Friends And Family Preview Of Saturday Day 2 Of The Olympic Games Track And Field
By LetsRun.com
August 3, 2012
Day 1 of our Friends and Family Guide was received so well with tons of you emailing it to friends and family that we're back with a Day 2 Friend and Family Preview of Saturday's Action in London.
The Olympics are the one opportunity the track and field world has every four years to expand its fan base.
With that objective in mind, we're going to present to you an "LRC Friends and Family Guide" to the action. It will be a quick overview of what to expect that day in track and field. Hopefully, you can share the link or print it out and hand it to your friends and family that are either casual track and field fans or not track and field fans at all.
If they know the storylines behind what they are watching, they will enjoy it a whole lot more and you won't have to drive yourself nuts by starting at square one with them.
Saturday features the men's 10,000m final and the women's 100m final.
Day 2 Saturday:
Highlight: Men's 10,000m Final: The Ethiopian King Of Distance Vs. British Hopes Vs. An American Hopeful
The first men's track final has it all. The two-time reigning Olympic 10,000m champion, Kenenisa Bekele, attempting to become the first three time 10,000m champion, going against the favored British superstar Mo Farah, while they both will have to contend with an American, Galen Rupp, who has a great chance to get America its first medal in this event since 1964.
First, Kenenisa Bekele. He may be the greatest distance runner ever on the planet. At the last Olympics he won the 10,000 and 5,000m golds. In 2004, he won the 10,000m gold and got silver at 5,000m. In addition, he has won 5 World Championships gold medals and 11 World Cross-Country gold medals. He is the 10,000m and 5,000m world record holder. Perhaps you've heard of Haile Gebrselassie, the Ethiopian great who preceded Bekele and was known as "The Emperor" (reference to Haile Selassie) and was also the subject/star of the movie "Endurance." Bekele has more Olympic medals and is better at cross-country. But Bekele isn't nearly as well known, as he's pretty quiet. It's a shame, as his life story is a good one. He's overcome heartbreak, as his fiancée died in the midst of a run in 2005.
Since Bekele's last World title in 2009, he has been injured. He tried to come back and win last year's World Championships and dropped out. That is the only 10,000m of his life that Bekele has started and not won. He went on three weeks later to run the fastest time in the world at 10,000m for 2011.
Don't let Bekele's accolades fool you. He is not he favorite. He has run four 5,000m races this year and never finished higher than fourth in any of them. He did run one 10,000m and won it. But he's old by track standards at age 30. The great Gebrselassie tried to win a third Olympic 10,000 back in 2004 at age 31 and couldn't do it. Can Bekele do it here?
Britain's Mo Farah is the favorite. The Somalian-born Farah came within feet last year of winning the 10,000m and the 5,000m at the World Championships, having to settle for the silver at 10,000m after he was overtaken at the line, after having started his kick too soon.
Galen Rupp
Farah was barely a world-level distance runner until last year, when he switched coaches and joined Nike's Alberto Salazar group in Eugene, Oregon. Since then Farah has been the best distance runner on the planet. Farah is a big deal in Britain, and will have a lot of pressure to get two golds in Britain.
Salazar, the former New York City and Boston Marathon champion, started his training group primarily for a young man he started coaching as a high schooler, America's Galen Rupp. Salazar is the "mad scientist" of distance running coaches, as his group initially got a lot of attention because of all the technology and non-running things Salazar brought to the group: underwater treadmills, anti-gravity treadmills, altitude houses, vibrating machines that help with recovery, pollen masks for Galen Rupp, and much more.
Salazar's results with Rupp and Farah now do the talking.
The Rupp and Salazar story is an incredible one. Rupp was a great high school runner, but not the best. In college, Rupp made an Olympic team, but constantly got outkicked at the end of big races. That is until his senior year, when Rupp won just about everything he entered. On the international level, Rupp still had a long way to go, but this year it has all come together, as that speed he lacked at races is now there. At the recent Olympic Trials, Rupp even outkicked former World 5,000m champion Bernard Lagat, who used to be one of the best milers in the world and for awhile had the most feared kick in global championships.
