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Sunday, September 23, 2007

World Final Day Two recap

Results
IAAF recap
AP wirestory
Athletics Weekly report

Event-by-event...

Mens' 200: Jaysuma Saidy Ndure gained some notoriety late this season by running second or third in several Golden League 100m races, with decent but not-stunning times. The more observant fan might have known he's a better 200m runner. Today he stomped Wallace Spearmon by 0.29 seconds with 19.89. Definitely the find of this meet!
T&FN discussion - video

Men's 1500: Daniel Kipchirchir Komen was supposed to be one of the dominant milers this year, but it didn't really come out that way until after the World Championships. Today he outkicked a field that included Baala, Webb, Sullivan, Ali and Baddeley.
T&FN discussion - video

Men's Steeple: Paul Koech won almost every race he was in this year, save the all-important Kenyan Trials where he finished fourth and was not selected for the World Championships. He easily won again today, running 8:00.67 to runner-up Mateelong's 8:07.66 (and this without a pacemaker). Statistically, Koech is now probably the second- or third-best steepler of all time.
T&FN discussion - video

Men's 5000: Two days, two wins for Edwin Cheruyiot Soi. His kick was described as one of the best ever. Sihine was way back in sixth; there may have been some Kenyan team tactics going on there.
T&FN discussion - video

Mens' 110H: All of the world's best hurdlers save WR holder/world champ Liu Xiang were in the race. Dayron Robles, who was a bit of a disappointment in the early and middle parts of the season (no medal in Osaka) has been running very well in the last few weeks. Today he took it up another level; he ran 12.92 (wind 0.0), equal to the 4th-fastest athlete of all time. David Payne ran another great race (13.08) for second, with Trammell third. Robles' mark is definitely the performance of the day.
T&FN discussion

Men's High Jump: World Champ Donald Thomas added the World Final title to his short but rapidly-growing list of accomplishments. Remember, just two years ago he'd never tried the event and was still playing basketball for Auburn. Stefan Holm gained some measure of redemption for his Osaka failure by taking the runner-up spot.
T&FN discussion

Men's Pole Vault: Brad Walker cemented his position as the year's top vaulter with a 5.91 victory, beating back crowd-supported Germans Otto (2nd, 5.86) and Ecker (4th, 5.81) and Aussie Hooker (3rd, 5.81) in the process. He then actually had the audacity to attempt a WR 6.16 meters. Do I even have to mention that he didn't make it?
T&FN discussion

Men's Long Jump: These days, discussion of the event virtually begins and ends with Irving Saladino. He suffered and injury in Rieti and ended his season right there, so he was a no-show today. The man who came the closest to beating Saladino, Andrew Howe, won by a fairly wide margin with 8.35.
T&FN discussion

Men's Hammer: In the marquee running events many top stars skipped this meet. This was not the case in events which get lesser coverage such as the long throws; all the best hammer guys were here today. The title went to World champ Ivan Tsikhan.
T&FN discussion

Men's Javelin: Yet another Pitkämäki win (although to be fair, runner-up Thorkildsen is still recovering from injury). Every one of the top six was from a nation bordering the Baltic Sea.
T&FN discussion

Women's 100: All-around sprint star Allyson Felix chose the 100 for her first (only?) post-Osaka race and came up 0.05 short on a late-race surge. Emerging talent Carmelita Jeter won in 11.10 (wind -0.6) while a resurgent Christine Arron was third.
T&FN discussion - video

Women's 400: All the top 400 runners save Felix were in the race, and all got their butts kicked by Sanya Richards (49.27, equal to her own world leader).
T&FN discussion - video

Women's 800: Janeth Jepkosgei. Get to know this name--it sure looks like she's going to dominate the event for years to come.
T&FN discussion

Women's 3000: A Defar-Jamal matchup did not materialize. Defar won in 8:27.24 to 5k champ Cheruyiot's 8:28.66, but it actually was not as close as that appears. A dominant win for an athlete with a reasonable case for Athlete of the Year.
T&FN discussion

Women's 400H: This race was almost a microcosm of the season in this event. World Champ Jana Rawlinson dominated for 300+ meters, then folded in the straight and got nipped at the line by a surging Anna Jesien. Natasha Danvers-Smith's apparrel made a bit of a stir.
T&FN discussion - video

Women's Triple Jump: Tatyana Lebedeva continues to do the opposite of what we expect: win the long jump and get beaten in the triple. Surprise World champ Yergelis Sevigne won again today (14.78), with Devetzi second (14.75) and Lebedeva third (14.72).
T&FN discussion

Women's Shot: Nadzeya Ostapchuk evened the major-meet score with World champ Valerie Vili, 20.45 to 20.40.
T&FN discussion

Women's Discus: It actually took Franka Dietzsch two throws to put this one away. Runner-up Vera Pospíšilová-Cechlová was a bomb in Osaka, not qualifying to the final.
T&FN discussion

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