Olympic Track Action Has Started *Result/Schedule (Beijing is 12 hours ahead of NY) *TV Schedule
*LIVE Event-by-Event Report/Previews
Sunday - Great Action Taking Place From 9:30 - 10:45  AM EST (Men's Steeple, 1,500m Semis, 10k Final
LRC Preview #3 - Sunday's Events: Men's 10k Final, Men's 400m, Men's 200m and 110m Hurdles
Saturday: USAIN BOLT Runs 9.69!!!! The men's 100 meter final was arguably the most anticipated sprint matchup in history. It more than lived up to the hype - not because of the expected 3-way matchup of Powell/Bolt/Gay - but rather due to Usain Bolt's sheer brilliance. The question now is how fast can Bolt run in the 200m?
Friday: *Results *Photos
*Greatest Women's 10k Ever Dibaba Smashes Olympic 10,000m Record as Two Dip Under 30 Minutes! Flanagan Gets Bronze and American Record Tirunesh Dibaba got the one thing missing on her resume, an Olympic gold, and she did it in grand style. She outkicked Elvan Abeylegesse to win in 29:54.66 as they became the 2nd and 3rd women ever to break 30 minutes for 10k and the first since Wang Junxia's unbelievable 29:31.78, 15 years ago.  Shalane Flanagan came from behind  to smash her American record (30:22.22) and get the first American medal in a track event over 400m since 1992.  In other action, the American men bombed in the shot put (many expected a US sweep, but Christian Cantwell was the only Amerian on the medal stand), the American women bombed in round 1 of the 800m, the USA was the only country to have all 3 of its entrants advance to round 2 of the 1,500m (Manzano on time), but Bernard Lagat didn't look great doing it. We'll hopefully have a letsrun.com recap of these races later, but in the meantime the IAAF has event recaps: *Men's 1,500m Round 1 *Women's 800m Round 1 *Women's Steeple Round 1 Recaps (Willard and Barringer advanced)
More 10k: NY Times Recap on Dibaba's 10k Victory, Flanagan's Bronze * Washington Post Recap on Flanagan
On the boards: *TWO women under 30 minutes in the Olympic 10,000m final A historic day.
*1,500m Heats Talk Here
*USA's Flanagan wins bronze in 10,000 meters USA Today *Flanagan shows American distance runners can compete with best ... ESPN
*IAAF Recap of Day 1 - Kara Goucher 30:55 PR
Shot: Poland's Tomasz Majewski Surprise Shot Put Winner
*US Shotputters Come Up Short New York Times
More:
*Pamela Jelimo Favored For 800m Gold
*Lagat's goals include being oldest 1,500m gold medallist
*Heptathlon: Kelly Sotherton Leaves Day 1 In Tears As American Hyleas Fountain PRs In 4 Events To Lead
*Famiglietti Advances To Men's Steeple Final With 8:17 PR!
*All 3 Americans, As Well As Michigan Alums Brannen and Willis, Advance To 1,500m Semis Rashid Ramzi Rolls, Kenyan Nicholas Kemboi Failed To Advance *1,500m Heats Talk Here
*
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
*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 Ceremony

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.
*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.
*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

Advanced Poll

Who Will Win the Men's 100? Usain Bolt 41.8% Tyson Gay 41.8% Asafa Powell 14.0% Other 2.5% Total Votes: 1927

NY Times Looks at Liu Xiang's Decision to Not Run Any Races Before Olympics New York Times

LetsRun.com Rojo's Tour of China, Part 2 - The Great Wall Not too much about athletics in this one, except Rojo was too exhausted to make it to the top of the Great Wall and he did meet Leo Manzano's dad's employers. Rojo talks about the smog, the taxis being bugged, getting some digits, and getting only the money stolen from his wallet. Plus he's embarrassed about the American cyclists who showed up wearing black smog masks.

LetsRun.com Rojo's Tour of China, Part 1 - Hanging Out With Usain Bolt
Rojo went to the Puma Party put on for Usain Bolt. Open bar, Chinese dancers putting on their best sorority girl imitations, and then Rojo going 1-on-1 with Bolt. Rojo actually asked Usain about moving up to the 800m. Bolt hinted the Jamaicans want him to run the 4 x 400m. More importantly, Bolt apologized for visiting Facebook instead of LetsRun.com.

Thanou Refuses IOC Request to Appear for Herself at Hearing on Whether She Can Compete at Olympics

Distance News from Wednesday: *Alberto Salazar Pleased With His Group's Training In Houston
*Josh McAdams New Balance Commercial That Aired During SportsCenter
*Hazel Clark Blogs That Lindsey Anderson Had a Good Time Trial
*Tasmyn Lewis Says She Knows She'll Be Racing Cheats in Beijing, Steve Moneghetti Calls Her Out for Making Excuse Before Games
*Everyone needs to go out and buy the New Yorker and read the Ryan Hall profile. We've received 4 emails recommending it and it was written by a former Princeton XC captain.

