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Olympics

TheOldMole Apr 04 2008 12:56 PM

Who are the top non-drugged US Olympic Track Team hopefuls?

Frayed Knot Apr 05 2008 07:41 AM

I usually know track a tiny bit better than most generic sports fans (of course since most generic American sports fans know next to nothing that's not saying much) but even I've lost track (no pun intended) lately as T&F has continued to marginalize itself with scandals and only a couple of names spring to mind at the moment: - miler (1,500 m) Alan Webb is a runner who seems poised to challenge the world's best after hovering on the edges of stardom since he started gaining national attention during his days as a Virginia schoolboy in the late '90s. - distance runner Meb Keflezighi, an African immigrant (Eritrea) who's been a U.S. citizen for about 10 years, may be looking towards the 10,000m race thise year after taking silver in the 2004 marathon in Athens - Jeremy Wariner, the defending gold medalist in the 400m, is still only 24 y/o and at the top of his game. He may consider doubling in the 200 & 400 for the Beijing games - other than that, the traditionally strong sprinting corps seems to be in a flux due to the retirements and/or banishments of a number of long-time stalwarts although there always seems to be a new phenom(s) popping up every few years The official team won't be chosen until the U.S. Olymipic Trials in June so you might want to keep an eye on the results there if you're looking for guys/gals to follow.

metirish Apr 07 2008 06:34 AM

I'm going to boycott the whole thing .

Benjamin Grimm Apr 07 2008 07:10 AM

The Olympic torch seems like it got into some trouble in Paris yesterday.

AG/DC Apr 07 2008 08:04 AM

Despite having one of our competitors (Ryan Shay) die during Olympic qualifying, we may have our best marathon generation ever coming into maturity right now, including native Americans as well as immigrants. Ryan Hall is new to the matathoning (I think he had been a mediocre miler in college) and he's blowing minds.

Frayed Knot Jun 29 2008 07:19 PM

The U.S. Olympic T & F trials are going on [url=http://www.usatf.org/events/2008/OlympicTrials-TF/schedule.asp]now through next weekend[/url] if you're still interested in this stuff Mole. The 100m teams have been picked along with a handful of the field events. Most notable so far is 100m runner Tyson Gay who coasted home with a big lead in a qualifying heat and still managed to turn in a 4th fastest time ever 9.77. He then blasted through a 9.68 final which busted through the less than month-old world record time (Jamaican Usain Bolt - 9.72) but won't be recognized as such due to an over-the-limit tailwind.

AG/DC Jun 29 2008 07:50 PM

The sprinters are putting up times this year that are making Carl Lewis look silly. Not that Carl ever need help.

seawolf17 Jun 29 2008 08:16 PM

AG/DC wrote: Not that Carl ever need help. Except when he sang.

SteveJRogers Jun 29 2008 08:46 PM

And the rockets...RED GLARE! I'll make up for it now...

TheOldMole Jun 29 2008 09:46 PM

Frayed -- thanx. I have been watching.

seawolf17 Jun 30 2008 08:30 AM

That makes me laugh every time I hear it. Classic.

TheOldMole Jul 06 2008 12:22 AM

Why do javelin throwers look so weird?

Frayed Knot Jul 06 2008 04:35 AM

I guess because that thing is too big & awkward to heave with a "normal" throwing motion so they need to do that side-stepping run-up in order to throw it with a stiff-armed "hand-grenade" style. Of course the guys in 'Revenge of the Nerds' found alternate ways to achieve great distance with it but that's a whole 'nother story. The big news from yesterday was that 100m winner Tyson Gay collapsed on the track with a cramp in the 200m finals (a distance at which he was the reigning world champion) so he won't be in that race in Beijing. Now it's just a question about whether he'll be OK for the 100m.

MFS62 Jul 06 2008 05:46 AM

TheOldMole wrote: Why do javelin throwers look so weird? Not as weird as javelin catchers. BA DA BUM! Later

AG/DC Jul 06 2008 06:32 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jul 06 2008 11:23 AM

So, after many such tales, will the US ever yield and say, "You know, the top US runner over the year in every event should qualify automatically, and the qualifying tournament should be for the subsequent spots"?

metsmarathon Jul 06 2008 07:48 AM

Frayed Knot wrote: I guess because that thing is too big & awkward to heave with a "normal" throwing motion so they need to do that side-stepping run-up in order to throw it with a stiff-armed "hand-grenade" style. Of course the guys in 'Revenge of the Nerds' found alternate ways to achieve great distance with it but that's a whole 'nother story. the reason it is thrown the way it is is because that motion attempts to ensure that the forces on the javelin are all along the same line and are lined up with the axis of the javelin and its intended trajectory. any force acted along a different direction than axially will be wasted, may cause it to tip or wobble in flight resulting in greater drag and shorter distance, and could cause injury to the thrower. i've tried throwing jav. and sucked at it.

Frayed Knot Jul 06 2008 08:29 AM

AG/DC wrote: So, after many such tales, will the US ever yield and say, "You know, the top US runner over the year in every event should qualify automatically, and the qualifying tournament should be for the subsequent spots. There doesn't appear to be any sentiment for that. Even those who don't like it seem to say that it's the worst system ... except for all the others. The USOC tends to like the fact that the athlete has to prove him/herself at the proper moment to make the team just like you have to in the games themselves. If Dan O'Brien no-heighting in the pole-vault during the decathalon trials all those years ago didn't move anyone enough to change things I'm not sure what will.

AG/DC Jul 06 2008 11:34 AM

I've heard it, just not, fortunately, from the burned athletes themselves, who seem to know, understand, and honorably accept the system under which they work. The thing about figure skating (another sport who sends only the winners of the qualifying tournament) is that they can fix the scores to make sure only the golden girls get in. Harrison Dialllard in 1948 was the best hurdler in the world, dominating the competition in the 110m high hurdles. But he got his rhythm off in the Olympic trials and stunned onlookers when he failed to qualify. While the press and officials had an orgy of panic over whether they would allow in in and scrap the rules (final decison: of course they wouldn't, but they strangely seemed to be looking for a way to), Dilliard calmly walked over to the registration table and signed up for the 100m sprint event, which he hadn't been training for. He participated and beat the odds, qualifying as the third and last member of the US team for that event. In the subsequent weeks he was able to switch to spring training, went to London and won the 100m race (and the title of "World's Fastest Man" in what appeared to be a dead heat, but the title was awarded to him after a photo finish showed he beat fellow-American Barney Ewell. He then corrected history by winning the 110m hh in Helsinki four years later.