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Showing posts with label Previews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Previews. Show all posts

Friday, April 01, 2011

Weekend Preview

The relay season kicks off this weekend with the Florida Relays on Friday and Saturday.  Friday is the individual events, Saturday is the relays.

Besides all the hot collegiate action, which I previewed yesterday, some big-name pros are getting started here too.  David Oliver is running his first outdoor race of the year; Francena McCorory and Mary Wineberg are facing off in the 400; and a foursome of Vet Myers, Lauryn Williams, Natasha Hastings, and Bianca Knight are running the 4x100 and 4x200.  (Tyson Gay had considered running on a 4x400 here, but it looks like that's not happening.)

And then there's the brainchild of Florida sprinters Terrell Wilks and Jeff Demps: the fastest mascot challenge.


Flotrack will have coverage and DistancePreps.com will have a live webcast on both days.  Don't miss it!

Another quality relay meet this weekend is the 46th annual Colonial Relays at William and Mary.  The Missouri Relays also takes place in Columbia.

Scored Meets
If you're like me, and you love meets that keep score, you'll have a lot to keep you happy this weekend.

The inaugural LSU Invitational has the home Tigers plus Texas A&M, Illinois, Iowa, UConn and Army.  On both the men's and the women's side, the team battle should be a war.  In terms of individual events, the men's 110 hurdles lines up the top two in the country, Barret Nugent (LSU) and Andrew Riley (Illinois).

The Jim Click Shootout lines up the home Arizona Wildcats against Ohio State, Minnesota and Washington State.  The two from the Big Ten are deep teams that do very well in this kind of competition.

There's a revival of a once-great dual meet series as Tennessee travels to UCLA.  Nebraska and Northern Iowa go to Wichita State.  BYU and Cal St. Northridge come to USC, and that one should be a close matchup between the Cougars and the Trojans.

High Schools
The best track meet in the entire world, the Jamaican Boys' and Girls' Championships (aka "The Champs") is going on in Kingston.  TrackAlerts.com is your one-stop shop for updates, and the live webcast features Ato Boldon.

Road Racing
Here in the USA we have the Cooper River Bridge Run, the Carlsbad 5000, and the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler.  Eliud Kipchoge is in Carlsbad and wants the road world record; Runnerspace is at Cherry Blossom and will be running a new three-feed webcast.

Overseas there's the Prague Half Marathon, the Paralleloop, and the Berlin Half Marathon, plus a special Iberic Trophy 10,000 meters in Spain.

Thursday, February 03, 2011

Superfan Daily: New Balance Boston Preview and Picks

Time to help you along in USATF's Pick N Win game.

"Help" may not be the word here. I flat-out sucked at picking winners at last week's Millrose Games. I think I would have done better if I'd made my backup picks my real picks. But here's what I have for this week...

Men's 60 meters
Trell Kimmons was third at Millrose, a race which put together pretty much all of the world's top sprinters who compete indoors. With neither of the two who beat him entered, Kimmons is the favorite. Of the other entrants only Ivory Williams could be considered a threat.

Women's 60 meters
Lauryn Williams looked pretty good last week at Millrose, showing that she's come back well from her 2010 layoff. In the absence of any truly strong competition, she's the pick to make. Make Lisa Barber your backup pick.

Men's 300 meters
With only four competitors entered it's hard to go too wrong.  Calvin Smith is probably not only the best 300 runner in the field, he's probably one of the best in the world.

Women's 400 meters
Natasha Hastings is riding a two-meet winning streak.  There's no reason to believe she won't stretch it to three.

Men's 600 meters
Last week we were supposed to get Bershawn Jackson against Renny Quow, and this should be a real barn-burner (assuming that Jackson is over whatever took him out of Millrose).  Quow is a strong closer in the 400 meters, which is why he's so good at the Millrose 600 yards.  This is about 50 meters further than that, and Jackson is a strong closer in the 400 hurdles--which is a level higher in terms of difficulty as compared to the 400 meters.  Take Jackson with Quow as your backup pick.

Women's 800 meters
Pheobe Wright ran very well at the Armory two weeks ago, winning with 2:00.39. That's faster than the indoor PR of any active American runner save Alysia Johnson, who is not entered. Maggie Vessey is probably the second-best athlete in the race, but is not terribly consistent, so I'd say Morgan Uceny is the safest backup pick.

Men's Mile
Who do you go with? Nick Willis, the Olympic silver medalist, or Leo Manzano, the hotshot American? Or Alan Webb, who was recently re-added to the field?  Both Willis and Manzano are sharp, as Willis ran 3:58 at Michigan's 200m flat track two weeks ago and Manzano ran a good 1000m time trial in training. Both are wily competitors and great kickers. Webb is, as always, a big question mark.  He's quiet capable of winning, but also quite capable of bombing, and in a points-for-place prediction contest he's a big risk.  I'm taking Manzano but it's admittedly a coin toss.

Women's Mile
This is a good race too. The headliners are Sheila Reid, Villanova's NCAA cross country champion, and Carmen Hussar, runner-up at Millrose.  Reid's recent 8:52 is more impressive than either of Hussar's recent mile races, so with that in mind I'll pick Reid.

Men's 3000 meters
The big name entered in this race is Britain's Mo Farah, who is moving into place as one of the world's very best runners. His biggest obstacle to victory is likely to be Ethiopia's Dejen Gebremeskel, who sports PRs of 7:40 and 12:53. And then there's Nixon Chepsaba, who already has a 3:35 in Europe to his credit. Farah has a few races under his belt this season, and Gebremeskel doesn't, so in my mind that tips the scales to the Brit--but not by much. Liberty's Sam Chelanga, the two-time NCAA cross country champion, is also entered but is clearly running behind the top three.

Women's 3000 meters
The interesting matchup here is between Jen (Barringer) Simpson and Kalkidan Gezahegne, the defending world indoor champion at 1500 meters. Simpson is a very good runner, possibly the best in the USA at distances less than 5k, but the operative phrase here is world champion. Noting my Ethiopian rule--"they always show up ready to race"--which held true in the Wanamaker Mile last week, I have to go with Gezahegne.

Women's Pole Vault
With only four vaulters in the field, and Fabiana Murer not being one of them, Jenn Suhr is an overwhelming favorite.  This being the pole vault, though, no-heights are always a possibility, so your backup pick really matters here, and I'd advise to pick Becky Holliday.

Yesterdays' Results
Springermeeting
Dessau GER
Results

What's On
Correction: the Moscow High Jumps Cup takes place today, not yesterday, in the Russian capitol. The biggest name competing is Russia's Ivan Ukhov, who jumped 2.38m in his season opener and twice barely missed at the world record height of 2.44m.

News Links
Runner's World's Racing News has all the headlines, including Bernard Lagat's 2-mile American Record attempt.

