Eight track and field matchups to watch

[Peter R]

Gay, Powell, Bolt headline track slate with middle Saturday final
By Andy Kruse, NBCOlympics.com
Posted Thursday, August 14, 2008 4:03 AM ET
MEN'S SHOT PUT Day 7Friday, Aug. 15
Reese Hoffa (USA) vs. Adam Nelson (USA) vs. Christian Cantwell (USA) Cantwell

Nelson

Hoffa


The matchup in men's shot put is partly a competition among the three Americans, but the intrigue comes in the battle between the U.S. and the world. As in: Can America sweep the three medals for the first time since 1960?

Reese Hoffa, Adam Nelson and Christian Cantwell (in that order) finished the 2007 season as the top three shot putters in the world.

Nelson finished third at the U.S. Trials for Beijing, but he has Olympic experience on his side, having won silver medals at the 2000 Games in Sydney and again in Athens in 2004. Hoffa finished 22nd in Athens. Cantwell will be making his Olympic debut.

Full article at:


http://www.nbcolympics.com/trackandf...html?GT1=39003

[Historian]

Most Ferocious Match-up!!


There is absolutely no question that the 400-meter relays and the 100 and 200-meter races, both men and women, will be major highpoints of the entire Olympic Games (some may say "the major highlights").

However, the most ferocious meet on the track, in my opinion, will be the 5,000-meter showdown between the Ethiopians Tirunesh Dibaba and Meseret Defar! There is no friendly rivalry here, as these women are not friends!! To make matters worse, both have held the 5,000-meter world record at different times, and so we saw Defar falling to the track and weeping in Stockholm recently when she missed Dibaba’s record by a mere one second! The young lady (Defar) was inconsolable as she wept openly!

These Ethiopians do not joke! I’ll always remember the 2005 IAAF World Championships in Helsinki where, in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters, the Ethiopian women placed 1-2-3 in one and 1-2-3-4 in the other (I can’t recall which)!!

Imagine this rivalry on the track next week in Beijing!!

(Side note: I always enjoy watching runner after runner, usually Europeans and Asians, get lapped by the fierce Ethiopians!)

[Mosiah]

Mine is hometown boy, defending champion and former world record holder, Liu Xiang, against new-kid-on-the-block and new world record holder, Dayron Robles, in the best T&F event, the 110m hurdles!

Now, that's a matchup!