Sprint News from Wednesday:*Marion Jones Will Be Able to Watch Olympics From Prison TV
*Horror Season Has Left Australia's John Steffensen Only Running the 4 x 400m
*British 400m Star Tim Benjamin Turns Focus to 2012
*Shawn Crawford Might Be Back

Hispanics Lagging Behind Blacks in Terms of US Olympic Representation

More Mainstream Usain Bolt News: Bolt Addresses The Media in Beijing and They Tell Him He'll be Doubling Times of London Usain said there was an 80% chance he would double. The media then told him his coach had said on Sunday that Bolt was doubling.
*Usain Bolt Says Its 80% He'll Double in Beijing
*Usain Bolt Has His Media Day in Beijing Telegraph.co.uk

Walter Dix is Doubling vs. Bolt Anything Dix does will be a surprise to anyone outside of the NCAA crowd. He could surprise big time.
*Walter Dix Sounds Like a Distance Runner, Says the Strongest Guy Wins Not the Fastest

More Olympic Sprint News: *Olympic 400m Hurdle Champ Felix Sanchez Says He'll Wait Until August 15th to Decide Whether to Defend His Title Sanchez has been injured all year.
*Nicola Sanders Was Only .04 Away from Gold Last Year at Worlds in 400m, But Britain Has Forgotten Times of London
*Craig Pickering Confident Britain Can Do Well in 4 x 100m Relay
*Kim Gevaert to Retire at End of Season So She Can Have Kids IAAF
*Jackie Joyner-Kersee Tabs Kelly Sotherton for Gold in Beijing in Heptathlon

SI Catches Up With Frank Shorter Frank talks about drugs and how youngsters are obsessed to talk to him about Pre.

LetsRun.com Olympic Trials Prediction Contest Recap
The world-famous letsrun.com prediction contest for the Olympic Trials was a huge success. Football players, shot putters, DIII All-Americans and wives out to upstage their husbands did very well in our contest. We give you the run-down (and in case you're wondering., that guy on the left is on the home page today because the winner of the contest was given control of the home page for a day).
*Message board thread on front page photo

Our Blowout Beijing Prediction Contest Will Be Up Tomorrow

Three Russian Race Walkers Test Positive for EP 1was favored for gold. The tests were in April but for some reason are just being announced.

Too Bad NBC's Coverage Has Regressed and Won't Show Track Live on the Internet (or TV) Aaron Ross, Sanya Richards' Boyfriend, Intends to Watch Her 400m Heats on the Internet Someone needs to tell the NFL player, Ross, that contrary to NBC's announcement of "record coverage" of the Olympics, it will be anything but record in our book. Way back when, in 1992, prior to the internet, it was possible to watch every track and field event in the Olympics live on television (on pay per view). Somehow NBC execs with all their consultants in the day of NFL Sunday Ticket, MLB Extra Innings, and MLS Super Pass, have forgotten the most fervent Olympic supporters, the people who consider the Olympics a sporting event worth watching live (and would pay big bucks to do so). Instead we're all supposed to exist in a 12- to 15-hour time warp.

Olympic Track News from the AP Wallace Spearmon talks about Usain Bolt and the men's 100m, bookmakers odds on the 100m, plus some of the US team goes to the mall in China (McDonald's and Starbucks of course), plus news Jeremy Wariner is skipping the training camp for the opening ceremonies (good decision in our book) and a Tyson Gay watch (Gay hasn't raced since the Olympic Trials and still isn't in the camp).

Please Don't Tell Us You're Surprised (unless you're surprised they actually got caught)
Huge Doping Scandal in Russia: 6 Athletes, Including 1:54.85 800m world leader Soboleva and 2-Time 1,500m Champ Tomashova, Are Suspended This is big, big news. The 6 suspended include Yelena Soboleva, who had dominated the mid-d ranks in 2008 with 1:54.85 and 3:57.71 world leaders (the 3:57.71 was also a world indoor record) and double (2003 and 2005) 1,500m World Champ Tatyana Tomashova. Also suspended are Yuliya Fomenko (3:59.41 for 2nd at World Indoors this year, 2nd at the Russian Olympic Trials), European discus champ Darya Pishchalnikova, former world record holder in the hammer Gulfiya Khanafeyeva and distance runner Svetlana Cherkasova. The 6 suspended did not test positive for any substance, but the IAAF, by running DNA analysis on their samples, realized they were submitting fake samples for out of competition tests (which leads to involvement of some co-conspirators in the process). This shows the IAAF program to target suspected cheats (based on profiling samples) is making some progress, although it also shows the anti-doping authorities still cannot actually detect the drugs the cheats are taking.
*Message Board Thread
Latest: AP Article on Doping Scandal
*Russian Suspensions Are Good News for Shannon Rowbury She's #2 in the world heading into Beijing.
*Russian Positives Lead Many to Wonder If There was a Systematic Doping System in Place for Some in Russia New York Times
*Anti-Doping Authorities Became Suspicious of Russians Because Everything was Too Perfect Times of London
On the boards: Is Borzakovskiy Clean?
*DNA Convergance, how exact is it?

