ActiveKix : Stories kicked by tsumner1

Jelimo hones in on historic mark; Bolt electrifies in Zürich - ÅF Gold

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:14:09 GMT

"Lightning Bolt" electrified us again but there was to be no storming finish in Zürich. While not quite as extravagantly coasting to victory as he did in the Beijing 100m final, Jamaica's Usain Bolt was smoothness personified as he made up for an appalling start. His 0.193 reaction time to the gun was the slowest of the entire nine man line-up, but he effortlessly cut through the field from about 30 metres out to take a comfortable victory in 9.83 sec (-0.5m/s wind).

Sport goes on...Post-Olympic prognosis

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:14:13 GMT

But we're back on the road again and looking forward to the upcoming sports action. There is no rest for the athletes from Beijing, because the biggest single day athletics meeting in the world takes place this Friday in Zurich. The "Weltklasse" (world class, literally translated) is often described as the Olympic Games in 3 hours, and this year it features 41 medalists from Beijing, as well as 14 Olympic Champions.

Clay named Athlete of the Week

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:14:01 GMT

2008 World Indoor champion Bryan Clay has been named USA Track & Field's Athlete of the Week after winning the gold medal in the decathlon at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. The first U.S. Olympic decathlon champ since Dan O'Brien in 1996, Clay amassed 8,791 points in capturing the Olympic gold medal. He won the event by 240 points over silver medalist Andrei Krauchanka of Belarus, which is the largest winning margin at an Olympic Games decathlon since 1972.

Team USA: Day 7 Track Recap

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:14:00 GMT

TEAM USA COMPLETELY DOMINATES MEN'S 400M FINAL - ALLYSON FELIX TAKES HOME SILVER IN THE WOMEN'S 200M FINAL - TEAM USA DOES NOT ADVANCE TO FINALS in 400-M RELAY, BATONS DROPPED

Merritt leads sweep of 400; USA brings medal tally to 20

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:14:00 GMT

Merritt the man at 400 meters Still considered an underdog entering the 400 meters, Olympic Trials champion LaShawn Merritt (Suffolk, Va.) had only one goal, and that was gold. In the end, he led the second consecutive Olympic sweep for Team USA in the one-lap race, including Jeremy Wariner (Waco, Texas) and David Neville (Los Angeles).

Bolt's 2nd jolt: 200 world mark

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:14:10 GMT

Bolt made Olympic history Wednesday night by winning the 200 meters in 19.30 seconds, running into a slight headwind, lowering Michael Johnson's world record of 19.32 set at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. Coupled with his victory in the 100 meters in 9.69 Saturday, Bolt is the first man to win both events in the same Olympics while establishing world records. And he's the first man since Don Quarrie in 1976, also from Jamaica, to simultaneously hold world records in both the 100 and 200.

Exciting Men's 1,500m Final, Men's 400m Semis Go to Form

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:14:01 GMT

Ramzi Outduels Kiprop, Willis Parlays a Career Race into Bronze

Many Medal Contenders - Previews of Men's 800m and 5,000m

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:14:11 GMT

Welcome to the latest installment in our series of Olympic Track and Field previews. We give you extensive overviews of upcoming distance events, occasionally followed by briefer looks at other events of interest. Following each event preview is a descending order list of the principal contenders and the American entrants, their best marks and their results in individual events in Olympic Games and World Championships. More installments will follow as start lists are determined.

Ethiopian Jarso breaks 28-year-old national steeplechase record

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:14:00 GMT

Beijing, China - Monday night in the Bird's Nest reminded us all that one of the beauties of athletics is its unpredictability. While we have all come to expect a clean sweep for Kenya in the men's 3000m steeplechase, Frenchman Mahiedine Mekhissi surprised by winning silver behind Kenyan Brimin Kipruto but significantly ahead of African champion Richard Mateelong.

Isinbayeva puts on a show!

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 13:14:10 GMT

Beijing, China - Ask any theatre director what actors do when left to their own devices. They end up downstage centre, that's to say, right in the middle of the spotlight. Cue Yelena Isinibayeva. On her own admission, after bringing the house down yet again, clearing 5.05 metres to win her second Olympic gold and set her 24th World record, she loves nothing more than having the stage to herself.

Harper wins 100 hurdles, Richards takes bronze in 400

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 14:14:00 GMT

BEIJING - A thrilling win for Dawn Harper, a bronze for Sanya Richards and a heartbreak for Lolo Jones made for a tumultuous Tuesday night at the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium. The 2003 USA junior champion, Harper (Los Angeles) was considered by many to have a possible shot at a medal in the 100m hurdles final, but no one expected gold. It was teammate Lolo Jones who seemed destined for the top of the podium, owning the fastest time in the world and winning her races by large margins. Although a bit slow out of the blocks, Jones (Baton Rouge, La.) rallied quickly and was clear of the field by the eighth hurdle. The normally clean-hurdling Jones hit the ninth hurdle, made it over the 10th hurdle and ended in seventh place (12.72). Behind her, the field moved up, with Harper winning in a personal-best time of 12.54 seconds, with Sally McLellan of Australia second in 12.64 and Priscilla Lopes-Schliep of Canada third in 12.64. Team USA's Damu Cherry (Winter Garden, Fla.) was fourth in 12.65.

In a Flash, a Kenyan Woman Wins Gold in the 800 Meters

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:14:10 GMT

In truth, Ethiopian women had far surpassed Kenyan women at the Summer Games, winning five gold medals since 1992. On Monday night, Kenya finally got one of its own, as the teenager Pamela Jelimo won a decisive victory in the 800 meters in 1 minute 54.87 seconds.

