Memorial van Damme Recap (Minus The 5k) - Final Golden League Meet Of 2009, Perhaps Forever
By LetsRun.com
September 4, 2009
Men's 200m- Another
Unbelievable Performance For Bolt! 19.57 Meet Record! Usain Bolt ran another shocking race, destroying Wallace Spearmon and company in cold, rainy conditions with one of the fastest 200m times ever recorded. Only Michael Johnson has ever run faster, despite 50-degree weather, a 20m jog at the end of the race, and Bolt's weary legs after his 19.19 and 9.58 from Berlin.
The crowd roared both before the race and after the gun. Bolt made up the stagger on one man, two men and then three men in almost no time as he ran another brilliant curve. The race was, of course, over in a matter of meters, and Bolt gave the crowd a huge jolt of energy by smashing Tyson Gay's meet record and then posing in his now-famous "Lighting Bolt" pose. Fans were throwing things on the track and delighting in, as the track PA announcer proclaimed,
"The Fastest Man In The Universe."
That statement, of course, makes a lot of assumptions about the rest of our galaxy and the millions of other galaxies in the universe, but Usain Bolt is certainly the fastest man the world has ever seen.
1
BOLT, Usain
JAM
MR
19.57
0.185
2
SPEARMON, Wallace
USA
20.19
0.222
3
GULIYEV, Ramil
AZE
20.47
0.184
4
CHRISTIAN, Brendan
ANT
20.61
0.169
5
HESSION, Paul
IRL
20.65
0.169
6
KIMMONS, Trell
USA
20.84
0.267
7
MBANDJOCK, Martial
FRA
20.93
0.154
8
CRIBARI, Marco
SUI
20.99
0.187
9
HAECK, Joris
BEL
21.33
0.178
Women's 2,000m- Despite Excellent Pacemaking, Gelete Burka Misses Sonia O'Sullivan's WR Sonia O'Sullivan's 5:25.36 2,000m world record withstood a double-rabbited attack by Ethiopian Gelete Burka. Burka was on pace the whole way but could not reproduce the big sprint finish necessary to get the record. American
Christin Wurth-Thomas took her through 1,500m in about 4:06 after opening laps of around 65 seconds each.
1
BURKA, Gelete
ETH
AR, WL
5:30.19
2
CHERUIYOT, Vivian
KEN
5:35.46
3
CHERONO, Mercy
KEN
5:35.65
4
CHOJECKA, Lidia
POL
NR
5:38.44
5
ALMINOVA, Anna
RUS
PB
5:40.99
6
CHEMOS, Milcah
KEN
5:41.64
7
KIBIWOT, Viola
KEN
5:42.57
8
PLIS, Renata
POL
5:44.17
9
CHENONGE, Ines
KEN
PB
5:44.51
10
MISHCHENKO, Anna
UKR
5:46.36
11
YEVDOKIMOVA, Natalya
RUS
5:47.34
12
HILALI, Siham
MAR
5:47.93
13
BELETE, Almenesh
ETH
5:53.60
ROMAN, Sonja
SLO
DNF
WURTH-THOMAS, Christin
USA
DNF
Women's Pole Vault-
Isinbayeva Joins Richards As Jackpot Winner With Ease Yelena Isinbayeva took care of the competition before attempting to better her world record for the umpteenth time. The Russian star took three shots at 5.07m and another $50,000 payday, but couldn't quite get over the bar. Her winning height was only 4.70m. She didn't even take a jump until 4.75 at the WCs, where she shockingly no-heighted.
Men's 100m Asafa Powell "took it" to Tyson Gay, getting out front and staying well clear for his biggest win of the season. Powell, running in to a slight headwind in cool, damp conditions, ran 9.90 for his world-record 56th sub-10.00 clocking in his career. The big Jamaican has now won in Brussels five times, though Usain Bolt took his meet record last year (9.77).
1
POWELL, Asafa
JAM
9.90
0.140
2
GAY, Tyson
USA
10.00
0.153
3
PATTON, Darvis
USA
10.08
0.141
4
RODGERS, Mike
USA
10.09
0.161
5
MULLINGS, Steve
JAM
10.15
0.190
6
FRATER, Michael
JAM
10.17
0.150
7
CLARKE, Lerone
JAM
10.19
0.177
8
WILLIAMSON, Simeon
GBR
10.21
0.112
9
BURNS, Mark
TRI
10.25
0.175
Men's Steeplechase- Daniel
Huling Runs 8:14
After a terrible performance in Beijing, American Daniel Huling comes back 2.5 weeks later to notch a 4th-place finish and big PR 8:14.69. Watch the video to the right and see Huling predict his fitness despite the poor performance at Worlds. The mark moves Huling to #6 all-time in the US.
1
KOECH, Paul
KEN
8:04.05
2
MATEELONG, Richard
KEN
8:06.92
3
KESKISALO, Jukka
FIN
8:13.34
4
HULING, Daniel
USA
PB
8:14.69
5
GARY, Roba
ETH
8:15.50
6
MOHAMED, Mustafa
SWE
8:20.61
7
TAHER, Tareq Mubarak
BRN
8:23.68
8
KIPTEREGE, Elijah
KEN
8:25.41
9
RAMOLEFI, Ruben
RSA
8:26.12
10
MUTAI, Abel
KEN
8:28.21
11
KIPYEGO, Mike
KEN
8:29.32
12
DESMET, Pieter
BEL
8:31.80
13
VAN KOOLWIJK, Krijn
BEL
8:33.87
14
SZYMKOWIAK, Tomasz
POL
8:34.65
15
BUC, Bustjan
SLO
8:46.18
KRISTENSEN, Ustad
NOR
DNF
LANGAT, David
KEN
DNF
LANGAT, Patrick
KEN
DNF
Women's 100m- Another Huge Win For Berlin Disappointment Carmelita Jeter
After a trouncing in the Berlin final, Carmelita Jeter has come back with a fury against her Jamaican rivals Shelly-Ann Fraser and Kerron Stewart. Jeter trailed Fraser for much of the race today, but for the second consecutive GL meet, she came through with an impressive win. The temperature was in the 50s and damp, yet Jeter still clocked a 10.88.
