2016 Rio: Track and Field

Noooooooo Allyson lost the third place in 200m by only 1 cent!!! :sad46:
No double in Rio.... I hope she'll run at least every relay....

cathlen said:

I'll be happy if we win any medals in relays Sometimes I'm thinking why we have so little great athletes on European level (considering we're sixth most populated country in Europe) tough.

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OMG!!!! :eekn: FEW GREAT ATHLETES????? POLAND?!?!?!
I don't know if I'm too used to the Italian level but Poland has A LOT of great athletes at WORLD level!!!
I'm envious of you, how can you be so greed?

I also predicted a mass of medals during the last day and Poland on top of the standings and I was right!! Now I demand a present! You can send me some of your delicious cream fudge sweets.....

snowflake said:

Now I’m happy for Michel Thornéus(SWE) who won silver at Europeans, but didn’t qualify for olympics due to the wind. He competed today in Spain at the last minute and jumped 8.44(wind 1.8) In London he lost the medal with one cm. GO Michel :thumbsup:

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Didn't know this!! Thank you for the info! I'm happy for Thorneus too, it would have been a great loss.

snowflake said:

Now I’m happy for Michel Thornéus(SWE) who won silver at Europeans, but didn’t qualify for olympics due to the wind. He competed today in Spain at the last minute and jumped 8.44(wind 1.8) In London he lost the medal with one cm. GO Michel :thumbsup:

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Great! The commentators did say he was unlucky at Europeans with that wind.

alebi said:

OMG!!!! :eekn: FEW GREAT ATHLETES????? POLAND?!?!?!
I don't know if I'm too used to the Italian level but Poland has A LOT of great athletes at WORLD level!!!
I'm envious of you, how can you be so greed?
I also predicted a mass of medals during the last day and Poland on top of the standings and I was right!! Now I demand a present! You can send me some of your delicious cream fudge sweets.....

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Well, there are disciplines where we don't have any good athletes, like women Pole Vault (and we did have two not so long ago!), men High Jump, Javelin throw... I don't mean winning medals, just that they could qualify to final at Europeans. That is not being GREEDY I was suprised we got so many medals on Sunday though! The British relays weren't that strong as expected. I only predicted Gold for Netherlands in women 4x100, becuase Dafne Shippers was going to run. Didin't expect Belgians to do that good, but they deserved that gold in 4x400. To be fair, Poland was lucky to win two of Golds.The one for Sobera (he doesn't even know if he will go to Olympics, since he only cleared the minimum once, and not at Europeans) and the other for Cichocka. The other ladies just made it easy for her Also, eveen tough she didn't won a medal, I'm proud of Jagaciak-Michalska in Triple jump. She broke her PB twice at Europeans an that's something

Didin't know there are Krówki lovers other than in Poland

cathlen said:

Didin't know there are Krówki lovers other than in Poland

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In Italy we have similar sweets but the Polish ones are pretty legendary among lovers . But they're impossible to find here, so last year, when I visited the Expo, I went to the Poland's Pavilion only to buy some and verify if their reputation was legitimate

Sobera (OMG AN EASY SURNAME!!) was a surprise too. A gold for Poland was possible, but one could expect Lisek or Woichechoski. Maybe the female counterpart is living a bad period, but at least you have a strong school and someone will pop out again.
Something I can't explain is why Poland, who's generally strong in jumps, throws, technical disciplines, 400m, middle distances... Doesn't have very strong decathletes. USA and Germany have many outstanding ones but even France, Holland, Belgium, Czech Rep and of course Ukraine, Russia etc have all at least one high level decathlete. But Poland not, despite your great schools in almost every discipline (especially the most difficult)... why?

Sending good thoughts to Usain Bolt - here's to hoping that he is recovering well and is in good form at the London Diamond League later this month.

Offcial Teams for Rio
USA Team: http://www.iaaf.org/news/news/rio-olympic-games-2016-usa-athletics-team
Canada Team: http://www.iaaf.org/news/news/rio-olympic-games-2016-canadian-athletics-tea
Jamaica Team: http://www.iaaf.org/news/news/rio-olympic-games-2016-jamaican-athletics-tea
Germany Team: http://www.iaaf.org/news/news/rio-olympic-games-2016-german-athletics-team
Japan Team: http://www.iaaf.org/news/news/rio-olympic-games-2016-japanese-athletics-tea
Czech Team: http://www.atletika.cz/aktuality/byla-schvalena-nominace-pro-rio/
Australia Team: http://www.iaaf.org/news/news/rio-olympic-games-2016-australian-athletics-t
UK Team: http://www.iaaf.org/news/news/zurich-diamond-league-2016-schippers

Oh nooooo Gimbo Tamberi got injured yesterday night!! Let's hope it's nothing so serious, he looked really scared after that jump...
High jump is not the same without him...

alebi said:

Oh nooooo Gimbo Tamberi got injured yesterday night!! Let's hope it's nothing so serious, he looked really scared after that jump...
High jump is not the same without him...

