The Week That Was In Running - July 5-11, 2010

By LetsRun.com
July 13, 2010

To read last week's LRC Week That Was, click Here.
To read any 2010 LRC Week That Was, click Here.

(Editor's Note: If you missed any of the major meets from last week, scroll to the bottom and we provide the links that recap the major events of last week)

Lots of things to get to, as there were two Diamond League meets last week. But honestly, the two biggest stories didn't even come from the Diamond League, as the big stories of the week were that after 12-plus years of waiting, a human being finally broke 1:42 in the 800 once again and after an eternity of waiting, a white man broke 10.00 in the 100.

We discuss that and much more, as we tell you how Leo Manzano improved by 16 seconds in a week in the mile, we take a trip down memory lane and remember when Galen Rupp outkicked Chris Solinsky to win a 5k in 13:30 and then ponder what Rupp will run in the marathon now that he has his mentor Alberto Salazar beat at both 5k and 10k. We take a look at Alysia Johnson's first big European win; and we rip Carmelita Jeter and praise Tyson Gay/rip Asafa Powell.

The Great White Hope Breaks 10.00
France's Christophe Lemaitre became the first white man to break 10.00, as the lanky 20-year-old ran 9.98 on Thursday. You can watch the race video here (regular speed) or here (slow motion).

Now, a ton has been made of Lemaitre's race. Like it or not, his race is a big deal and it's very newsworthy that a white man has broken 10-flat. Please don't tell us it's not right to mention the fact that he's white. The fact of the matter is the first achievements of minorities in sports are routinely trumpeted across the globe. Anyone remember 2007 when Tony Dungy was heralded as the first black man to win a Super Bowl as a coach? And in the world of sprinting, Lemaitre is a minority.

However, Lemaitre soon may be viewed as more than just the best white sprinter in history. He very well may be viewed as one of the best sprinters on the planet. LetsRun.com looked at the fastest twenty 100-meter men in history and all of them broke 10.00 at a later age then Lemaitre. Lemaitre did so less than a month after his 20th birthday (birthday June 11th - he ran sub-10 on July 10th). Others are reporting that he's the 3rd-fastest in history at age 19/20.

More: First White Man Breaks 10.00 *Reuters Article *LRC MB: Lemaitre 9.98 *Full Speed Race Video Here *Funny Slo-Mo Video Here

The 7th 1:41 In History
In Heusden, Kenya's David Rudisha became the 2nd-fastest 800 man in history when he ran 1:41.51. Only seven times in history has a human being broken 1:42.00 for 800 meters and the near 13-year wait for it to be done since Wilson Kikpeter set the world record of 1:41.11 on August 24, 1997 had been a long one. The good news is we imagine that very soon the number of sub-1:42 800s in history will be in the double digits, as Rudisha is only 21 years of age, as is 1:42.23 man Abubaker Kaki.

Of course, it's worth pointing out Joaquim Cruz was also 21 when he broke 1:42 back in August of 1984 and he never ran faster than 1:42.49 for the rest of his career.

The 7 1:41s in history:

1:41.11 - Wilson Kipketer - August 24, 1997
1:41.24 - Wilson Kipketer - August 13, 1997
1:41.51 - David Rudisha - July 10, 2010
1:41.73 - Seb Coe - June 10, 1981
1:41.73 - Wilson Kipketer - July 7 1997
1:41.77 -  Joaquim Cruz  - August 26, 1984
1:41.83 - Wilson Kikpeter - September 1, 1996

Rudisha wasn't the only one to PR in Heusden. Americans Erin Donohue (4:03.91), AJ Acosta (3:36.48) and Tim Nelson (13:20) all ran PRs. So congrats to them. Craig Mottram also returned to action with a 13:36. This also brings us to our email of the week.

More: LRC 2010 KBC Nacht Recap: David Rudisha Runs 1:41.51 To Become 2nd-Fastest 800 Man In History!!! *Video Of Rudisha's 1:41.51 *Rudisha's Comments after Race *Craig Mottram runs 13:36. Discuss: 1'41.51 !!!!!!!!!!! *Mottram On His Comeback

Email Of The Week
For years, conspiracy theorists were convinced that the track at Stanford had to be short, as distance runners would run so much faster there any anywhere else. Well, apparently, now there is a new track to rip on. Check out this email we got from a coach last week:

I am totally convinced the Heusden track is not (measured) correctly. Every year athletes including my own run prs there that they never achieve again!! I think if you brought a measuring wheel to the track you'd be arrested.