DN Galan LRC Recap Defar 14:12.88, Robles 12.91, Asafa Powell 9.88 over Bolt's 9.89, Kaki 2:13.93 1,000m WJR, Richards Crushes Felix at 400, Craig Mottram is Back
It was a great meet. The women's 5k record seemed out of reach until Defar threw down a 60.37 last lap to give the record a scare. Craig Mottram ran 54.59 for his final lap to crush the field in the men's 5k. (Watch on Demand at WCSN)
*Results
*Video Highlights
*Heptathlon Star Kluft Looking to Focus on Long Jump Only
*Scottish Paper Refers to Bolt as "Blunder Bolt" After Defeat by Powell

Friday: Golden League Paris *Results
LRC Recap Shannon Rowbury 4:00.33 to Finish 2nd, Dayron Robles 12.88, Wariner Crushes Merritt, Jelimo and Vlasic Stay Perfect The meet was a great one, but that's what you should expect with the Golden League. Dayron Robles gave the world record a scare, Jeremy Wariner ran his 4th fastest time ever, Pamela Jelimo dominated again but may have some trouble with the Russians. American Shannon Rowbury showed she's still a force to be reckoned with as she ran a very impressive 4:00.33. Alan Webb did not toe the line to defend his 2007 Paris title.
*Message board thread on Rowbury

Great Profile on Walter Dix: "If anyone thinks he runs a race just to run a race, he's got another think coming. He's going to run a race to win the race. I don't care how big or how small it is." - Walter Dix's dad. The article is full of interesting info. Walter cried after he lost his first race; he long jumped 23' 10" at age 14.

Rome Golden League: *Photos
*Yelena Isinbayeva Is Pumped And Excited After New PV World Record The reigning Olympic champ said "anger" at talk that Jenn Stuczynski might be the favorite fueled her to the record.
LRC Recap: Wariner over Merritt, Jelimo Dominates 800, Asbel Kiprop in 1,500, Sihine and Dibaba in 5k, Isinbayeva World Record
*Results Merritt walked down Wariner in the final 100m and appeared to have him at the line but he leaned too soon, giving Wariner the victory by the slimmest of margins. Canada's Nate Brannen ran 3:34.6 to get the Olympic qualifier in the 1,500.
*Asafa Powell Suffers Groin Problem and Pulls Out of Final The Jamaican had the lead in his heat but then pulled up and didn't run the final.
*IAAF Recap of Rome Golden Gala: Yelena Isinbayeva Sets World Record
*AP Recap of Golden Gala - Portugal's Francis Obikwelu Wins 100m In 10.04 He was 2nd in 2004 to Gatlin.
Pre-Meet News
*IAAF Preview Merritt vs. Wariner is the highlight but it should be a great meet.
*Golden League Betting Wariner Favored over Merritt

LRC: Recap of Final Day of Olympic Trials: Lagat Cruises, Rowbury Dominates, Alan Webb Treniere Clement Left Off Beijing Team In both the men's and women's 1,500s, those having the best 2008 seasons made it to Beijing as the 3-time US champions Alan Webb and Treniere Clement picked a horrible time to have bad years. The US men's 1,500 team is all foreign-born, with Bernard Lagat, Lopez Lomong and Leo Manzano. We recap all of the action on the final day of a fantastic 2008 Trials.
*LRC Sunday Photos
On the boards: Webb: How Did It All Go So Wrong?
Rowbury Dominates Women's 1,500
More on Men's 1,500: Steve Sherer on Webb: "Going from world leader to not making the team, that's sad."
*Bernard Lagat Talks About Alan Webb Finishing Fifth
*Update: Tyson Gay Has Mild Leg Strain, Will Miss 2 Weeks The big news in the prelims was Tyson Gay falling over in his 200m quarter and 3-time World Champ and Olympic champ Allen Johnson stopping in the hurdle quarters.
*Video of Gay Falling
*Time Catches Up with Allen Johnson (Video and article)
*Tyson Gay's Family Says He'll Run In Beijing
Shocker:Current CU Star Billy Nelson Makes It, Former Buff Steve Slattery Comes Up Short Nelson peaked when it mattered most as he set his 2nd straight PR and got the Olympic A standard.
*Anthony Famiglietti Has Mixed Emotions on Beijing The guy loves the city but also feels for Tibet.
*A Look Back At How Lindsey Gallo and Morgan Uceny Did In Semis
*ESPN.com: Race Walk Gets No Respect
*1996 Olympic Champion Allen Johnson Bows Out of Hurdles He's been battling injury and says he hopes to be back next year.
A Look Back At Men's 10k.
*Rupp Rises To The Occasion.
*Column: Don't Get Carried Away About Rupp's Run This positive article on Rupp points out the allusions to Prefontaine are too much.
*Sports Illustrated Looks at Rupp's 2nd Place Run
*LA Times looks at Torres Twins' Quest For Olympics

