Tag: diamond league

track and field

Diamond League: The pen-penultimate meet

Posted on by Beau Dure

As with many track and field competitions, the Diamond League is coming to a conclusion that should be exciting but is a little odd.

Each event is contested seven times during the spring and summer. The finals in each event are split between the last two meets in Zurich and Brussels. In those meets, the points are doubled — 8 points for a win, 4 for second, 2 for third.

This weekend’s meet in London is two days (Friday/Saturday, hopefully on a working Universal Sports stream), and it has the penultimate gathering for each event. Except, for some reason, five — men’s 200, men’s 800, men’s 5,000, women’s 100 and women’s pole vault.

The full standings in PDF form are here under the link “Actual Standings.” The events to watch, admittedly from a provincial U.S. point of view:

MEN

100: The marquee sprint has been disappointing because of the injury wave among the Big Three of Usain Bolt (JAM), Tyson Gay (USA) and Asafa Powell (JAM). Bolt only ran twice, beating Powell in Paris and losing to Gay in Stockholm, before shutting things down for the season. Powell leads the Diamond Race with 10 points, winning two races, but he sat out in Stockholm. Powell, Richard Thompson (TRI, 7 pts) and Gay (4) are all scheduled to start. They’ll run two heats, so several more Americans are in the current field of 16.

400: Jeremy Wariner (USA, 16) is 4-for-4 and can clinch the Diamond title by beating Jermaine Gonzales (JAM, 8), who won in Wariner’s absence in Monaco.

110 hurdles: David Oliver (USA, 16) has dominated the event with four wins and should make his season title official here. Ryan Wilson (USA, 6) is second. Dayron Robles (CUB, 4) won in Oliver’s absence in Rome but will miss this one.

400 hurdles: Bershawn Jackson (USA, 16) has three wins and has twice finished second to Kerron Clement (USA, 10). Clement is out, so Jackson almost has this one sewn up.

Long jump: Dwight Phillips (USA, 12) has had a good season-long duel with Fabrice Lapierre (AUS, 11). Irving Saladino (PAN, 7) also is in the mix and upset Phillips in Eugene.

Shot put: Christian Cantwell (USA, 20) is the only male athlete with a perfect record. He has clinched the season title ahead of Dylan Armstrong (CAN, 6).

Javelin: Andreas Thorkildsen (NOR, 18) won the first four of the season but finally dropped one to Tero Pitkamaki (FIN, 8), leaving a mathematical chance that the Finn could catch him.

WOMEN

200: Allyson Felix (USA, 10) took control of the event with two straight wins after a loss to Veronica Campbell-Brown (JAM, 4). She’ll virtually clinch it here.

400: Felix (USA, 8) has two wins here as well, sharing the lead with Amantle Montsho (BOT). They’re both entered in London along with Shericka Williams (JAM, 5), Debbie Dunn (USA, 5) and everyone else.

800: Alysia Johnson (USA, 8) has won the last two events to take the lead from Janeth Jepkosgei (KEN, 7). This is wide-open — 10 runners have points.

100 hurdles: Lolo Jones (USA, 13) is looking to bounce back from an upset loss in Stockholm. She leads Priscilla Lopes-Schliep (CAN, 10) and Sally Pearson (AUS, 4), who finished 2-1 in Stockholm.

400 hurdles: Lashinda Demus (USA, 12) won the first three, then stumbled in Monaco and isn’t entered here. Kaliese Spencer (JAM, 12) is.

High jump: Blanka Vlasic (CRO, 20) has edged Chaunte Howard-Lowe (USA, 10) in all five meets so far. Vlasic has all but clinched the title, but their competitions have been entertaining.

Long jump: Brittney Reese (USA, 10) won in Lausanne and Paris ahead of Naide Gomes (POR, 7) before both lost in Stockholm to Darya Klishina (RUS, 5).

Javelin: An American contender in a women’s throwing event? Kara Patterson (USA, 8) trails Barbora Spotakova (CZE, 12).

