Olympics

Wasn't sure which section to put this in, but it looks like Craven Cottage and Fulham F.C. were "snubbed" by the torch relay route folks. It's going by Loftus Road and the dog track, but not down Stevenage past our historic grounds. What rubbish.

http://www.london2012.com/torch-relay/route/

 

No need to wait, USA track and field olympic trials start today, well kind of.

http://www.sbnation.com/london-olym...-trials-track-field-schedule-tv-what-to-watch

 

world record performance by Ashton eaton in the decathalon. Finished the event by running the 1500 meters in 4min. 14 sec.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olym...ton-olympic-track-trials-decathlon/55783072/1

 

That was an incredible run by Rupp. To get passed in the final stretch like that and somehow find the power to battle back and win is really something. I've never been able to get excited by Lagat. He certainly is a heck of a runner, but I'll never be able to condone becoming a naturalized citizen of a country just so you can run in the Olympics. If you're not good enough to run for your own country except your fate. Dont move to another country and take a spot away from someone who has worked their entire lives to represent their country. I certainly could not live with myself if I did that. He could have gone to a country that didnt have enough runners making the A standard, but I believe the US did in his races.

 

He wasnt the best in Kenya. Never won a gold medal for them if I recall, I could be wrong. I remember there being something about him and team tactics against another Kenyan runner and he still couldnt win. He decided to get US citizenship for money and to become the best. Why else would he want to be a US citizen? He married a Canadian. If anything he should have become an Canadian citizen; they probably didnt have the max # of runners meeting the A standard. I'm sure US Track and Field had their hand in it. They and Lagat can paint it however they want, but it still doesnt make it right in my book. It was controversial at the time for a reason.

 

Actually, I'm pretty sure it was done as a precaution to avoid setting Plastic Michael Jackson's hair on fire.

Heated track debates at FUSA. Who knew? I'd never heard of Lagat prior to this discussion, but I find myself agreeing with Heather. If he had the opportunity where he was, I'm not so cynical as to think he pursued US Citizenship for money. Nor do I see why we'd pay for him if we already had a stable of runners who could compete with him.

 

Ah, heartbreak for the Aggies chasing Olympic spots. Just watched Jeneba Tarmoh fail to qualify for the Olympics in the 200m final. She had finished the 100m final last w/e in a dead heat for 3rd with Allyson Felix and it's undecided whether they'll use a coin toss or run-off to break the tie. Felix won tonight's 200m final to earn a spot for London. Here's the pic of the finish of the 100m, Tarmoh is on the inside.



The torso is used to decide the winner, thus the dead heat.

In the 10k, A&M's Natosha Rogers finished second with a personal best time but b/c she hadn't broken the A standard mark, the 4th place finisher gets the spot due to breaking the mark in a previous race. Rogers fell short by 14.21 seconds. Literally fell.

The A standard bit A&M's Sam Humphries as well. He finished 1st in the Olympic trials in javelin, but he fell short of the standard...by 14 cm.

Three very close calls, hopefully Tarmoh's works out for her. It'll be a bit of a surprise if we fail to have anyone make the track team since A&M has won the last 3 (2009-2011) NCAA Outdoor National Championships on both the men's and women's sides.

 

Ag, I believe US Track and Field ruled the 100m race for 3rd place a tie and they issued new rules to break the tie, which basically gave the women first choice to make a joint decision themselves. My hope is that Felix will concede to Tarmoh. Tormoh should still make the team for the 4 x 100m I thought. That was some race though. The sprints are exciting for US qualifying. So much competition; all of the American sprinters that make it to the finals should be incredibly proud of what they've accomplished

 

Well if you're in need of someone to cheer for in tonights womens 1500m may I suggest Maggie Infeld. She attended high school just a few blocks from my house and she and her sister, Emily, dominated Ohio long distance running when they were in high school. Maggie is not a favorite but she did have the third fastest qualifying time for the finals so you never know. She also in her third year of med school so the girls works damn hard.

 

The Tarmoh/Felix 100m situation keeps getting weirder. They agreed to a run-off, but now Tarmoh is saying she feels she should have won and won't participate in the run-off, giving Felix the spot. Strange. I don't get why she'd give up this late.

We've had two swimmers qualify for the Olympics though. :banana-dance:

 

Well a storm prevented me from watching :angry-banghead: darn satelitte. Sounds like she got a personal best and easily achieved an "A" standard time so if that event wasnt so stacked with US talent, she might have been on her way to the Olympics.

For me, here's the thing with Lagat. Yes he was a top runner for Kenya, but he wasnt their best and never got an olympic gold. As he got older he would struggle to even qualify for their olympic teams, maybe wouldnt have qualified for them in 2008 and definitely not now. If you're not their best or Africa's best, you're not going to get the endorsements and support that you would as the best American 1500m runner, and later 5000m runner. He became a US citizen to run for the USA and get the money that followed. It also prolonged his career. So he trained here, many of the African runners train in the USA or Europe, but still run for their nations of birth. He didnt have to get US citizenship to continue to train and live in the USA.

He also got his citizenship pretty darn fast so I suspect US Track and Field helped him out. And I'm sure they knew Kenya didnt allow dual citizenship. The result, Lagat and US Track and Field, have taken spots away from deserving American runners for two olympics in a row. And he has American records that would've otherwise been in someone else's name. I'm with Hatter on this, it's all about the medal count. US Track wanted Lagat because he would be a big upgrade in events where the US struggles to make an impact.

For some time the US has had some of the best training and athletic facilities in the world and as a result a lot of world class athletes from numerous sports (tennis, swimming, etc) have come to the US to train. If they all did what Lagat did then the Olympics would cease to be the olympics. It would be the best athletes in every sport competing for the US and a few other wealthy countries. We will see Qatar getting more and more medals. You have to draw a line somewhere and in my opinion, Lagat crossed it. Especially since he already rep'd for Kenya. Just my opinion.