Let's Run previews this weekend's Boston meet.

Bob Marley's daughter will design Jamaica's 2012 Olympic uniforms. Track and field, meet marketing. Where have you been all these years?


The stat nerds at Track and Field News have a compilation of every sub-10.00 ever run. All 435 of them. 16 pages. NERDS!

Ashton Eaton is USATF's Athlete of the Week.

Spiked up Psyched Up's preview of the women's races at this weekend's USA Cross Country Championships.

Ken Goe at The Oregonian notes that David Klech could be a game-changer for the Ducks.  But we have meets, not games...

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Michigan at Ohio State, "The Dual"

In just a few minutes, I'll be leaving Toledo for Columbus.  A carload of us are going to see Ohio State take on that team up north in a meet that has been dubbed "The Dual".

The meet had been an annual affair for decades but died out in the mid-90s.  Since the revival, which is a home-and-home indoor/outdoor series, Ohio State leads by a score of four wins to two.  I've doped out the meet, and Ohio State is a fairly strong favorite today.  But it's not impossible for Michigan to win. 

An early indicator will be the long jump, where Michigan's senior Robert Peddlar will got toe-to-toe with Ohio State sophomore (and northwest Ohio native) Korbin Smith.  Smith is the defending Big Ten outdoor champion, Peddlar the defending indoor champion.  If Peddlar can pull off the win, then Michigan has a somewhat of a chance.  Otherwise, the Wolverines will be in a big hole.

In terms of online coverage, there's plenty.  The meet schedule is here.  Flotrack will have a live webcast beginning at noon.  I will be doing updates via Twitter.  Live results are online via Finish Timing.  And then there are the Facebook pages for the Ohio State and Michigan teams.

In what I consider to be a very smart move (in that  they're doing what I suggested a year ago), there are two Ohio State versus Michigan dual meets happening today.  The women's teams face off in Ann Arbor at the same time the men are competing in Columbus.  A home-and-home series splitting men's and women's teams has multiple advantages.  The meets can be much more tightly scheduled affairs if there's only one gender competing.  It's much easier to keep track of team scores if there's only one score being kept.  And, best of all, it doubles the exposure (and likely doubles the attendance).

Friday, January 14, 2011

Superfan Daily: What's On The Weekend

Cross Country
The Cross Internacional de Itálica, an IAAF Cross Country Permit meet, will be held in Seville on Sunday. It is so named because it takes place in the former Roman city of Itálica, looping through ancient streets and ruins.
The men's race is deep, with undisputed world #1 Joseph Ebuya; Teklemariam Medhin, the only man to have beaten him this season; Leonard Komon, world record holder for the road 10k and 15k; and Tariku Bekele, last summer's #2 track distance man.
The women's race is also deep, with Linet Masai, the dominant runner of late; Emily Chebet, the defending World XC champion; Vivian Cheruiyot, the defending World 5k champion; and Pauline Korikwiang, who won in Amorebieta last weekend.
Meet website / Wikipedia page
IAAF preview

The Cross della Vallagarina, an EAA Cross Country Permit meet, will be held in the Italian city of Rovereto on Sunday.
Meet website
FIDAL preview (in Italian)

The Kenya Police Service Cross Country Championships will be held at Nairobi's Ngong Race Course on Saturday. While undoubtedly deep, the exact makeup of the fields are up in the air; some previously announced runners, such as Linet Masai and Vivian Cheruiyot, are running the day before in Seville, and cannot possibly do both.
The Standard Preview

The first-ever Bay Area Cross Challenge will be held on Sunday in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. The meet is part of an attempt to create a domestic winter-season cross country circuit; there will be $9,000 of prize money on the line.
Leading men's confirmed entrants: Abdi Abdirahman, David Torrance, Belota Asmerom, Boaz Cheboiywo
Leading women's confirmed entrants: Molly Huddle (5k American Record holder) Magdalena Lewy-Boulet, Alissa McKaig, Megan (Metcalfe) Wright, Renee Metivier Baillie
Meet website

Road Racing
The Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon will be run through the Indian city on Sunday. One runner will be no stranger to India: John Kelai, who won the Commonwealth Games marathon last fall in New Delhi.
Race website / live webcast
IAAF preview / Hindustan Times / OneIndia News
The Rock n' Roll Arizona Marathon will be run in Pheonix on Sunday. Kara Goucher will make her return to racing after maternity.
Race website
AP preview / Arizona Republic preview

Indoor Track
Texas goes to Arkansas on Friday for a men-only dual meet.
Preview / Meet schedule / Start lists / Live blog / Live Results

Missouri goes to Kansas on Friday for a dual meet.
Preview / Meet schedule

The Washington Indoor Preview will have a couple of notable post-collegians running in the women's 3000 meters: Shalane Flanagan and Lisa Koll.
Meet schedule / Heat sheets
Paul Merca's preview / Flotrack coverage page

Texas A&M hosts a "four-conference challenge" on Saturday between teams from the Big 12, Southland, Sun Belt and SWAC. I wonder which conference will win...
Live webcast at Aggies All-Access begins at 1:00 PM EST
Preview / Heat sheets / Live results

Michigan goes to Ohio State for a men-only dual meet on Saturday. I will be there and will tweet updates during the meet.
Flotrack coverage page
Video preview
/ Meet schedule / Live results

In a brilliant home-and-home move, Ohio State simultaneously goes to Michigan for a women-only dual meet.
Meet schedule / Video preview

Indiana travels to Purdue on Saturday for a dual meet.
Video preview / Meet schedule / Live results

All other college meets

Vault Manchester, a stop on the pole-vault only Perche Elite Tour, will take place on Sunday.

Also on Sunday is the Capital Perche, another stop on the Perche Elite Tour, in the French city of Clermont-Ferrand.

Other minor European meets: the Demyanuk Memorial in Lviv UKR, the Reykjavik International Games, and the AAI Games in Nenagh IRL.

Track on TV (and the web)
Live web chat with Ryan Hall and Magdalena Lewy-Boulet, 2:00 PM Friday at USATF.org
Texas A&M Challenge, live webcast begins at 1 PM Saturday at Aggies All-Access
Bud Greenspan's Athens 2004: Stories of Olympic Glory, Saturday at 9:55 AM and 8:00 PM on Showtime Family Zone

Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Superfan Daily: Exhibit on '36 Olympics and Jesse Owens

It recently came to my attention that the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage now has a special program titled “The Nazi Olympics: Berlin 1936”, a traveling exhibit of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. It seeks to explain how the Olympic Games were used to softpedal the uglier sides of pre-war Germany.

Of interest to track fans in particular is an emphasis on Jesse Owens. Among the items displayed are his journal from those Olympics, one of his gold medals, and other items from the Ohio State University archives.

