Category: olympic sports

olympic sports, track and field, winter sports

Monday Myriad, June 2: French Open fun

Posted on by Beau Dure

Best and worst from myriad sports over the week …

BEST U.S. ATHLETE AT THE MOMENT

That would be triathlete Gwen Jorgensen. She won again in the World Triathlon Series, this time on the Olympic course in London. And she’s leading the series.

Fellow American Sarah Groff was second.

BEST CHANNELING OF PREFONTAINE

Galen Rupp just keeps getting better. Friday at the Prefontaine Classic, he took down the U.S. record at 10,000 meters. The time: 26:44.36. Oregon fans appreciated it.

BEST RACE

Grenada’s Kirani James ran a world-leading 43.97 in the men’s 400, tied for 10th-best of all time. In second place, LaShawn Merritt … in a world-leading 43.97, tied for 10th-best of all time.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

Tori Bowie transformed from relatively unknown long jumper to the fastest 200-meter runner in the world this year in precisely 22.18 seconds.

ALSO AT THE PREFONTAINE

– Shot put (men): Reese Hoffa won with throw of 21.64 meters, with Joe Kovacs and Christian Cantwell also over 21.

– Triple jump (men): Will Claye needed a meet-record 17.66 to beat Christian Taylor (17.42).

– 2-mile run (women): It’s not run often, but it’s still impressive to see two area records set in a meet by the people who finished third and fourth. The latter, the American record, goes to Shannon Rowbury. (DUKE!)

– 100 meters (men): Justin Gatlin won in 9.76 seconds. The wind will keep it out of the top-10 lists. Michael Rodgers crossed in 9.80 seconds.

– Mile (men): Djibouti’s Ayanleh Souleiman ran the fastest time in the world this year. And in Prefontaine history. And Diamond League history. And Djibouti history. That’s 3:47.32, edging Kenya’s Silas Kiplagat.

– Maggie Vessey wore this in the women’s 800:

https://twitter.com/jf717/status/472576965099421696

BEST RETURN

2012 silver medalist Trey Hardee scored 8,518 points in the IAAF Hypo Meeting decathlon won the win in his first full event since London.

BEST PAPER AIRPLANE THROW

BEST CORRECTION TO A STORY INVOLVING THE BEST PAPER AIRPLANE THROW

From The Guardian: “This article was amended on 2 June 2014 because the original said Riojas was unarmed, rather than unharmed.”

BTW, England won 3-0.

BIGGEST QUESTION AFFECTING ME AND FEW OTHERS

So if Discovery is buying Eurosport, does that mean I can drive around the Beltway to their offices and watch it?

MOST CURIOUS TENNIS DEVELOPMENT

BEST REACTION TO MOST CURIOUS TENNIS DEVELOPMENT

SECOND MOST CURIOUS TENNIS DEVELOPMENT

Let’s say you’re getting married by the beach, and all of a sudden, Serena Williams walks by. And just think, if she were still playing in France, this would’ve been impossible.

BEST REACTION TO SECOND MOST CURIOUS TENNIS DEVELOPMENT

THIRD MOST CURIOUS TENNIS DEVELOPMENT

(He went on to beat Roger Federer.)

BEST U.S. RECORD (tie)

BEST BEACH VOLLEYBALL CAREER

Kerri Walsh Jennings won her 67th AVP event, breaking the record she shared with longtime partner Misty May-Treanor. Earlier this year, she set the record for FIVB wins.

BIGGEST UPSET

Field hockey World Cup: USA 2, England 1. A couple of highlight-reel saves from U.S. goalie Jackie Kintzer in this one:

BEST COUNTRY FOR CYCLING PRODIGIES

WORST HOT POTATO

We already know no one wants to host the 2022 Olympics. But 2024? No, Philly? No, NYC?

LEAST SURPRISING OLYMPICS NEWS

WORST TIMING

What would he have done if he had lost?

