Day's Most Exciting Event?

[Historian]

So, no comments on the most exciting event of the day?! Surely we track and field fans couldn’t have missed that women’s 10,000-meter race, one of the most entertaining in a long while! The look on Meselech Melkamu’s face as she belatedly glanced to her right and saw Linet Masai passing her was priceless!!

The problem for Melkamu, obviously, is that she was paying too much attention to Defar and the others to her left (on the inside) and forgot about possible danger to her right! So, with Defar dropping fading rapidly and no dangerous challenger on the inside, Melkamu, understandably, raised her arms and began to celebrate!!! This was too funny!


Sad to see Defar fading so badly though, but youngsters such as Masai are keeping the excitement alive!

Pos Bib Athletes Mark
1 599 Linet Chepkwemoi MASAI KEN 30:51.24 SB
2 335 Meselech MELKAMU ETH 30:51.34
3 323 Wude AYALEW ETH 30:51.95
4 600 Grace Kwamboka MOMANYI KEN 30:52.25 PB
5 327 Meseret DEFAR ETH 30:52.37
6 1042 Amy YODER BEGLEY USA 31:13.78 PB
7 571 Yurika NAKAMURA JPN 31:14.39 PB
8 697 Kimberley SMITH NZL 31:21.42 SB
9 554 Kayoko FUKUSHI JPN 31:23.49 SB
10 739 Ines MONTEIRO POR 31:25.67 PB
11 805 Mariya KONOVALOVA RUS 31:26.94
12 594 Florence Jebet KIPLAGAT KEN 31:30.85
13 736 Ana Dulce FELIX POR 31:30.90 PB
14 987 Shalane FLANAGAN USA 31:32.19
15 775 Kseniya AGAFONOVA RUS 31:43.14
16 734 Ana DIAS POR 31:49.91
17 1010 Katie MCGREGOR USA 32:18.49
18 232 Yingying ZHANG CHN 32:33.63 SB
19 826 Liliya SHOBUKHOVA RUS 32:42.36
20 574 Yukari SAHAKU JPN 33:41.17
921 Elvan ABEYLEGESSE TUR DNF
862 Olivera JEVTIC SRB DNS

[Gamma]

ok...i could have said more in my venus williams post.....

btw the men's 100 setting up sweet eh?

[Mosiah]

Without a doubt!

[Historian]

Still thinking about that race

Without a doubt!

Mosiah, those Ethiopian women have over the past decade, almost singlehandedly, made me a huge fan of 5,000 and 10,000-meter events!! In fact, I’ve reached the stage where I enjoy those distance races just as much as the sprints!

It’s also always interesting and hilarious as Tirunesh Dibaba and Meseret Defar and the other Ethiopian women generally make the rest of the usually large group of runners look like they are in a completely different event! And then there’s the predictable final lap, which those Ethiopian women generally run as if they’re running a 400-meter race! I’ve seen Tirunesh and company run a 58-second final lap in the 10,000 meters race (total laps: 25); I recall them doing this, for example, in Helsinki back in 2005. That is incredible!

I videotaped the start and the final five laps of yesterday’s 10,000-meter race, and I’m happy I did! The race itself was slow, but that final lap more than made up for it by the drama!! I still can’t believe that an Ethiopian, and more importantly, an Ethiopian of the immense talent of Meselech Melkamu (one of the all-time best), was defeated by a 19-year-old girl from Kenya! I also cannot believe how Meseret Defar just stopped running as soon as she realized the gold was gone!! The woman literally stopped right before the line and so ended up in fifth position instead of third!!

But I’m also happy for the victor, Kenya’s Linet Masai. She seems a sweet and humble young lady. The future of distance running among the women just got even brighter, it seems, and I look forward to years of intense rivalry between these two African giants, Ethiopia and Kenya.

By the way, how on earth could the track officials have messed up so badly when they forgot to place the guiding cones on the track? That start, or the first 50 meters or so, was a mass of confusion as a result!

[Muadib]

Tiger Woods running track now ?

[Gamma]

the 10,000 metre sprint!!