Once the Track & Field World Championships ended in Daegu, South Korea, interest in the sport vanished as quickly as Usain Bolt's hopes of winning the 100m in Daegu. But the season remained competitive well beyond the championships. No more was that evident than in Brussels, Belgium, for the second Diamond League event (the first was in Zurich, Switzerland) since the championships wrapped.
Usain Bolt recovered in the 100m, winning in a world-leading 9.76 seconds, but was overshadowed by his country man, training partner and the man who became the 100m World Champion in Bolt's absence, Yohan Blake. Blake blew by Walter Dix around the last stretch of curve to win the 200m in a WL time of 19.26. How fast was he going? Well Dix, no slow mo himself, was a distant second in a personal best time of 19.53s. Blake surpasses former world record holder Michael Johnson (19.32) as the second fastest man in the history of that race behind Bolt's 19.19.
The U.S. has no answers for this crop of sprinters springing up in the tiny island of Jamaica. And with the London Olympics less than a year away, and the U.S. well-documented problems with baton exchanges, it's impossible to imagine the U.S. posing a threat to the Jamaicans in the 4x100m relay. Besides Dix and a healthy Tyson Gay, there isn't much promise from anyone else to make the 100m final (Gatlin has been inconsistent since finishing second at the U.S. trials prior to Daegu.) The bigger story would be who would make the Jamaicans final squad (Asafa Powell, Nesta Carter and Michael Frater top the crowd of sprinters who would contend for the final two spots.)
For some reason, I seem to be having issues with embedding videos, which I used to be able to do with ease. If anyone has solutions beyond copying and pasting the embedded info on here, please let me know. But if you're interested in watching the race, click here for it.
No comments:
Post a Comment