¶w100 Hurdles: Lolo Jones 12.45 (WL)

[EPelle]

So she goes from being a 12.6 runner all life to 12.29 ? Wind or not, this is astonishing in a lot of ways. Sorry to ruin your party a little bit again, but that's a performance noone could have expected before the start of the season or even three days ago. And please don't tell me she was training that much harder because it is an Olympic year, doesn't everyone do the exact same thing ? What are the reasons for that quantum leap ?

And I am sure that you asked the same thing about Kallur that improved from 7.8 to 7.68 in one year over the 60mh...

Which naturally followed running 12,49 last season.

[sprintblox]

So she goes from being a 12.6 runner all life to 12.29 ? Wind or not, this is astonishing in a lot of ways. Sorry to ruin your party a little bit again, but that's a performance noone could have expected before the start of the season or even three days ago. And please don't tell me she was training that much harder because it is an Olympic year, doesn't everyone do the exact same thing ? What are the reasons for that quantum leap ?

That was a huge wind, 3.8. With 0.0 wind that would be around 12.5. She did 12.57 last year with a 0.8 wind. It's a decent improvement, but not a quantum leap.

[jazzcyclist]

So she goes from being a 12.6 runner all life to 12.29 ? Wind or not, this is astonishing in a lot of ways. Sorry to ruin your party a little bit again, but that's a performance noone could have expected before the start of the season or even three days ago. And please don't tell me she was training that much harder because it is an Olympic year, doesn't everyone do the exact same thing ? What are the reasons for that quantum leap ?

WInd or not? :?: What does 12.29 +3.8w equate to anyway, 12.45? Maybe JRM can tell us. She came into this season with a 12.56 PR (-0.2w) which was from 2006. What's fishy about a hurdler improving 0.11s between the ages of 24 and 26?

[Jon]

Before the Trials started, who'd have guessed that only one of Kersee's hurdlers would make it, and that it would be the most inexperienced? Dawn Harper fared better than her more accomplished training partners - Oly champ Joanna Hayes, two-time world champ Michelle Perry and defending US champ & 12.45 hurdler Ginnie Powell.

At one point I thought that Kersee might get three in the top three, but it looks as though Perry and Powell are still not quite at full fitness.

Superb time by Jones. Windy or not, a 12.29 is seriously shifting. After the World Indoors, I kinda felt like she was a bit of an undeserved winner as Kallur was clearly the class of the indoor season and Onyia (who looked superb in the heats) fell in the final. Had both of those been fit and less accident-prone, Jones would have been third at best in Valencia.

But now, after this performance, she has proved that she is a top-class contender. A 3.6m/s tailwind might sound like a lot, but the last woman to run a 12.29 with a similar (almost identical) wind reading was Donkova (12.29 with +3.5m/s) in 1988 - the same year in which she broke the world record. Jones, based on all of her performances throughout this year, is not in that kind of class yet, but I think it's safe to say that she is now the favourite for the Olympic title.

[Mennisco]

Thanks Jon for the perspective. LoLo also tied three "records" - see these for clues: [Hint: just read the title for the second link]

http://www.alltime-athletics.com/w_100hno.htm

http://iaaf.org/OLY08/news/kind=100/newsid=45724.html

[Flumpy]

Love Lolo

Justa shame about 2nd place :x

[croflash]

So she goes from being a 12.6 runner all life to 12.29 ? Wind or not, this is astonishing in a lot of ways. Sorry to ruin your party a little bit again, but that's a performance noone could have expected before the start of the season or even three days ago. And please don't tell me she was training that much harder because it is an Olympic year, doesn't everyone do the exact same thing ? What are the reasons for that quantum leap ?

WInd or not? :?: What does 12.29 +3.8w equate to anyway, 12.45? Maybe JRM can tell us. She came into this season with a 12.56 PR (-0.2w) which was from 2006. What's fishy about a hurdler improving 0.11s between the ages of 24 and 26?

It's not fishy, Jon summed it up already what I was going to answer. I don't think a +3.8 wind helps that much in the hurdles compared to running the flat 100 though. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for her, I just didn't see it coming.

[EPelle]

She showed remarkable fitness on 1-june in tying her then- second-fastest mark ever in Berlin. It was a sign of things to come for the world indoor champion.

[Jaack]

OF COURSE you are going to destroy your PR when you put a race like THAT together. It was Breathtaking. She managed that feat, that's hard to describe, but you only see it every once in a blue moon. When a hurdler gets so into her running, that she is barely up in the air and has skimmed over the hurdle like a stone on water. She managed that "extreme skim" on hurdles - 4, 7 and 9 whilst hurdles 8 and 10 were almost perfect and the initial three were pretty much as perfect as they can be without reaching top speed! So she still has room for improvement! The last person I saw skim that well was Svetla Dimitrova (another Bulgarian) who didn't have Lolo's basic speed but always placed because of her technique! I've never seen Lolo do it on more than 1 hurdle before.

I may not be explaining myself very well, but if you watch the race again, you'll see the "extreme skim" and see what I mean!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9xRZrQ2itA

The free lane next to her, really gave her the freedom to run her race! Much like it helped Hayes when Felicien went Splat in Athens! I was never sure that Jones was the more talented hurdler (compared to her compatriots- Perry, Hayes etc) but, they have never been able to hurdle quite like that! :shock:

[Mennisco]

Love Lolo

Justa shame about 2nd place :x

It could have been worse.

[Jaack]

It's so annoying that the World record is so old because the event has REALLY moved on, the Girls are light years better. I remember in 1992, most of the girls qualified with 13 second runs. I think Patoulidou won her semi with like 12.90 or 12.88- That kind of time wouldn't even get you into semi's these days! No matter what Donkova was taking, it doesn't detract from the fact that she consistently put together perfect technical races time after time. Bob's girls are always quick and competent, but if his girls hurdled like the Bulgarian's, we'd have had a new world record way back with Devers!

[Mennisco]

No matter what Donkova was taking

Ginka Bilova?

Manly, yes, but not on a girl or two.



http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=gin ... arch&meta=

http://www.jamd.com/search?assettype=g& ... zagorcheva

[Mennisco]

If Devers had hurdled like LoLo, would we have seen < 12.00 windy?

[Jaack]

If Devers had hurdled like LoLo, would we have seen < 12.00 windy?

Good question. I do think it's possible to be too quick for the hurdles! If you have that perfect Bulgarian technique and combine it with sub 11 speed, by hurdle 8 you'll be pretty much ON the barrier before you even jump! Obviously, I have no real point of reference with this, but I have seen athletes attack too much and end up too close to the barrier, thus I can imagine perfect technique and lightning speed may actually be a recipe for disaster!

[cladthin]

That's the thing with Devers is that she probably got better as a hurdler as she slowed a bit sprint wise. As it was she had to always lead leg way to the side since she got so close to the hurdle.