Folks----
Here are a few thoughts from our very own (WRA '68, my roommate
and co-captain) David Hunter about the Olympic track & field competition,
which begins (wait for it!!!!!!!!).............. TOMORROW, 03/August!!!!
______________________________________________________________________
This is the second half of a series we asked David Hunter to
consider. What questions, left open from the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials, would be
answered at the London Olympics. We think David did a nice job in asking the
big questions. What do you think? Let us know, email me at larry.eder@gmail.com.
Thanks!
Right On Track
By Dave Hunter
July 31, 2012
A large measure of the enjoyment of an approaching Olympic Games - indeed any
highly-awaited sporting event - is the speculation about the athletes, their
expected performances, and the anticipated event outcomes. The London
Olympiad is no different. And while this building excitement reaches
across all Olympic sports, there is, to be sure, no shortage of enthusiasm or
conjecture surrounding the running, the jumping, and the throwing that will
begin this Friday in London's Olympic Stadium.
Athletics - to use the old-school vernacular - is, of course, comprised of
track events and field events. Last week, the focus was on selected,
lingering questions surrounding United States' athletes competing on the
track. This week, the light will shine on a half dozen unanswered
inquiries related to American field performers competing in the field
events.
1. Will the USA women be poised performers in the competitive high
jump?
The US is sending a curious trio of women high jumpers to the Olympic
Games. The threesome represents, in essence, the evolutionary career-span
of an athlete: the talented, emerging heir apparent [Brigetta Barrett];
the dominant athlete in her prime [Chaunte Lowe]; and the comebacking legend
[Amy Acuff].
Can one member - or perhaps more than one - of this trio produce the type of
poised performance that can win a medal? A scan of the world competitors
suggests that podium positions could be garnered by one or more of America's
lady high jumpers. Only one athlete [Russia's Anna Chickerova - with
jumps of 2.02m [6'7½"] and 2.03m [6'7¾"] has leaped higher than the
2.01 [6'7"] clearances made by Barrett and Lowe this year. With Tia Hallebaut,
the upset gold medalist at the Beijing Games, under-performing this year and
the always-popular Blanka Vlasic sidelined by injury, the opportunity is there
for unexpected medalists in this event.
Lowe, with substantial international experience, is the quintessential cool
competitor and is most likely to perform at her best in London's massive
Olympic Stadium. Her OT performance demonstrated that she has come all
the way back from the maternity leave that limited her competitions and
performances in 2011. Barrett is an enormous talent with what many
believe is yet-untapped upside potential. But she will need to show that
her nearly-nonexistent international experience will not limit her performance
on the Olympic stage. Acuff solidified her legacy as a high-jumping icon
by coming out of retirement to post the "A" standard and then make
her 5th Olympic team. As an Olympic veteran, Acuff will undoubtedly turn in an
unflappable performance in London. But her 2012 best clearance of 1.95
[6'4¾"] suggests that an Olympic medal is likely out of reach for her this
time.
2. Will High Jumper Jesse Williams produce an Olympic performance
worthy of the world champion that he is?
Last year, American high jumper Jesse Williams won the USA outdoor national
championship with a PR leap of 2.37m [7'9¼"] - a height that proved to be
the world's highest clearance in 2011. Williams carried that momentum on
to Daegu where he jumped 2.35m [7'8½"] to win the world championship gold
medal. By the end of 2011, Williams had won the Samsung Diamond league
title and was named the Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year by USATF.
Williams had the table set perfectly as the Olympic year began.
But the pathway to London has not been without challenges for the reigning
world champion. Earlier this year, Williams captured the USATF indoor
title and, in June, he notched a high jump win at the New York Adidas Grand
Prix Diamond League meeting with an impressive meet-record clearance of 2.36m
[7'8¾"]. But the world champion dodged a bullet at the Olympic
Trials. Williams was relegated to fourth place in the high jump final
when Nick Ross cleared 2.28 on his first attempt. But Williams' fourth
place finish was just good enough to send him to London since Ross lacked the
all-important "A" standard leap [2.31] necessary to make the
team.
