Track & Field: Insert Latest Scandal here

[Ohwell]

Wow, that poor Haiti dude crashed into the hurdle.  Done.  Out.

[Scovies]

Da Silva just pulled a super-classy move at the medal ceremony for the pole vault. The crowd booed the French guy who came in second when they announced his name (and from what I heard about how he reacted when he lost, he deserved it), but Da Silva started clapping his hands over his head to encourage everyone to cheer for him. I love good sportsmanship.

[Ohwell]

Really classy of Da Silva, but the Brazilian crowds really need to stop booing at athletes they don't like (and I can certainly understand them not liking the French guy based on his comments).  If you don't like an athlete, just let silence speak for itself. 

Edited August 17, 2016 by Ohwell

[briochetwist]

3 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

It's within the rules, therefore Shaunae Miller is rightfully the winner; as others have pointed out, she isn't the first to win that way.  So long as she doesn't fail her drug tests, of course.  (Not implying anything about Ms. Miller, but track has been known to be a dirty sport at times.)

I agree. I finally just saw the race, and was surprised to see that it wasn't the 'dive' that I'd been reading about. People made it sound like she was diving for safety at first plate. It looks to me that she just lost her footing on the wet track.

[Daisy]

2 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

Really classy of Da Silva, but the Brazilian crowds really need to stop booing at athletes they don't like.  If you don't like an athlete, just let silence speak for itself. 

Agreed. it's very not cool, Brazil. 

I have a crush on Derek Drouin. 

[briochetwist]

2 minutes ago, Daisy said:

I have a crush on Derek Drouin. 

I think all of Canada does, how did he go unnoticed all this time?

[Daisy]

Just now, briochetwist said:

I think all of Canada does, how did he go unnoticed all this time?

I don't know, I am sad i have to share him with the world now. LOL i liked him since London. he's just more gorgeous now. 

[Scovies]

13 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

Really classy of Da Silva, but the Brazilian crowds really need to stop booing at athletes they don't like.  If you don't like an athlete, just let silence speak for itself. 

I generally agree, but he compared the crowd to Nazi Germany after the competition, so... I can understand it a little.

[galaxygirl76]

I have the sound off and am listening to the Dutch radio, but is NBC pretending this is live because it's not. the 110m hurdles was just before prime time, the 400m hurdles just finished.

eta, they are actually live now.

Edited August 17, 2016 by galaxygirl76

[Ohwell]

8 minutes ago, Scovies said:

I generally agree, but he compared the crowd to Nazi Germany after the competition, so... I can understand it a little.

Yeah, you missed my modified post where I said I can understand why they'd be upset based on what he said.  But this isn't the first instance where they've booed an athlete and it's just not a good look for a country hosting the Olympics.

[galaxygirl76]

6 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

Yeah, you missed my modified post where I said I can understand why they'd be upset based on what he said.  But this isn't the first instance where they've booed an athlete and it's just not a good look for a country hosting the Olympics.

My track and field radio dude has said several times now that the crowd seems to hate Americans and boos them all.

[Ohwell]

5 minutes ago, galaxygirl76 said:

My track and field radio dude has said several times now that the crowd seems to hate Americans and boos them all.

Wow.  That's interesting.

[briochetwist]

I am not American, but those star spangled socks worn by USA's Erik Kynard in high jump are friggin' awesome!

[galaxygirl76]

I will never ever understand how a human being can jump that high.

[sassykattt]

I haven't heard the Brazilians booing American athletes.  I had heard they booed Gabby once so I was really listening for it.  Sounds like the radio guy was making a political statement, not a factual one.  That said, Usain Bolt is an amazing showman and athlete, but he is first and foremost a real gentleman.  He stands quietly for all the anthems,  he's very respectful to the other racers and that Frenchman could learn a lot just by following him around.

[briochetwist]

14 minutes ago, galaxygirl76 said:

I will never ever understand how a human being can jump that high.

They're at 2.38 m, almost 8 feet high! Unbelievable.

[Daisy]

Canada is going to get a medal! Yay Boyfriend Derek!

[briochetwist]

I do not understand the rules of high jumping at all, passing? Third attempts? Very confusing.

[Daisy]

Okay so what happens is. 

You can pass on attempts but it is risky. You get 3 tries per jump if you pass, you "clear" but it also means you have 2 attempts etc. so if you have two fails and pass - you only have ONE attempt. (that's what happened to Ukraine guy. he had 2 fails + 1 pass). so he HAD to make that jump. which, he failed. 

which is why, Canada won Gold. :D

[AimingforYoko]

Just now, briochetwist said:

I do not understand the rules of high jumping at all, passing? Third attempts? Very confusing.

You get three misses, it does not matter what height you miss them at. You can pass on heights to save your misses.

[galaxygirl76]

1 minute ago, briochetwist said:

I do not understand the rules of high jumping at all, passing? Third attempts? Very confusing.

Let's see if I remember. You get three attempts on every height. If you fail once or twice on one height, you can gamble and skip it with one attempt left to go to a higher height but you only get to try once.

[AimingforYoko]

2 minutes ago, Daisy said:

which is why, Canada won Gold. :D

So now since he has no misses, he tries for the WR, right?