The casual observer may not think an American has a chance to medal since we have not even discussed the Kenyans. Well, the William Hill betting odds on the race as of Friday evening speak for themselves, American Galen Rupp is the third choice:
One more thing about Rupp. He's a bit like the New York Yankees in baseball. He has every resource in the world at his disposal so there are few neutral opinions on him.
That brings us to the Kenyans. They are still very good, but most of the money in the sport is in the big city marathons, so more Kenyans now run the marathon than the track. Wilson Kiprop was the Kenyan Olympic Trials champion, but his own coach admits he does not have a good kick. Unless the overall pace is searing, an extremely good kick is necessary to win championship races.
The four above are the guys who we think have the best chance of winning, with Farah and Bekele having the best chances. For Bekele or Kiprop to win, the pace needs to be fast and someone needs to push for the finish for an extended period out. If the race comes down to the final lap with a pack of 7 guys still there with a lap to go, then that is not the type of race Bekele or Kiprop is likely to win. At the last Olympics, in the 5k (3.1 miles), Bekele ran his last 1.25 miles at under 4:00 minute mile pace.
No one predicted Ibrahim Jeilan (injured this year) upsetting Mo Farah to win the 10,000m at the World Championships last year, so who are some of the other top guys in the race? Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea is the world record holder in the half marathon and got a 10,000m bronze in 2008. He has run no preparation track races this season, so we assume he's not 100% fit. Tariku Bekele is Kenenisa's younger brother, but has never medalled at a major outdoor championship. Gebre Gebremariam won the NYC Marathon and the World Cross-Country before, but this is a shorter track race. The wild card that we like is Bidan Karoki - a Kenyan based in the Japanese corporate system (corporations in Japan sponsor teams of runners for long-distance relay races that are on national TV in Japan). The 21-year-old is our darkhorse pick if anyone is going to pull an upset. He likes to make crazy moves early in the race but isn't good at pacing himself. Maybe with 7 or 8 laps to go, he'll just go really fast. But he did that last year and got a big lead at the Kenyan Championships before passing out in the middle of the race. And finally Moses Kipsiro of Uganda almost got a medal in 2008, getting fourth in the 5,000m. Uganda is right next door to Kenya.
More Detailed Preview Here: Saturday 4:15 PM ET: LRC Men's 10,000 Preview: Can Kenenisa Bekele Upset Hometown Favorite Mo Farah And Win An Unprecedented 3rd Olympic Gold?
Note: We believe the 10,000m final will be carried live on NBC at least in the East/Central Times zones at 4:15 pm Eastern/3:15 Central. It should also be on at 3:15 West coast. To check when its on in your area, click here.
Women's 100m Final: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Tries To Defend Her Olympic Title Vs. Carmelita Jeter And Allyson Felix
The 100m is a race anyone can understand. Sprint really hard for just under 11 seconds. It still helps to know something about the competitors.
The favorite in the women's 100m is 2008 Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica. When Fraser-Pryce is on, she is very good, as she won the 2009 World Championships a year after her Olympic title. Last year at Worlds, she did not medal. This year, she is back with a vengeance as she won the Jamaican Trials in a scorching 10.70 - 4th fastest women ever. Anything under 11.00 is at least Olympic semifinal (probably final) caliber and sub-10.80 is very rare (14 women under 10.80 ever).
The US champ is Carmelita Jeter, who won Worlds last year. She had the best time here in the first round. Did you hear how the media made a big deal of the 16-year-old Chinese swimmer for being so good so young? It will be interesting to see if they make a big deal of the fact that Jeter is so good at age 32. She really wasn't any good until age 27 and has been seen all over the globe with her former agent, who was banned from the sport for 10 years for being involved in the BALCO scandal and for helping dope his own wife.
Allyson Felix (pictured right) is possibly the most famous American track athlete. She has her own website, commercials with Nike (used to be with adidas), Visa, AT&T and Gatorade. Glamorous, the daughter of a preacher, she's seemingly got it all except for a gold medal. She's another American that likely will be in the final. Her best event is the 200, which she's won a lot at Worlds but never won in the Olympics. She's a big favorite in that event but an underdog here. She's the one that tied for the last spot at the Olympic Trials. It would be a huge surprise if she got a medal, but running here keeps her busy and hopefully helps sharpen her up for the 200.
