As much as I like to get behidn british athletes, I can't say there is anything particularly great about Grabarz that would make him the fact of British Athletics and I'm not sure he's on par with Ivan Ukhov who is jumping higher them him when it counts and is easily the most entertaining high jumper in terms of personality and his knack for incidents. Plus there is only a year appart between them and I'm not sure Grabarz will consistently better Ukhov anytime soon or have time after Ivan is gone to make a case for face of British Athletics. On top of that we still have Jessica Ennis who is without peer and roughly the same age as Grabarz.
I don't know about the future face of UK Athletics but don't sell Grabarz short. True, Ukhov beat him handily at the Olympics but Grabarz beat him 3 times out of 7 in 1912. Those 3 wins came in big meets and he clobbered Ukhov at Eberstadt. Grabarz is a year and a half younger than Ukohv, has had only one year at the top level. Technically he is as sound as Ukhov and given his progress last year I don't think 2.40 is beyond him this year. Then Ukhov will have his hands full. In no way am I writing off Ukhov who had a career year in 2012 and could go even higher this year. But it could be a very interesting year with those two + Barshim and possibly Kynard.
mump boy wrote:So near untill Laimute Baukauskaite (Sp) !! overtook at the last minute
Remember the medal ceremony? The got Baikauskaite and Samolenko the wrong the way round, and Samolenko just pushed past her compatriot and got onto the podium! Trying to prevent an embarrassment or really hoping they'd messed up and she was given silver? Methinks the latter!!
mump boy wrote:So near untill Laimute Baukauskaite (Sp) !! overtook at the last minute
Remember the medal ceremony? The got Baikauskaite and Samolenko the wrong the way round, and Samolenko just pushed past her compatriot and got onto the podium! Trying to prevent an embarrassment or really hoping they'd messed up and she was given silver? Methinks the latter!!
My memory is that Samolenko looked embarrassed - and Baikauskaite less than thrilled - but the two of them just had to grin and bear it. There's no doubt that Samolenko could have held her off for the silver, but she just didn't see her until it was too late.
mump boy wrote:So near untill Laimute Baukauskaite (Sp) !! overtook at the last minute
Remember the medal ceremony? The got Baikauskaite and Samolenko the wrong the way round, and Samolenko just pushed past her compatriot and got onto the podium! Trying to prevent an embarrassment or really hoping they'd messed up and she was given silver? Methinks the latter!!
My memory is that Samolenko looked embarrassed - and Baikauskaite less than thrilled - but the two of them just had to grin and bear it. There's no doubt that Samolenko could have held her off for the silver, but she just didn't see her until it was too late.
I'm with Rog: methinks they handed the medals out wrong. Fairly clear to me, because I was sitting on the finish line, about 10 rows up, and could see clearly who had won. When they marched them out onto the field for the VC, I ran down to the railing and started yelling at John Chaplin (who was an IAAF redcoat at the meet), to tell him to run out and switch them, but the stadium was so loud he couldn't hear me (and it was pre-mobiles days).
T&FN's coverage at the time said, "They were inseparable enough that the readers of the finish photo confused them. The pair exchanged nervous glances, then switched positions to collect the wrong medals when the error wasn't corrected before the Victory Ceremony."
#9 Wilbur "Moose" Thompson When I went to California State University of Long Beach in the early 90's, Moose was an assistant track & field coach. I took a Track & Field PE class and Moose taught us how to shot put. Who can say they've been taught an event by an Olympic Gold Medalist? I fell in love with the shot put, but was disappointed when a skinny, wiry guy out threw me. I couldn't get my head around it. But then I out threw everyone else in the class by at least 30 feet in the discus and a new love was born.
Apparently, Moose still hangs around the campus. There was an online news story about him last July when he was 92.
I can't recall the source, but I remember reading that for the 1948 Olympics, there was some sort of contest for who performed the best out of all T&F athletes and Moose won that too.
#5 Lance Deal Yeah, there was someone who had him on their list. I was at Atlanta, but didn't see the HT. I was just in awe that an American could do so well at the hammer. I always wished that he would have won Gold though.
gh wrote:T&FN's coverage at the time said, "They were inseparable enough that the readers of the finish photo confused them. The pair exchanged nervous glances, then switched positions to collect the wrong medals when the error wasn't corrected before the Victory Ceremony."
I prefer my version! Please allow me a little hyperbole!
Paula Ivan - Like a few others have mentioned, I didn't vote for things that were 'before my time', but I absolutely love this race and the way she hammers out such a fast pace from the beginning. Someone said that Ayhan adopted similar tactics and as much as I hate dirty drugs cheats, I grudgingly give her some kudos. Ivan reappared very briefly in 2000 - anybody know more about her story?
And ones that I did vote for:
Greg Rutherford '12 - purely for the 'super saturday' factor. I wish I was a betting man, as I had a pretty strong feeling right at the start of the year that he would win. For some reason I've gone right off him and find him a quite annoying.
Ellen van Langen '92 - one of my favourite races of all time - I used to have this on video and watch it over and over again.
Maria Mutola '00 - my favourite athlete, in my favourite event. 96 was meant to be her year but she was ill before the race and also had Masterkova. When she was fit after the games she got beaten by Masterkova at 1000 in a WR race, and I always wonder if she was fully fit whether she might have beaten the russian in atlanta.