Other events:

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track and field

Diamond League: Gay, Pearson upset Bolt, Jones

Posted on by Beau Dure

The introductions were fantastic, sounding every bit like a UFC fight. But the odds favoring Usain Bolt against Tyson Gay at the DN Galan, a Diamond League meet Friday in Stockholm, were even greater than Anderson Silva’s odds against Chael Sonnen.

The delays were annoying. It took two tries just to get everyone set. But then it was a clean start, with Gay getting out slightly ahead of Bolt.

And he stayed there. Win and meet record 9.84 for Gay, just 0.02 off Bolt’s world lead.

Neither guy has been fully healthy this season, so there’s only so much we can read into this. It was a convincing margin — Gay at 9.84, Bolt at 9.97.

Asafa Powell was unable to run but maintained his Diamond League lead in absentia.

Other highlights included the typical impressive runs from Bershawn Jackson and Allyson Felix, along with an upset in the women’s 100 hurdles and a personal best from a U.S. distance contender. Full rundown (the Universal Sports broadcast had a technical hitch at the beginning, so I missed a couple of events):

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olympic sports, track and field

Un-Bolted wrap from Diamond League, other Oly sports

Posted on by Beau Dure

Yes, Usain Bolt is fast, and 9.82 is borderline superhuman, tying the world lead in his first race back from an Achilles injury. But if you want to know what’s going on in the Diamond League, you’ll need to look elsewhere — the 100 meters was a non-Diamond race tacked onto the program so they could bring Bolt in.

The rest of the Athletissima meet in Lausanne, Switzerland, had seven more world-leading performances and six U.S. wins. The quick look:

MEN

– 400: Jeremy Wariner (USA) posted a world-leading 44.57, just holding off countryman LeJerald Betters (44.70). He’s 3-for-3 in Diamond League.

– 400 hurdles: Bershawn Jackson (USA) didn’t match his world-leading 47.32 but won handily in second-fastest time of the year, 47.62. Angelo Taylor (USA) was second at 47.96. Jackson also claimed the Diamond lead ahead of Kerron Clement (USA).

– 200: Walter Dix (USA), 19.86, tied his own mark for fourth in the world this year. He has won the last three Diamond League races.

– 1,500: Not a Diamond League race, but another world lead: Nicholas Kemboi (KEN), 3:31.52

– 3,000 steeplechase: Brimin Kipruto (KEN), 8:01.62, world lead and nearly five seconds off meet record. This is one of the Diamond League disciplines with some suspense in the standings — Paul Koech (KEN) finished third and still leads Kipruto in the standings.

WOMEN

– 100: Carmelita Jeter (USA) won in 10.99, not a world lead, to build a five-point lead in the Diamond points. The event is reeling from the news that Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser tested positive for a painkiller. The explanation for the test: She went to the dentist, then had to fly, and she forgot to declare it. The explanation for why a drug that fails to enhance performance or mask anything is on the prohibited list: …. well, we’ll have to ask. But the situation is a crisis! At least, that’s what the Telegraph says.

– 400: Debbie Dunn (USA), 49.81, second this year only to her 49.64 in USA Championships.

– 1,500: Gelete Burka (ETH), world-leading 3:59.28, then national record-setter Ibtissam Lakhouad (MAR, 3:59.45) and personal best-setter Nancy Langat (KEN, 4:00.13). Funny thing is that Langat, the Olympic champion, had been dominating the season.

– 3,000: Vivian Cheruiyot (KEN), 8:34.58, world lead and meet record.

– Long jump: Brittney Reese (USA), the world champion, fourth in the world at 6.94 meters/22-9.25.

– Triple jump: Yargelis Savigne (CUB), 14.99 meters, world lead and far ahead of the rest.

– High jump: Ivan Ukhov (RUS) ties world lead at 2.33 meters. World champion Yaroslav Rybakov (also RUS) tied Ukhov but lost on more misses.

**

In other Olympic sports news:

– Figure skating: Johnny Weir is taking the season off to reinvent his skating and promote his single, fashion line and book. But he’ll be back for Sochi.

– Swimming: The Grand Prix finale is in this week in Los Angeles. Betting on Chloe Sutton to take season honors.