To keep things in perspective, it must be remembered that only two other
athletes year have made higher clearances this year than Williams' New York
jump of 2.36m [7'8¾"]. The Russian duo of Ivan Ukhov [2.39m] [7'10"]
and Andrey Silnov [2.37] [7'9¼"] will be definite medal contenders in
London. The possibility of a throw-back Olympic high jump battle between
American and Russian athletes evokes memories of the fierce high jump
competitions of the 1960's between John Thomas and Valeriy Brumel and suggests
that the men's high jump competition will provide great theater on the Olympic
stage.
But can Williams bring his "A" game to the London competition?
There is some evidence that Williams' near-disaster in Eugene may have proved
to be just the wake-up call he needed. Last week in Monaco, the world
champion appeared to be back on track as he rang up a much-needed,
confidence-building victory with a winning jump of 2.33 [7'7½"] .
Jesse Williams knows what he needs to do. And he has shown he has the
proven ability to do it. Now he has to put it all together when it counts
- at the 30th Olympiad.
3. Can Jill Camarena-Williams or Michelle Carter summon up the
career-defining throw that will earn an Olympic medal?
A look-back into the annals of track and field would reveal many documented
occasions when two closely-matched performers in the same event have
unwittingly inspired each other to reach their respective potentials through
spirited competitions that served to bring out the best in both. Think
about it: Ryun and Liquori; Coe and Ovett; Gebresaillasse and Tergat;
Eaton and Hardee - the list could go on and on. We can currently witness
that phenomenon at work with American shot put performers Jill
Camarena-Williams and Michelle Carter. In recent years, each has pushed
and inspired the other to practice with focus and compete with intensity.
How might this competitive duo fare at the London Games? The competition
promises to be tough and deep. While multiple-time national champion
Camarena-Williams' current season - highlighted by her OT victory in the shot -
is on a wonderful trajectory toward the Games, her 2012 best heave of 19.82m
[65'¼"] places her behind the 2012 bests of 4 other competitors.
But it's all about doing it in the Olympics. Camarena-Williams' bronze
medal-winning performance in the 2011 world championships shows that she can
produce at the pressure-packed championship venues. She just needs to
find that career-defining throw - that big bomb - that can get her on the
podium. The task may be more daunting for Carter. Eleven different
athletes have thrown farther than Carter's seasonal best of 19.32m
[63'4½"].
With 4 competitors having thrown over 20m - two of whom have thrown over 21m
[Belarus' Nadzeva Ostapchuk at 21.58 [70'9½"] and New Zealand's Valerie
Adams at 21.11 [69'3"] - the chances for an American medal in this event
are narrow, but not non-existent. Remember, it only takes that one big
throw...
4. Could Hoffa, Whiting, and Cantwell perform the unspeakable
accomplishment that wasn't achieved in 2008?
Track and field might be better off if it became a little more superstitious
like other sports - where premature conjecture about anticipated performance is
considered a jinxing practice. During the
last Olympic year, more than a few knowledgeable track and field fans began
crowing - prematurely, it turned out - about the likelihood that the U.S. men
would "Sweep" the Beijing medals in the shot put. There has
been little or no talk of a "Sweep" at this Olympiad - although the
prospects of shot put dominance by the U.S. men seem no less compelling this
time around.
Heading into the Games, the members of the US men's shot put trio - Christian
Cantwell [22.31m / 73'2¼" ]; Reese Hoffa [22.00m / 72'2"]; and Ryan
Whiting [21.66m / 71'¾" ] - have seasonal best heaves longer than any of
their foreign competitors. But a quartet of non-American shot putters -
led by Poland's Tomasz Majewski [21.60m / 70'10¼"] and Germany's David
Storl [21.58m / 70'9½"] - is ready to pounce if any of the American's
would falter when it counts.
The three Americans have done more than just compile impressive pre-Olympic
performances. They are hungry for London success and they know what they have
to do.