Thursday: LRC Anna Willard Sets American Record, LaShawn Merritt over Jeremy Wariner

LRC Round 1 of 1,500, Men's Steeple: Webb Returns and Impresses, Lomong Points His Finger, High Schoolers Advance

More on Men's 800: *Video of Men's 800 Final
*Men's 800 Sweep was Validation of Bringing Trials, Lananna to Oregon Registerguard.com
*Oregon Goes 1-2-3 in 800 Registerguard.com

Alan Webb, Bernard Lagat, Lopez Lomong Press Conference Result
*Jenn Stuczynski Hoping for World Record at Trials USA Today
*Doping Has Taken Away Belief of Amazing Performances
*Olympic Coach Bubba Thornton Throws Down Gauntlet To Usain Bolt
*Meet Earning High Marks At Halfway Point
*Bryan Clay Just Misses Dan O'Brien's American Record in the Decathlon
*5k Victory a "Walk in the Park" For Lagat USA Today
*High Schooler Jordan Hasay on the Bubble for the 1,500

Trials Photos: *Monday (800s, 5k men)
*Sunday (Men's 100)
*Saturday (Bunch of Prelims Women's 100)
*Friday (Womens' 10k)

Upcoming at the Trials: *PCS at Villard Street Pub Tons of stuff and a free coaching clinic Saturday.
*Running Film Festival Thursday through Saturday.
*Daily Eugene Running Co. Events

Monday: Men's 800 - Nick Symmonds Leads Eugene Sweep
The men's 800 more than delivered on its pre-race hype as the Eugene crew came through big time. Nick Symmonds got out of a box with 160 to go and catapulted to a 1:44.10 dominating PR victory. Wonder boy Andrew Wheating charged late for 2nd, and Christian Smith (the 29th seed out of 30 coming into the meet) outleaned three-time defending US champ Khadevis Robinson for the third Olympic spot.

Women's 800: Hazel Clark Goes Wire to Wire as Everyone Staggers Home USATF put 12 people in the final and as a result it went out in 56.8 (we had the split wrong earlier) seconds. The final 200 wasn't pretty but Hazel Clark held on for the win to make her third Olympic team, Alice Schmidt was second to make her first, and Kameisha Bennett was third. Bennett, however, was not under the Olympic qualifying time of 2:00.00 and as a result, Nicole Teter made her second Olympic team.
*More Monday LRC Recap: Women's 5k and Steeple Semis, Mens and Women's 400 Semis

*Jenn Stuczynski Profile In USA Today
Sunday:LRC Sprint Recap: Tyson Gay 9.68, Bershawn Jackson Storms Back, World Leader LaShinda Demus Comes up Short Gay ran the fastest 100m ever under any conditions (although the wind was 4.1 mps) as Walter Dix showed he's the real deal and Darvis Patton continued his fine 2008. World leader Lashinda Demus failed to make the team in the 400m hurdles. Queen Harrison and Tiffany Ross-Williams both made the team over Demus with their fathers in prison.
*Race Videos from Sunday
LRC Sunday Field Event Recap Olympic Champ Dwight Phillips Comes Up Short, Jeff Hartwig Makes Team at 40, Momma Power in the Discus Defending Olympic champ Dwight Phillips didn't make the team in the long jump. 40 year old Jeff Hartwig made the team in the pole vault and the US is only sending two to Beijing in the triple jump.
*Race Videos from Sunday

Day 2: LRC Tyson Gay 9.77, Muna Lee 10.85 Maybe the greatest US day of 100m sprinting ever as six men went sub 10.00 in the QUARTERFINALS of the men's 100, not to mention Gay's 9.77 in his new beautiful adidas uniform and Jeff Demps blistering a 10.01 high school record. Muna Lee won the fast women's 100, Reese Hoffa got the shot, and the Olympic spots in the women's heptathlon came down to the wire.
*Muna Lee Overcomes Car Accident, Wins 100m Up until May 31st, she'd never broken 11.00 for 100m.
*Great Article on Tyson Gay Aiming High
*IAAF Recap of Day 2 Gay amost cried after barely advancing in round 1o f 100m. He more than made up for it in round 2.
*Hyleas Fountain Produces World-Leading 6667 To Win Heptathlon
*ESPN: Will We Ever Be Able To Enjoy Track?
*Ex-Drug Cheat Torri Edwards Moves Closer To Olympics By Finishing 2nd