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track and field

Viewer’s guide: Prefontaine Classic

Posted on by Beau Dure

What: Prefontaine Classic

Where: Eugene, Ore.

When/how to watch: Saturday 2 p.m. ET for first field event, 4 p.m. at UniversalSports.com, 4:30 p.m. at NBC

More info: Schedule, start lists, results

The Prefontaine Classic track and field meet is indeed an American classic. Named after the legendary Steve Prefontaine, the meet has always attracted a solid collection of athletes.

On the international calendar, the Pre has long been in the second tier, whatever it was called — Grand Prix, Super Grand Prix, Super Duper Fast Meet, etc. With the expansive, global Diamond League replacing the Euro-centric Golden League, the Pre made the cut.

So most of the events in Eugene will have Diamond League points at stake. The exceptions are the women’s 5,000 (featuring American stars Shalane Flanagan, Jen Rhines and Amy Yoder-Begley), the women’s hammer throw (not a Diamond League discipline for some reason) and the men’s 1,000 (an iconoclastic event, perfect for a meet featuring an iconoclastic distance runner).

Even in these metric days, the Pre simply has to feature the mile, which will count toward the Diamond League’s 1,500 standings.

The Diamond races at a glance:

MEN

Mile (1,500): Asbel Kiprop (KEN) has the Diamond League lead, and Mekonnen Gebremedhin (ETH) and Gideon Gathimba (KEN) also are here. So is meet-record holder Daniel Kipchirchir Komen (KEN). But American distance runners always show up in force at the Pre, and Bernard Lagat, Lopez Lomong and Leo Manzano can all run with the top guys from Africa.

110 hurdles: Terrific opportunity for co-leader David Oliver (USA) to gain points. Cuban co-leader Dayron Robles and Chinese contenders Shi Dongpeng and Liu Xiang aren’t here.

200: Co-leader Usain Bolt (JAM) still isn’t back from injury. Tyson Gay (USA), on the other hand, is on the entry list. So is co-leader Walter Dix, who won the 100 at the U.S. championships last week.

5,000: Leader Imane Merga (ETH) is here along with the only man to beat him in the Diamond League this year, Eliud Kipchoge (KEN). Bernard Lagat is the only American to get points in any of the three Diamond League races so far, but he’s in the mile instead of this one. American hopefuls are Matt Tegenkamp, Ben True and Chris Solinsky.

Discus: Zoltan Kovago (HUN) and Piotr Malachowski (POL) have split the two Diamond League events so far and share the lead. Gerd Kanter (EST) shares third with Robert Harting (GER), the only member of the leading quartet not to be here. Good competition for the American contingent — Ian Waltz, Jarred Rome, Casey Malone, Jason Young.

Long jump: Dwight Phillips (USA) is still bringing it in this event, leading with six points to five for Fabrice LaPierre (AUS). Third-place Irving Saladino (PAN) also is here. This one will be fun. Prepare rhythmic claps.

Shot put: Americans have been trading the podium places amongst themselves in this event for a while, but this year, it’s all Christian Cantwell. He’s 3-for-3 in the Diamond League. Dylan Armstrong (CAN) is second, Reese Hoffa (USA) is tied for third, and Tomasz Majewski (POL) has a point. Another German, Ralf Bartels, didn’t make the trip. Adam Nelson (USA) has a world championship and was unlucky to get silver rather than gold in 2000 and 2004.

WOMEN

100: All five sprinters with Diamond points are in the race — Carmelita Jeter (USA, 4), Lashauntea Moore (USA, 4), Chandra Sturrup (BAH, 3), Shelly-Ann Fraser (JAM, 2) and Tahesia Harrigan (IVB, 1). Also 200-meter leader Veronica Campbell-Brown (JAM).

400: Allyson Felix (USA) won the only Diamond League race she has entered at this distance. She trails Amantie Montsho (BOT) in the standings. The other two points-getters also are here: Noviene Williams-Mills (JAM) and Debbie Dunn (USA).

400 hurdles: Lashinda Demus (USA) has won both Diamond League races. Second-place Natalya Antukh (RUS) isn’t here, but third-place Kaliese Spencer (JAM) is.

