What a great meet that was. I rarely get entertained by meets anymore.
First I was shocked at the crowd. They were loud and raucous. Doha finally got all the expat Kenyans and Ethiopians out. Sports are about atmosphere.
The crowd makes such a big difference.
Then the performances were off the charts.
Kiprop 3:29, Amos and Aman battling to the line in a "cracking race" as Steve Cram just said, Ukhov 2.41 and a tremendous high jump, Sum impressing and Chanelle Price going sub 2:00, Ezekiel Kemboi entertaining, and then 7 women just went sub 8:30 in the 3k. A "brilliant, brilliant" run by Hellen Obiri as Steve Cram said.
Editor's note: If you'd like to watch the meet on Demand in the US click here to watch it Via Dish World. They have a free 48 hour trial that does not require a credit card.
Doha: That Was a TREMENDOUS Track Meet
Report Thread
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+1 Wejo -- couldn't agree more.
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I was just talking to Robert and told him, "It made me want to fly their next year."
He said the same thing. If we could get crowds like that at most meets we'd have something. -
Brilliant run by Obiri? The whole field was bunched up behind Dibaba because 8:30 pace was too slow.
The 1500 should have been single-file too, and wasn't.
For a season opener, that does not smell right at all. Everyone is suddenly superhuman at the same time. I'm not buying it. -
wejo wrote:
If we could get crowds like that at most meets we'd have something.
Certain runners using ticketed races as "tied" tempo runs is not going to fill the seats. Neither are certain ploys" -
Bad Wigins wrote:
For a season opener, that does not smell right at all. Everyone is suddenly superhuman at the same time. I'm not buying it.
Preparations started early for the world relays. Time will tell as to whether they can keep their form -
I have the Dish World app installed and have got the 48 hour trial going, how do I watch the meet "on-demand" now?
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I agree Wejo. Especially about the atmosphere. There meetings I've wanted to yell at spectators to get their butts off the seats. It's sports not opera.
Performance of the night, for me, has to be Obiri over Kiprop with Amos being the most interesting to follow through the season.
Bravo Doha. This is why I love athletics. -
+10 wejo
Lets see some photos of the action!!
Has to be one of the most impressive meet results(all around) I've ever seen. -
video of 1500 for anyone interested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wqtc9AnGzgg -
I think English Gardner's eye bulging is directly proportional to her speed. Well back in the sockets tonight and well back down the strip. Last in fact. :(
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Bad Wigins wrote:
Brilliant run by Obiri? The whole field was bunched up behind Dibaba because 8:30 pace was too slow.
Only 15 seconds off the official WR. -
wejo wrote:
I was just talking to Robert and told him, "It made me want to fly they're next year."
fixed -
Lot of PR's out there today. 10 PR's the women's 3K alone. 5 in the men's 1500.
Wild atmosphere.
Obiri almost got her clothes ripped off by the drunk Kenyans, they broke a wall grabbing her. -
Dewey_Runner wrote:
I have the Dish World app installed and have got the 48 hour trial going, how do I watch the meet "on-demand" now?
I figured this out finally.
On the app and this worked for me on the computer and phone, click on "Guide" up top.
Then select Sports.
You should see Universal Sports as an option. Right now next to it it on the right it says "Beach Volleyball" on the same line.
The key is to click on the Left hand side where it says, "Universal Sports" not "Beach Volleyball". They are all on the same line and all light up at the same time but the part on the left is a different link than on the right.
Once you click on the left on "Universal Sports" you'll see a list of today's stuff and you can click on "Track and Field" and watch today's meet. Here is a screen shot: http://imgur.com/E7IflTW
(click on the part in blue)
If you don't have the app you get it from here:
http://www.letsrun.com/news/2014/05/live-legal-streams-diamond-league-10a-month/ -
Yeah, at least one guy got to second base
Soop wrote:
Wild atmosphere.
Obiri almost got her clothes ripped off by the drunk Kenyans, they broke a wall grabbing her. -
wejo wrote:I rarely get entertained by meets anymore
Try not to be so cynically inclined & more optimistic !
Great meet, only marred by guys not following pace to bell in 800
( Aman woudn't with Nijel there & Nijel woudn't as only "75%" fit )
& poorish pacing in 1500
( 2'35+ is too slow at bell )
& Asbel loking to run a tactical race, only kicking in last 100 & not 400 or 500 out, where he maya got another 3'27+
( but probably worried about Maloofi/Silas/Souleman if he'd gone before bell ) -
Incite wrote:
Yeah, at least one guy got to second base
Soop wrote:
Wild atmosphere.
Obiri almost got her clothes ripped off by the drunk Kenyans, they broke a wall grabbing her.
What was funny is she was so happy she didn't even seem to care. She kept running back toward them. Maybe we'll see a little "more" of Hellen next race.. lol -
Bad Wigins wrote:
Brilliant run by Obiri? The whole field was bunched up behind Dibaba because 8:30 pace was too slow.
The 1500 should have been single-file too, and wasn't.
For a season opener, that does not smell right at all. Everyone is suddenly superhuman at the same time. I'm not buying it.
It was AN UNREAL MEET.
You do realize that times across the globe are unreal. Have you seen the college ranks? 10 years ago, I could get a guy to run 1420 and 2940 and he'd dominate the Ivy League. Now he won't even score.
Thanks to the Internet (and letsrun has a small role), good coaching is global now. People should be good.
Up until 2004, only 264 Americans had ever broken 4. Now 420 guys have done it. So we've had 154 guys do it in the last 10 years whereas only 264 did it in the first 47.
To be honest, I've wondered in the past why people weren't better more often. Bad coaching. That no longer exists reallly.
But no everyone wasn't superhuman in Doha. Case in point, Genzebe Dibaba. She wasn't good today at all.
You failed to mentione that. -
Dibaba ran an outdoor PR! She ran a poor race strategy and severely underestimated her competition. But the speed was there. The race didn't go as she expected.
Genze is not good at adjustments. In her mind the race must go exactly as she anticipates or it's trouble for her.
