Where Your Dreams Become Reality

We agree, screw the other fake sports:
"For many, the (Olympics) Games don't start until they hear a gun and for some it also has to be accompanied by a bell."
-Seb Coe writing in an article about the start of track and field competition at the 2008 Olympics. In the article, he talks about Paula Radcliffe's chances and the passing of his father.

LRC Our World Famous $1,000,000 Prediction Contest
Get your picks in for the first event by 9pm Thursday

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Book Review: Running Within
Want to improve your mental outlook on running? Then Running Within is the book for you. Read our review of this excellent book.
Recommended Reads
Looking for a good running book ? Read our mini-reviews and suggestions

Ryan Shay
1979-2007

*Official Ryan Shay Remembrance Thread.
*Ryan Shay Photo Gallery

We interview one of our own:
LetsRun.com's Rojo talks about coaching at Cornell

Olympic Track Action Has Started  (We will not publish results on the home page of LetsRun.com until after an event airs in the US)  *Schedule (Beijing is 12 hours ahead of NY) *TV Schedule
Saturday
- Men's 100m Final
 Friday
- Women's 10k Final, Men's Shot Final, Men's 100m Round 1

LRC
Preview #2 - Women's Marathon & Pole Vault as Well As Men's 400m Hurdles
The women's marathon will be one of the few athletics events shown live in the US. What a race - Radcliffe, Kastor, Ndereba and plenty of other Chinese, Japanese, and Africans to add even more drama.

Change Yor Picks Now
Paul Koech Won't Run Olympic Steeplechase
The world leader will not be placed on the team even though he has the world's fastest time by 7 seconds. Koech was in China as an alternate and the Kenyans were apparently contemplating the removal of defending Olympic Champion 
Ezekiel Kemboi from the team as they were unhappy with his hurdling technique in practice. Kemboi isn't concerned and seems very confident. Kemboi: "I must retain the title or I won't return home. Believe me, I will retain the gold medal. I am in the best shape of my life."
*London Telegraph Previews Entire Track & Field Action - They tell you what to look for each day.
*Seb Coe Writes About Start of Olympic Track &Field Action
*
IAAF Previews Day 1's Track Action
*Uganda's Medal Hopes Moses Kipsiro (5k) and Abraham Chepkirwok (800m) Arrive In Beijing
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Britain's Kelly Sotherton in Shape To Win Gold
LRC Beijing Olympic Day 1 Preview: Games Kick Off With Women's 10k Final, Men's Shot Final, Round 1 of the 100m Showdown, Plus Men's 1,500m Round 1, Women's 800m Round 1, Steeplechase Round 1
 Tirunesh Dibaba will try to get the Games underway by getting  the one thing missing on her resume - an Olympic gold. She'll face a slew of challengers as 9 other women have a decent shot at the medal stand, including Americans Kara Goucher and Shalane Flanagan. We preview the other events, including the men's steeple, where the favorite, Paul Koech, may not even get to run as he's the Kenyan alternate. We also give you a sneak peak at the LetsRun.com Prediction Contest predictions (where not a single person has failed to pick one of Bolt, Gay or Powell to win the 100m).
*US Men Going for the Medal Sweep in the Shotput USA Today

Distance News:Women's 10k is Friday: Amy Yoder Begley's Friends and Family Talk About Her Path to Being an Olympian
*Britain's Jo Pavey Trying to Get the Elusive World Medal in the 10k
Times of London

Colin Jackson Says Dayron Robles is the Favorite

Edwin Moses Writes About Olympics and Opening Cermony

British Long Jumper Chris Tomlinson Fit Enough for Beijing

Tyson Gay Does 100m All Out in Front of Reporters to Show He's Back This whole thing is taking on the feel of a heavyweight title fight, which is good.
*Jason Gardener Picks Tyson Gay to Win 100m at Olympics www.telegraph.co.uk

Update on Noguchi: Noguchi Has Leg Problem, Japanese Team Will Decide Later This Week Whether to Pull Her from Marathon

Better Late Than Never:
Washed Up Part II:
John Honerkamp Writes Honerkamp contrasts the 2008 Olympic Trials, when he was running the Gay Pride 5 Miler trying to score points for his club team, to the 1996 Olympic Trials, where he was the youngest semifinalist in the 800m. Our apologies for not getting this up sooner. It was supposed to follow famed LetsRun.com blogger Scott Anderson's piece on the same thing.

Non-Track Olympics
On the boards: *USA SMASHES FRANCE IN THE 4 x 1 FREE!

Dubya is the Redeem Team's "Homey"

Druggie Thanou Excluded from Beijing Games She won't be missed.

Paula: "Flagstaff was a turning point. I had just read something before going out for my run and I started crying so much while I was running that I had to stop and sit down." - Paula Radcliffe talking about the 2004 Olympics and the 2008 Games.
*Story on Wejo Pacing Paula to World Record in Chicago Is Up on Spikes Magazine
It's a nice new UK/IAAF magazine/website. Wejo was shocked to see he wore a Breathe Right strip.

Peter Coe, Seb's Father, Dies Seb had delayed his trip to the Olympics to spend more time with his dad and then his dad died shortly after he left.
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Seb Was a Hell of an Athlete but he Had a Hell of a Coach

Andrew Baddeley Getting a Lot of Attention in Britain In the land of Coe, Cram and Ovett, 1,500m prospects are taken seriously.

More British News: Kelly Sotherton Speaks Out Against Rival and Drug Cheat Lyudmila Blonska

8/8/08 Dazzling Opening Ceremonies Kick Off Beijing Olympics A reader abroad wrote us saying, "I thought it was mind blowing ... it's like China is saying: 'We are the next power' ... I'm telling you, it was the most amazing visual display I have ever seen on television. And I'm not even watching on an HD or anything. London must be shitting their pants because that was unbeatable. It was amazing ... It just went on for 4 straight hours." We agree.
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America's a Great Country "For the rest of us, who have generally eaten well, felt safe and experienced total hopelessness only in sad movies, (Lopez) Lomong is a gift. He lights up the room again and puts a Band-Aid on the cynicism. If you are a writer, you want to tell his story, even if dozens have preceded you. You want to tell it better, to grip the reader just in case your predecessors haven't. And then you sit in the audience on the morning of the opening ceremony and realize you need do nothing more than listen and take notes, because Lomong is telling it to you, for you, and better than ever before ... We have a world full of politicians and diplomatic spinners and we have only one Lopez Lomong. Too bad it isn't the other way around."
-LA Times columnists Bill Dwyre writing on
Lopez Lomong
*Washington Post Editorial by Thomas Boswell on Lopez Lomong
*Message board thread on the amazing opening ceremony

Good Doping News: USA Today Blogger Training for Marine Corps Marathon Says Smog Isn't That Bad, Running Isn't Too Hard

NY Times Talks About Internet Viewers Already Getting Around NBCs Lack of Live Coverage

"The American flag means everything in my life -- everything that describes me, coming from another country and going through all of the stages that I have to become a U.S. citizen. This is another amazing step for me in celebrating being an American. Seeing my fellow Americans coming behind me [in the opening ceremony] and supporting me will be a great honor -- the highest honor. It's just a happy day. I don't even have the words to describe how happy I am."
- Lopez Lomong, a grateful American who was once a Lost Boy of Sudan, who was selected to carry the US flag at today's opening ceremonies.