Certainly interesting. We used to joke about Stanford ourselves until someone pointed out to us that it's not like you see ridiculously fast times at shorter events at Stanford like 400 or 800. Thus, it's likely just that conditions and competition are ideal at Stanford. But in Lausanne, there were some good times at a variety of distances.

The Good Leo Manzano Shows Up
Another person who had a great week last week was Leo Manzano. A week after embarrassing himself at the Pre Classic for the 2nd straight year (Manzano was last in 4:06.51), Manzano nearly pulled off the mid-d upset of the year as he pushed Olympic champion Asbel Kiprop to the line in the Diamond League meet in Gateshead. One week after finishing 16.76 seconds behind Kiprop, Manzano finished just .17 behind him in England.

Certainly a great run for Leo. And for those of you wondering how does one improve by 17 seconds in a mile in one week, we have an answer. Manzanos coach, John Cook, reached out to LetsRun.com this week to tell us that Manzano "had bad asthma in Eugene." Apparently the horrific pollen is the reason as to why Manzano has struggled at Pre two years in a row. As for the old saying that "the third time's the charm," Cook says that at the 2011 Pre Classic he needs to be "better prepared" as a coach for the situation.

Galen Rupp Beats Alberto Salazar & Joins US Top 10 At 5,000

Galen Rupp joined the all-time top 10 in the US for 5,000 last week thanks to his 13:10.05 PR last week in Gateshead. With his 13:10.05, Rupp is now faster than his mentor in Alberto Salazar, who is now tied at #12 on the US list with his 13:11.93 PR. Rupp sits at #8 on the list.

Rupp is 1.85 seconds faster than Salazar at 5k and 14.87 seconds faster than him at 10k. Let's hope that since a marathon is 4.22 times as long as a marathon, that Rupp is at least 62.75 (14.87 x 4.22 = 62.75) seconds better than Salazar in the marathon. If so, then Rupp will run at least 2:07:38 in New York, as Salazar ran the equivalent of 2:08:40 in New York (course slightly shortened that year). And that would be a great thing, as the course record in New York is still 2:07:43 (Tesfaye Jifar from 2001).

The 13:10 was actually more than a 20-second outdoor PR for Rupp, whose previous best outdoors was 13:30.49. Now, that stat is certainly misleading, as - given his NCAA responsibilities for Oregon and his Olympic and World Championships responsibilities at 10,000 - Rupp had few opportunities to really go after good 5ks outdoors (Rupp ran 13:18 indoors in 2009 and 13:14 this year).

But does anyone remember that 13:30 race for Rupp in 2007? In that race, he nipped Chris Solinsky at the line in 13:30 as Solinsky fell over at the finish. At the time, Solinsky's 5k PR was just 13:27. Thus, it's worth noting that both Rupp and Solinsky both have come a long way in a short period of time.

In looking at the all-time US 5k list, it's also worth noting only one American in history has ever finished with a PR between 13:00 and 13:10. Adam Goucher  has run 13:10.00, but everyone else who has run faster than 13:10 has also broken 13:00 except South African-born Sydney Maree, who ended up with a PR of 13:01.15 (for 2nd behind Said Aouita's first WR of 13:00.40 in 1985). But in all honesty, some say Maree never really considered himself American and just competed for America, as South Africa was banned from international competition. After he was done competing for the USA, Maree moved back to South Africa, where now he resides in a South African prison on fraud charges.

Others reworking the Top 10 US all-time list included both Morgan Uceny and Dan Huling, who both ran well in Lausanne. Uceny cracked the top 10 for the first time in her career by running 4:02.40 in Lausanne to move up to #10 all-time. Huling, who came into Lausanne as the 7th-fastest performer in US history, moved up to #5 thanks to his 8:13.29 PR.

More: *LRC Homepage After Rupp's 13:30 PR *Message Board Thread On Rupp's 13:30 Win Over Solinsky In 2007 *Blog Recap Of The 13:30 *LRC: Dan Huling Impresses With Steeple PR As He Moves Up To #5 All-Time In US As Uceny Joins Top 10 In 1,500 On The Boards: *Dan Huling 8:13 PB! *BURKA 3:59.28 .... UCENY 4:02.40 (PR)

Alysia Johnson - LRC's Performer Of The Week
While other American mid-d and distance runners ran pretty well last week, none of them brought home a victory like Alysia Johnson. Johnson picked up the first significant European win of her career by taking down the 800 in Gateshead. Down the stretch, she powered away from Rome winner and 1:58.40 performer Halima Hachlaf.