Normally I would go first and then plug the exhibit, but I did not find out about it until last week, well into its run. It opened on October 19 and will close on January 23. I will be there this Sunday.

The museum is located in the Cleveland suburb of Beachwood. Guided tours are available for groups of ten or more on weekdays, and for individuals and/or smaller groups at 2 PM on Sundays. Admission is $12.

What’s On
The 54th Cross Country Internazionale Campaccio, an EAA Permit cross country meet, will take place tomorrow in the Italian township of San Giorgio su Legnano. The men’s race should be a good one, matching the world’s top XC runner, Joseph Ebuya, against the world record holder for road 10k and 15k, Leonard Komon.
Meet website
Schedule: Women (6k) at 12:30 PM (6:30 AM Eastern); men (10k) at 1:10 PM (7:10 AM Eastern)
Fidal preview (in Italian) / EAA preview

Track on TV
Sydney 2000: Stories of Olympic Glory, part of Universal Sports’ tribute to the late Bud Greenspan, will be on that channel at 9 PM on Thursday. It reruns at midnight.

News links
Runner’s World’s Racing News has all the headlines: athlete profiles and blogs, and an update on the Sammy Wanjiru situation.

San Diego will host the 2011 USATF cross country championships.  Dathan Ritzenhein is expected to compete.

Ryan Bailey will double in the 60 and 200 for the US team in the five-nations meet in Glasgow at the end of January.  The world's 6th-ranked 200 meter man, Bailey is the only athlete on any team who will double.

Nigerian-turned-Portugese sprinter Francis Obuikwelu, the 2004 Olympic silver medalist, has been linked to the Spanish "Operation Galgo".  He, of course, denies it.

Long jumper Brianna Glenn blogs about being relaxed and mean.

Unbroken, the best-selling book about miler/WWII POW Louis Zamperini, has been optioned for a film.

Arkansas' indoor track, among the world's fastest, has been refurbished and is ready to go.  But the track used for the recent Commonwealth Games at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi is now too damaged to use, due to a faulty foundation.

Friday, December 31, 2010

Fearless Predictions for 2011

Rather than look back this week, I will look forward to the coming year of track and field and road running. Few realize I combine the powers of Nostradomus and Ed Glosser,Trivial Psychic. So on with the fearless predictions for 2011...

A previously undistinguished athlete will win a medal at an international championship, and then be surrounded by quite credible accusations of doping and/or questionable gender identity. S/he may or may not be found to be in violation of the rules. You can bank on this.

The London 2012 Organizing Committee will release a glaringly obvious promotional toy: the Paula Radcliffe bobblehead doll. Shockingly, it will be an even bigger bomb than the Brussels Sprouts Whopper.

Friday, November 05, 2010

House of Run New York City Marathon preview

This week's House of Run podcast is now available. Yours truly makes an appearance and makes his bold picks for the NYC Marathon: Abel Kirui and Mary Keitany will win, Jared will fail to break 5:00.

Jason and Kevin do a great job with their podcast, in a breezy dry humor. Check it out, it's worth your time.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Van Damme

Tomorrow’s Van Damme Memorial meet in Brussels will crown the remaining half of the inaugural Diamond League champions. Many of the titles are already clinched, but some others are still in play.

I’m trying out a new rankings system this year, known as the Superfan Rankings. The criteria for ranking high is similar to that of Track and Field News’ world rankings, but with one difference: avoiding tough competition in order to avoid losing is penalized.

While the Brussels meet is not the last one, it’s the last really big one. In order of the meet schedule, here’s how the rankings in each event being run tomorrow could play out.

Women’s discus: Yarelis Barrios leads and cannot be caught.

Men’s shot put: Christian Cantwell leads and cannot be caught. A big throw, something over 22 meters, would help him fend off Tyson Gay and Bershawn Jackson in all-event Athlete of the Year rankings (in which he is currently third).

Women’s triple jump: Right now, Yargeris Sevigne leads over Olga Rypakova. That will reverse if Rypakova wins by anything more than about 6 or 7 centimeters.

Men’s steeplechase: The Diamond League final was last week, and Paul Koech won the title. There’s a steeplechase tomorrow, though. Koech is ranked #2 behind Ezekiel Kemboi, and could go to #1 if he wins with a sub-8:00 clocking.

Men’s 400m hurdles: Bershawn Jackson leads and cannot be caught. If he wins with a 47.40 or better, he would pass Christian Cantwell in the overall rankings.

Women’s 200 meters: Allyson Felix leads and cannot be caught. If she runs a world leader, she’ll pass Jessica Ennis for #2 in the overall rankings.

Men’s pole vault: Renaud Lavillenie leads and cannot be caught.

Women’s high jump: Blanka Vlasic leads and cannot be caught. If she wins, she’ll pass Betty Heidler (currently third) in the all-event Athlete of the Year rankings.

Women’s 800 meters: Mariya Savinova leads and cannot be caught.

Men’s 100 meters: Tyson Gay will pass Asafa Powell for the #1 ranking, unless he false-starts or injures himself. If he runs under 9.75 or so, he would pass Christian Cantwell for third in the all-event Athlete of the Year rankings.

Women’s steeplechase: The #1 ranking is on the line here. Whoever wins between Milcah Chemos and Yuliya Zarudneva will take the top spot.

Men’s 1500 meters: Augustine Choge has this all but sewn up. If he totally bombs, Amine Laalou could take the top spot with a win. Asbel Kiprop also has an outside chance at the top ranking.

Women’s 100m hurdles: Priscilla Lopes-Schliep just about has the #1 ranking sewn up, barring disaster.

Men’s triple jump: Teddy Tamgho leads and cannot be caught.

Men’s javelin: Andreas Thorkildsen leads and cannot be caught.

Men’s 800 meters: David Rudisha has clinched the #1 ranking, and just about clinched #1 in the all-event Athlete of the Year rankings.

Women’s 5000 meters: Vivian Cheruyiot would have to run poorly to lose her #1 ranking, in which case it would go to Sentayehu Ejigu.

Track on TV
Beijing 2008 – America’s Olympic Glory, 7:45 AM on Showtime Family Channel
Diamond League London rerun, 11:30 AM on Universal Sports

Around the Web
Runner's World Racing News has all the headlines: Mary Keitany will run her debut marathon in New York, and weekend previews

Britain's Athletics Weekly says the upcoming Commonwealth Games will be a delight, not a disaster.

SPIKES Magazine interviews Tyson Gay and David Rudisha

An interview with Mo Farah

Doha, Istanbul and Rome have bid for the 2017 IAAF World Championships.  Should the Turkish city win, I have the perfect theme song.

RunnerSpace has video highlights of the recent Leadville Trail 100 and a 10-minute interview with Alan Webb.

