Friday, August 15, 2008

Flanagan scores unbelievable bronze; Cantwell takes silver 

BEIJING - It was anything but easy for either athlete, but Shalane Flanagan (Pittsboro, N.C.) overcame incredible odds to take bronze in the greatest women's 10,000m in history, and Christian Cantwell (Columbia, Mo.) persevered to win his first career Olympic medal, a silver in the men's shot put, Friday evening at the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium.

Astounding bronze for Flanagan

The American record holder in the 10,000 and 5,000m, Flanagan had endured six hours of intense gastrointestinal distress, in the form of vomiting and diarrhea, Tuesday evening at Team USA training camp in Dalian, China. She continued to have gastrointestinal problems while working out for the next two days, and at one point her participation in Friday's 10,000 was up in the air. But Flanagan gave it a go, and was part of history as a result.

Lornah Kiplagat of the Netherlands led practically from the gun, towing a lead group of 18 runners - including Americans Flanagan and Kara Goucher (Portland, Ore.) through 71-second and then 73-second laps. Kiplagat covered the first km in 3:00, the second in 3:00, the third in 3:04 and the fourth in 3:03. A lead pack of 15 passed 5 km in 15:09.98 with little change in the race. Flanagan sat in eighth and Goucher in 11^th as Amy Yoder-Begley (Portland, Ore.) was approximately 175m back from the leaders.

Just past 6 km, covered in 19:13.5, Kiplagat, Elvan Abeylegesse of Turkey and Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia began trading the lead. Linet Chepkwemoi Masai of Kenya moved up to third as Kiplagat began to drop back, with Lucy Kabuu Wangui of Kenya fourth to round out the lead pack. Flanagan moved up to fifth as 7 km was covered by the leaders in 21:14.46 and 8 km in 24:09.40. The pace was dropping rapidly, leaving Abeylegesse and Dibaba to duke it out for gold as they hit 9 km in 27:06:02.

With three laps to go, Flanagan moved up to fourth and was gaining on Masai, who approximately half a second ahead of the American record holder. Flanagan passed with 800m go to and looked all but assured of bronze.

Ahead of Flanagan, history was being made. In a furious final 400, Dibaba was first to the finish in 29:54.66, setting an Olympic record and becoming only the second woman to dip under 30:00 for the 10,000. Abeylegesse was second in an area record 29:56.32, with Flanagan next across in an American-record time of 30:22.22, breaking her own mark of 30:35.34 set in her 10 km debut earlier this year and becoming the second American woman ever to medal in this event at the Games. Lynn Jennings also won bronze in 1992. Masai was fourth in a world junior and Kenyan national record of 30:26.50. Goucher ended 10^th in a personal-best 30:55.16, with Yoder-Begley 26^th in 32:38.28.

Coming on the heels of Goucher's bronze medal at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Flanagan's performance marked the second consecutive major international championship in which an American has won a medal in the women's 10,000.

Cantwell comes through

The shot was much more dramatic than anticipated for opposite reasons, with early throwing keeping the Americans on the edge of their seats. After three rounds, the field of 12 was cut down with only the top eight throwers continuing. After two rounds, world indoor champion Christian Cantwell (Columbia, Mo.) sat in second with 20.98m/68-10, but world outdoor champion Reese Hoffa was 10th at 19.81m/65-0. Hoffa moved to an eventual seventh with a third-round toss of 20.53m/67-8.25, while Cantwell dropped to third, but both men made the cut.

Struggling with a rib injury, two-time silver medalist Adam Nelson (Charlottesville, Va.) fouled on all of his first three attempts - the first two throws landing outside the left side of the sector, and his third throw a foot foul. He did not make the final cut.

In the meantime, Tomas Majewski of Poland, who had a personal best in the qualifying round, set new personal bests several more times during the first four rounds of the final, including a fourth-round throw of 21.51m/70-7, to sit in first place. Cantwell was bumped to fifth place with Hoffa remaining in seventh after four rounds.

Hoffa never improved on his 19.81m and remained in seventh, but Cantwell saved his best throw for last, a mark of 21.09m/69-2.5, to move from fifth to second in the sixth and final round of throwing. Majewski remained in the gold-medal position, while Andrei Mikhnevich of Belarus was third with 21.05m/69-0.75.

Fountain comes back in heptathlon

Hyleas Fountain (Kettering, Ohio) entered evening competition in first place in the heptathlon, after two morning events. After the third event of the day, the shot put, Fountain fell from first to second with a best toss of 13.36m/43-10. Natalia Dobrynska of Ukraine broke the world record for the heptathlon shot with her throw of 17.29m/56-8.75, breaking the WR of 17.03m/55-10.5.

