IAAF World Champs Day 2- More Wow!
My bag finally arrived yesterday about an hour before the meet. So,
today I got to go for a run with Turena around the marathon course,
which is a 5km patch which hooks up with a 10km loop done 3.5 times.
It’s nice, because the sidewalks here have a designated bike section
and designated pedestrian section.
Another great day of track and field. Took in the evening session
again. The weather was much better today, no rain, temperature probably mid to
low 60’s.
The excitement of the fans again was amazing. Today saw more of The Wave, twice we
did it going around four times each. Music accompanies the start of any
race over 400 meters, which is pretty cool to watch, kind of like a
planned musical.
When the Finn athletes compete, Finnish flags everywhere. That’s the
way to cheer I think, you break out with your small Finnish flag. If
you are a Finn fan, you have blue and white hats, shirts, and flags.
It’s kinda like a Finish version of a Boston Red Sox fan.
It is truly something unique when you have the weight
and pride of a country on your shoulders. In the U.S. we have so many
athletes to root for (or against). Countries like Estonia and Sweden
have a few and those few are superstars. When Gerd Kanter of Estonia
launched a monster throw in the men’s discus to take the lead in the
later rounds, the Estonian fans went ballistic and loud, as they sat
directly behind the discus ring. Estonia is just a short hop from here.
National Pride and an excubrant athlete- CARO! CARO! CARO! as in
Carolina Kluft. She’s a national hero and one of the most popular
athletes here. I believe it’s because of her exburance. Again, the place went
nuts for a great 800 in the women’s heptathlon, I can’t even describe
it. Walking home, the Swedes were celebrating, cheering with big flags
in groups all around the stadium and streets.
The entire women’s heptathlon field taking a victory lap
and stretching hand to hand to take bows after the competition.
Something special about the bond of combined event athletes.
I am trying to track down tickets for Wednesday still, which has been
sold out for a long, long time, because the men’s javelin final is on that
day. It’s a national treasure here in Finland. One guy on the street
quoted me 200 euro for a tickets, which is well over $200 and out of my
league. I’ll keep trying as it could be something special.
The Events:
Men’s discus:
As mentioned earlier, Kanter put one out in the later
rounds to take the lead. Alekna was not to be denied though and with
confidence in his ability, stepped in on the last throw off the
competition to set a new championships record. I am always amazed at
the pure size of the men’s discus throwers. The Estonian fans, made
this the competition of the meet for me.
Women’s Heptathlon: It came down to the 800m with Kluft hanging on to an
18 point lead. Barber got after it and went through 400 in 63-64 with
Kluft back about 10 meters. It was apparent though that Kluft had much
more in her and closed the gap on the backstretch, catching Barber with
200 to go. Kluft PR’ed at 2:08 and pulled off the victory. Her
personality and excitement for competing is a great joy to watch.
Women’s Triple Jump: They announced the 12 jumpers and then quickly
mentioned that Lebedeva was out. The Russian crowd had the stands
directly from the pit well occupied and plenty of jumpers to cheer for.
It was not to be though as Trecia Smith put together a great series and
won. I was hard to follow the event from my seat which was at the end of
the pit.
Gatlin celebrates after 100m win
music playing. There was something eery about the men’s 100 though. It
got deadly silent for this race with tons of flashbulbs going off. I got that
feeling in my stomach when lightening strikes. The weather was near
perfect compared to yesterday, the wind was near nothing and the
temperature was respectable. Scott had his usual start, but Gatlin put
it away by 50 meters. Tough to decipher the next two but Frater and
Collins where there. Scott faded badly.
Men’s 400 hurdle Semis: Clement stuttered (what else is new), Carter
looked great, Jackson looked great, Felix looks so-so. My prediction,
U.S. goes 1-2-4 with one setting a new world record and two just
missing, ala women’s 400h in 1995 with Batten and Buford. Who wins it....I say
either Jackson or Clement, I’m becoming a big Jackson right now and
will go with him.
Women’s 800 semis: Hazel Clark lead for most of
the race. Kemiesha Bennett was literally knocked out when she was in
front and someone stepped on her shoe and then two steps later did it
again and it went flying. She then threw her shoes around on the
infield for a while.
Tomorrow I’m off to several presentations, one by Carolina Klufts
coaches and the meet.