Rome 1960: when the Olympics went modern.

Flotrack interviews Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie.

Hometown newspaper features on Morgan Uceny and Christian Cantwell.

Thursday, June 03, 2010

Oslo Diamond League Preview

The meet will be webcast live staring at 2 PM EDT at UniversalSports.com. CBCSports.ca will also stream the meet.

TV coverage is at 8 PM Friday on Universal Sports, and at 2 PM Saturday on CBC.

1:15 PM: Women's Discus Throw
Leading entries: #1 Yarelis Barrios, #4 Nadine Muller, #7 Sandra Perkovic, #8 Stephanie Brown Trafton, #9 Nicoleta Grasu, #10 Yarisley Collado, #12 Aretha Thurmond, #16 Zaneta Glanc
Analysis: Barrios is the Diamond League points leader and hasn't lost this year.

1:50 PM: Men's Pole Vault
Leading Entries: #1 Steven hooker, #2 Malte Mohr, #3 Alexander Straub, #4 Renaud Lavillenie, #5 Steven Lewis, #6 Derek Miles, #8 Aleksandr Gripich, #9 Przemyslaw Czerwinski, #13 Maksym Mazuryk, #14 Michel Balner
Analysis: Hooker inexplicably bombed last time out in Shanghai. Look for him to get even with Mohr, who came out the winner there.

2:40 PM: Men's Shot Put
Leading Entries: #1 Christian Cantwell, #4 Ralf Bartels, #5 Dylan Armstrong, #6 Reese Hoffa, #8 Pavel Lyzhyn, #9 Tomasz Majewski, #14 Adam Nelson
Analysis: Armstrong is on a bit of a hot streak and broke the Canadian record yesterday. I think Cantwell is still too much for him, though.

3:43 PM: Women's Long Jump
Leading Entries: #2 Olga Kucherenko, #3 Darya Klishina, #4 Funmi Jimoh, #5 Keila Costa, #7 Naide Gomes, #8 Ksenija Balta, #11 Elena Sokolova, #15 Brianna Glenn
Analysis: Kucherenko put up the year's best mark last week.

3:49 PM: Women's High Jump
Leading Entries: #1 Blanka Vlašic, #2 Chaunté Howard Lowe, #3 Ruth Beitia, #5 Svetlana Shkolina, #6 Emma Green, #7 Levern Spencer, #9 Irina Gordeeva
Analysis: Lowe is riding a good streak, beating the nearly-unbeatable Vlašic and then breaking the American record. Vlašic is considered nearly unbeatable for a reason, though. This is likely to be a very interesting competition.

4:04 PM: Women's 400 meters
Leading Entries: #2 Amantle Montsho, #3 Novlene Williams-Mills, #4 Debbie Dunn, #5 Shericka Williams, #8 Christine Ohuruogu, #12 Monica Hargrove, #13 Denisa Rosolova
Analysis: Toss-up. No strong favorite here.

4:15 PM: Men's 400m Hurdles
Leading Entries: #2 Kerron Clement, #3 Bershawn Jackson, #4 Isa Phillips, #6 L.J. van Zyl, #11 David Greene, #12 Justin Gaymon, #14 Michael Tinsley
Analysis: Probably a homestretch battle between the top two Americans.

4:20: Men's Javelin Throw
Leading Entries: #1 Andreas Thorkildsen, #2 Petr Frydrych, #3 Tero Pitkämäki, #5 Guillermo Martinez, #7 Vadims Vasilevskis, #11 Teemu Wirkkala, #12 Ari Mannio, #17 Antti Ruuskanen
Analysis: The place will go wild every time Norway's Thorkildsen steps up to throw, especially if he is winning as expected.

4:25 PM: Women's Steeplechase
Leading Entries: #1 Gladys Jerotich Kipkemoi, #2 Milcah Chemos Cheywa, #3 Lydia Rotich, #4 Sofia Assefa, #7 Katarzyna Kowalska, #13 Mekdes Bekele, #18 Sophia Duarte
Analysis: Kipkemoi won fairly easily last time out in Shanghai, in a time superior to everyone else's PR save Cheywa.

4:45 PM: Women's 100m Hurdles
Leading Entries: #1 Lolo Jones, #2 Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, #6 Perdita Felicien, #7 Delloreen Ennis-London, #8 Danielle Carruthers, #13 Vonette Dixon, #14 Carolin Nytra, #19 Christina Vukicevic
Analysis: Jones has been her usual inconsistent self lately, while Lopes-Schliep is steady as a rock. They're far better than anyone else, though. If Jones has it together she wins, otherwise it's the Canadian.

5:00 PM: Men's 100 meters
Leading Entries: #2 Asafa Powell, #11 Michael Frater, #14 Richard Thompson, #15 Lerone Clarke, #16 Churandy Martina, #20 Trell Kimmons
Analysis: If there's one thing the Diamond League has failed to do, it's get the best men's sprinters to face off. But this is only the third meet, so maybe these are just undercards. In any case, Powell is the class of the field.

5:10 PM: Men's 800 meters
Leading Entries: #1 David Lekuta Rudisha, #5 Abubaker Kaki, #7 Alfred Kirwa Yego, #8 Marcin Lewandowski, #11 Bram Som, #12 Augustine Choge, #18 Adam Kszczot, #21 Michael Rimmer
Analysis: There's talk of a possible World Record here. Rudisha and Kaki are great runners, but that record is an awfully tough one. If the pace is too agressive, the two favorites could fade and open the door for an upset.

5:20 PM Men's 5000 meters
Leading Entries: #1 Eliud Kipchoge, #2 Vincent Chepkok, #3 Edwin Churuiyot Soi, #5 Imane Merga, #13 Chris Solinsky, #14 Tariku Bekele, Bernard Lagat (#8 at 3k)
Analysis: Your usual Bislett Games long-distance clash of the titans will be renewed. From a US perspective, there's also the possibility of an American record, but I don't think Lagat has much of a chance at it. If it happens it will go to Solinsky.

5:40 PM: Women's 200 meters
Leading Entries: #5 Carmelita Jeter, #6 LaShauntea Moore, #12 Sheri Ann Brooks, #16 Cydonie Mothersill
Analysis: This is a bit out of Jeter's comfort zone, but she's a much better sprinter than Moore.

