olympic sports, track and field

Diamond League Lausanne: Blake and Bolt Show rolls on

UPDATED WITH VIDEO (Thanks, Universal Sports!)

Yohan Blake just provided more evidence that we’re living in a Golden Age of sprinters.

The Jamaican posted a time of 9.69 seconds into a slight headwind to win the 100 meters at the Diamond League’s Lausanne stop. That ties Tyson Gay for the fastest time ever recorded by someone other than Usain Bolt.

In fact, it ties Bolt’s then-world record from Beijing. Bolt went faster to win the 2009 World Championships (9.58) and the Olympics earlier this month (9.63).

Gay ran a quite-respectable 9.83 on Thursday to finish second. Jamaica’s Nesta Carter was third, and the USA’s Ryan Bailey was fourth at 10-flat.

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Then Bolt himself came onto the track for the 200 meters and also tied Tyson Gay’s best at 19.58. The commentators spotted a few flaws in his race, then pointed out that only four people have ever gone faster (one of whom is Bolt himself).

He also plays some air bass. No, not air guitar. Not at that angle. Air bass. Trust me on this. I’ve played both.

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Also in Lausanne:

– Carmelita Jeter made such a stunning comeback in the women’s 100 meters that the announcers had pretty much given the race to Olympic gold medalist Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce (Jamaica), assuming that Jeter had done no better than make a close race for second. Fraser-Pryce probably assumed she had it, too, and might have had a more convincing lean at the finish had she realized the danger. They both finished in 10.86. If you follow Jeneba Tarmoh after the whole Olympic trials kerfuffle — she was sixth in 11.13.

– Matthew Centrowitz ran a personal best 3:31.96 in the 1,500 meters, good for third place behind Kenya’s Silas Kiplagat (3:31.78) and Ethiopia’s Mekonnen Gebremedhin. Leo Manzano had his best time of the season (3:34.08), good for 10th. We told you those Diamond League meets with their pacemakers were faster than the Olympics, right? Galen Rupp didn’t finish — that’s worth checking on later. But if you don’t know Centrowitz’s name, learn it now. He was third at Worlds last year; fourth in the Olympics this year. Worth hyping when he runs.

– The men’s 110 hurdles were disappointing — Olympic champion Aries Merritt false-started. Silver medalist and world champion Jason Richardson won in 13.08, just ahead of the resurgent David Oliver.

– New Zealand shot putter Valerie Adams continued her Belated Gold Medal (Thanks, WADA) Victory Tour by smashing a meet record that had stood since 1989. Not saying that previous record was questionable, but it was well before WADA was established, and the holder was from East Germany. That record was 20.36 meters. Adams tossed 20.73 on her first attempt, watched as no one else came close (the USA’s Michelle Carter was second at 19.60), then came back for her unnecessary final attempt and threw 20.95.  Now she’s just showing off.

– Seven of the eight runners in the women’s 100 hurdles were from the USA or Canada. No, Lolo Jones wasn’t there. Neither was Kellie Wells. So you won’t be surprised that Dawn Harper won. But her time of 12.43 is very good.

– Don’t ask about the U.S. high jumpers.

– Brittney Reese is still in her post-London doldrums.

medal projections, olympic sports, track and field

2012 medal projections, men’s track: Bolt, then who?

The typical trend for men’s running events: The Americas (USA, Jamaica, other Caribbean) battle in the sprints, African nations split the distance events, and British hearts slowly break until they all watch Chariots of Fire and reminisce.

No real reason so far to think that’ll change, but the World Championships (Aug. 27-Sept. 4, Daegu, South Korea) might unearth some talented runners who haven’t earned Diamond League slots.

ATHLETICS: Men’s running events

Good sources for 2010 performances are the ever-handy list of top performances, this terrific chart of Diamond League performances and the Diamond League site’s event recaps. The Diamond League launched last year, combining the Golden League and a few other top meets, filling the gap between World Championship years.

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track and field

Diamond League: Gay, Pearson upset Bolt, Jones

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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track and field

9.58 reasons to get excited about the track and field season

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.