Following his Trials victory, Hoffa acknowledged that London would be his final
Games - and his last chance to secure an Olympic medal. In assessing his
prospects, Hoffa candidly offered, "It is more about taking care of my body
from here, going into the competition feeling good. I know I have to be
more aggressive and just go for it."
Cantwell, with the year's longest throw which he posted in the weeks leading up
to the Games, knows what it takes to capture an Olympic medal. He took
the silver in Beijing 4 years ago. And he won the world championship in
the shot in 2009 in Berlin. With his early-season maladies apparently now
behind him, Cantwell seems to be poised for a pinnacle performance in London.
Whiting, the new-comer of the group, excelled under pressure in Eugene and
blocked frenzied shot veteran Adam Nelson from another Olympic
appearance. At 25, the recent Arizona State graduate is still perfecting
the subtleties of the craft. And although Whiting lacks extensive
international experience, his winning performance at the 2012 indoor world
championships should help him stay composed and focused in the ring in
London.
So, like baseball and other sports, let's be superstitious. Gentlemen, we
promise to refrain from using the "S" word in discussing anticipated
Olympic shot put outcomes in the hopes that you three will perform at the top
of your game in London.
5. Can the USA's upstart triple jump duo hold off the world?
It's a long way from the humid climes of Gainesville, Florida to London's
Olympic Stadium. But that is the pathway that has been followed by
Christian Taylor and Will Claye, America's two premier triple jumpers.
With Olympic athletics prepared to get underway within days, the former Florida
Gator teammates Taylor [17.63m / 57'10"] and Claye [17.55m / 57'6¾"]
are the world's two top 2012 triple jump performers. While pre-Olympic
marks are of no value once the Games begin, there is supporting evidence to
suggest that the American duo is well prepared to post top flight marks on the
London runway. Both athletes are healthy and their progressive performances
leading up to London are hopeful signs for special Olympic performances by
these two young athletes.
But a handful of foreign Olympic competitors will be nipping at the Americans'
heels. Russia's Lyukman Adams [17.53m / 57'6"] and Italy's Fabrizio Donato
[17.52m / 57'5¾"] head a small group of non-American triple jumpers who
could earn a spot on the medal stand. Also, a sizeable home-field advantage
will undoubtedly be provided to the defending Olympic champion Phillip Idowu -
a Brit. While the reigning gold-medalist has yet to pop a truly impressive jump
this year, the British roar within the Olympic Stadium might be just the
inspiration Idowu needs to summon up a magical Olympic moment.
6. Who will be the USA's unexpected Olympic field medalist?
The joy that surrounds the unexpected Olympic medalist is always a highlighted
moment of the Games. The United States track and field contingent always
seems to produce at least one at every Olympiad. Who will be the field
athlete to surprise this year?
Might it be Marquise Goodwin in the long jump? Over the years, it has
been increasingly difficult for college track and field athletes - burdened by
the rigors of the lengthy collegiate seasons - to even make the USA Olympic
team, much less earn at medal at the Games. And while it is true that the
resilient Goodwin has posted some of the top long jump marks this year, an
Olympic medal for this Texas Longhorn would be an unexpected - and joyful -
capstone to an impressive season.
How about Brigetta Barrett in the high jump? All eyes will be on
prime-time performer Chaunte Lowe, Queen of the High jump. But Barrett
displayed uncommon composure in Eugene to match Lowe jump for jump and earn her
trip to London. If Barrett can handle the bright lights of London's big stage
and jump to her capability, we just might see her on the medal stand.
Could Erik Kynard, another collegian, step up in the high jump? There is
something about Kynard's swagger, his Stonesian high jump confidence, that
suggests that he might not only survive the Olympic pressure cooker - he may
well thrive in the Games' spotlight. With only Jesse Williams and 4
foreign athletes with higher 2012 clearances, a medal winning performance by
Kynard is a distinct possibility. And wouldn't we like to see Kynard replace
that silly Burger King crown he wore after his NCAA win earlier this year with
an infinitely more tasteful - and unexpected - Olympic medal?
~Dave Hunter
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Papa G