5:50 PM: Men's Mile
Leading Entries: #2 Deresse Mekonnen, #4 Asbel Kiprop, #5 William Biwott Tanui, #9 Mekonnene Gebremedhin, #16 Gideon Gathimba, #18 Geoffrey Kipkoech Rono, #21 Juan Carlos Higuero
Analysis: Kiprop is probably the best miler of the bunch but runs dumb from time to time, such as in Shanghai. I don't think he's going to get burned twice in a row, though.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Shanghai Diamond League Preview

The meet will be webcast live at www.universalsports.com at 8 AM on Sunday (fee req'd). TV coverage will be on Universal Sports at 6:00 PM and on CBC next Saturday at 5:00 PM
Meet website
IAAF preview

Universal Sports preview

6:20 AM (EDT) Women's Shot Put
Leading entries
#1 Nadzeya Ostapchuk (BLR), #2 Valerie Vili (NZL), #5 Nadine Kleinert (GER), #6 Jillian Camarena (USA), #8 Gong Lijiao (GHN), #9 Misleydis Gonzalez (CUB), #25 Liu Xiangrong (CHN)
Analysis
Ostapchuk v. Vili is one of the best rivalries around. This will be Vili's first big test since firing her coach after losing the World Indoor Championships to Ostapchuk. Everyone else here is competing for third.

6:30 AM Men's Discus Throw
Leading entries
#1 Gerd Kanter (EST), #2 Robert Harting (GER), #3 Jason Young (USA), #4 Piotr Malachowski (POL), #5 Zoltán Kövágó (HUN), #7 Jarred Rome (USA), #13 Ehsan Hadadi (IRI), #25 Ian Waltz (USA)
Analysis
One effect of the Diamond League setup is that the traditionally ignored events, like the discus, will have loaded fields every time out. Kanter has put up some big distances in southern California's big winds, but Harting won at the recent all-throws meet in Germany. Those two, along with Kövágó, are your favorites for the win.

6:35 AM Women's Triple Jump
Leading entries
#1 Olga Rypakova (KAZ), #2 Yargeris Savigne (CUB), #3 Anna Pyatykh (RUS), #8 Nadezhda Alekhina (RUS), #9 Limei Xie (CHN), #18 Gisele de Oliviera (BRA)
Analysis
All three World Indoor medalists are here, led by champion Rypakova.

7:40 AM Men's Pole Vault
Leading entries
#1 Steve Hooker (AUS), #2 Malte Mohr (GER), #6 Steve Lewis (UK), #14 Hendrik Gruber (GER), #15 Aleksandr Gripich (RUS), #25 Maksym Mazuryk (UKR)
Analysis
It would be very surprising if Hooker lost.

7:43 AM Men's High Jump
Leading entries
#3 Dusty Jonas (USA), #4 Jesse Williams (USA), #8 Andra Manson (USA), #12 Andrey Tereshin (RUS)
Analysis
It looks like the USA should do well here. Most of these guys haven't competed much since the indoor season, with the exception of Jonas and Manson.

WEBCAST BEGINS

8:05 AM Women's 400m Hurdles
Leading entries
#1 Lashinda Demus (USA), #2 Melaine Walker (JAM), #4 Kaliese Spencer (JAM), #6 Natalya Antyukh (RUS), #8 Sheena Tosta (USA), #9 Anna Jesien (POL), #11 Ana Rabechenyuk (UKR), #16 Dominique Darden (USA)
Analysis
Walker is the defending World champ but has a habit of starting her season slowly. Look for Demus to win.

8:15 AM Women's 100 meters
Leading entries
#1 Carmelita Jeter (USA), #5 Shelly-Ann Fraser (JAM), #8 Chandra Sturrup (BAH), #21 Sherone Simpson (JAM), #23 Lisa Barber (USA)
Analysis
World champ Fraser is one of the "Diamond League Ambassadors", but Jeter is the star of this show.

8:20 AM Men's Javelin Throw
Leading entries
#2 Andreas Thorkildsen (NOR), #8 Petr Frydrych (CZE), #10 Vítězslav Veselý (CZE), #15 Igor Janik (POL), #24 Roman Avramenko (UKR)
Analysis
This is Thorky's season opener, so while he's favored it's hard to tell what may happen. This competition will not count in the Diamond League standings as it's an extra event above and beyond the mandated events.

8:25 AM Men's 400 meters
Leading entries
#4 Jeremy Wariner (USA), #7 Ben Offereins (AUS), #15 Leslie Djhoné (FRA), #22 David Neville (USA)
Analysis
We'll find out whether Wariner was just rusty in his opener or if he's really having problems. He lost to Neville last time out, and both Offereins and Djhoné are capable of sub-45. This is no cakewalk for Wariner.

8:30 AM Men's Long Jump
Leading entries
#1 Dwight Phillips (USA), #2 Fabrice Lapierre (AUS), #3 Irving Saladino (PAN), #12 Brian Johnson (USA), #14 Su Xiongfeng (CHN), #15 Chris Noffke (AUS)
Analysis
This could be the most interesting competition of the whole meet. Lapierre put up a big mark in April, Phillips was on fire last year, and Saladino is no slouch. Chinese entry Su is a dark horse and the home team's best chance for a win.


8:35 AM Men's 200 meters
Leading entries
#1 Usain Bolt (JAM), #12 Marvin Anderson (JAM), #18 Ryan Bailey (USA)
Analysis
Like lambs to slaughter.

8:45 AM Women's Steeplechase
Leading entries
#3 Milcah Chemos Cheywa (KEN), #8 Gladys Kipkemoi (KEN), #11 Sofia Assefa (ETH), #18 Lydia Rotich (KEN), #20 Katarzyna Kowalska (POL), #25 Lisa Galaviz (USA)
Analysis
This is the first steeplechase of the year for all but Galaviz.

9:05 AM Women's 800 meters
Leading entries
#2 Jenny Meadows (UK), #3 Yegeniya Zinurova (RUS), #4 Kenia Sinclair (JAM), #10 Janeth Jepkosgei (KEN), #18 Tatyana Petlyuk (IKR)
Analysis
Sinclair may be more race-sharp than the others, as she's run two big races already while Meadows and Zinurova have been on the shelf since the indoor season.

8:15 AM Women's 5000 meters
Leading entries
#3 Linet Masai (KEN), #8 Sentayehu Ejigu (ETH), #11 Meselech Melkamu (ETH), #14 Sylvia Kibet (KEN), #18 Florence Kiplagat (KEN)
Analysis
World XC runner-up Masai has, so far, put together the best season.

9:40 AM Men's 110m Hurdles
Leading entries
#1 David Oliver (USA), #6 Dwight Thomas (JAM), #8 Ryan Brathwaite (BAR), #15 Liu Xiang (CHN), #22 Allen Johnson (USA)
Analysis
The house will be rockin' for Liu Xiang. But I'd be surprised if he won. Oliver is head and shoulders above the rest.

9:50 AM Men's 1500 meters
Leading entries
#1 Augustine Choge (KEN), #2 Deresse Mekonnen (ETH), #3 Haron Keitany (KEN), #6 Asbel Kiprop (KEN), #7 William Tanui (KEN), #16 Mekonnen Gebremedhin (ETH), #23 Geoffrey Rono (KEN)
Analysis
This is the first outdoor 1500 of the season of any importance. Indoors, Mekonnen beat Choge in their only meeting.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Conference Championships Preview

EDIT: Each preview now has updates.

