A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago

FROM FINS TO FEET: As the Games transition from the pool to the track (and enclosed field), frequent commenter Amy previews the distance events:

Ah, track. As great as swimming has been, it is finally time for my favorite part of the Olympics—Track & Field. Or, as it’s officially called, Athletics. This year, the distance and middle-distance races should be a lot of fun to watch thanks to an invigorated USA Track and Field team that actually has a shot at giving the US a few medals in distances greater than 400. Some faces in the US crowd to watch, starting with the men:

800— Nick Symmonds, Andrew Wheating and Christian Smith ran one of the most exciting track races I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen many) at the trials in Eugene in July. The Track Town, USA crowd was thrilled to see their hometown boys go 1,2 and 3. Seriously go watch it right now, it was amazing.

What to watch: Symmonds’ amazing last-second kick and Andrew Wheating. Wheating has only been running track for a couple of years and no one knows just how good he is. Plus, they seem like nice boys from Oregon who are literally living their dream. That’s fun to see. It’s also a plus that they’re carrying on the legacy of awesome Eugene runners that started with the likes of Bill Bowerman, Prefontaine
and Frank Shorter.

1500— Bernard Lagat, Lopez Lomong and Leo Manzano form the all foreign-born US squad that could give the US a medal or 2. Lagat’s fun to watch because he’s a beautiful runner, but I think we should all root for our flag bearer, Lopez Lomong who is absolutely incredible both on and off the track.

As you probably all know, he was one of the Lost Boys of Sudan who was adopted by U.S. parents. He discovered track watching Michael Johnson in 2000 on a black and white TV and decided then and there to run and win gold in the Olympics and I hope he does. He is immensely proud to be an American and in my opinion, represents everything good about the U.S. Lagat’s hungry for gold too though — he’s already won a bronze and silver in this event (when competing for Kenya) and has promised his mom that he’ll bring her a gold. He’s also capable of dealing with any kind of race which is pretty rare — he can kick late or start fast. I hope they kick late because that’s a lot more fun to watch.

5000— Bernard Lagat is back trying to make a historic double in the 1500 and 5000 like he did last year at World’s in Osaka. He should have some stiff international competition, particularly from the runners representing his native Kenya, but he seems focused, in shape and ready to go. If he’s successful in the 1500, it’ll make the 5000 really fun to watch. If he’s not, this event could be a little boring.

10,000— I don’t expect the US to medal in this event. Galen Rupp, while a sweet kid who trains at the amazing and technologically mind-blowing Nike campus with legend Alberto Salazar he’s still too young to realistically think about cracking even the top 5. Abdi Abraham and Jorge Torres are both good runners, but I don’t think they can hang with the intense international competition.

And finally, my favorite, the marathon—Ryan Hall is poised to make history and medal in the Olympic marathon. You can read more about Ryan here (Ed. note -- or this New Yorker article) but basically he’s an enormously talented runner and seems to be a pretty cool dude — he’s using the Olympics to promote his favorite charity and has been extremely gracious in every interview I’ve seen — but don’t let that fool you, he’s a really aggressive racer who will fight the entire distance. His 2:06:17 in London was the fastest marathon by an American-born citizen ever.

To put that number in perspective, a 2:06:17 is a 4:49/mile pace. For 26 miles. Try to go run even an 800 meter at a 4:49 pace and then imagine sustaining that. It is unreal. This race is also special to Ryan as he is running it in memory of his friend Ryan Shay who shockingly collapsed and died at mile 7 of the Olympic trials in NYC. The Americans haven’t won gold in the Olympic marathon since Frank Shorter in 1972 but there is a very real chance that Ryan could change that if everything breaks his way. Although, this is the marathon and anything could happen.

The U.S. also has a fairly strong women’s team in Beijing. Here are a few faces to look for:

800— all of the U.S. women failed to qualify this morning in preliminary rounds. This isn’t too surprising given that their times have been slower than the dynamic east African nations.

1500— the U.S. hasn’t won a medal in the 1500 since the early 1900s. But, this year Shannon Rowbury has a decent shot at hitting the podium. She put in a solid 4:05 at Olympic Trials and holds the 4th fastest time in the world right now. She’s been blogging for the SF Chronicle and it seems like her workouts are going well. (On that note, the track stars in China who are blogging are raving about the training camp in Dalian for its amenities and extreme security).

5,000— Americans Kara Goucher (my favorite!), Shalane Flanagan and Jen Rhines will be running for Team USA against a pretty tough elite field. Goucher and Flanagan are trying to double with the 10,000 which means they’ll have tired legs but I would not count them out — particularly not the gutsy Goucher.

Kara is a fun runner to watch—she’s also coached by Alberto Salazar and is part of team Oregon. Her husband Adam is also an elite runner and Olympian although he failed to make this year’s team and they’ve both improved significantly since making the move to Portland. Maybe there is something to all the anti-gravity treadmill, heat-suit wearing, techno-training they’ve been doing. Kara’s spoken out quite a bit about how she’s moved beyond her own mental blocks and quit psyching herself out in big races. Let’s hope she continues that!

10,000— Flanagan took this at Olympic Trials and will be joined by Goucher and Amy Yoder-Begley. You may remember Amy (or not since you’re probably not track geeks) from Olympic Trials when she had to gut out a surprise 3rd place finish and the Olympic “A” standard. She won’t medal, but she’s close friends with Goucher and their reaction to winning was very cute — lots of jumping around and screaming. I don’t think we’ll take gold here, but my money is that Flanagan (the current U.S. record holder) or Goucher will medal. Kara won the Bronze at the World Championships in Osaka last year and Flanagan beat Deena Kastor’s American record. And, they are both very determined, strong, focused runners. Kara’s my favorite — she’s has a beautiful stride and I love that she’s come back from injury and difficulty.

The Marathon! Well, I am looking forward to this year’s marathon because the entire U.S. squad is from California. Deena Kastor took a surprising bronze in Athens and easily won at the U.S. trials in Boston this year. She trains with Ryan Hall in Mammoth Lakes and runs because it is “pure joy.” Magdalena Lewy-Boulet is a gutsy, smart runner who led for 24 miles at Olympic Trials who could surprise everyone (she has a nice story too — she became a U.S. citizen on 9-11 and often trains on a treadmill so she can be home with her new-ish baby) and Blake Russell (who qualified this year after a heartbreaking 4th place finish in 2004) seems to be in good shape.

The marathon has a topsy-turvy field this year with NYC marathon champ Paula Radcliffe of England recovering from a femoral stress fracture but still competing, the defending champion dropping out due to injury, and a number of unknowns competing, so it’s anyone’s race. I’m rooting for Deena who makes a mean enchilada to better her bronze from Athens.

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The distance races are races of heart — as a middle of the pack recreational runner I know how hard it is to push yourself through the end of a 5k or 10k when your lungs and legs are burning and your head is telling you to quit. Don't let their calm expressions and even paces fool you — these guys are working extremely hard and are tough as nails. The heat and humidity and possibly air quality are going to be factors, but these races should be a blast to watch.

e.t.a. So we're clear, the Comments can (and already does) contain significant discussion of tonight's swimming results. West Coasters, beware.