OlympianDay 1 Women's 10k: Flanagan, over Goucher but Amy Yoder-Begley Steals the Show Shalane Flanagan outkicked Kara Goucher for the 10k win, but the story of the night was Amy Yoder-Begley running one of the gutsiest races ever at storied Hayward Field to make the US Olympic Team. Yoder-Begley squeaked under the Olympic A standard by 1.6 seconds after running 10 seconds off her 5k PR the second half of the 10k in the hot Eugene conditions.
Recommended Read:16-Yr-Old Laura Roesler Gets Much Deserved Praise In NY Times The 3-time winner of 100, 200 and 400 at the ND state meet advanced to the 800 semis with a 2:03.
*Katie McGregor Agonizingly Finishes 4th For 2nd Straight Trials
*Dick Patrick's 10k Recap For USA Today
*Blood Testing Occuring at Track Trials

Awesome Read: Tyson Gay Profile In LA Times Philip Hersh wrote an excellent profile on America's sprint sensation Tyson Gay. Read about the man who is pleased to be the underdog in the 100m and who used to take two bags to Europe - one bag of clothes and one of junk food.

Previous:
Recommended Read: HS Stars Beware: A Profile Of One Of The Stars of the 1984 1988 Trials - Roy Martin The guy was a stud HS sprinter (10.18, 20.13) who absolutely killed Michael Johnson on a weekly basis. Pro stardom eluded him. 20 years after his Olympic performance, the Dallas paper catches up with him. This guy was a legend in our hometown. Great read.
*1968 US Olympic Team Greatest Ever?
*Sacramento Paper Looks at Trials Returning to Eugene
*Eugene Is Spending $6.5 Million - St. Kitts Nevis Is Spending $45,000 On Their Trials
*World Champ Lauryn Williams Profile
*USATF OT Distance Preview from Norwich, CT This preview is full of inaccuracies but it's good to see the Trials getting publicity in small papers.
*Plenty of Activities in Eugene During OT's

Again, Who Are The Idiots That Schedule USA Jrs and NON For The Same Weekend???
USA Jrs. *Schedule/Results*8:34.40!!!! German Fernandez Breaks Jeff Nelson's 2 Mile Record *Results 64.2, 2:10, 3:14.9, 4:19.4, 63.9, 64.7, 63.3, 62.9
*Message board thread
*Nice Recap from Dyestat Fernandez played basketball Friday afternoon before breaking the record.
*Videos of Race
On the boards: How long till Fernandez record goes down?
*Photos
*Neely Spence Won Girl's 2 Mile at NON

LetsRun.com London Men: Lel Leads 3 Under 2:05:30!!!, Ryan Hall 2:06:17
Ryan Hall Goes Through Halfway on World Record Pace
The 2008 Flora London Marathon will be remembered for a long time. The lead pack of 9 went through 5k at 14:21 (2:01 pace). They continued together (yes, all 9) through halfway on world record pace (1:02:13). Ryan Hall then went to the front soon after and asked the pacemakers to go FASTER. Soon Hall was off the back, but he would catch the leaders briefly again and go on to run 2:06:17. Until Sunday, only 7 guys had ever run under 2:06:15, now 11 have. Up front, it came down to a 3-man battle over the final mile before Martin Lel got his 3rd straight World Marathon Major win over the final quarter mile as he led 6 guys under 2:07 and to $50,000 bonuses each. Recap, photos, video above
This Guy Has Totally Won Back Our Respect
Maasai Warriors Finish Marathon link fixed One of them went back to the course and finished the race a day after being forced to go the hospital after a ceremonial wrap cut off his circulation. He said, "It was very important for me to do this. This is what I came to England for."
LetsRun.com Ryan Hall Reflects On His Incredible Run We tell you (and let you watch) what Ryan, his dad, his granddad, his coach and even Martin Lel had to say about Ryan. Lel was full of praise for the American and shocked by Ryan's attempt to get the pacemakers to go even faster. If Hall didn't already have your respect, he does after reading this article, as he pays homage to a throwback type of guy - Steve Jones. Text and Video.
LetsRun.com Video: Ryan Hall Talks About His 2:06:17 at the 2008 Flora London Marathon
*More LRC London Videos Here
*Photo Gallery

Olympics: (We will not publish results on the homepage of  LetsRun.com until after an event airs in the US)
*Forecast for Marathon (75-80F with 30% humidity for marathon)
Saturday - Men's 100m Final (Tape), Olympic Marathon Live (7:30 pm eatern) in US (Only on the East and Central Time Zones), LRC PreviewWomen's Marathon
Tim Layden: Is the 100m Fianl Already Decided? Tyson Gay says he was just cruising in the 100m heats but Layden points out why that may not be the case (Gay got beaten by .10 and then tried to climb a plastic barrier to avoid the media). Usain Bolt looked unbelievably good, but Layden points out a ton of guys have cruised in prelims/semis only to choke in finals.
*The Guy Who Beat Tyson Gay Twice The Same Day in High School

Women's Steeple Heats Mean Full Equality for Women on the Track The women don't have the 50k race walk, but the men should try to follow the women on that one.

