Olympic Track Action Has Started *Result/Schedule (Beijing is 12 hours ahead of NY) *TV Schedule
*LIVE Event by Event Report/Previews
Saturday *Results *Photos USAIN BOLT 9.69 The men's 100 meter final was arguably the most anticipated sprint matchup in history. It more than lived up to the hype - not because of the expected 3-way matchup of Powell/Bolt/Gay - but rather due to Usain Bolt's sheer brilliance. It was truly stunning. The question now is how fast can Bolt run in the 200?
*Tim Layden (and Ato Boldon) on Usain Bolt Ato did another excellent job on the commentary. Can the other announcers and let him do the distances as well. He is knowledgeable and shows excitement.
*Usain Bolt Skipped Breakfast and Ate Chicken Nuggets for Lunch and a Snack Before the 100 Final
*Jamaica Prime Minister Planning Huge Homecoming for Bolt
*Usain Bolt and Jamaica Celebrate USA Today
*On the boards: 9.69 is Believable?
*So much respect
for Tyson Gay -
Friday: *Results *Photos
*Greatest Women's 10k Ever Dibaba Smashes Olympic 10,000m Record as Two Dip Under 30 Minutes! Flanagan Gets Bronze and American Record Tirunesh Dibaba got the one thing missing on her resume, an Olympic gold,
and she did it in grand style. She outkicked Elvan Abeylegesse to win in 29:54.66 as they became the 2nd and 3rd women ever to break 30 minutes for 10k and the first since Wang Junxia's unbelievable 29:31, 15 years ago. Shalane Flanagan came from behind to smash her American record (30:22.22) and get the first American medal in a track event over 400m since 1992. In other action, the American men bombed in the shot put (many expected a US sweep, but Christian
Cantwell was the only Amerian on the medal stand), the American women bombed in round 1 of the 800, America was the only country to have all 3 of its entrants advance to round 2 of the 1500(Manzano on time), but Bernard
Lagat didn't look great doing it. We'll hopefully have a letsrun.com recap of these races later, but in the meantime the IAAF has event recaps: *Men's 1500 Round 1 *Women's 800 Round 1 *Women's Steeple Round 1 Recaps (Willard and Barringer advanced)
More 10k: NY Times Recap on Dibaba's 10k Victory, Flanagan's Bronze * Washington Post Recap on Flanagan
On the boards: *TWO women under 30 minutes in the Olympic 10000m final A historic day.
*1,500m Heats Talk Here
*USA's Flanagan wins bronze in 10,000 meters USA Today *Flanagan shows American distance runners can compete with best ... ESPN
*IAAF Recap of Day 1 - Kara Goucher 30:55 PR
Shot: Poland's Tomasz Majewski Surprise Shot Put Winner
*US Shotputters Come Up Short New York Times
More:
*Pamela Jelimo Favored For 800m Gold
*Lagat's goals include being oldest 1,500m gold medallist
*Heptathlon: Kelly Sotherton Leaves Day 1 In Tears As American Hyleas Fountain PRs In 4 Events To Lead
*Famiglietti Advances To Men's Steeple Final With 8:17 PR!
*All 3 Americans, As Well As Michigan Alums Brannen and Willis, Advance To 1,500m Semis Rashid Ramzi Rolls, Kenyan Nicholas Kemboi Failed To Advance *1,500m Heats Talk Here
*
LRC Preview #2 - Women's Marathon & Pole Vault as Well As Men's 400m Hurdles The women's marathon will be one of the few athletics events shown live in the US. What a race - Radcliffe, Kastor, Ndereba and plenty of other Chinese, Japanese, and Africans to add even more drama.
LRC Beijing Olympic Day 1 Preview: Games Kick Off With Women's 10k Final, Men's Shot Final, Round 1 of the 100m Showdown, Plus Men's 1,500m Round 1, Women's 800m Round 1, Steeplechase Round 1 Tirunesh Dibaba will try to get the Games underway by getting the one thing missing
on her resume - an Olympic gold. She'll face a slew of challengers as 9 other women have a decent shot at the medal stand, including Americans Kara Goucher and Shalane Flanagan. We preview the other events, including the men's steeple, where the favorite, Paul Koech, may not even get to run as he's the Kenyan alternate. We also give you a sneak peak at the LetsRun.com Prediction Contest predictions (where not a single person has failed to pick one of Bolt,
Gay or Powell to win the 100m).
*US Men Going for the Medal Sweep in the Shotput USA Today
8/8/08 Dazzling Opening Ceremonies Kick Off Beijing Olympics A reader abroad wrote us saying, "I thought it was mind blowing ... it's like China is saying: 'We are the next power' ... I'm telling you, it was the most amazing visual display I have ever seen on television. And I'm not even watching on an HD or anything. London must be shitting
their pants because that was unbeatable. It was amazing ... It just went on for 4 straight hours." We agree. *America's a Great Country "For the rest of us, who have generally eaten well, felt safe and
experienced total hopelessness only in sad movies, (Lopez) Lomong is a gift. He
lights up the room again and puts a Band-Aid on the cynicism. If you are a writer, you want to tell his story, even if dozens have
preceded you. You want to tell it better, to grip the reader just in
case your predecessors haven't. And
then you sit in the audience on the morning of the opening ceremony and
realize you need do nothing more than listen and take notes, because
Lomong is telling it to you, for you, and better than ever before ... We have a world full of politicians and diplomatic spinners and we have only one Lopez Lomong. Too bad it isn't the other way around." -LA Times columnists Bill Dwyre writing on Lopez Lomong *Washington
Post Editorial by Thomas Boswell on Lopez Lomong *Message board thread on the amazing opening ceremony
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