old Sullivan still has a set of wheels, as he ran a Canadian outdoor national record of 7:41.61 in 7th.

Men's 1,000m: Kaki #6 All-Time For 1,000m

Men's 110m Hurdles: Robles Threatens WR Again
In probably the most hotly-contested race of the meet, the exciting new world record holder Dayron Robles lined up in lane 3 against undefeated US Champion David Oliver in 4, Athens (and Sydney) Olympic silver medallist Terrence Trammell in 5 and world class Americans Aries Merritt and Antwon Hicks. The long-legged Robles put on another clinic, as he was out of the blocks well, in front early, and was never headed, flying smoothly and barely tapping a hurdle en route to another near-WR time of 12.91. In the process, he fed Oliver his first taste of defeat this year (taking revenge on Oliver's win by .01 in Berlin in June), won a $10,000 diamond and removed any remaining doubt that he is the man to beat in China next month. His winning margin was not as large as in Paris, as Oliver closed a bit to run 13.04, but Robles was never seriously threatened. Merritt came up for 3rd in 13.33, losing his meet record but overtaking Trammell, who clobbered the 9th hurdle and wound up 4th in 13.35.

Men's 3k Steeplechase: Kenyans As Usual
Kenya took the top two spots in the men's steeple as Michael Kipyego and Wesley Kiprotich reeled in frontrunning Swede Mustafa Mohamad (born in Mogadishu, Somalia) in the final 70m of the race to win in a somewhat modest 8:14.35. The pacesetting was far too fast early on and a pack of six eventually formed at a more reasonable pace (2:43 at the 1k) and stayed together for most of the race. Running in the DMZ about 20-30 meters in back of this group most of the way was American Anthony Famiglietti, who never could bridge the gap. Fam finished 6th, looking tired and only managing a 66-second final circuit (inside pit) to hit 8:25.16. It should be noted that both Kyle Alcorn and Billy Nelson ran 8:21s just two days ago in Heusden, so Fam must be a bit disappointed with his result.

Men's HJ: Holm At Home In Stockholm
5' 11" Stefan Holm, as one of us put it during the meet, is as close to a superhero as any athlete in the world. The 32-year-old Swede has the best jump in the world this year at 2.37m (7' 9.25"), which is the best outdoor mark of his career (he has a 2.40 indoor best from 2005) and nearly 2 feet over the top of his head (shades of Franklin Jacobs). Holm, the Olympic Champion, delighted the home fans by winning the event (and the $16,000 purse) but was off his seasonal best, clearing 2.30 (7' 6.5").

Women's HJ: 34 Straight For Vlasic