Sanya Richards is da bomb

[tafnut]

Having just seen ABC's tape-delayed (how stupid!!)coverage, I am more impressed with Sanya's intelligence and composure, than even her obvious talent! She could not have run a better paced anchor leg.

Re: Sanya Richards is da bomb

wow! what a great leg...from the usatf florida youth athlete of the year (2002) and elite athlete of the year (2003)

[Randy Treadway]

Re: Sanya Richards is da bomb

Her leg may have been even-paced, but was risky. By allowing herself to get 'sucked in' by pursuers she also risked getting tripped, bumped, knocked, or whatever.
And it's almost IMPOSSIBLE to get the IAAF to declare a major infraction and order a re-run. This ain't Florida High School or NCAA, nobody has your fair interests in mind.
Richards got lucky in coming out 'clean' on the final straightaway.

At this level, if you're handed the baton with the lead, it's important to not let competitors draw even with you unless your competitor is at an obvious suicidal pace- if you do, LOTS of bad stuff can happen.

[waynehobley]

Re: Sanya Richards is da bomb

Yeah your right she is incredible. I remember the first time I spoke to her and she didn't like the 400 and at the time she was the best in the nation at 100 & 200 and look at her now she is the best at 400 and still one of the best at 100 & 200. She has come a long way. Congratulations to her.

Re: Sanya Richards is da bomb

well, randy...from the start to the 400m - what a negative authority you are!

Re: Sanya Richards is da bomb

Her leg may have been even-paced, but was risky. By allowing herself to get 'sucked in' by pursuers she also risked getting tripped, bumped, knocked, or whatever.
And it's almost IMPOSSIBLE to get the IAAF to declare a major infraction and order a re-run. This ain't Florida High School or NCAA, nobody has your fair interests in mind.
"Richards got lucky in coming out 'clean' on the final straightaway.

At this level, if you're handed the baton with the lead, it's important to not let competitors draw even with you unless your competitor is at an obvious suicidal pace- if you do, LOTS of bad stuff can happen. "

How do YOU think she should have ran the leg Randy? I happen to think that she did a phenomenal job and that she ran as best and as fast as she possibly could. Are you inferring that she should have just "ran away" from the other runners from the start? As if these were just some punk quarter milers or something. I don't remember the Russian's name, but she was in the final, and Lorraine Fenton is no joke either. Sanya held her own the best way she knew how and made sure she had something for the homestretch. Way to go.

[tafnut]

Re: Sanya Richards is da bomb

RT, I most emphatically disagree! Had she charged hard from the start to 'keep herself out of trouble', she most probably would have tied up in the end and gotten passed by some very experienced persuers. I repeat, she ran the perfect leg.

Re: Sanya Richards is da bomb

Sorry Randy. Have to disagree. Sanya ran a very intelligent leg. Sanya is very fast, probably faster than both her pursuers. She simply saved that speed until when she needed it most.

A valiant effort also by Allison Beckford (Jam)on leg 2. She brought Jamaica from about 7th to 3rd after a disappointing opening leg from the veteran Sandie Richards.

[Randy Treadway]

Re: Sanya Richards is da bomb

>Are you inferring that she should have just "ran away" from the other runners from the start?

Of course not- maintaing a 2 to 3 meter lead would be fine, as long as she isn't running herself out of gas. Elite athletes know their pace well enough to recognize that. And maybe that's exactly what she was gauging.
But she looked to me like she was running TOO comfortably the first 200.

Now to argue the other direction- I KNOW she's a freshman, and not yet at the elite level of a Guevara. The U.S. staff chose to put her on the anchor, and the basic reason is they didn't have anybody better to choose from.
Just look at how many 400 finalists the U.S. had to fill out their relay pool- ZERO.
That the U.S. was able to win at all is a bit of luck and a bit of the U.S. having more depth in '2nd tier' 400 sprinters (50.5 to 51.9 PR's) than anybody else.

The Russias were the underachievers here- they have the horses to go 3:20 flat and would have beat the U.S. had they not screwed up their final handoff.

Re: Sanya Richards is da bomb

Russia probably should have switched around their 3rd and 4th legs. I remember Nazarova bombing at World Juniors a few years back on anchor for Russia at this same event and being passed by Allison Beckford of Jamaica who went on to win the gold.

The Russin 3rd leg reminds me a lot of Privalova

[michael lewis]

Re: Sanya Richards is da bomb

Does anyone know the splits? Especially on the last leg?

Re: Sanya Richards is da bomb

Come on folks! The girl did what she had to do. I applaud such a young person like Sanya. She ran confidently and she was composed and ran her race.She didn't panic. Give her the respect she is deserved.

[dl]

Re: Sanya Richards is da bomb

Splits for the U.S team, as well as most others , will be available in the free e-TN to be sent Monday morning.

Gutsy move by the U.S. coaches to put an 18-year-old on anchor. Awesome race.

Re: Sanya Richards is da bomb

amazing !
this is like letting a rookie take the game winning shot in the last game of the nba finals. very gutsy move, but it worked thanks to the amazing resolve by the teenager. the future is hers !

[tafnut]

Re: Sanya Richards is da bomb

I'm thinking the coaches put her last because of proven raw speed. I'm also sure they had a long talk with her about parceling out the effort. In any case. I say again, she was phenomenal.