Embarrassing: Britain's Kate Reed Forced To Run 2km Time Trial Day Before 10k Final To Prove Fitness link fixed Who cares if she drops out? The Brits ought to be ashamed. At least she was entered. The Canadians barely enter anyone.

Enjoy the Olympics as the World May Be Ending Soon
Lengthy Article In Kenyan Paper On Their Lone Decent Race Walker "The dearth of race walking in Kenya is a big worry."

Men's 100m Mania
*Usain Bolt Cruises Into Semis With Ridiculously Easy 9.92
Video - See What D. Bailey & M. Greene Say About 100m Showdown
*London Telegraph Previews Men's 100m Showdown - Bolt/Powell/Gay Battle To Be Next Olympic Hero
*Steve Cram: Men's 100m Showdown Is Wide Open
*Tyson Gay Asks Kobe For a Photo and Then is Shocked When Kobe Asks Him About His Leg
*Tyson Gay Trying to Clean up the 100m
*Asafa Powell Big Interview from the Guardian The interesting tidbit is that after Bolt's 100m World Record, Powell texted Bolt from a new cell phone number and Bolt called him back asking who it was.

Asafa Powell Says Drug Testers Have Taken So Much Blood from Him, He's "going to be very weak before the final" Times of London
*Jamaicans Puzzled By Amount of Drug Tests Carried Out on Them

Radcliffe to Give it a Go in the Marathon

On the boards: "Swimming today is like what distance running was in the 1960's"

Women’s Marathon Kicks Off Olympic Track and Field Competition - With No Canadian Representation for the Third Straight Summer Games

ING NYC Marathon Going to Wave Starts It's the only way to get bigger.

Defending Olympic Champ Miuzki Noguchi Out of Marathon It's official. The alternate for Japan is injured as well, which means Japan, the deepest country in the world in women's marathoning, will only have two entrants in Beijing.

Non-Olympic News First
Interesting Read: Running Cuts Risk of Death in Half, Also Reduced Injuries Runners even have fewer knee problems than sedentary people.

Martin Dent Wins World Largest Road Race City2Surf In Australia 70,000 runners.

Khannouchi Pulled Out of Falmouth after He Woke Up Sick

Peter Tegen, Dave Murray Among 2008 USTFCCCA Hall of Fame Class

We're 30 Years Younger and We Think Tyson Gay is Clean: Tim Noakes on Doping "I don't watch track and field athletics anymore because I don't believe the results. When I see guys running 9.7 for the 100m, it's a joke. They are 9.9 runners using steroids. It just astonishes me people take them seriously. But maybe a guy 30 years younger than me may see it differently."

Heidi Krieger Turned from A Woman into a Man Because of E. German "Vitamins"

Cigna Falmouth: Tadese Tola, Edith Masai Win 2008 Cigna Falmouth Road Race, Meb 2nd A good run for Meb and he'll now be a good attraction at a fall marathon.
*Falmouth 2008 Results The split reported as a 10k split is a 6 mile split.
Falmouth Mile: Jon Rankin, Amy Mortimer Win Falmouth Mile A meet record for Rankin.
Good Read: Jon Rankin Blogs About Not Making the Team, Crying Afterwards and the Aftermath
*Mark Curp Last American Male Winner of Falmouth

Leo Manzano, Other Americans Not Bothered by Beijing Air Quality, Leo Says It's Fog

Mary W. Says Olympic Marathon is "the quality of New York or London" Mary has done wonders for the NY Marathon but needs a dose of reality on this one. London is head and shoulders above NY. People can make comparisons to London and the Olympics on the men's side if they choose to and we won't object.

Victor Röthlin Ready for Beijing Marathon after Last Year's Silver at Worlds

Olympic Marathon Champ Mizuki Noguchi Suffering Fatigue, May Miss Olympics

US Distance News:*Shalane Flanagan Runs 5:39 2k Time Trial, 2:10 800m in Preparation for Friday's 10k
* Lagat In the Unusual Spot as the Favorite and American He actually was an American last time around but no one knew it except himself.

Dibaba and Bekele Face Daunting 5k/10k Doubles in Beijing
*Defar Leads Head-to-Head vs. Dibaba 13-9

David Oliver Expresses His Gratitude to the USATF Foundation for Its Support

She's Not Human: Jelimo Says, "Weather here is great," Does Not Rule Out World Record in 800m

Andrew Baddeley Tracing the Ghosts of Cram and Coe IAAF

Wheating Mania is Back: Nice Article from Vermont Paper on Andrew Wheating's Ascent in the Sport

Olympic Trials Marathoner Chris Lundstrom Blogs About Watching the Trials as a Spectator, Coaching Shannon Rowbury in High School

Tegenkamp Says He Was Boxed in in Stockholm, Isn't Quite 100% Sharp

This Would Have Been Quote of the Day Except Lopez Deserves It 2 Straight Days: "What most to look forward to in Beijing? This is an easy one for all you out there who, like me, watched every final at the U.S. Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Ore., at least twice (you know who you are, you Letsrun.com message-boarder, you): The men's 800 meters." - Sports Illustrated's David Epstein writing about the men's 800m (and LetsRun.com) Epstein showed the 800m at the Trials to some non track fans and they were amazed by Nick Symmonds' power the last 100m. The quote and an email from a reader asking us to put SI's Olympic picks into our prediction contest made us realize we let our subscription lapse. Subscribe today or extend your subscrition today for only $39.95 a year.