800: Fellow Duke grad Shannon Rowbury is dropping down to 800? Actually, so is 1,500 leader Nancy Jebet Langat (KEN), so she’s in good company. Janeth Jepkosgei (KEN) is the leader here. Alysia Johnson and Maggie Vessey finished 1-2 in the USA championships.

3,000 steeplechase: Leader Milcah Chemos Cheiywa (KEN) is the only runner here with points. It’s mostly a North American group, including new U.S. champ Lisa Aguilera and runner-up Nicole Bush.

Javelin: Leader and world record-holder Barbara Spotakova (CZE) is in a six-woman field including new U.S. record-holder (and, obviously, champion) Kara Patterson.

Pole vault: Fabiana Murer (BRA) and Anna Rogowska (POL) have points, but this may be the day Jenn Suhr (USA, formerly Jenn Stuczynski) launches her challenge for the season jackpot.

Triple jump: Co-leader Olga Rypakova (KAZ) can open a gap over absent Yargelis Savigne (CUB).

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mma, olympic sports, rugby, tennis, track and field

Friday Myriad: USA-England II, Liddell-Franklin I, Track-Field II

Posted on by Beau Dure

No, we’re not going to forget the rest of the sports world during the big month in South Africa. That said, I’m backing off from the chronological viewing program this week and doing a more basic linking spree. Enjoy.

SOCCER TV NEWS

World Cup: DirecTV has everything in HD, some in 3D and a total of seven languages — English, Spanish, Arabic, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese. (press release)

WPS: The league is getting more pickup from Comcast regional networks. Best off checking your local affiliate for delayed broadcasts; the league site’s schedule just has the live ones.

RUGBY: USA-ENGLAND II

Well, sort of. It’s the USA against the England Saxons, essentially England’s B team, Sunday at the Churchill Cup. That’s one day after that other USA-England game in South Africa.

TRACK AND FIELD

Diamond League raced in Rome on Thursday and will resume Saturday in New York, where 5,000-seat Icahn Stadium is sold out. Universal Sports, 8 p.m. ET

The Rome highlights:

  • Men’s 400: Jeremy Wariner barely held off Angelo Taylor in a thriller, winning in a world-leading 44.73. (Universal Sports video)
  • Men’s long jump: Dwight Phillips with a world-leading 8.42 meters.
  • Women’s high jump: Another duel between the USA’s Chaunte Lowe and Croatia’s Blanka Vlasic, another win for Vlasic on fewer misses.
  • Men’s 100: No Bolt or Gay, so Jamaica’s Asafa Powell just shaved a little bit off his world-leading time. Down to 9.84 seconds.
  • Women’s 400 hurdles: Also a routine world-leader for Lashinda Demus (52.82).
  • Men’s 200: Walter Dix’s 19.86 broke Michael Johnson’s 11-year-old meet record.
  • Men’s shot put: Christian Cantwell’s 14-meet win streak went down to the last throw. Nailed it. 21.67 meters.

Expected in New York (entry list PDF):

  • Women’s pole vault: Silver medalist Jenn Suhr, formerly Jenn Stuczynski, is due back in action after an Achilles injury
  • Men’s 1,500: Bernard Lagat and Lopez Lomong
  • Men’s 400 hurdles: Bershawn Jackson and Kerron Clement
  • Men’s pole vault: Aussie favorite Steve Hooker and U.S. veteran Tim Mack
  • Women’s 1,500: Shannon Rowbury, not just mentioned here because she went to Duke. Also Cristin Wurth-Thomas.
  • Women’s 200: Allyson Felix and Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown
  • Women’s 100 hurdles: Lolo Jones and a lot of people with comparable PBs

OLYMPIC SPORTS (all times ET)

Beach volleyball: Men and women both in Moscow for FIVB action that Universal Sports’ blogger says will draw huge crowds. (Russia’s soccer team, coincidentally, isn’t in the World Cup.) Online at UniversalSports.com: women’s medal matches, 10 a.m. Sunday / men’s medal matches, 9:30 a.m. Monday

Wrestling: The U.S. team for this year’s World Championships is being determined tonight and tomorrow. (USOC; video highlights at themat.com)

Volleyball: Like Frank Zappa and the Mothers, the U.S. women are in Montreux. (USOC)

Figure skating: Sorry, ice dancing fans and infatuated guys on the Web — Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto are hanging up the skates.