[Daisy]

Just now, AimingforYoko said:

So now since he has no misses, he tries for the WR, right?

I'm not sure. they stopped showing him. he could. 

[galaxygirl76]

Sounds like he's done.

[briochetwist]

Thank you all.  Yay Derek!

[Athena]

I saw Derek try for the 2.40m OR but he didn't pass it. In any case, GOLD!

[MyAimIsTrue]

Did you guys see the clip of the US and New Zealand 5000m racers falling during their semi heat, help each other up, and encourage each other to finish even though one girl could barely walk?  It was the greatest showing of the Olympic spirit since Derek Redmond limped around the track with his dad in Barcelona.  Instant tears.

[Ohwell]

That French guy with the ponytail is hot.

[Daisy]

1 minute ago, MyAimIsTrue said:

Did you guys see the clip of the US and New Zealand 5000m racers falling during their semi heat, help each other up, and encourage each other to finish even though one girl could barely walk?  It was the greatest showing of the Olympic spirit since Derek Redmond limped around the track with his dad in Barcelona.  Instant tears.

aww noo! but that is so awesome.

[sereion]

I caught the clip with US and New Zeland runners; what a touching moment. I hope they have a lasting friendship after the Olympics. I hate that one of the runners got injured, but I'm glad one of them have the opportunity to race in the final.

Way go Jenny Simpson for winning the first ever US medal in 1500 meters!

[dcalley]

1 hour ago, Ohwell said:

Really classy of Da Silva, but the Brazilian crowds really need to stop booing at athletes they don't like (and I can certainly understand them not liking the French guy based on his comments).  If you don't like an athlete, just let silence speak for itself. 

I was going to ask if you watched any of the tennis, but then I recognized your name.

12 minutes ago, MyAimIsTrue said:

Did you guys see the clip of the US and New Zealand 5000m racers falling during their semi heat, help each other up, and encourage each other to finish even though one girl could barely walk?  It was the greatest showing of the Olympic spirit since Derek Redmond limped around the track with his dad in Barcelona.  Instant tears.

That is--rightfully--getting a lot of press.

[sally-can-wait]

2 hours ago, sassykattt said:

I haven't heard the Brazilians booing American athletes.  I had heard they booed Gabby once so I was really listening for it.  Sounds like the radio guy was making a political statement, not a factual one.  That said, Usain Bolt is an amazing showman and athlete, but he is first and foremost a real gentleman.  He stands quietly for all the anthems,  he's very respectful to the other racers and that Frenchman could learn a lot just by following him around.

There's definitely been booing from the Brazilians during indoor volleyball. I have watched all the US women's matches and every time the American fans start to chant "USA" the crowd instantly tries to silence them with boos. This also happened to the women's beach volleyball duos and for the US women boxers. 

[blackwing]

3 hours ago, MyAimIsTrue said:

Did you guys see the clip of the US and New Zealand 5000m racers falling during their semi heat, help each other up, and encourage each other to finish even though one girl could barely walk?  It was the greatest showing of the Olympic spirit since Derek Redmond limped around the track with his dad in Barcelona.  Instant tears.

Much has been made in the press about this.  I think it's great they helped each other.  But what I'm not understanding is that it was said that because there was an accidental trip, both of them automatically advance to the finals.  What?   Shouldn't the tripper be disqualified?   If this is the rule, what's to stop two friends from "accidentally" tripping each other so both advance?

And is this a new rule?  I recall the 1984 Olympics, when Mary Decker and Zola Budd had their infamous incident.  Decker said Budd tripped her, Decker crashed and was memorably left in tears on the track.  I guess the main difference here is that today's incident was in a semifinal, and I believe Decker crashed in what was a final.

[azshadowwalker]

On 8/13/2016 at 7:03 PM, Growsonwalls said:

FloJo was one of the most beautiful ladies I ever saw and Iove her sense of fashion but her world record is one of the most, um, questionable ones. She retired right before off-season testing became mandatory.

And died extremely young under questionable circumstances. For all the talk of the Russians, the US is up to its armpits in dirty athletes, past and present. Gatlin trying to portray himself as some sort of of victim and NBC playing along just sickens me. After that little feature they did on him, I was glad to hear the boos. He just doesn't get it.

 And some, like Marion Jones and her husband, were allowed to continue competing for quite some time after failing drug tests. They continued winning events while US Track & Field and USADA quietly tested and retested for months and months, telling no one. Charles Hunter, her husband, apparently had dirt on a lot of other athletes, and tried to use it.

A large portion of the team in Sydney was suspect, but you would have never known by the NBC coverage that year. They were too busy wagging fingers at Chinese swimmers. The sheer number of dirty sprinters at that time makes me wonder what was going on within US Track & Field itself. 

[SeanC]

Hmph, I decide to watch a movie instead of the Olympics coverage and Canada wins another gold medal.  Figures.

Though apparently this is Canada's first gold medal in a field sport since 1932, when we also won the men's high jump.

[briochetwist]

34 minutes ago, SeanC said:

Hmph, I decide to watch a movie instead of the Olympics coverage and Canada wins another gold medal.  Figures.