US Distance News:
US Female Distance Stars:
*Shannon Rowbury: Rowbury Has Pool Party, Whipped Cream Eating Contest Send Off They've got video of the pool, but not the whipped cream eating contest.
*Shalane Flanagan: Shalane Flanagan Writing Column for Salem Paper, Says Proudest Moment In Her Career was 2004 Opening Ceremonies
*Erin Donohue: Erin Donohue Gets Parade to Send Her Off to Beijing
Steeple: Steeplechics.com Has Interviews With Roisin McGettigan, Lindsey Anderson, and Barbara Parker

US Men Distance Runners:*Ryan Hall Ready for Beijing This quote from Frank Shorter showed the difference in our mind from 1972 to now. "We saw at the trials what he can do on a good day. The question is how close to that can he come on a bad day?" The reality is in 2008, with a bad day no one is on the medal stand. Perhaps in 1972 it could happen.
*Abdi Wants a Medal in Beijing He'll have to pull a Billy Mills.
*David Epstein of Sports Illustrated Gives a Shout Out to LetsRun.com Message Boarders and Is Excited about Nick Symmonds Sports Illustrated
*Bernard Lagat's Coach James Li Has Become a Mini Celebrity

Olympic Wrestlers Get in Shape by Doing Man vs. Hill Run (2,000 Foot Climb Over 1 Mile) New York Times

Living the American Dream Lopez Lomong to Carry the American Flag at Opening Ceremonies We've always liked Lomong's attitude and like the fact he went out and campaigned trying to be made the flag bearer. *Message board thread

Meb, Khannouchi, and Kate O'Neill are Running Falmouth This Weekend Life goes on for those who didn't make the Olympics.

Marathon: Zhou Chunxiu is China's Best Bet for Gold in the Marathon, But Her Parents Won't Be on Hand to Watch Times of London

US Olympic Distance News: A Look at America's Immigrant 1,500m Team Manzano was born in Mexico, but was illegally smuggled into the US at age 4 (if he had to walk some of this himself, it's incredible), Lomong was fleeing armed rebels in the Sudan at age 6, and Lagat grew up in Kenya with what perhaps was the easiest of the three's early lives.

800m: Nick Symmonds Ready to Go Statesmanjournal.com

Steeple: Lengthy Article on Anna Willard Her mom credits Brown coach Craig Lake for getting Anna serious about the sport her senior year.

Ritz Wants a Medal in Beijing (Grand Rapids Press Article and Video)

Leo Manzano QA Before Beijing Olympics His parents are taking their first flight ever to go watch him in China.

It's Official: Jason Dunn New Stanford Coach
*Message board thread on this (started Tuesday before the announcement Wednesday)

With a Bronze from 2004, Kelly Sotherton Says She Deserves More Press If she wins the gold she'll get it. We still hope Kluft does the Heptathlon with 0 training and sees how it goes.

Good News: Paula Radcliffe Flying to British Training Camp on Sunday

In-Depth Look by Yahoo at Why Jeremy Wariner Dumped Clyde Hart The article presents it as a business decision and perhaps some jealousy of Sanya Richards, who supposedly gets more in endorsements than Wariner. If that's the case maybe Wariner should also cut back on his agent Michael Johnson.

IOC to Store Beijing Urine Samples for 8 Years USA Today

Iraqi Athletes to Be Allowed at Olympics Perhaps this Washington Post editorial pointing out the IOC's inconsistency with Iraq caused the IOC to change course.

Haile G to Run Great Australian Run in November

LRC Recap Heusden Night of Athletics: Jenny Barringer 9:22.73 American Record Win over Willard, Paul Koech 8:00.57 Steeple WL, Gary Reed 800 Win, Morgan Uceny Remains Undefeated in Europe, Kiwi 5k Record for Blincoe, Alan Webb 3:35.86 Barringer and US Champion Anna Willard had another thrilling duel with Barringer winning by .03 as both smashed the US record. In other action, Cornell alum Morgan Uceny remained undefeated in her European campaign as she won the 1,500. In the 5k, Chris Solinsky hung on 13-low pace until falling apart at the end. Kiwi Adrian Blincoe ran 13:10.19 to break Dick Quax's 30+-year-old Kiwi record. Alan Webb ran 3:35.86 for 6th in the 1,500.
*Message board thread on Barringer/Willard
*Race videos in LRC Recap and more at Flotrack
*Heusden Results

New York Times Looks At Jamaica's Amazing Sprint Success The Times article points out that no Jamaican-based sprinter has ever tested positive for steroids. Impressive. The Times also points out that Jamaica doesn't have its own out-of-competition testing (not a surprise, since it's basically a third world country).