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That's terrible. Instead of being happy for jumping that 2.39, he's probably devasted his Olympic start is seriously endangered

EDIT: From his facebook message, he won't be competing in Rio :sad21: I feel really sorry for him, it was so close!

Ethiopia Team: http://www.iaaf.org/news/news/rio-olympic-games-2016-ethiopian-athletics-te
France team: http://www.iaaf.org/news/news/rio-olympic-games-2016-french-athletics-team
Italy Team: http://www.iaaf.org/news/news/italian-olympic-team-2016-rio

"Please give me back my dream"



It's terrible... You've just jumped a sensational new PB (and National record), you have all the spectators for you (you can even hear them from TV, shouting "Gimbo! Gimbo! Gimbo!") and you know how much enthusiastic he is.... That was the perfect night... unfortunately too perfect...

I don't care about the "possible" Olympic medal, the only thing I can think about is that a young athlete, who was totally devoted to this, will never fulfill his dream... I can feel his depression... sigh

Tamberi is only 24 right now, correct? So 2020 could still be a possibility. I believe with the except of Vashti Cunningham, most elite high jumpers and field event athletes are in their late 20s. If you are still healthy, still competing in your early 30s is quite possible.

musicfan80 said:

Tamberi is only 24 right now, correct? So 2020 could still be a possibility. I believe with the except of Vashti Cunningham, most elite high jumpers and field event athletes are in their late 20s. If you are still healthy, still competing in your early 30s is quite possible.

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Barshim (QAT) turned 25 in June, so not really much older and Kynard (USA) is 23, but Bondarenko (UKR) will turn 27 in August and Ghazal (SYR) is already 29 (all ages from IAAF site, Ukhow is 30 now for reference). I also think that if health will let him, he should be able to compete in 2020. Valentina Marchei supports him!

Also, Derek Drouin (age 26, CAN) jumped today 2.38 in Germany, which is third result on WL: http://www.hochsprung-eberstadt.com/hochsprung/Result.aspx?contest=1
In women Marie-Laurence Jungfleisch (GER) jumped 2.00, which is second result in WL: http://www.hochsprung-eberstadt.com/hochsprung/Result.aspx?contest=2
The Olympics should be interesting. I think there will be some suprises.

cathlen said:

Valentina Marchei supports him!

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That's a really deep message, wrote by Silvia Salis (our best hammer thrower who's now recovering from an injury too).
You know what happened few months ago? Tamberi spoke about Schwazer, he was the only one, he said doped athletes doesn't deserve to wear the national uniform again. I don't want to comment the fact about Alex, comment who is wrong or right and so on, because it's not so simple and there are so many hidden circumstances that are emerging, but I accept that Gimbo spoke frankly, and was the only one.

Well.... Because of this, he (Gimbo) made so many enemies that after he got injured he received so many messages saying "You deserved it", "Now you are out from Rio too", "Next time speak less" and so on.... I can't believe what I read on many Italian fans groups... I can't believe people who say that are fans of athletics can wish these kind of things... I feel ashamed of them...

That's why that message is really, but really touching and full of meanings.

Bukowiecki broke the junior world record with a sensational 23.34m during world junior championships in Poland!!
Unfortunately new silly rule allows only 4 throws... His last attempt (a fault) was even longer... I'm sure with two more attempts he could easily improve the record... he was ON FIRE!!

alebi said:

Bukowiecki broke the junior world record with a sensational 23.34m during world junior championships in Poland!!
Unfortunately new silly rule allows only 4 throws... His last attempt (a fault) was even longer... I'm sure with two more attempts he could easily improve the record... he was ON FIRE!!

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I know, right?! Thanks to Toader who motivated him with his 22.30 m attepmt, I think we could even see near 24m record. But, I won't be greedy, I just want Bukowiecki to break his PB on Olympics I must say the shot put competition was on high level. Very exciting to watch! I think not only Bukowiecki will be a force in the future.

cathlen said:

I know, right?! Thanks to Toader who motivated him with his 22.30 m attepmt, I think we could even see near 24m record. But, I won't be greedy, I just want Bukowiecki to break his PB on Olympics I must say the shot put competition was on high level. Very exciting to watch! I think not only Bukowiecki will be a force in the future.