 

I feel your pain, I completely forgot about the mens 100m the other night. Came home to find out Andre DeGrasse won the bronze before I'd even remembered it happened. So stupid.

[MyAimIsTrue]

7 hours ago, blackwing said:

Much has been made in the press about this.  I think it's great they helped each other.  But what I'm not understanding is that it was said that because there was an accidental trip, both of them automatically advance to the finals.  What?   Shouldn't the tripper be disqualified?   If this is the rule, what's to stop two friends from "accidentally" tripping each other so both advance?

All I know is both the US and New Zealand federations petitioned to have the runners advance to the next round under the circumstances.  I don't know how such decisions are made or what criteria is needed.

[selkie]

9 hours ago, blackwing said:

Much has been made in the press about this.  I think it's great they helped each other.  But what I'm not understanding is that it was said that because there was an accidental trip, both of them automatically advance to the finals.  What?   Shouldn't the tripper be disqualified?   If this is the rule, what's to stop two friends from "accidentally" tripping each other so both advance?

And is this a new rule?  I recall the 1984 Olympics, when Mary Decker and Zola Budd had their infamous incident.  Decker said Budd tripped her, Decker crashed and was memorably left in tears on the track.  I guess the main difference here is that today's incident was in a semifinal, and I believe Decker crashed in what was a final.

Digging around the IAAF rulebook, here's the language:

Quote

Obstruction 2. if an athlete is jostled or obstructed during an event so as to impede his progress, then:

(a) if the jostling or obstruction is considered unintentional or is caused otherwise than by an athlete, the Referee may, if he is of the opinion that an athlete (or his team) was seriously affected, order that the race be re-held or allow the affected athlete (or team) to compete in a subsequent round of the event;

(b) if another athlete is found by the Referee to be responsible for the jostling or obstruction, such athlete (or his team) shall be liable to disqualification from that event. the Referee may, if he is of the opinion that an athlete (or his team) was seriously affected, order that the race be re-held excluding any disqualified athlete (or team) or allow any affected athlete (or team) (other than any disqualified athlete or team) to compete in a subsequent round of the event. in both cases Rule 163.2(a) and (b), such athlete (or team) should normally have completed the event with bona fide effort.

I'm trying to think of a race being rerun for 'obstruction', and coming up a blank. Only time I've got vague memory of that happening is in a case when the hurdles/barriers were set to the wrong height. But advancing out a preliminary heat because of a crash is not uncommon at many prelims/finals meets not run in lanes. 

[mtlchick]

15 hours ago, Ohwell said:

Wow, that poor Haiti dude crashed into the hurdle.  Done.  Out.

This is maybe the first time I've ever seen a Haitian athlete compete in my life (I know they send a few people, just never seen their events I guess.)  I was like "Do it for the motherland!" (My mom is from there.)  Then...."OUCH."

 

Meanwhile....Damian Warner sets an Olympics best in the 100m decathlon.  Neck and neck with Easton.  Probably the first time in a long time I'll root for a Canadian AND American in the same event. 

Edited August 17, 2016 by mtlchick

[Superpole2000]

I think the hammer throw would be better if they used actual hammers. This ball on a chain crap is a comparative letdown.

[selkie]

I love Evan Jager and how he races fearlessly, but have to admit I hate the manbun.

[Arynm]

Abbey D'agostino, the woman who fell and barely made it across the finish line in the 5k, has completely torn her ACL and damaged her meniscus along with a strained MCL. So shes out even though she won her appeal to make it to the final. I think this is why people don't trip each other on purpose to advance. That injury could be career ending, I can't believe she ran 3+ laps after the fall.

Edited August 17, 2016 by Arynm
clunky sentence structure

[MyAimIsTrue]

Wow, I want to cry for Abbey D'agostino.

[proserpina65]

15 hours ago, Ohwell said:

Yeah, you missed my modified post where I said I can understand why they'd be upset based on what he said.  But this isn't the first instance where they've booed an athlete and it's just not a good look for a country hosting the Olympics.

Some of that stems from the soccer world, where Brazilian crowds (and other nationalities too) boo anyone and everyone they don't like.  Players, teams, officials, other fans, you name it.  In fact, you're lucky if booing is all they do.  I get where it comes from since I watch European soccer and the crowds there are only marginally better, but yeah, it's not very attractive behavior for a host nation's crowds.

[SeanC]

About a third of the way through the decathlon now, with Eaton in first and Warner in second.  I suppose Brianne Theisen-Eaton's best case scenario would be if they tie.

Edited August 17, 2016 by SeanC

[biakbiak]

I would hope her best case scenario wouldbe her husband winning outright.

[mtlchick]

She's team North America.  (Though her husband's initials are first.)

 

[Daisy]

hehe well A does come before D ;) she's savvy. 

[hendersonrocks]

I think this is a pretty amazing piece on Caster Semenya and womanhood and a whole lot more. 

[MyAimIsTrue]

Amazing article, thank you for sharing.  When I had a hysterectomy 14 years ago I was part of an online support group and a lot of the "hyster sisters" equated losing their uterus to no longer being a woman, something I never understood.  We are far greater than just our reproductive parts.