Triathlon: Hunter Kemper is injured and will miss Hy-Vee Race. (Twitter – @vmichaelis)

TENNIS

Nadal lost, leaving Sam Querrey a nice opportunity to win a title at Queen’s Club. Maria Sharapova is in the women’s semis. Men’s semis and final on Tennis Channel

Former No. 1 Roger Federer is still in at the Gerry Weber Open.

MMA

UFC 115: We have Chuck Liddell–Rich Franklin, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic-Pat Barry, Martin Kampmann-Paulo Thiago and a host of others heading into a very busy stretch of fights. And yes, I was busy writing all that with Sergio Non this week.

Bellator: Pat Curran is the Season 2 lightweight champion in a decision Sergio didn’t like. On Thursday, it’s the welterweight tournament finale between Dan Hornbuckle and Ben Askren, the 2008 Olympic wrestler who has a very quick turnaround from attempting to make the Olympic wrestling team today (see above). The good news is that Askren was wrestling at 163 pounds and will fight at 170, so he shouldn’t worry about making weight.

WORLD SERIES OF POKER

World Championships: Frank Cassela took the Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better Name This *&*$ing Event So We Don’t Have to Type All That Stuff title on Tuesday, beating notables such as Jennifer Harman (third) and John Juanda (fifth).

The 2-7 Draw Lowball championship is down a final table that includes Juanda, Erik Seidel and Daniel Negreanu. Check the official updates or get Negreanu’s colorful first-hand Tweets about the event and whatever else springs to mind.

The Ladies event is underway, though a few men have elbowed their way to the tables. Shaun Deeb said he was doing it for charity after losing a bet, which we wouldn’t believe except that they are indeed in Vegas. Duke grad Vanessa Rousso is already out, so we’re rooting for chess GM and SportsMyriad interviewee Jennifer Shahade. Shannon Elizabeth has a healthy chip stack at the moment.

Back in the a.m. for World Cup Virtual Viewing.

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track and field

Live: Diamond League debut

Posted on by Beau Dure

Live-blogging on the Diamond League’s debut in Doha didn’t go so well, honestly. In part, that’s because the live stream didn’t give a lot of cues as to what was going on with the field events, and the results feed crashed.

The big stories from a U.S. perspective: Allyson Felix cruised in the 400, Lolo Jones rallied to win the 100 hurdles, Bershawn Jackson and Kerron Clement went 1-2 in the 400 hurdles, and Christian Cantwell unleashed the best throw of the year to win the shot put. Chaunte Howard Lowe tied with Blanka Vlasic in the high jump but took second with more misses.

It was a funny meet in some other respects. The starts were too fast a couple of times, leaving confused sprinters trying to make up time. (Didn’t hurt Asafa Powell too much.) The pacemaker in the 3,000 steeplechase made a dash for glory and is now ranked third in the Diamond League.

But it’s a long season.

My attempt at live-blogging follows …

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cycling, mma, soccer, tennis, track and field

Friday Myriad: Diamond debut, four soccer trophies on the line

Posted on by Beau Dure

Your hour-by-hour viewing guide, all times ET:

FRIDAY

Noon: Track and field, Diamond League, Doha. Debut of the expanded successor to the Golden League. I’ll be live-blogging this one. Universal Sports

2:40 p.m.: Soccer (England), League One semifinal, Swindon-Charlton. Special feelings for me regarding Swindon, the only place I’ve ever seen an English game in person. Plenty more promotion playoffs through the weekend. Fox Soccer Plus

SATURDAY

** 10 a.m.: Soccer (England), FA Cup final, Chelsea-Portsmouth. First vs. worst in the Premier League, but this time, there’s a trophy at stake. FSC

2 p.m.: Soccer (Germany), German Cup final, Bayern Munich-Werder Bremen. Bayern going for the second leg of the triple, having won the Bundesliga and with the Champions League final to come. ESPN Deportes