Not Only Was Hitler Evil, His Regime Also Supported Cheating In Track
*Amazing story about a man who posed as a woman as part of a plan to win the 'women's' high jump gold in 1936 He finished 4th in the ladies high jump. This pretty much sums up what happened next: "At a train station in Germany, two ladies noticed him in a skirt but with a five o'clock shadow. A doctor was summoned, he lifted the skirt and (his) career was over."

Non-Distance Action from Final Day of Olympic Trials:
Men's 200: Walter Dix Leaves the Meet Atop the US Sprint Ranks
*Pole Vault: Jenn Stuczynski Nearly No-Heights, Goes on to Break American Record in Pole Vault
Women's 200: *Allyson Felix Cruises in 200
*Marshevet Hooker Falls Across Line to Make Team in 200 After Finishing 4th in 100
110 Hurdles: David Payne Makes Olympic Team in Hurdles as Anwar Moore Falls After Clearing the Final Hurdle David Oliver ran 12.95 to defeat Terrence Trammell.
Triple: Aarik Wilson Wins Triple Jump, Sets Hayward Field Record
Javelin: Bobby Smith Wins Javelin But He Doesn't Have "A" Standard So He Won't Be in Beijing

LRC Fam Goes Wire to Wire in Steeplechase
Anthony Famiglietti led from the gun to win the men's steeplechase at the Olympic Trials. Billy Nelson of CU had a huge final lap to get 2nd, the Olympic A time and a ticket to Beijing. Last year's champ Josh McAdams ran a smart race to get third. Interviews with Fam, Olinger, McAdams and Nelson.
More: Anthony Famiglietti Has Mixed Emotions on Beijing NYTimes

LRC Women's 1,500 Preview The men's race is getting all the attention but the women's should be a good one.

Friday: LRC Abdi Goes Nearly Wire to Wire, Outkicks Rupp; Kara Goucher Storms Back to Win 5k It was a great night of action at Hayward Field. We've got event-by-event recaps, photos, and video. In addition to the finals above, high schooler Jordan Hasay made the final of the women's 1,500, breaking the high school 1,500m record. All the favorites made the 1,500 finals, including Lopez Lomong, who told us he's going to win the 1,500m final.
More from Eugene Register Guard:
*Interesting Look at Rupp Hoopla, Don't Get Carried Away in the Mania Abdi stopped Rupp and the comparisons to Pre are unfair.
*Galen Rupp Rises to Occasion in 10k
*Kara Goucher Wins Women's 5k
*Breaux Greer Failed to Qualify in Javelin after Rotator Cuff Surgery
*AJ Kruger Wins Hammer

Men's 5k Final: Bernard Lagat Makes It Look Easy
Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that the double world champ, Lagat, made it look so easy, but he dispatched of the field over the final 200. 4th placer at Worlds last year, Matt Tegenkamp, was 2nd, as 2005 Worlds team member Ian Dobson was third. Bolota Asmerom was 4th and Chris Solinsky, who pushed the pace for 1,100 of the final 1,200m, finished fifth. Adam Goucher stepped off the track with 2 laps to go as the race was not going to hit the Olympic qualifying time of 13:21.50, and he wasn't happy about it afterwards. Solinsky also was left to do all the work after Matt Tegenkamp didn't follow through on the tentative plan to take over the lead with 2 laps to go.

by John NepolitanSaturday: LRC 800 Semis: Chaos in Women's 800, Jacob Hernandez, David Krummenacker Out A fall in semi #1 turned the day's proceedings into a waste of time as an appeal put all 8 runners into the final. Monday's final will be more like a high school race with 12 runners as a result. On the men's side, the Olympic dreams of former World indoor champ David Krummenacker likely came to an end as he now joins the list of great American runners to never make an Olympic team. NCAA champ Jacob Hernandez was eliminated.
*Day 2 Photos
800: Nicole Teter: "“I don’t know what a protest would be based on"
More Coverage: SI: Tim Layden of SI on Tyson Gay
*Eugene Register Guard:
Heptathlon: Hyleas Fountain Wins 5 of 7 Events to Set World Leader in Heptathlon
Shot: Hoffa Leads Big 3 in Shot Put to Beijing
Pole Vault: Tommy Skipper Chokes in Pole Vault Qualifying With 3 No-Heights

Bolt Defeats Powell Wins Jamaican Trials The crazy thing is Powell's 9.97 would only be 6th in the US quarters. Bolt ran 9.85.

AgonyLRC Day 1 800/5k Prelims: