You're a master of understatement Jack.
What a weird meet. I thought it encapsulated up the best and worse the sport had to offer in a single package.
The racing was yet again sensational almost uniformly. you didn't need to look too hard to fill the sizzle reel but the whole presentation seemed fuckin amateur hour.
The stadium seemed half full, there were USATF deputy dog types with lanyards and clipbiards walking across every camera shot. The sprinters skulked out of a fire escape to their starting blocks. Splitting the programme meant giving more prominance to field events and they had some great inventive wide angles for the throws particularly, the shotputters looked like gladiators but in the home of hollywood it was slapdash and slow moving between the good bits. Bodies were tired after a long season, world champs beaten almost across the board but with that in mind holy fuck what a meet....
1. Warholm, beaten by Rai Benjanin. he ran well, 4th fastest time ever, just got beat. he's 0-2 in Eugene and 4-0 eveywhere else.
2. Womens Steeple had Beatrice Chepcoetch and Winfred Yavi going at it like a pair of heavyweights over the last 400. Beatrice tried three times off the barriers and couldn't get the job done.
3. Jacob' 3:43 mile. Taking down Steve Cram's ER. The story here is that he was pushed all the way by Yarad Naguse for an American Record. Jacob is still the big balls. if that race is run in the evening the WR goes down
4. Womens 1500m was faity Kipyaygon capping off arguably the greatest season by any athlete ever just missing out on her own WR. Beat ever is not even hyperbole. a bridge too far for Mageean. She's had the beating of most of those women since April.
5. Gudef Tsegay. 5000m WR, 14:00.21 2/10ths off 14 mins. it looked like agony. props to Beatrice Chebet for actually making a race of it. not unlike Naguse, Tsegay is tough as nails.
6. Jacob again in the 3000m. The highlight for me. This was different to the mile or the 5000m at world champs. When he backed off the WR pace around 2k the sharks were in the water and smelling blood. Aragawi, Barega, Bekele, Grialva even Fisher would have all fancied themselves to close quicker than Jacob on Tired legs. He's the fuckin man. Brian Fay was about 30s off it. Doors blown off completly.
7. Mondo. WR. I must have watched him have a cut off 6.23 at the end of about 5 DL meets this year. He is exceptional. Also I got a laugh as Tim Huchinson's talk of Mondo maturing and filling out veered into full on "Suits you sir" poor auld Tim is Smitten
8. Athing Mu, Keely, Moraa part Deux. We'll forgive Moraa, the hangover is real. Reekie finished DFL. First time we've seen a 1:54 since Caster Semenya. I really hope Keely gets over them at some stage at a champs. she keeps stepping up another british record like but keeps getting pipped. Keely skipped indoors mostly but has has a full race scheule for outdoors including running 400m at U23 champd. Mu has raced about 5 times incliding prelims so is fresh.
9. Men's 800m. you wait about 3 years to see a 1:42 and two come along at once. Wanyoni is some exciting athlete. early favourote for Paris
Overall it was great, but the season is too long and winning losing and acually attending don't matter enough.
Latvia next. that should be a jolly up I'd say
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