THE ROUNDUPS

– Team USA Sports Scene: Sam Mikulak leads the U.S. gymnastics men, U.S. men beat Brazil in water polo.

– Ollie Williams’ Frontier Sports:  2022 and 2024 bidding update, U.S. engineering archer, plenty of cycling news, good story on once-homeless English soccer player Fara Williams, the other view of the USA’s shocking field hockey win, lots or rowing.

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olympic sports, track and field

Monday Myriad, May 26: Relay the World …

Posted on by Beau Dure

Best and worst from myriad sports over the week …

BEST EVENT

World Relays. So simple, so wonderful. National teams in 4×100, 4×200, 4×400, 4×800 and 4×1,500, all in the track-crazed Bahamas.

Alan Abrahamson was on the scene:

Unlike, for instance, the first few days of last year’s world championships in Moscow, where Luzhniki Stadium was way too empty, here Robinson was alive and jamming. It was 79 years to the day that Jesse Owens had done his thing, tying or setting four world records in the space of 45 minutes at the Big Ten championships, and all of a sudden Sunday track and field was vital again.

They went crazy here, cheering loud and long for the consolation final in the men’s 400, won by the Belgians. The consolation final!

Daily Relay’s Jesse Squire can’t wait until next year.

The inaugural IAAF World Relays was a sellout on both of its days and the stadium was buzzing with energy. The interest among international fans was keen. Virtually every single athlete seemed to love it. The meet is coming back to Nassau next year and it might become an even bigger deal. No doubt about it, this was the best innovation by the IAAF in three decades. I am seriously considering making a trip to the Bahamas for this meet next year.

Maybe the U.S. men’s sprinters will learn to pass the baton by then.

Other than the two botched handoffs, the meet went pretty well for the Americans. The men’s distance runners were second (4×1,500) and third (4×800). The women won four of the five races and took second in the 4×1,500. And the men and women swept the marquee event — the 4×400.

BEST RETURN

Ollie Williams is back with the daily links in Olympic sports. Highlights today: A surprise loss for Indian boxing legend Mary Kom that will keep her out of the Commonwealth Games, British dominance in sprint canoe/kayak, and a wrap of gymnastics’ European Championships.

BEST TRIP TO CHINA

In two races in China, Gatlin ran the two fastest times of the year.

BIGGEST UPSET

Japan beat perennial champion China at the Thomas Cup (men’s badminton), then took care of Malaysia (featuring world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei) in the final.

BEST ASSIST

Columbus’ Federico Higuain sends a through ball that only has eyes for Ethan Finlay.

WORST VOID

Waking up on Saturday mornings without NBCSN’s EPL programming. Can the same crew do a cricket show or something?

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olympic sports, track and field

Monday Myriad, May 19: I win… oops …

Posted on by Beau Dure

Remember: Cross the finish line before you celebrate.

Two people forgot that lesson this week. The first one, Spanish cyclist Eloy Teruel, had an excuse. The finish for this particular stage of the Tour of California had multiple laps, and he didn’t realize he had one more.

And he maintained a sense of humor.

Less excusable: Taoufik Makhloufi. It’s only 800 meters. Don’t raise your arms after 795.

Also in track and field this week: Most of the Diamond League women’s steeplechase field decided not to go with the pacemaker. Too fast. American Emma Coburn took off with her. Everyone else waited for Coburn to crack and come back. She didn’t.

Daily Relay sums up what we learned from the Diamond League stop in Shanghai. The main takeaway: Blessing Okagbare is a legitimate triple threat.

Back to cycling: The overall winner of the Tour of California already has quite a few honors, even in his name.

The rest of the best and worst …

Best triathlete in Yokohama: Gwen Jorgensen won in the Japanese city for the second straight year.

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Best catch: No, not baseball. Cricket. Your typical “catch, fling it in the air because you’re going over the boundary, jump back in and catch it again” play.

 

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Best shooting mom: Olympic multimedalist Kim Rhode, who had a baby in the time between London 2012 and now, won her second straight skeet shooting World Cup.

xxx

Longest squash rally: As squash points go, this was the jam band/prog rock version.