This is Conference Championship Weekend. The coaches' association website has a Conference Championship Central webpage that has everything you ever wanted to know about Division I conference championships*
*but were afraid to ask

Here are my rundowns of the biggies. Rankings refer to my own collegiate rankings.

Big XII
Friday through Sunday at Missouri's Walton Stadium
Meet website / LIVE results / LIVE WEBCAST / Live blog
TV coverage: tape-delay on Fox Sports Net regional channels, sometime between May 20 and May 24; check your local listings

The SEC is the best conference, but the Big XII gets listed first because their meet management is working the hardest. They're doing a live webcast and a live blog.

Start lists aren't up yet, making predictions a bit tough. I'd have to say #3 Texas A&M is favored, but it's no slam-dunk over #6 Oklahoma and the defending champs, #11 Nebraska. Adding depth are #12 Texas, #14 Texas Tech and #16 Baylor.

On the women's side I'd be surprised if #2 Texas A&M lost. A tight battle for second will be waged by #11 Nebraska, #12 Texas Tech, #13 Kansas, #14 Oklahoma, #15 Texas and #19 Iowa State.

UPDATE: There's a huge upset brewing in the men's competition--that is, if you can call a team defending its championship an "upset". Nebraska is in the drivers seat; they'd have to make a major mistake to lose. On the women's side, A&M is pretty much a done deal.

SEC
Today through Sunday at Tennessee's Tom Black Track
Meet website / LIVE results
TV coverage: tape-delay on ESPNU, Tuesday May 25 (!), 9:00 to 11:00 PM

On the men's side, I'm picking #5 LSU to win over #1 Florida with #8 Georgia third, but it will be tight. #15 Arkansas, #18 Mississippi State, #20 Mississippi, #23 Alabama, #24 Auburn and #25 South Carolina will fight it out after that. The races to watch are the 400 meters and 4x400 relay, which will be smokin'. The sprints in general in the SEC are top-notch, but multiple quarter-milers will post world-class times and the relay is going to be a real shootout.

On the women's side I'm pretty confident #3 LSU will win and #4 Florida will be second, and after that I have no idea. #6 Tennessee and #8 Arkansas are in the mix for that third spot.

UPDATE: The men's race has tightened a bit, but I'm still going with LSU to win. The Tigers are still a lock on the women's side. The meet is currently on a significant rain/lightning delay.

Pacific-10
Saturday and Sunday at Cal's historic Edwards Stadium
Meet website / LIVE results
TV coverage: tape-delay on Fox Sports Net regional channels, sometime between May 20 and May 24; check your local listings

Oregon head coach Vin Lanana says the meet is going to be very, very tight, almost too close to call. The conventional wisdom, though, is that he's doing his best impression of Lou Holtz, because everyone else has the Ducks' men (#2) and women (#1) winning in a runaway. I'm pretty sure Southern Cal's men (#4) and women (#9) will be the runners-up. Other top men's teams are #7 Stanford, #9 Arizona State, #13 UCLA, #19 Cal and #22 Washington State. Adding depth to the women are #15 Cal, #17 Arizona State, #18 Stanford, #24 Washington State and #25 UCLA.

UPDATE: No worries, Duck fans.

Big Ten
Friday through Sunday at Indiana's Billy Hayes Track
Meet website / LIVE results
TV Coverage: tape-delay on the Big Ten Network, Saturday May 22 from 4:00 to 7:00 PM

I hesitate to call the Big Ten a major conference in track & field, but the meet will get three hours of national TV coverage. So we'll call it a major conference anyway. On the men's side only #21 Minnesota is ranked. I'm picking them to win with Ohio State second.

On the women's side, #21 Penn State is favored. I've got a hunch that Minnesota could challenge them for the title. The 5k is the most interesting race as it matches the NCAA cross country champion, Angela Bizzari (Illinois), with the woman who beat her at the Big Ten cross country championships, Bridget Franek (Penn State).

UPDATE: The women's competition is basically a dead heat between Penn State and Minnesota. Minnesota is still the favored men's team, but Wisconsin is now the closest behind the Gophers. If the Badgers fail to score big points in the 5k, Ohio State will likely be second.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Fan's Guide to Diamond League Doha

LATE EDIT: The meet WILL be at UniversalSports.com, or at least that's what a recent press release seems to indicate. If not, you can try cbcsports.ca.

TV coverage will be on Universal Sports from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM on Friday, and on CBC from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM on Saturday.
Meet website

Here's the current schedule and leading entries:


AS you can see, the big-attention events are a bit thin but the rest are stacked with top athletes.

Friday, April 30, 2010

USC at UCLA Fan Guide

The USC versus UCLA dual meet is the greatest rivalry in all of college track, and tomorrow will be their 77th meeeting. In 1976, Ducky Drake Stadium's attendance record was set at this meet when 15,011 fans came out. In my own college team rankings, the men's meet matches up #7 UCLA and #8 USC, while the women match #9 USC and #22 UCLA.

In the spirit of Let's Run's recent fan guides, I've accumulated what you need to know while watching tomorrow's USC - UCLA dual meet on FloTrack.

First, the webcast info. FloTrack will be following it live beginning at 3:45 PM EDT (12:45 local time). They'll have a great two-camera setup, with one camera on the track and the other on the field events.

I've cribbed the entire preview below from "Kenny" at the USC track message boards, but reorganized it to match the meet schedule. His overall predictions:
Women's predicted score: USC- 83 UCLA- 80
The UCLA vs USC women's dual track meet should be close but I have to give the edge to the Trojans. The big advantage the USC throwers have over UCLA should be the difference. If the Bruins can find a way to win the 4x100 relay then they could pull off an upset.

Mens' predicted score: USC- 84 UCLA -79
The men's dual meet should be close like the women's. But the Trojans have slightly more depth and dependable points. The Bruins have the home field advantage and this has proved to be helpful as the Trojans haven't won at UCLA's Drake Stadium on the men's side in 33 years. The USC throwers and vaulters do not do well at Drake Stadium and this bad luck will have to continue for the Bruins if they want any chance of upseting their cross town rivals.

Below is an event-by event breakdown of Kenny's predictions, with handy color-coding to keep track of what's what. The "running score" uses the predictions, so when inevitably the actual results differ from the conventional wisdom, you can update the score from there.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Penn Relays Preview

Track Alerts says Saturday is almost completely sold out. Penn Relays director Dave Johnson has issued warnings to pick up tickets early.

The ultimate cheat sheet: Walt Murphy's 13-page preview of every event over all six days, with time schedule included.