In the process, Johnson also beat the 2nd, 3rd and fourth finishers from last year's World Championships in Janeth Jepkosgei, Jenny Meadows and Yuliya Krevsun. Also soundly beaten was American Maggie Vessey, as well as 2009 Berlin finalist Marily Okoro.

Last week, we praised Johnson for going for the win in Eugene and this week she is justly rewarded with a major win to put on her résumé.

Villain Of The Week
Our villain of the last week is none other than US sprinter Carmelita Jeter. Why, you ask? On the surface, one might not see much to not like. Afterall, the two-time World Championships bronze medalist at 100 meters ran two Diamond League meets last week and won both races. However, her time in Lausanne was 10.99 (into a .6 headwind) and her time in Gateshead was 10.95 (with a .3 tailwind) and that's why she is the villian of the week.

Because early in the week, Jeter hinted that she was eyeing Flo-Jo's ridiculous world record of 10.49. 10.95 is a long cry from 10.49. Heck, it's a long way from the 10.64 that Jeter ran last year, which made her the 2nd-fastest in history. But we guess we should also give the BBC a Thumbs Down, as they were the ones who titled the article, "Carmelita Jeter eyes women's 100m record at Gateshead." In the article, Jeter never directly said she was going after the world record. She only raved about her incredible workouts and said, "I'm hoping to see something special from myself. I'm excited to see what the clock is going to say."

Regardless, we hate it when athletes talk the talk but don't walk the walk.

A Couple Of Good Guys Retire
Last week, Michigan men's cross-country coach and Vietnam war hero Ron Wahurst called it a career. He will still coach post-collegiates, but characters like Warhurst can never be replaced.

In terms of athletes, the sport lost one of it's greatest ambassadors as 39-year-old hurdler Allen Johnson also called it a career. The 1996 110h Olympic gold medalist was a class act on and off the track for a long, long while. On the track, he had an amazing career, as in addition to Olympic gold in 1996, he also won World Championships gold four different times outdoors and three different times indoors. All told, that's 8 Olympic or world titles.

Additionally, he first broke 13.00 in 1995 at the age of 24. He did it for the last time in his career in 2006 at the age 35. At the age of 37, in 2008, he won World Indoor silver. Yes, at age 37. To put that in perspective, that would be like Usain Bolt winning World Indoor silver in 2024. Johnson's career lasted way longer than most, but all good things must come to an end.

More: War Hero Ron Warhurst Retires After 36 Years At Michigan *2nd Message Board Thread On Ron's Retirement Here *Legend Allen Johnson Retires *On The Boards: Thank You Allen Johnson

The Odds Of Usain Bolt Losing In 2010 Went Way Down Last Week
Speaking of Usain Bolt ... we thought there was a good chance he'd lose one race this year given his injury problems. However, the odds of him losing went way down last week for two reasons:

1) Bolt raced for the first time in 40-plus days and wasn't nearly as rusty as we thought he might be, as he won in 9.82.

2)  Yet again, Asafa Powell proved that no matter how well he has been running, he can't be counted on to win when the pressure is packed. In the first matchup involving two of the Big 3 in men's sprinting in Powell, Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay, Powell was defeated by Tyson Gay in the 100 meters in Gateshead. If Gay can beat Powell coming back from injury, then we're pretty darn confident that Bolt can beat Powell. And by the time Bolt and Gay finally meet, Bolt will have had a race or two under his belt and will be hard to beat - particularly if he begs out of the 200 for the rest of the year.

More: On The Boards: *BOLT ...just another 9.82

Weekly Drug Update
There was some big drug news last week, but we don't feel like talking about it. Read more below if you want.

World And Olympic 100m Champ Shelly-Ann Fraser Tests Positive Of course she has an innocent explanation, but we'll see if the authorities buy it.
On The Boards: "... because she's Jamaican, it's already established that it was an honest mistake from a lovely, humble, genuine person and the minimum sanction will be applied." *Shelly-Ann Fraser's Positive Was For A Painkiller
*Asafa Powell On Teammate Fraser: "She didn't cheat."
*Asafa Powell Hopes Shelly-Ann Fraser Positive Is Not A Big Deal We too hope it's not a big deal.
*Wada Defends Jamaica's Anti-Doping Record After Shelly-Ann Fraser Test People are worried about conflicts of interest in Jamaica as well as the fact that there have been 8 positives on the small island in a year.

Recommended Reads:
*Great Article On Ron Warhurst's Vietnam Service
*Usain Bolt Speaks To Swiss Business School - Professor Says Business World Can Learn A Lot From Bolt
*On The Boards: Thank You Allen Johnson

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