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Best equestrian 1-2:

xxx

Most exciting event to watch tomorrow: 

xxx

Worst water: Olympic sailing in 2016 doesn’t look like a lot of fun.

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olympic sports, winter sports

Will anyone host the Winter Games?

Posted on by Beau Dure

The IOC is bringing all its top people to Norway, and Alan Abrahamson quite rightly sees it as a sales pitch in a desperate bid to avoid hosting the 2022 Olympics in Almaty or Beijing.

The imperative – at least for now – is that the IOC would seem to need Oslo for the 2022 race more than Oslo needs the Winter Games. That is the box. And everyone in Olympic circles knows it.

via The Oslo 2022 conundrum | 3 Wire Sports.

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olympic sports, track and field

Monday Myriad, May 12: Wild chess

Posted on by Beau Dure

The Diamond League is the lead story this week, with a few athletes already in midseason form.

– The men’s high jump was insane, with Russia’s Ivan Ukhov just 0.04 meters off the world record and just 0.04 meters ahead of the next three jumpers.

– Kenya’s Asbel Kiprop set a meet record and nearly reached the top 10 of all time in the men’s 1,500 meters, finishing in 3:29.18. The top six were all under 3:31.

– Hellen Obiri, also of Kenya, ran the fastest 3,000 meters of all time aside from four people in a sketchy meet in China in 1993. She finished in 8:20.68.

– The USA’s LaShawn Merritt tied his own 2014 world lead (44.44 seconds) in the 400 meters.

Check out the Daily Relay wrap and GIFs of the track and field weekend, then read on …

*****

Best chess news: The U.S. Championships have been entertaining.

Worst chess news: Hello? World Championship here? Anyone want to host?

*****

Most apprehensive BMX rider: Funny thing — she won silver.

https://twitter.com/Flynfelicia/status/465612889576177664

*****

Best U.S. performance that hasn’t been rounded up: Three diving medals in the Puerto Rico Grand Prix.

*****

Biggest breakout win: U.S. men’s rugby exorcised a few demons …

*****

Best geopolitical statement: Russian team Dinamo Kazan wins world club volleyball championship with U.S. player Jordan Larson.

*****

Two bad IOC decisions that are in no way related, maybe: 

1. They’re almost making progress on the golf course Rio has to build because golf was added to the Olympics.

2. The 2016 Olympics are almost definitely probably not moving to London.

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olympic sports, track and field

Monday Myriad, May 5: Field hockey’s big dance

Posted on by Beau Dure

A new track circuit, some beach volleyball news and a cute dog from Sochi are in the Myriad wrap this week.

Best U.S. team performance/clincher of a berth in 2016 Champions Trophy:

***

Best roundup of a neglected competition format: The year in college track and field dual meets, from DailyRelay.com.

Best roundup of the rest of the track and field world: Again, DailyRelay.com, which has a few words to explain why Meb Keflegizhi’s Boston win wasn’t a shock, an upset that could shake up the LaShawn Merritt-Kirani James rivalry in the men’s 400, a stunning U.S. performance in the men’s 5,000, the bewildering application of justice in the Tyson Gay doping case, Christian Cantwell’s rebound from 2013 in the shot put … just read the whole thing. We’ll wait.

Most accessible track circuit debut: Fans are close to the action in the new American Track League. Music by Velveteen Playboys — that’s Friend of SportsMyriad Paul Souza in the awesome suit.

***

Boldest women’s sports projection:

***

Best fencing performance by a three-time Olympian and two-time gold medalist:

The women’s team took silver, beating Ukraine in the semis and losing to Russia in the final.

***

Biggest U.S. beach volleyball event: July’s ASICS World Series of Beach Volleyball combines the competitive heft of an FIVB event with some uniquely American trappings.