Drake is a bit more about individual events, while Penn is all about the relays. On the collegiate level those are a bit harder to preview and I'll just let Jack Pfeifer do it for me. The big deal: Oregon's distance runners are coming.
College men: sprints / distance
College women: sprints / distance

And then there's the USA v. the World races, which are mostly an exhibition, but really seem to drive attendance and attention even in years when Bolt doesn't come. There will be 4x100 and 4x400 for both men & women, a men's distance medley and a women's sprint medley. Note for those playing in USATF's Pick & Win game: Bolt is supposedly going to be on the Jamaica Black team. The game has a new feature in that you can make a back-up pick in case your initial pick pulls out at the last moment or has some other catastrophe that would have given you a goose egg.

Just limiting to top-ten sprinters in my world rankings you've got Bolt, Nesta Carter, Yohan Blake and Asafa Powell for Jamaica; Ivory Williams, Darvis Patton, Mike Rodgers and Shawn Crawford for the USA; and Richard Thompson for Trinidad. The men's 4x100 is going to be great fun to watch.

For the women it's not quite as deep in the 4x100, with Carmelita Jeter for the USA and Shelly-Ann Fraser and Kerron Stewart for Jamaica among the world's top ten. But the 4x400s are going to be tough, with Sanya Richard, Debbie Dunn and Allyson Felix for the USA and Shericka Williams and Novlene Williams-Mills for Jamaica.

I've always thought medleys are among the most interesting of all the relays, and the lineups here are going to give us some good races. The USA's men's distance medley will trot out some of the top stars in Nick Symmonds and Leo Manzano, but Kenya has Alfred Kirwa Yego and Asbel Kiprop and appears basically unbeatable. Morocco is a sleeper with Amine Laalou, and Australia will have a pretty good team as well with youngsters like Ryan Gregson and Jeff Risley. On the women's side the USA has both Alysia Johnson and Anna Pierce in the pool for our two entries in the sprint medley. I think Great Britain has an interesting entry, as Jemma Simpson, Christine Ohurougu and Nicola Sanders are all listed in their relay pool.

In the collegiate individual events, here are the athletes ranked in my world top twenty...
MEN
Long jump: Alain Bailey (Arkansas)

WOMEN
100m hurdles: Queen Harrison (Virginia Tech)
Shot put: Mariam Kevkhishvili (Florida)

Thursday, March 11, 2010

World Indoor Preview: Women's running events

60 meters
Top five competing athletes in the Superfan rankings...
Carmelita Jeter USA
LaVerne Jones-Ferrette ISV
Veronica Campbell-Brown JAM
Chandra Sturrup BAH
Sheri-Ann Brooks JAM

Who will win the medals...
Gold: Jones-Ferrette
Silver: Jeter
Bronze: Campbell-Brown
Jeter and Jones-Ferrette are 1-1 this season. When Jeter won it was close and when Jones-Ferrette won it was not. Campbell-Brown is far and away the next best sprinter competing.

400 meters
Top five competing athletes in the Superfan rankings...
Novlene Williams-Mills JAM
Debbie Dunn USA
Tatyana Firova RUS
Amantle Montsho BOT
Natalya Nazarova RUS

Who will win the medals...
Gold: Firova
Silver: Dunn
Bronze: Nazarova
Only the Russians and the Americans take indoor track seriously in this event. Dunn is on the rise, but is up against two tough competitors.

800 meters
Top five competing athletes in the Superfan rankings...
Mariya Savinova RUS
Jennifer Meadows GBR
Yevgeniya Zinurova RUS
Yuliya Krevsun UKR
Elisa Cusma Piccione ITA

Who will win the medals...
Gold: Savinova
Silver: Anna Pierce
Bornze: Meadows
Pierce tends to compete much better than her times would indicate. The other two have been consistently better than anyone else this year.

1500 meters
Top five competing athletes in the Superfan rankings...
Gelete Burka ETH
Anna Alminova RUS
Maryam Yusuf Jamal BRN
Kalkidan Gezahegne ETH
Sylwia Ejdys POL

Who will win the medals...
Gold: Burka
Silver: Gezahegne
Bronze: Jamal
The medal winners will all come from the top four in the rankings. Ethiopians tend to peak very well for championships, so I’m picking them to take the top spots.

3000 meters
Top five competing athletes in the Superfan rankings...
Meseret Defar ETH
Sentayehu Ejigu ETH
Vivian Cheruiyot KEN
Sylvia Kibet KEN
Barbara Parker GBR

Who will win the medals...
Gold: Defar
Silver: Cheruiyot
Bronze: Ejigu
Defar is all but unbeatable here. It will be a Kenya-Ethiopia war for the remaining medals.

60m hurdles
Top five competing athletes in the Superfan rankings...
Priscilla Lopes-Schliep CAN
LoLo Jones USA
Ginnie Powell USA
Perdita Felicien CAN
Christina Vukicevic NOR

Who will win the medals...
Gold: Lopes-Schliep
Silver: Jones
Bronze: Powell
I’m not as confident about this as I was two weeks ago. Both Lopes-Schliep and Jones ran poorly their last times out.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

World Indoor Preview: Men's Field

High Jump
Top five competing athletes in the Superfan rankings...
Ivan Ukhov RUS
Jesse Williams USA
Yaroslav Rybakov RUS
Jaroslav Bába CZE
Dusty Jonas USA
Samson Oni GBR

Who will win the medals...
Gold: Ukhov
Silver: Williams
Bronze: Jonas
These are the most consistent jumpers of the indoor season.

Pole Vault
Top five competing athletes in the Superfan rankings...
Steven Hooker AUS
Renaud Lavillenie FRA
Malte Mohr GER
Alexander Straub GER
Steven Lewis GBR

Who will win the medals...
Gold: Hooker
Silver: Laillenie
Bronze: Mohr
The top two are pretty safe bets. Mohr is the most consistent after them, but this is always a tricky event to forecast.

Long Jump
Top five competing athletes in the Superfan rankings...
Irving Saladino PAN
Godfrey Khotso Mokoena SEN
Salim Sdiri FRA
Mitchell Watt AUS
Yahya Berrabah MAR

Who will win the medals...
Gold: Sdiri
Silver: Wilfredo Martinez
Bronze: Saladino
Saladino hasn’t competed yet this year; Mokoena has but hasn’t done a whole lot. Sdiri and Martinez have been the stars of the limited indoor campaign.

Triple Jump
Top five competing athletes in the Superfan rankings...
Alexis Copello CUB
Arnie David Girat CUB
Fabrizio Donato ITA
Teddy Tamgho FRA
Christian Olsson SWE

Who will win the medals...
Gold: Copello
Silver: Olsson
Bronze: Donato
Olsson is rapidly improving, but Copello is still capable of beating him. Donato is the world leader.

