Worlds Day 3 Recap

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IAAF recap
USATF recap

My thoughts on the third day of the IAAF World Indoor Championships...

Event of the day: Men's 800 meters. In a thrilling fight all the way through, Sudanese teen sensation Abuber Kaki had his coming-out party. Six finalists, six (indoor) PRs. I can't add much that hasn't already been said.

Performance of the Day: Women's 1500 meters. Yelena Soboleva topped off her amazing indoor season with an even-more-amazing mark, breaking her month-old World Indoor record. The IAAF Scoring Tables say her recent performances put her at or above the level as Jolanda Ceplak, Süreyya Ayhan, and even Jarmila Kratochvílová. I'm just sayin'.

Surprise of the Day: Women's 800 meters. Tamsyn Lewis ran very smart, Maria Mutola ran very dumb. Rewinding the electrons on my DVR, I noticed that Lewis ran right on the rail in second place or first place until the very last straightaway, avoiding the shoving matches and extra distance that plagued other runners. If everyone else runs 810 or so meters and you only run 802, you don't relaly have to be better than they are.
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Disappointment of the day: Men's 4x400m relay. Russia's team looked like they might give Yuriy Borzakovskiy a chance to make the anchor leg interesting, but Maksim Dyldin stepped on the rail and fell, making the rest of the race a mere formality.
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Warning: Men's 400 meters. If Jeremy Wariner's much-publicized split with Clyde Hart ends up compromising his performance, Tyler Christopher today proved he might be the man to knock him off.

Battle That Wasn't: Women's Shot Put. Women throwers don't get a lot of opportunity to compete on a big stage, and this was supposed to be a showdown between Valerie Vili and Nadzeya Ostapchuk. Nope, Vili dominated beginning to end.

Proof that Indoor Doesn't Mean Crap: Men's 3000 meters. Buster Mottram is way better than his fifth-place showing, but he obviously doesn't pay any attention to the tactical adjustments indoor tracks require. Running wide for several laps, trying to pass going into a turn, etc., all robbed him of a chance to run for a medal.

Why Didn't We Just Hand Out the Gold Medal and Call it a Day: Women's High Jump. Uh, when was the last time Blanca Vlasic had any real competition?

Separated at Birth: Men's Pole Vault. Lukyanenko deserves the headline, but I just couldn't look at Steve Hooker without wondering which he resembles more: Kenny G or Christopher Atkins.

Valencia's Hurdles are Cursed: Men's Heptathlon. Bryan Clay is back in top form. Roman Sebrle might have made a contest of it but he came up injured in the hurdles.
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