Worst spelling of “unforced”:

***

Cutest dog: Lindsey Jacobellis already had a dog before she left for the 2014 Olympics. That’s the one on the right. The one on the left is named Sochi, for obvious reasons. (HT: For The Win)

http://instagram.com/p/njRbsAhMRb/

***

Worst undying controversy: So it wasn’t the suits that caused the US Speedskating flop in Sochi! It was altitude training, skate polishing, and the fact that the skaters weren’t used to … well, the suits.

Least impressed person in wake of US Speedskating report: Unless something is seriously lost in translation, Shani Davis has had it with the federation. (HT: @nzaccardi)

***

Least surprising world champion:

The U.S. women finished tied for 21st; the men were tied for 49th. Full recap and videos.

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Best ongoing Hollywood love affair with an Olympic sport: Archery isn’t just for the Hunger Games films.

***

Best conversation about darts: 

https://twitter.com/Reda_Eurosport/status/462246435548037120

***

And finally, the most frightening training routine: Mo Farah running away from things, meet Mo Farah jumping over people …

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olympic sports, track and field

Monday Myriad, April 29: Spike and swim

Posted on by Beau Dure

(Delayed by urgent family business)

Kerri Walsh Jennings? Michael Phelps? What is this — 2008?

That’s the modern-day Olympic athlete for you. It ain’t over until they’re my age.

Best team: 

Best team visiting China: U.S. archers grabbed five medals at a World Cup stop in Shanghai.

Best race:

Closest race: They had to break out the thousandths to determine that Kristi Castlin upset world champion Brianna Rollins in the Drake Relays 100 hurdles.

Best race in water: And to think that Katie Ledecky is best known for her long-distance swims …

Best mental matchup: The USA’s Hikaru Nakamura loves to challenge world chess champion Magnus Carlsen. Just went astray this time.

Weirdest closing position: Hey, if it takes 101 moves and this weird double-phalanx position to get a draw with world chess champion Magnus Carlsen, knock yourself out, Teimour Radjabov. Looks like the pieces are collapsing toward the center of a black hole.

Best 1-2: 

Best 3-4 (week) and 4-5 (season): Gwen Jorgensen and Sarah Groff are getting used to being in triathlon contention. 

Best comeback:

Best record: Kerri Walsh Jennings, now paired with April Ross after the retirement of longtime partner Misty May-Treanor, has a record 47 FIVB beach volleyball titles.

Biggest domination: World Series of Diving stopped by the London 2012 Olympic venue (just a week after I was there), and … it was a lot of China.

Biggest throw: This brief judo matchup comes from the always essential Frontier Sports roundup:

Best punchline setup: Also from Frontier Sports: “Rio’s mayor says sports are making too many “unnecessary demands” ahead of the Games.”

Like … having places to play games, run, swim, etc.

Least convincing denial / best humblebrag:

Worst handoff: It’s only fair that the Bahamas beat the USA in the Penn Relays men’s 4×400 after the U.S. anchor tried to run off with their baton.

https://twitter.com/dailyrelay/status/460147994583920640

Full wraps:

– Penn Relays/Drake Relays (and several marathons) at Daily Relay’s Monday Morning Run. Also includes a GIF of the messed-up baton handoff.

– Sailing: Stacked World Cup competition in France.

– TeamUSA.org: All the swimming, plus equestrian and field hockey.

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olympic sports, track and field

Monday Myriad, April 21: Meb’s marathon

Posted on by Beau Dure

This year’s Boston Marathon was full of inspirational stories. We knew that. We didn’t know one of them would be the first American man to win since 1983.

//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/485912009?et=_0guKcEITQFohmjdFUA6jA&SeoLinks=off&sig=tNvVwV9i4OV-WI7g0GHrZaOZJPG9PDJxPA4MEF8LtBA=

Meb Keflezighi wasn’t born in the USA, but through a long and distinguished career, he has always exuded love for the country that welcomed him and his family as they got out of Eritrea. And he has been quick to lend comfort and charity to those affected by last year’s bombing.