Shot Put
Top five competing athletes in the Superfan rankings...
Christian Cantwell USA
Andrei Mikhnevich BLR
Tomasz Majewski POL
Ralf Bartels GER
Pavel Lyzhyn BLR

Who will win the medals...
Gold: Cantwell
Silver: Mikhnevich
Bronze: Bartels
Cantwell appears almost unbeatable. Mikhnevich has thrown far but hasn’t faced anyone tough. Majewski has competed well below his usual level so far this year.

Heptathlon
Top five competing athletes in the Superfan rankings...
Oleksiy Kasyanov UKR
Leonel Suárez CUB
Aleksey Drozdov RUS
Andrei Krauchanka BLR
Trey Hardee USA

Who will win the medals...
Gold: Hardee
Silver: Kasyanov
Bronze: Drozdov
As in the sprints, indoor competition affects the decathlon rankings only slightly. As such, Suarez isn’t likely to place as high as he is ranked. Hardee is down in fifth mostly because he hasn’t done a full heptathlon this year, but his individual event results have been impressive.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Weltklasse Zurich Preview

I also have preview up at The Final Sprint. The nitty-gritty: ESPN Classic, 4-6 p.m. tommorrow. Here's who the top competitors are. I know there's a lot, but it's the Weltklasse for cryin' out loud. I have no idea why my HTML coding is giving such a gap to the table below.



















TimeEventKey Competitors
12:40 PMWomen’s Pole Vault#1 Yelena Isinbayeva, #2 Jenn Stuczynski, #3 Svetlana Feofanova, #4 Monica Pyrek, #5 Yulia Golubchikova, #6 Fabiana Murer, #7 Silke Spiegelburg, #10 Carolin Hingst
1:40 PMMen’s Javelin#1 Andreas Thorkildsen, #2 Tero Pitkämäki, #3 Tero Järvenpää, #6 Eriks Rags, #8 Ilya Korotkov, #9 Sergey Makarov, #10 Magnus Arvidsson, #11 Vadim Vasilevskis
1:45 PMWomen’s High Jump#1 Blanka Vlašic, #2 Anna Chicerova, #3 Yelena Slesarenko, #4 Tia Hellebaut, #6 Chaunte Howard, #7 Vita Palamar, #8 Ruth Beitia
1:45 PMMen’s 100m (race “C”)
1:50 PMMen’s 100m (race “B”)
2:00 PMMen’s Long Jump#3 Hussein Taher Al-Sabee, #4 Mohamed Salman Al Khuwalidi
2:05 PMMen’s 1500 meters#2 Daniel Kipchirchir Komen, #4 Shedrack Korir, #5 Asbel Kiprop, #6 Abdalaati Iguider, #9 Rashid Ramzi, #10 Juan Carlos Higuera, #12 Mehdi Baala
2:15 PMWomen’s 400 meters#1 Sanya Richards, #4 Shericka Williams, #7 Novlene Williams, #8 Amantle Montsho, #9 Mary Wineberg, #10 Tayana Firova
2:25 PMMen’s Steeplechase#2 Richard Kipkemboi Mateelong, #3 Michael Kipyego, #4 Paul Kipsiele Koech, #4 Mehiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad, #5 Ezekiel Kemboi, #7 Wesley Kiprotich, #9 Tareq Mubarak Taher
2:40 PMMen’s 110m Hurdles#1 Dayron Robles, #2 David Oliver, #5 Joel Brown, #6 Anwar Moore, #8 Aries Merritt
2:45 PMWomen’s 800 meters#1 Pamela Jelimo, #2 Janeth Jepkosgei, #3 Maria Mutola, #4 Kenia Sinclair, #5 Yuliya Krevsun, #11 Elisa Cusma, #12 Marilyn Okoro
2:55 PMMen’s 100 meters#1 Usain Bolt, #3 Walter Dix, #5 Richard Thompson, #7 Marc Burns, #8 Michael Frater, #10 Churandy Martina, #11 Darvis Patton
3:05 PMMen’s 400m Hurdles#1 Kerron Clement, #2 Bershawn Jackson, #3 Danny McFarlane, #4 Angelo Taylor, #5 L.J. van Zyl, #6 Marek Plawgo, #8 Isa Phillips, #11 Markino Buckley
3:15 PMWomen’s 200 meters#3 Allyson Felix, #9 Marshavet Hooker, #12 Debbie Ferguson
3:20 PMMen’s 400 meters#1 Jeremy Wariner, #2 LaShawn Merritt, #3 Chris Brown, #4 David Neville, #9 Johan Wissman
3:30 PMWomen’s 100m Hurdles#1 Lolo Jones, #2 Brigitte Foster, #3 Sally McLellan, #4 Delloreen Ennis-London, #5 Dawn Harper, #6 Joesphine Onyia, #8 Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, #11 Susanna Kallur
3:35 PMMen’s 5000 meters#1 Kenenisa Bekele, #2 Moses Ndiema Masai, #4 Micah Kogo, #6 Joseph Ebuya, #7 Mark Kosgei Kiptoo, #12 Leonard Patrick Komon
3:55 PMMen’s 4x100 metersJamaica, USA, Trinidad

Friday, August 22, 2008

Day 9 & 10: What's On

Schedule/Start Lists
IAAF Preview
SI's "What To Watch"

NBC TV schedule: Saturday, 7:30 p.m. - midnite (live marathon, taped track)
CBC TV schedule: 6 p.m. Friday - noon Saturday, 6 p.m Saturday - 4:30 a.m. Sunday (all live)

Highlights:
The USA has strong contenders in each of the last five events, and could put a nice ending to an otherwise weak Olympics.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Day 8: What's On

Timetable/Start Lists
IAAF Preview
SI's "What to Watch"

As you're following the decathlon, this site does a forecast of how things will work out in the end.
Also, be aware of the following numbers: 37.40 and 41.37. Those are the 4x100 world records (the latter, set by a doped-to-the-gills East German squad, is likely unreachable; 41.47 is probably the real record).

NBC TV schedule: 2 - 8 a.m Friday on USA (men's 50k Walk), 8 - 10 p.m. Friday (everything else)
CBC TV schedule: 6 p.m. Thursday - noon Friday

Highlights:

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Day 7: What's On

Timetable/Start Lists
IAAF Preview
SI's "What To Watch"

NBC TV schedule: Midnite - 2 a.m. Thursday on CNBC (women's 20k walk), 11 a.m. - 1 p.m Thursday (decathlon), 8 p.m. - midnite Thursday (decathlon, men's 110 hurdles, 400, triple jump, women's 200)
CBC TV Schedule: 6 p.m. Wednesday - 3 a.m. Thursday, 6 a.m. - noon Thursday

Highlights: