2008 Olympic Trials Day Four

Men’s 800

Of all the many, many incredible aspects to last night’s men’s 800 final (probably number one on the list: that picture), one thing that I keep thinking about is just how far the event has come over the course of the last year. At last year’s nationals LetsRun did a live Internet broadcast on Talkshoe, and in between events I came on to chat with Robert. The first round of that year’s 800 had been run earlier that day, and we got to talking about the state of the event as it stood at the time.

Basically our entire conversation revolved around trying to figure out what had happened to the 800. 2004 and 2005 were transitional years for the event, but they pointed toward a strong future. The most notable aspect of the ‘04 Trials was David Krummenacker’s failure to earn an Olympic spot, but beyond that it was Jonathan Johnson’s surprise victory in 1:44.77. JJ was only a junior in college in 2004. The next year Kevin Hicks ran 1:44.94 at NCAAs and went on to make Worlds. Khadevis Robinson and Krum were both still at top form. By the time Nick Symmonds emerged in 2006, JJ and Hicks had fallen off the radar. Going into the 2007 meet, the field basically consisted of KD, Symmonds (by then a legit star), and little else. Lopez Lomong and Duane Solomon stepped up huge at USATFs, but there were precious few American 800 runners who could be counted on to run 1:45 consistently, when in years prior there could be four to five collegians at that level.

The reason last night’s race was so dramatic — other than the simple fact that Olympic spots were on the line — was that all eight runners in the field came into the race running at their best, or at least very close to it. There’s no greater evidence of this than the fact that Khadevis Robinson ran his style of race from beginning to end and finished fourth. In past years KD was able to run away from the field at USATFs. Occasionally someone like JJ would meet KD’s challenge, but he was always assured of a top three spot. In post-race interviews, KD was openly wondering where it was that he went wrong during his preparations, but really all that happened was the rest of the country caught up to him. Instead of being ten meters clear with 100 to go, KD had the entire field on his heels.

A year ago KD was cruising to another national title. Even at indoor USATFs, the 800 was little more than a match race between KD and Symmonds. A year ago Andrew Wheating was doing nothing more than getting ready for his sophomore year at Oregon. Christian Smith was God knows where. (Actually you could say that for Christian dating back to about one week ago.) Today they’re Olympians, which says everything you need to know about the state of the US men’s 800 in 2008.

5000

In a normal night the men’s 5000 would have easily been the most exciting race on the track. After all, with 100 meters to go, there were five guys fighting for the three Olympic spots. (Okay, there were four guys fighting for two Olympic spots after Bernard Lagat turned on the jets.) The clear surprise in this race was the pacing. With Adam Goucher in the field not having hit the Olympic A standard, the consensus was that he wouldn’t allow the pace to lag. Well, Brent Vaughn took it out hard, but he was completely on his own as Goucher sat in the back. So much for that.

When Solinsky started pushing the pace over the course of the last kilometer, I figured he was fine. After all, his entire college career was filled with races where he took the lead like that and squeezed the life out of the field. Obviously things are a little different when it’s Bernard “Kip” Lagat that’s lurking behind you rather than Richard Kiplagat, but given how strong Solinsky looked at Pre, holding off Ian Dobson and Bolota Asmerom didn’t seem to be too tall of a task.

But Matt Tegenkamp and Dobson managed their energies a little better over the course of the last lap. My stomach was in my throat when Teg almost fell with 150 to go, but he managed to recover without losing any ground. The fact that he made the team in what was for him probably an average race at best bodes well for him in Beijing. As for Dobson, it’s easy to say that all he did was bide his time smartly, simply sitting and kicking. But to me it looked like he was doing all he could to respond to Solinsky’s surges, and by the time the last hundred rolled around, he was finally able to look up and go for broke. Dobson’s race was much tougher than it looked. With all due respect to Solinsky and Asmerom, the US is definitely sending its best possible team to Beijing.

Women’s 800

I don’t have a whole lot to say about this race. My overall impression of it was that it was very strange. The fact that there were twelve women in the final had a dramatic impact on how everything played out, what with the entire field setting off in a full-out sprint to avoid a waterfall catastrophe, and with a few women running virtually their entire races in lane two. Then, after a blazing first 600, the last 200 was a competition of who could die the least. Hazel Clark won easily even though she barely even made it to the finish line. Just weird.

I suppose this is as good a place as any to say that I’m against the new format that requires the athletes to hit the A standard by the time the Trials is over, rather than giving runners who place in the top three without having yet hit the standard opportunties throughout the summer to chase it. Maybe I’m just averse to change, but it seems to me that the goal should be to peak for the Olympic games. If you place in the top three at the Trials, then hit the A standard at some point before the games, I can’t think of any reason why you shouldn’t be able to join the team.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to do some deep soul searching over the possiblity of Jaromir Jagr becoming a Penguin again.