Rodal '96 was mine as well but I cant really remember why now.
m800 in 2012. It is very difficult to imagine a finer 2 minutes of world class athletes having their best performances of their lives on the same track in the same race(ok Kaki did not get a PB, just a seasons best).
vencio2 wrote:Paula Ivan - Like a few others have mentioned, I didn't vote for things that were 'before my time', but I absolutely love this race and the way she hammers out such a fast pace from the beginning. Someone said that Ayhan adopted similar tactics and as much as I hate dirty drugs cheats, I grudgingly give her some kudos. Ivan reappared very briefly in 2000 - anybody know more about her story?
I saw a snippet on Transworld Sports about the Romanians from the 1980s and Ivan said she retired because her coach (Puica's husband) moved to Spain with Maricica and she didn't want another coach. I think she had a few races in the USA in 1990 but that was it until 2000. It seems quite a strange rationale to retire though if you ask me.
Dave wrote:m800 in 2012. It is very difficult to imagine a finer 2 minutes of world class athletes having their best performances of their lives on the same track in the same race(ok Kaki did not get a PB, just a seasons best).
I have a feeling there may be an opportunity to to discuss this one later
I voted for this one. I love watching this race. Ereng paces it perfectly and weaves through the field while the rest drop off the pace one by one.
Me too
Consumate 800m race and some of the worst US commentary of all time
I have no choice but to give Charlie Jones a pass on that one; as they came off the curve, I turned to my seatmate and said, "Look at the way Kiprotich is moving!"
I voted for this one. I love watching this race. Ereng paces it perfectly and weaves through the field while the rest drop off the pace one by one.
Me too
Consumate 800m race and some of the worst US commentary of all time
I have no choice but to give Charlie Jones a pass on that one; as they came off the curve, I turned to my seatmate and said, "Look at the way Kiprotich is moving!"
I agree. It was quite confusing at the time. And Charlie Jones was very apologetic about it all afterwards.
One of mine. You had to count Noah as a serious contender after the mile race in Rome, where he gave Hicham a run for his money. But still Hicham was the overwhelming favorite and so it came as a real shock to see Noah go by him in the straight.
Last edited by Atanvarno on Sat Jan 19, 2013 9:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
Try to find a youtube video with the german commentary by Dieter Adler - he conveys the incredible excitement of the moment perfectly.
Those last 200m made me jump up and down on my chair and screaming my lungs out at the TV. Mainly I was screaming at Baumann to go round pack instead of waiting at the back. But what do I know. He kept his cool and waited for the opening on the inside (in interviews after the race he said, he knew from experience, that there would always open a gap at the beginning of the final straight). And then those final 100m (reported to be run in 11.3 seconds) - watching that was pure joy for a young boy of 16 who had just started competitive running.
Last edited by Atanvarno on Sat Jan 19, 2013 1:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
I voted for this one. I love watching this race. Ereng paces it perfectly and weaves through the field while the rest drop off the pace one by one.
Me too
Consumate 800m race and some of the worst US commentary of all time
I have no choice but to give Charlie Jones a pass on that one; as they came off the curve, I turned to my seatmate and said, "Look at the way Kiprotich is moving!"
But that doesn't excuse confusing Johnnie Gray with Kiprotich at the beginning, suggesting that Barbosa 'sacrificed' himself for Cruz and not recognising Paul Ereng will he was half way round his victory lap
Anyway back to Ereng the most beautiful runner ever. There are certain Kenyan runners (Ereng, Kipketer, Kiprop) who's running style isn't human. It's like they float on air and it's a wonder to behold
I voted for this one. I love watching this race. Ereng paces it perfectly and weaves through the field while the rest drop off the pace one by one.
Me too. Are you sure it just got two votes, Mump? Granted it was just 19th in my list.
I read about it first in Wallechinsky's Olympic encyclopedia and it sounded like a scintillating race with how he described Kiprotich bolting through 200m in 23.0 (!) and Ereng yelling at him to slow down!
The 800m is by far my favourite track event (have a few more 800m races in my top-20) because of the diversity of tactics between the renowned front-runners (Kiprotich, Barbosa, Gray) and those who like to run even paced (Ereng).
mump boy wrote:Anyway back to Ereng the most beautiful runner ever. There are certain Kenyan runners (Ereng, Kipketer, Kiprop) who's running style isn't human. It's like they float on air and it's a wonder to behold
And I would add Lasse Viren & Frank Shorter to that list. Especially at the end of those Olympic races, when Viren remained smooth as silk while refusing to let anyone pass him.
mump boy wrote:Anyway back to Ereng the most beautiful runner ever. There are certain Kenyan runners (Ereng, Kipketer, Kiprop) who's running style isn't human. It's like they float on air and it's a wonder to behold
And I would add Lasse Viren & Frank Shorter to that list. Especially at the end of those Olympic races, when Viren remained smooth as silk while refusing to let anyone pass him.
I had Viren passing the two Kiwis in 5K Montreal as an option, but finally chose the other twenty above it.
Pego wrote: I had Viren passing the two Kiwis in 5K Montreal as an option, but finally chose the other twenty above it.
Actually, Viren did not have to pass the Kiwis; they just failed to pass him (Quax perhaps spending too much energy in going round other racers). But I happen to know we have the opportunity to return to this soon.
they've been sitting on my desk for 6 months so i'm very happy !!