Track and Field

• Carl Lewis Calls US 4x100 Performance a "total embarrassment"

  Aug 5, 2021 SportZ 0 Comments

  

  Source: 'A total embarrassment': Carl Lewis slams U.S. track leadership after 4x100 relay failure (link)

   

  Trayvon Bromell called it “BS.” Carl Lewis called it “a total embarrassment.” Whatever you want to call it, the U.S. still can’t find four men who can pass the baton to one another while running as fast as they can. For the fourth straight Olympics, U.S. men failed to win a medal in an event they once owned. The favored Americans finished sixth in their 4x100-meter relay heat Thursday and didn't qualify for the final largely because Fred Kerley and Ronnie Baker botched the baton pass between the relay's second and third leg. What started off as a scant margin turned out to be the difference between a lifeline and misery. China, Canada, Italy, Germany and Ghana all qualified for the final from the U.S.’s heat. The Americans once again were left to stare at the video board in dismay and figure out what went wrong.

  The U.S. couldn't recover despite deploying its three fastest men in the prelims. Bromell owns the top time in the world this year in the 100. Kerley and Baker finished second and fifth, respectively, in the Olympic final. Even Cravon Gillespie, who placed sixth in the 100 at the U.S. Olympic Trials, is the fastest remaining American who didn't run in the men's 200 final less than 24 hours earlier. 

  There's no doubt the relay was a complete disappointment. Even Carl Lewis, nine-time Olympic gold medalist, joined in on the criticism. He tweeted that the U.S. relay passed the baton worse than AAU teams, calling it a "total embarrassment". Lewis also took issue with which Americans ran which legs. It's unclear exactly what Lewis meant, but the decision to put Gillespie on the anchor leg was a head scratcher. So was using Baker to run the curve on the third leg. Why not leave that to someone with a background in the 200 and let Baker showcase his 60-meter speed on the opening leg?

  Regardless, speed is never the issue for the U.S. men's 4x100-meter relay. Inevitably, it's preparation - and essentially everything else - that plagues the Americans. 

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• Jamaica's Elaine Thompson-Herah Wins 200m Gold - Pulls Off Double Double

  Aug 3, 2021 SportZ 0 Comments

  

  Source: Jamaica's Elaine Thompson-Herah wins 200m gold to complete second straight Olympic sweep (link)

   

  Elaine Thompson-Herah won the gold medal in the women's 200-meter race in 21.53 seconds on Tuesday in Tokyo, the second-fastest time in history behind only Florence Griffith-Joyner's 21.34. With this gold, the 29-year-old Jamaican completes a sweep of the 100 and 200 for the second straight Olympics, the first woman to ever do it twice. In the 100, she also set the Olympic record with her time of 10.61, beating Florence Griffith-Joyner's time of 10.62, set in 1988, by 0.01 seconds. Flo-Jo is now the only woman in history to run faster than Elaine Thompson.

  Meanwhile, Namibia's Christine Mboma took the silver medal in 21.81, while the United States' Gabby Thomas earned bronze at 21.87. Thomas in particular edged out Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce at the line to medal. The Harvard graduate was another gold medal favorite, who grabbed the attention of the world when she ran a 21.61 at the US Trials back in June, which at the time was second-fastest time in women's 200 history. Of course, that mark would soon be surpassed by Thompson-Herah's performance in this gold medal race, which surpassed the Thomas's PB by almost a tenth of a second. 

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• 17yo Erriyon Knighton Makes 200m Olympic Team

  Jun 28, 2021 SportZ 0 Comments

  Source: Meet Erriyon Knighton, the 17-year-old who broke Usain Bolt's record and is now an Olympian (link)

   

  Erriyon Knighton, 17-year-old Florida native, announced himself as one of the rising stars in U.S. track and field Sunday, finishing third in the men's 200-meter final at the Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

  A would-be rising senior in high school, Knighton figures to be one of the youngest athletes on Team USA this summer, where he will not only compete but also have a legitimate shot at winning a medal. He is believed to be the youngest American man to make the Olympic track and field team since Jim Ryun in 1964.

  Not only that, but in the process, he ran a 19.84 in the finals, setting the U20 world record which was previously held by none other than Usain Bolt (he also ran a 19.88 in the semi-finals, which was also a record). That time also beat Knighton's own U18 record as well.

  It's safe to say that right now, Erriyon Knighton definitely has the makings of the next track star, and will certainly run even better times. And who knows -- he's still a teenager, but he may even have a legitimate shot at some of Bolt's records. Did I mention it's only his third season running track?

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