1
JETER, Carmelita
USA
10.88
0.154
2
FRASER, Shelly-Ann
JAM
10.98
0.184
3
STEWART, Kerron
JAM
11.05
0.187
4
CAMPBELL-BROWN, Veronica
JAM
11.10
0.207
5
STURRUP, Chandra
BAH
11.16
0.136
6
BAPTISTE, Kelly-Ann
TRI
11.26
0.160
7
FERGUSON, Debbie
BAH
11.28
0.215
8
SIMPSON, Sherone
JAM
11.39
0.169
9
BORLEE, Olivia
BEL
11.64
0.192
Men's 800m
A very strong men's 800m field followed the rabbit through the bell at 51 seconds with young Kenyan David Rudisha in the lead. Rudisha would keep the lead throughout the 1:45.80 seconds he was on the course, to win over 2007 world champion Alfred Kirwa Yego, 2004 Olympic champion Yuriy Borzakovskiy and 2007 Worlds runner-up Gary Reed. American Nick Symmonds ran near the back for most of the race and when he started to move he ran into Gary Reed, who was passing him on the outside.
After he failed to make the Berlin WC final, Rudisha won in Zürich one week ago and now follows with another win in Brussels.
1
RUDISHA, David
KEN
1:45.80
2
KIRWA YEGO, Alfred
KEN
1:46.36
3
REED, Gary
CAN
1:46.82
4
BORZAKOWSKI, Yuri
RUS
1:46.88
5
MULAUDZI, Mbulaeni
RSA
1:47.15
6
SYMMONDS, Nick
USA
1:47.16
7
LALANG, Boaz
KEN
1:47.21
8
LEWANDOWSKI, Marcin
POL
1:47.55
9
SOM, Bram
NED
1:47.62
10
AL-SALHI, Mohammed
KSA
1:48.97
BETT, Reuben
KEN
DNF
MUMO KIILU, Vincent
KEN
DNF
Intermediate times:
400m
103
Mumo Kiilu, Vincent (KEN)
50.94
600m
97
Rudisha, David (KEN)
1:19.32
Women's 800m
The stunning year for American women mid-distance runners continued on Friday, September 4, as part-time steeplechaser, part-time 1,500m runner and part-time 800m runner Anna Willard overcame a solid but unremarkable field to notch her first Golden League win.
Willard ran intelligently throughout the race, remaining in the middle of the pack near the rail. Starting in the same lane as Maggie Vessey, Willard picked her way through the field in the final 400m, culminating with her big move from third to first in the final stretch to take an impressive victory in a career second-best 1:59.15.
Women's 400m- Sanya Richards CRUSHES Top Field To Become First Jackpot Winner Sanya Richards absolutely dominated with her now-mastered running style: Fast first 100m, easy second 100m, and then power for home. Richards made up the stagger on Shericka Williams in less than 60m, then had a 10m lead on the entire field as they straightened out for the final 80m. The gap only widened, as Richards clinched her 6th Golden League win and a share of the $1,000,000 jackpot in style.
Richards not only won a lot of money, but also broke the Meet Record of Marita Koch from 1982. She also set a world lead with her outstanding 48.83. Second place was 1.6 seconds behind in 50.43.
1
RICHARDS, Sanya
USA
WL,MR
48.83
0.201
2
OHURUOGU, Christine
GBR
50.43
0.291
3
WILLIAMS, Shericka
JAM
50.55
0.340
4
FIROVA, Tatyana
RUS
50.80
0.182
5
DUNN, Debbie
USA
50.83
0.275
6
KRIVOSHAPKA, Antonia
RUS
51.05
0.338
7
WILLIAMS-MILLS, Novlene
JAM
51.22
0.277
8
SANDERS, Nicola
GBR
51.38
0.215
9
HARGROVE, Monica
USA
51.78
0.200
Men's 400m- Wariner Proves Again He Can Beat Everyone But Merritt; Clyde Hart Goes 2 For 2 In Brussels 400m Races Jeremy Wariner came into the meet talking about taking down his agent Michael Johnson's meet record 44.06, but he had to settle for an easy win in the poor sprinting conditions. Racing the 2009 Worlds bronze medalist Renny Quow (45.50), Wariner took the lead early and did nothing but extend it. His winning time was 44.94. Wake Forest's Michael Bingham (GBR, 45.70) was close to Wariner for much of the race, but lost a lot of ground in the final 150m.
1
WARINER, Jeremy
USA
44.94
0.239
2
QUOW, Renny
TRI
45.55
0.396
3
BINGHAM, Michael
GBR
45.70
0.242
4
GILLICK, David
IRL
45.73
0.283
5
ROONEY, Martyn
GBR
45.83
0.322
6
BROWN, Chris
BAH
46.18
0.222
7
WROE, Sean
AUS
46.27
0.294
8
KIKAYA, Gary
COD
46.31
0.352
9
GILLET, Antoine
BEL
47.13
0.222
Women's High Jump- Vlaic Continues Strong Season By Jumping Well In Wet Conditions Blanka Vlaic beat the top field again with a flawless performance through 2.00m. The track surface was wet, but Vlaic was able to clear 1.85, 1.90, 1.94, 1.97 and 2.00 on her first attempts before three failures at 2.02 derailed her efforts one week after becoming only the second woman to clear 2.08m.