Other Action:
Heptathon Final: Britain's Golden Girl Jessica Ennis Finishes The Heptathlon - In day 2 of the two-day heptathlon (the event where you do 7 different track and field events), one of Britain's most popular athletes, Jessica Ennis, ends her quest for gold. Ennis is a huge deal in Britain and their best hope for a track gold on the women's side. She's battling reigning Olympic champ and pentathlon world record holder Nataliya Dobrynska of the Ukraine, plus Tatyana Chernova or Russia, who won the Worlds last year. The Brits are really into her and she really produced on the first day. She set a British record in the 100 meter hurdles and ran a time that shocked her as it would have won the individual 100 hurdles at the Beijing Olympics.
Women's 400 Semifinals - The women's 400 (one lap of the track) is an event that has a lot of people who could win it from all over the world. Track, unlike some other sports, really is global. The winner last year at Worlds was Amantle Montsho of Botswana. The Defending Olympic champion is Britain's Christine Ohuruogu. America's best hope is Sanya Richards-Ross, who has often come up short of individual glory even though she's really good. Her husband Aaron is an NFL cornerback for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He says his wife would beat him in the race.
Men's 400 Hurdles - Britain is really excited by about Dai Greene, the reigning world champion. He's been running better than last year but hasn't beaten Puerto Rico's Javier Culson this year. Culson has been the runner-up the last two times at Worlds and is looking for Puerto Rico's first Olympic track and field medal ever and their first gold medal in any sport. Those two are expected to go 1-2.
But the US normally does really well in this event. It's hard to say who our best bet is. It may be 2009 and 2007 world champion Kerron Clement, who was only third at the US Trials. He hasn't been running well this year or last, but ran a seasonal best in the first round - the 2nd-fastest time of the day. He's very fast but often stutters a lot when hurdling, especially on the last hurdle or two. Clement is 26. 33-year-old Angelo Taylor won gold in 2000 and 2008. And the weird thing is they didn't even win the US Trials, as Michael Tinsley won there in an upset.
The hurdles are a great race as it's easy to see who is ahead - whoever jumps first is winning.
Men's Long Jump: This is normally an event the US dominates and is one where we need to get our mojo back.
With 22 golds, the USA has won more long jumps than anyone else. The IAAF says no other country has won more than one gold in it besides us. But four years ago, we had no one in the final.
The US champion is the University of Texas' Marquise Goodwin, who also plays football for Texas (wide receiver). Goodwin made the final as did Will Claye. Goodwin was going to quit football and focus on track but missed football too much so they let him back on the team. He had the best jump in the prelims. The US's best long jumper Dwight Phillips, who won gold in 2004 and four world titles before missing a whole year with an injury. Claye is better at the triple jump.
This is a wide-open event where anyone could win, including some Brits.
Men's 100: The 100 starts on Saturday. Usain Bolt is the most famous track athlete in the world, as he won three golds and set three world records in Beijing. The next year he won three more golds at Worlds and set two more world records. He's famous because a) he dominated the easiest event to follow in track - the men's 100 and b) he's charismatic. He false started though last year at Worlds in this event, which was won by his fellow Jamaican Yohan Blake. Blake beat Bolt in both the 100 and 200 at the Jamaican Trials this year. So Bolt is Phelps and Blake is Lochte.
Men's 400: This is one lap around the track with no hurdles. It's just the first round, but there will be coverage of this becuase there is a guy in it from South Africa without legs, Oscar Pistorius. Personally, we think he's an inspiration but actually think having prosthetic legs helps him. No one runs the second half of this race faster than the first except him. We'll talk more about this later.
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That's it. Happy watching.***More In-Depth Coverage:
Also Starting Saturday:
Final Is 4:05 PM ET Monday: LRC Women's Steeple Preview: Can Anyone Stop Yuliya Zaripova?
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