Here he is:

Other big U.S. performances in Boston: Shalane Flanagan led much of the way and finished seventh.

Then there’s Tatyana McFadden — major marathon, major marathon, major marathon, major marathon, silver medal in Sochi, major marathon (London, last week), major marathon (Boston).

Elsewhere in the Myriad world:

Best statement by a young runner: The Mt. SAC field for the women’s 400 included Lashinda Demus and DeeDee Trotter. Winner? Oregon senior Phyllis Francis.

Best comeback by a guy who usually wins: Jordan Burroughs won his first 69 international wrestling matches before losing to Nick Marable in February. He was 30 seconds away from his second loss but exploded for two late takedowns to beat David Taylor 7-6.

Best acceleration: Australia’s Caroline Buchanan and the USA’s Brooke Crain finished 1-2 in the BMX World Cup opener in Manchester, England.

Best miles: Also in Boston …

Best tiebreaker: The university in whose shadow I grew up has another national title:

Least existent tiebreaker: 

Best post-Olympic career: Win world and Olympic titles, then go to college. Only in gymnastics.

Most consistent cyclist: 

Best retirement: Jeremy Teela was a fun guy to cover. Glad to see him put down the gun and skis with grace.

And finally …

Least nutritious dinner for an all-time great:

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olympic sports

Monday Myriad, April 7: Pentathlon power

Posted on by Beau Dure

We’re in a lull between winter and summer sports, which means this is a good time to tell you there will be no Monday Myriad next week.

It’s also a good time to remind you that Margaux Isaksen is really good at modern pentathlon. And Twitter.

Not bad considering she was jet-lagged and had this just a couple of hours earlier.

Despite all that, Isaksen remained in contention throughout the fencing, swimming and riding phases of the pentathlon, then stuck around in the running/shooting phase despite missing 10 shots at the first shoot. (Athletes have to hit five shots to before running again.) She finished fourth overall.

Other best and worst of the week:

Best shot by a guy in funky pants: Norway’s men won the world curling title. This helped:

The U.S. men finished 10th.

Best non-women’s basketball performance by a Notre Dame athlete: Fencer Lee Kiefer won the women’s foil junior world championship.

Best look at the bright side:

Worst controversy: Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race. Can you all keep your oars to yourselves?

And we’ll leave it at that (plus the TeamUSA roundup). Might be the shortest Monday Myriad of the year. Wait until track and field season.

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mind games, olympic sports

Monday Myriad, March 31: Figure this

Posted on by Beau Dure

We’re in that lull with winter sports wrapping up and not many summer sports in full swing yet. Good news for those of us who want to follow our teams in college basketball … oh … hey, cricket’s on!

Best and worst of the week …

Best good news/bad news: Nick Zaccardi summed up the USA’s performance in the World Figure Skating Championships:

No Americans won medals in any discipline at the World Championships for the first time since 1994. But the U.S. earned three spots for women’s, men’s and ice dance at the 2015 World Championships, a feat it hadn’t accomplished since 2008, and put three women in the top eight for the first time since 2006, the last time a U.S. woman won an Olympic or World Championships medal.

So they’re on the right track. As opposed to short track or long track. (Sorry.)

Best rugby comeback: Uruguay kept baiting the USA into bad penalties. Everything was sloppy and messy, and Uruguay had a 13-3 lead. Then the Eagles did their best impression of a steamroller in the second half and romped into the World Cup with a 32-13 win in Atlanta.

Best chess comeback: Vishy Anand handed over the world chess championship to Magnus Carlsen. That was it, right? The generational change? Not quite. Anand convincingly won the double round-robin candidates’ tournament, cruising past three higher-ranked opponents to get a rematch.

Best chess analysis: I feel so much smarter after watching this.

Best chess prospect:

Best gender-desegregation notes: 

https://twitter.com/livefierce/status/450433809969086465

Team USA wrap: Rowing World Cup, USA-Canada women’s boxing, U.S. Under-18 women’s hockey, gymnastics, and a lot of U.S. championships.

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