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Yes, Toader was a finalist in Amsterdam too!
Shot put, unlike the past, is showing many young talents already competitive at high level, like Buko, Mozia, Walsh... and Storl is still young. Gill was another young phenomenon but he's a bit lost in senior category, while Buko for example has already proved he's ready for finals/medals.

Tortu won silver in 100m!! Amazing technique, still so slim and a great regularity around 10.25. But I'm sure he'll do the best things next year in 200m (this year he won't run the double distance) because he has a fantastic second part of the race.Beat only by Noah Lyles, the US phenomenon who placed 4th at Rio trials in 200m!And great decathlon final! I'm sorry for the Belarus guy, very regular, but the German was in a league of his own in javelin!

Yes, I was so impressed by Niklas Kaul! He performed outstanding results in Javelin Throw and 1500m! He has new PB in both after all Tough, I must say in Juniors there are a lot of PBs everywhere. And sometimes by very much. Like I was complaining about women Javelin Throw in Poland, and Maruszewska who had PB under 51m before Championships, has thrown 57.59m to win gold :shocked: That was big suprise, but I guess in juniors the results are changing very often. And I was cheering for Tortu! He was competing in Amsterdam, too, roght?

alebi said:

BARSHIIIIIM!!!!!
Here is the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndtuvQgkbyk

Cathlen, do you know why he only tried two attempts at 2.45? If you have watched it, were they so bad?

IMHO, I want Barshim to break the Soto's record (if someone has to do...), because I LOVE his technique, he's so light, he seems a feather. And now that he's back to his old tech, he's jumping high and easy again!! WOW!!

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Wow, he's almost layed out as he goes up, and the spring is just insane. I want Derek Drouin to win obvs, but this kid is awesome!

cathlen said:

Yes, I was so impressed by Niklas Kaul! He performed outstanding results in Javelin Throw and 1500m! He has new PB in both after all Tough, I must say in Juniors there are a lot of PBs everywhere. And sometimes by very much. Like I was complaining about women Javelin Throw in Poland, and Maruszewska who had PB under 51m before Championships, has thrown 57.59m to win gold :shocked: That was big suprise, but I guess in juniors the results are changing very often. And I was cheering for Tortu! He was competing in Amsterdam, too, roght?

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Yes he was in Amsterdam, he ran one of the best 8 times in semifinals but was out because of placement. But the major upset is that he was only 3 cents from Olympics. Well... that's not an upset but it would have been a beautiful story. In Italy people who follow T&F knows Filippo from years, he has always been a little talent, but after his silver medal in junior WC he also got the attention of media. They already call him the new Mennea but to me, he's more similar to Lemaitre: high, slim, a bit slow starting but a great finish and you can see it in relays where he already run under 10.
Till now he's not been so lucky: two years ago, in Nanjin Youth Olympics he qualified for 200m finals but could not run because he ended the semifinal falling and breaking BOTH arms! Last year he was one of the favourite (with Sani Brown) for 100m/200m in Cali Youth WC but he had a sudden growth (he's now near to 1.90m) and his father (who's also his coach) decided to end his season to prevent some injuries. At that time he had a record of 10.33 ran at 16years old, new Italian youth record and best overall Italian time for months (Ok.. we don't have great sprinter, but a teen better than anyone else is amazing). And this year he ran 10.26 at still 17 and then 10.19 at Amsterdam, one month after his 18th birthday.
His grandpa was a sprinter, he's father too and also his older brother... He's surrounded! And he looks even younger... I mean, he look like a 12years old
Well.. that was a piece of his story


You're right that Juniors improve so fast, they are young, maybe still have to study and train, and have not so many international competition to test themselves. That's why we see so many PBs. That's also a risk to celebrate youngsters because you never know if they will still improve. I took a look at past Junior Champs and the funny thing is to see that many actual Olympic/World Champions didn't even qualify for junior finals, or ended last, while many junior champs didn't have the same career at senior level.





edit: I hope Swoboda didn't hurt herself seriously after the relays!

During London DL Kendra Harrison broke the almost thirty-year (1988) record of Donkova!!!!!!!!!!!!! :hap57:

Yes, Kendra Harrison... the one who will NOT run in Rio because of US trials!!!

Here is the video... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26U1uF0V3Es
I don't know why the photo finish took the second placement time at first.... She ran even faster than it

I didn't realise Filippo Tortu was so tall! Good to know his dad care about his health first

It's normal that junior champions doesn't always have a great senior career and not so great juniors have great career. In FS we have same stories afterall. But there are some past champions who have/had great senior career. Like Usain Bolt I think it also depends how deep field in your country is. American champions may be substitued very easily in most discplines, but like you said before, you don't have many good sprinters, so I think Filippo (if healthy) will have a great career.