But Fountain came back strong in the day's last event, the 200m, posting a big personal best of 23.21 in the 200 (1058) to retake the lead with 4,060 points. Dobrynska was in second overall with 3,996. Jacquelyn Johnson (Tempe, Ariz.) was in 22^nd place with 3592 points after marks of 11.82m/38-9.5 in the shot put (649) and 24.74 in the 200 (911).

Two advance in women's discus, steeplechase

Stephanie Brown-Trafton (Galt, Calif.) had the best mark in Group A of the women's discus qualifying round with a third-attempt mark of 62.77m/205-11, and Team USA captain Aretha Thurmond (Federal Way, Wash.) automatically advanced from Group B with a mark of 61.90m/203-1, as two Americans made the final. Suzy Powell-Roos (Modesto, Calif.) had a best of 58.02m/190-4 and did not make the cut.

In the semifinal round of the women's steeplechase, American record holder Jenny Barringer (Boulder, Colo.) was third in heat 2 in 9:29.20 to automatically advance to Sunday's final, while Anna Willard (Ann Arbor, Mich.) qualified on time by placing sixth in the heat 3 in 9:28.52. Lindsey Anderson (Ogden, Utah) was eighth in heat 1 in 9:36.81 and will not compete in the final.

Moving to semis

All three U.S. men's 1,500m runners advanced to compete in Sunday's semifinal round. With the top five finishers in each heat and the next four fastest men advancing, world champion Bernard Lagat (Tucson, Ariz.) made it by placing fourth in the second heat in 3:41.98, and Lopez Lomong (Colorado Springs, Colo.) did so by placing fifth in heat 3 in 3:36.70. NCAA champ Leonel Manzano (Austin, Texas) was in the quickest heat of the night, the first, and was sixth in 3:36.67, advancing as the second-fastest non-automatic qualifier.

All three men's 100m runners moved to Saturday's semifinal round by taking second in their respective heats. Tyson Gay (Lexington, Ky.) was second in heat 2 in 10.09, Darvis Patton (Ft. Worth, Texas) was second in heat 4 in 10.04, and Walter Dix (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) was second in heat 5 in 10.08.

The men's 400m hurdles quarterfinal round was a qualification sweep, with2005 world champ Bershawn Jackson (Raleigh, N.C.) winning heat 1 in 49.20, 2000 Olympic gold medalist Angelo Taylor (Decatur, Ga.) winning heat 2 in 48.67, and world champion Kerron Clement (Los Angeles, Calif.) taking the third heat in 49.42

The women's triple jumpers found less success in their qualifying round. Struggling with an injured hamstring, Erica McLain (Plano, Texas) was 26^th in qualifying with a mark of 13.52m/44-4.25, and Shani Marks (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) was 28^th with 13.44m/44-1.25.

For more information on Team USA at the Olympic Games, including athlete quotes, event schedule, TV schedule and complete results, visit www.usatf.org

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EXCELLENT WEATHER FOR WOMEN'S 10-K COULD MEAN FAST TIMES
By David Monti
(c) 2008 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - used with permission

BEIJING (15-Aug) -- Nine straight days of bad weather finally lifted here today giving rise to the possibility of fast times in tonight's women's 10,000m, the first final on the track of these Olympic Games.

At 22:00 local time, the temperature was 26°C (79°F) with 51% humidity, far better conditions than were anticipated by most of the 32 competitors from 18 nations who are on the start list.

The Olympic Games record is 30:17.49 set by Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia in Sydney in 2000. With athletes like two-time world 10,000m champion Tirunesh Dibaba and multiple world road running record holder Lornah Kiplagat in the field, that record could go. The field is loaded with talent; 13 women have personal best times under 31 minutes.

The reigning Olympic champion, Xing Huina of China, is not competing, assuring a new Olympic champion will be crowned tonight. About 70,000 fans are in the National Stadium, it's maximum capacity when configured for athletics.

ENDS

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Position	Athlete	Country	Mark	.
1	Tirunesh Dibaba	ETH	29:54.66	(OR)
2	Elvan Abeylegesse	TUR	29:56.34	(AR)
3	Shalane Flanagan	USA	30:22.22	(AR)
4	Linet Chepkwemoi Masai	KEN	30:26.50	(WJ)
5	Mariya Konovalova	RUS	30:35.84	(PB)
6	Inga Abitova	RUS	30:37.33	(SB)
7	Lucy Kabuu Wangui	KEN	30:39.96	(PB)
8	Lornah Kiplagat	NED	30:40.27	(SB)
9	Kimberley Smith	NZL	30:51.00	.
10	Kara Goucher	USA	30:55.16	(PB)
11	Kayoko Fukushi	JPN	31:01.14	(SB)
12	Joanne Pavey	GBR	31:12.30	(PB)
13	Sabrina Mockenhaupt	GER	31:14.21	(PB)
14	Ejegayehu Dibaba	ETH	31:22.18	.
15	Hilda Kibet	NED	31:29.69