Pan Am Games 2019

[_Jay]

Sooooooo......we couldn’t find anybody to run faster than 47? to lead off the 4x4?? Smh ����*♂️The under 18 team would’ve dominated these guys. Pitiful.

Cherry and the kid Robinson ran great. London just didn’t have the normal juice after a long season. Might have been better off anchoring with the kid. *shrug*.

On to Doha....

[Peter Michaelson]

Well, that was an interesting womens hammer ceremony

What happened?

[dpasv]

Sooooooo......we couldn’t find anybody to run faster than 47? to lead off the 4x4?? Smh ����*♂️The under 18 team would’ve dominated these guys. Pitiful.

Cherry and the kid Robinson ran great. London just didn’t have the normal juice after a long season. Might have been better off anchoring with the kid. *shrug*.

On to Doha....

I thought both relay lead legs were disappointing. However, there aren't many nations that can come back like they did. Credit goes to Stepter and Cherry for handling their legs with patience and sound position running.

[Vault-emort]

What happened?

I read - insidethegames - that Berry raised her fist as some kind of podium protest. Just popped in here to see if any reason known.

[guru]

I read - insidethegames - that Berry raised her fist as some kind of podium protest. Just popped in here to see if any reason known.

Correct. She said during a post-ceremony interview(the only one shown by ESPN) that she was protesting conditions here in the US.

https://e00-us-marca.uecdn.es/claro/...4824917513.jpg


It should be noted the Pan Am team members did sign a terms sheet with the USOC that includes refraining from political demonstration.

[Ztrappity]

I understand that these teams aren’t together as long and all, but I’m still always amazed that the US can’t put out relays squads that even match what the top collegiate teams do at second-tier world competitions.

[Jaymal04]

I understand that these teams aren’t together as long and all, but I’m still always amazed that the US can’t put out relays squads that even match what the top collegiate teams do at second-tier world competitions.

Most of the time these squads consist of those same collegiate athletes, however, at this point of the year they are long past their peak. If the same line up had run this relay in May/June they would've likely run sub 3.

[thedoorknobbroke]

Well, that was an interesting womens hammer ceremony

https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/...tions-protests

[Chicago]

Berry was so inarticulate during the interview, I had no idea what she was protesting or why. She seemed somewhat foolish.

[Master Po]

I understand the context that Pan-Am is a lower-level meet, but I rather enjoyed following & reading about & watching a bit of this meet. (I also like lower-level European meets, D3 athletics and other such things, and generally like track meets of many kinds -- i.e., I am easily amused.) And as noted by others, quite a few good marks, not only for quite a few individuals who earned PBs, but also several games records, and some other marks of quality beyond those levels.

In reviewing the results, I just figured out an obvious (in retrospect) individual performer who had a very good meet: Laura Esther Galvan Rodriguez, who earned gold in the w5000, after just a bit earlier that day earning 4th in the w1500, in a PB. Not having heard of her, I looked at her IAAF profile and saw that I probably did briefly note her a decade ago. She was a double medalist at Pan-Am juniors in 2009 (3k gold, 1500m bronze), and also in two events at WJC in 2010. Then she was a collegiate athlete in 2012, 2014-2015 -- not sure where, but a Big 12 school, maybe K-State (I didn't try to figure this out). Then no results at all for 2016-2018, before returning to competition this year. Some of you more directly involved with NCAA track probably know/knew her. As for 2016-2018, turns out she retired to pursue a professional career in food sciences.

This brief article (Spanish, followed by a pretty good English translation) explains a bit about her post-collegiate retirement before returning this year:

https://www.vidaenelvalle.com/sports...233750237.html

And her IAAF profile:

https://www.iaaf.org/athletes/mexico...-galvan-257240

[br]

Then she was a collegiate athlete in 2012, 2014-2015 -- not sure where, but a Big 12 school, maybe K-State

Yep, K-State.

https://www.kstatesports.com/news/20...-am-games.aspx

"One of the top distance runners in school history, Galvan advanced to the NCAA Cross Country Championships twice (2012, 2014) as an undergraduate at K-State. She also finished in the Top 15 at the Big 12 Cross Country Championship on three occasions (2012, 2013, 2014), earning All-Big 12 honors in each season.

[Master Po]

Thanks for the additional info, br.

Edit:
PS I think the time Galvan ran for 4th in the w1500, 4:10.53, is a Mexican NR.

[Vault-emort]

I had no idea what she was protesting or why

Looks like you can't discuss her protest in this thread. Seems a bunch of posts from last night (my time) have been removed - with no explanation - by GH or other mods.