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Who will win the men’s 4×100 relay?
Saturday, August 16th, 2008Usain will bolt to Gold
Friday, August 15th, 2008With the preliminaries and quarterfinals of the 100M out of the way, we now have a fair assessment of how things will look tomorrow. By the time the 100m winner is known, the finalists would have run 4 races in roughly a 36-hour span, Thursday night to Saturday Morning, Jamaican time, therefore conservation of energy will be key. We will keep that in mind in our analysis
Jamaica's Usain Bolt looks back after competing in a men's 100-meter second round heat during the athletics competitions in the National Stadium at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Friday, Aug. 15, 2008. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
This is where Bolt looks just as awesome as lightning. Running in the quarter-finals in heat 4, with respected 100M runners such as Olympic Silver medallist (2004) Frances Obikwelu (Por) and Darvis Patton (USA), Bolt got a good start and looking to the left and to the right after about 50-60 metres simply strolled to victory in 9.92 seconds. Reviewing the action on the big screen after the race, he flashed a smile applauded his effort and off he went, the sign of a confident and relaxed man on a mission.
Athletes to watch include Richard Thompson (T&T), and the Churandy Martina (Netherland Antilles) as both stopped the clock at 9.99 secs in comfortably winning their respective quarterfinal races. Asafa looked focused and did not look too troubled, by the loss of blood either, taking his heat in 10.02 secs.
Predictions
The semi-finals tomorrow should be interesting and the race rosters will effectively affect the make up of the finals, as the going will be tough. In addition to runners previously mentioned look out for Walter Dix, Marc Burns and Tyson Gay. Gay does not look comfortable, it could be said he looks rusty but then again he cannot be counted out. Others to watch are Derrick Atkins of the Bahamas, 100M World Silver Medallist 2007, Micheal Frater, 100M World Silver Medallist 2005 and World Silver Medalist Kim Collins.
Here is the script. Barring a horrendous start or a disaster, it is Bolt for Gold.
The result of the 100M finals come Saturday Morning, Jamaican time is.
- Bolt(JAM)
- Powell(JAM)
- Thompson(T&T)
- Gay(USA)
- Patton(USA)
- Martina(AHO)
- Burns(T&T)
- Dix(USA)
Female sprinters in full flight
Friday, August 15th, 2008Discussions continue to take place about which three females should represent the country in the 100 metres. Its now certain the three are the top three finishers at the National Trials, and rightly so. Veronica is well loved, running well, but the rules must stand, first three past the post as long as the “A” standard is achieved. So tonight (Friday) at 9:50 we will see our three women bow into action. Lets support Shelly-Ann, Kerron and Sherone and tell us your predictions.
Record medal haul by Jamaicans?
Tuesday, August 5th, 2008Give the total medals you expect us to win in Beijing, eg, gold ,silver and bronze.
Give the events and the athletes who will be getting these medals.
Disagreement MVP and JAAA/JOA
Tuesday, August 5th, 2008What should be done to end this fight between MVP and JAAA/JOA? It is just not good for our track and field program.
4×100 World Records?
Thursday, August 21st, 2008Jamaica’s men’s 4×100 relay team eased into the finals after qualifying today and saw their major rival the USA team drop their baton during the Darvis Patton to Tyson Gay exchange and the team from Trinidad finished with a 0.05 edge over Jamaica in their heat. The women also eased into the finals with a commanding lead and also saw the USA drop the baton in the Torri Edwards to Lauryn Williams exchange. Truth be told only the Jamaican team is capable of defeating themselves at this point after dominating the 100m and 200m sprint events for both men and women claiming the gold medal in all four events.
Looking to the 4×100 relay finals tomorrow arguably the most exciting event, there is speculation of two more shattered records. The men finished with a time of 38.31 without Usain Bolt who was getting some much needed rest for the finals. The women clocked in at 42.24 fast right?
Well here is the juicy part the world record for the men’s relay is 37.40 which means that team Jamaica without Usain Bolt was just 0.91 seconds away from breaking the world record and with the women’s 4×100 relay record standing at 41.37 our ladies were 0.87 away from breaking the world record. The men’s record is held by Team USA originally set in Barcelona by Michael Marsh, Leroy Burrell, Dennis Mitchell, Carl Lewis in 1992. The women’s record held by East Germany set in 1985 by Silke Gladisch, Sabine Rieger, Ingrid Auerswald, Marlies Göhr.
Jamaica I would say is poised to put the ‘icing on the cake’ if all goes well with our baton exchanges then Jamaica’s name will be written in Olympic history for a long time. And the names of our champions will be freshly remembered.
If you are worried about Asafa Powell as many of you with short memories might be take a look at this clip from Osaka 2007 World Championships 4X100m Relay Final, after Bolt and Frater had a messy exchange it was Powell who cleaned up.
Tags: 4x100, athletics, Jamaica, Olympics, relays, world record
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