More surprises than usual at Beijing?

[runforfun]

I know there are always upsets and surprises in track and field at the Olympics but does anyone else think there were more than usual at this one? It seemed like every time I turned around I was surprised...some times pleasantly, but most of the time disappointed. Speaking as an avid fan of USA track and field.

[CrunchTime]

Agreed...not a good year for USTAF...but we will bounce back by 2011 if not 2009!! Just a matter of circumstances conspiring against key athletes!! Gay should have been good for 2 silvers...but one area where change must be made is in more consistent practice AS A UNIT for the 4x100 relay teams!! It is not a coincidence that Russia won the women's 4x100 without a single 100 or 200 finalist!! They have been together as a unit for over a year & there teamwork carried the day when even the Jamaican juggernaut botched the passing!! ops:

[AS]

Need to check TFN's predictive effort versus previous Games... anyone got the data?

[gh]

Subjective analysis: I think there were about 10X the surprises of any OG/WC I can ever remember.

[SQUACKEE]

Subjective analysis: I think there were about 10X the surprises of any OG/WC I can ever remember.

It got to the point for me that when there wasnt a surprise i was shocked. :shock: Isi wins the P.V. How could that happen?
At least we all knew who was gonna win the women's HJ! NOT!

[jeremyp]

One of the things that confused me the most were the strange "fades in the stretch." Wariner, Richards, Lagat, Borzakovskiy, Choge, Jamal, Defar, all seemed drained when it came to their stretch runs. We saw Richards do it last year at the USATF, but to see Wariner and Lagat do it boggled the mind. How does one account for it?

[AS]

One of the things that confused me the most were the strange "fades in the stretch." Wariner, Richards, Lagat, Borzakovskiy, Choge, Jamal, Defar, all seemed drained when it came to their stretch runs. We saw Richards do it last year at the USATF, but to see Wariner and Lagat do it boggled the mind. How does one account for it?

One word: pressure

[26mi235]

One of the things that confused me the most were the strange "fades in the stretch." Wariner, Richards, Lagat, Borzakovskiy, Choge, Jamal, Defar, all seemed drained when it came to their stretch runs. We saw Richards do it last year at the USATF, but to see Wariner and Lagat do it boggled the mind. How does one account for it?

One word: pressure

14.7 lbs/sq inch -- same for everyone. I do not think it is the singular answer to SR, JW, BL. To simple an to simplistic and generally does not fit the mold in two out of the three cases. It has to be iron-clad and these three are anything but. Being at the top of your game at exactly the right time is a difficult feat to accomplish and not accomplishing it does not mean that you failed because of pressure.

[cacique]

also, from what i can remember, very few who won in osaka 2007 won in beijing: isi, vili, evora, saladino, US in both 4x4 relays, ... who else?

lots of the osaka champions and lots of world leading athletes went in as favorites and didn't win this time... to me, naide and blanka were the biggest shocks.

[LopenUupunut]

also, from what i can remember, very few who won in osaka 2007 won in beijing: isi, vili, evora, saladino, US in both 4x4 relays, ... who else?

Bekele, Kipruto, Kanter, Campbell-Brown (in a different event), Ohuruogu, Dibaba, Špotáková and Kaniskina.

On the whole, Osaka champions didn't do more than slightly worse than expected; to compensate for some who failed to win here as favorites, a number of others won here despite going in as (slight) underdogs. What strikes the eye is that (not counting the relays) this list of 12 includes nobody from the US.

[eldrick]

One of the things that confused me the most were the strange "fades in the stretch." Wariner, Richards, Lagat, Borzakovskiy, Choge, Jamal, Defar, all seemed drained when it came to their stretch runs. We saw Richards do it last year at the USATF, but to see Wariner and Lagat do it boggled the mind. How does one account for it?

One word: pressure

14.7 lbs/sq inch -- same for everyone

some had minor injuries, but main culprit i'd put are possibilty of minor bugs going around sapping strength ( food or waterborne )

yes, i know osaka is also in far east & we didn't have mention of such then, but osaka is basically a "western" city in terms of hygiene/sanitation/food standards/etc - nothing much different from say, paris, apart from language & climate

i doubt any place in china had the same high standards of public health & that leaves possibilty of infection

[jeremyp]

also, from what i can remember, very few who won in osaka 2007 won in beijing: isi, vili, evora, saladino, US in both 4x4 relays, ... who else?

lots of the osaka champions and lots of world leading athletes went in as favorites and didn't win this time... to me, naide and blanka were the biggest shocks.

I wasn't talking about champions losing, that's to be expected, I was talking about champions fading big time in the latter moments of a race. Lagat said he had a virus, so that's one possibility. The other is food. What were the arrangements for food in the village? Did some athletes stay outside, and posibly ingest local food/water? Just curious.

[cacique]

osaka is basically a "western" city in terms of hygiene/sanitation/food standards/etc - nothing much different from say, paris, apart from language & climate

you are confusing the terms "western" and "modern." boy, what do they teach you kenya? not much, i see...

[eldrick]

i suggest you think before posting nonsense

japan was occupied post-war by america until '51

the americans funded the re-energising of japanese economy thruout the post war period & imprinted significant aspects of their culture & economic blueprint on them

the bigger japanese cities are "western" apart from being "modern"

[cacique]

you are amazing... i'm sure the japanese are very pleased that you have now bestowed on them the sobriquet "western." now they can get on with their lives.

mexico city, sao paulo are western, but modern? again you are conflating those terms, but i guess complexity and sublety ellude you, again.