  • 2:30 p.m.: Soccer (Italy), AC Milan-Juventus, FSC

4 p.m.: Soccer (MLS), Philadelphia-Dallas. You’ll be bored with the Italian game by the time this one kicks off. TeleFutura

6-ish p.m.: Horse racing, Preakness. Might be able to flip over and catch the actual race after 90-plus minutes of pre-race. NBC

7 p.m.: Soccer (Mexico), semifinal second leg, Santos-Morelia. TeleFutura

  • 7:30 p.m.: Soccer (MLS), New York-Seattle is the best of the non-national games in the early evening. Direct Kick/MLSSoccer.com
  • 8:30 p.m.: Soccer (MLS), Kansas City-Chicago, FSC

9 p.m.: Soccer (Mexico), semifinal second leg, Toluca-Pachuca. Telemundo

10 p.m.: MMA, Strikeforce. Alistair Overeem-Brett Rogers for the heavyweight title (no, Fedor doesn’t have it yet, even though he beat Rogers in his last fight). Also another compelling heavyweight matchup: Andrei Arlovski-Antonio Silva. Showtime

  • 9:45 p.m.: Boxing, Amir Khan-Paul Malignaggi for Khan’s WBA light welterweight title in Madison Square Garden. USA TODAY preview. HBO

10:30 p.m.: Soccer (MLS), Los Angeles-Toronto. Can we go ahead and call it — three more points for the Galaxy? Direct Kick/MLSSoccer.com

SUNDAY

** 9 a.m.: Soccer (Italy), final games of season.

  • Siena-Inter, FSC
  • Chievo-Roma, Fox Soccer Plus (also delayed on FSC, 11 a.m.)

** 1 p.m.: Soccer (Spain), final games of season.

  • Valladolid-Barcelona, ESPN2
  • Malaga-Real Madrid, GolTV

5 p.m.: Cycling, Tour of California, first stage. Yes, it’s conflicting with the Giro d’Italia, but as my former deskmate Sal Ruibal tells us, California organizers have designs of making this another Grand Tour. Versus

6 p.m.: Soccer (WPS), Atlanta-Washington. Another look at Atlanta’s new soccer stadium, with a matchup of two high-powered offenses that were unusually shut out their last time out. FSC

ANYTHING ELSE?

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track and field

9.58 reasons to get excited about the track and field season

Posted on by Beau Dure

It’s a non-Olympic year. It’s a non-World Championship year. So why should care about track and field this summer?

1. The Diamond League. The Golden League was a neat idea — anyone who wins his/her event in each of six or seven meets gets a share of a golden jackpot. But after a while, it focused too much attention on the most predictable events, those that one person dominates. The Diamond League uses a points system so that the most competitive events will be the most interesting in the final. They’re also no longer limiting the events to a select handful each year — every Olympic event other than the marathon, decathlon and heptathlon is included.

And it’s no longer a strictly Euro thing. The 14-meet circuit starts in Qatar, stops by China and …

2. The Prefontaine and adidas Grand Prix (NYC) are on the elite circuit.

3. Lolo Jones. Charity-minded, working to overcome Olympic disappointment, blew away the field in the World Indoors 60-meter hurdles.

4. Steven Hooker. Olympic pole vault champion won 2009 world title while only taking two jumps because of a groin injury, then set a meet record at World Indoors. Somehow gets that hair over the bar.

5. Shot put. Christian Cantwell beat Belarus’ Andrei Mikhnevich with his last throw at World Indoors. Competitive season ahead.

6. Women’s pole vault no longer a foregone conclusion. Yelena Isinbayeva was only fourth at World Indoors.

7. Best street race since Seinfeld. Tyson Gay and Sanya Richards-Ross are among those competing May 16 in the CityGames in Manchester, where they’ll have a track going through the streets.

8. Shin Splints, the blog by USA Track and Field CEO and former Major League Soccer commissioner Doug Logan. As you may read in an upcoming book, Logan is quite a storyteller.

9. Penn Relays/Drake Relays weekend. The first big meets of the U.S. season are April 22-24, and at the Penn Relays …

9.58. Usain Bolt is running.

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