Failure to Qualify for 1,500 Final Knocks the Wind Out of Lagat

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:14:00 GMT

BEIJING - At the finish line, Bernard Lagat bent over, exhausted. He could not remember being pushed like this in nearly a decade, not in a semifinal heat of the 1,500 meters.

Beijing 2008 News Flash: Liu Xiang out with injury

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 13:14:08 GMT

Face of Beijing games out with apparent Achilles injury

Taylor leads 400H sweep; Brown wins first women's discus gold since '3

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 14:14:00 GMT

BEIJING - Team USA's first gold medal in these Beijing Olympic Games came from a most unexpected source, but it opened the floodgates as Team USA more than doubled its medal count Monday night at the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium. A sweep in the men's 400m hurdles, gold in the women's discus and silver in the women's pole vault propelled the team medal count from four to nine in a single night.

Lightning-fast Bolt wins Olympic 100m

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 13:14:10 GMT

BEIJING (AP) - Usain Bolt rewrote the record books again and captured his first Olympic gold medal Saturday, running the 100-meter dash in a stunning 9.69 seconds for a blowout win that could have been even worse. It was no contest as the 21-year-old Jamaican took a huge lead halfway through the race, then held his arms out wide, turned his palms up, pounded his chest and started celebrating a good 10 strides before he reached the finish line.

Dibaba smashes Olympic 10,000m record as two dip under 30 minutes!

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 14:14:08 GMT

Perhaps the gold medallist tonight was no great surprise, yet few would have predicted the race would throw up the second and third fastest times in history, an Olympic record, African, European and North America records and a World Junior record to boot in a truly staggering demonstration of distance running. Of course, it was Tirunesh Dibaba who crossed the line first. The Ethiopian distance running icon finally adding the Olympic crown to her three World titles over the distance as once again she proved unbeatable on the track.

Gay doesn't qualify for 100 meter finals

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 14:14:00 GMT

Tyson Gay, the U.S. recordholder and world champion, was eliminated in the 100 meters semifinal Saturday at the Beijing Olympics. Gay finished fifth, one spot out of a berth in Saturday evening's final, in the second semifinal at the Bird's Nest, filled to capacity at 91,000. "It was kind of devastating," said Gay who has been bothered by a hamstring injury. "I may have needed more races, but I don't really have any excuses. I just didn't make it. My hamstring feels good, it's not bothering me. I wasn't too overwhelmed with it being the Olympics. It just was one of those things that happened.

Phelps wins 100m butterfly thriller to tie Spitz's gold mark

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:14:08 GMT

Phelps finished the 100-meter butterfly Saturday morning (Friday night ET) with a half-stroke that looked like a mistake and, on some replays, like a loss, but turned into gold medal No. 7 in his Beijing Olympic collection. "It's almost too close to see," Phelps admitted of his winning margin of one-hundredth of a second over Serbia's Milorad Cavic, which sparked a protest and video review but was upheld.

Olympic Games - Day 1, Session 1 Report

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:14:00 GMT

near capacity crowd was on hand at the "Bird's Nest" as Jamaican world record holder Usain Bolt, reigning world champion Tyson Gay of the U.S. and former world record holder Asafa Powell shook off the rust in the first round on the men's 100m. No major surprises emerged from the opening round, with Bolt (10.20), Powell (10.16) and Gay (10.22) all advanced easily. Briton Tyrone Edgar, the winner of the sixth heat in 10.13, produced the quickest performance of the morning.

LetsRun.com Olympic Preview

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:14:00 GMT

Beijing is Here, Olympics Kick Off With Women's 10k Final, Men's Shot Final, 100m Showdown Getting Underway, Round 1 of Steeples, Men's 1,500m and Women's 800m

Swimming world records: Meaningless sub-titles in Olympic glory?

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 14:14:00 GMT

Today must have been an 'off-day' for the Beijing Water Cube. "Only" 2 world records was broken in this morning's competitions, those of the 200m Butterfly for women, and the 4 x 200m Freestyle for women. Admittedly, the latter record was smashed, by all of 5.79 seconds, but the rest of the day was something of an anomaly, because of the relative lack of appearance of the letters "WR" alongside a winning time in the Beijing pool

Phelps wins fifth gold in Beijing

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:14:00 GMT

BEIJING (AP) -- For Michael Phelps, it's not enough to just set a new standard. He has to demolish the old one. Winningest Olympian ever? He's two golds past that already and not finished yet, just over halfway to his goal of breaking Mark Spitz's record seven in a single Olympics.

Phelps, Coughlin and Peirsol spark medal run

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:14:00 GMT

BEIJING - This time, Michael Phelps made it look easy. Phelps continued his run toward a record eight Olympic gold medals Tuesday morning (Monday night, Eastern time) with a never-in-doubt victory in the 200-meter freestyle, the only individual event he didn't win at the 2004 Olympics.

Beijing 2008: Men's 200 m Freestyle : The Michael Phelps show rolls on

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:14:00 GMT

In case you did not hear by now, a quick glance at our "Phelps medal counter" in the upper left of the screen will tell you that Michael Phelps has kept his quest for eight medals alive by pummeling the field in the men's 200 m freestyle. Need we mention that he set another world record in doing so? He shaved nearly a second off his own previous record of 1:43.86 and finished nearly two seconds ahead of South Korea's Park Tae-Hwan in lowering the record to 1:42.96. So it was a repeat of sorts when we saw him atop the podium with an official straining to drape the gold medal over Phelps' neck. He again demonstrated his sheer dominance in the freestyle by opening up a half-body length lead after the first lap and continued to pull away from the field on each sucessive leg.