Diamond Dash: "Olympics in a Day" in Zurich Thursday

Cheruyiots of Fire
(TrackAndFieldPhoto)

Only a few days after the completion of the 2011 IAAF Track and Field World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, the always exciting Weltklasse Zürich Diamond League meet kicks off at 2pm eastern Thursday (on UniversalSports.com).

The distance action gets started at 2:15pm with the Women's 5000. Vivian Cheruiyot, coming off a very strong 5000/10,000 double at Daegu, leads a very strong field, including Daegu 5000 Silver Medalist, Sylvia Kibet, 10,000 Silver Medalist, Sally Kipyego and American, Shalane Flanagan. Flanagan's coming off an average 10,000 in Daegu and will look to bounce back and once again take aim at Molly Huddle's American 5000 Record; one that she's come within a second or two of breaking multiple times this summer.

The Women's 800 is the next distance event on tap at 2:50pm. This field is stacked with Daegu winner, Mariya Savinova, Silver Medalist, Caster Semenya and Bronze Medalist, Janeth Jepkosgei. It also has a hungy Jenny Meadows, who missed the finals in Daegu in being outkicked by Maggie Vessey in the semis. Alysia Montano will be ready to go as well after narrowly missing the Bronze by .06 seconds. Finally, Morgan Uceny will look to rebound after being tripped with 500 to go in the 1500 finals, only to watch fellow American, Jenny Simpson, take the Gold.

The Men's 1500 is the penultimate distance event in Zurich at 3:10pm, with Olympic and World Championship Gold Medalist, Asbel Kiprop, leading the way. His countryman and Daegu Silver Medalist, Silas Kiplagat, will look for revenge in front of the sold out (in advance) Zurich crowd. Another exciting entry will be 800 meter Silver Medalist, Abubaker Kaki. Kaki ran an excellent 3:31 earlier in the season and has mentioned doubling in the 800 and 1500 in London. This will be a great field to test himself against. Finally, there are two Americans in the field, but both are pacemakers. Old reliable, David Krummenacker, will be there along with 800 meter national champ, Nick Symmonds. It will be interesting to see how Symmonds handles pacing a 3:30-ish race (and how long he goes. My guess 1000 meters max).

The last distance event of the day is the Men's Steeplechase, which goes off at 3:35pm. Will Daegu dancing star (and Gold Medalist), Ezekiel Kemboi, be there? Yes, indeed. Paul Koech, who was left off Kenya's Daegu roster, will be there to challenge. The field is a little down beyond that, as Brimin Kipruto and the two frenchies (Tahri and Mekhissi-Benabbad) won't be there. American Ben Bruce will have his hands full and will look to improve on his breakthrough 8:19.10 personal best (that he set earlier this year).

There will be plenty of excellent sprint and field events going on as well as Zurich always gets the best talent. Watch live on UniversalSports.com or later on Universal Sports television.

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Daily Daegu: Matt Centrowitz surprises with Bronze Medal

Matt Centrowitz did big things in 2011

From NCAA Champion to surprise USA Champion to World Championships 1500 Bronze Medal, it's been quite a season for the University of Oregon's Matt Centrowitz. Once again, Centro executed an excellent race plan in getting to the podium in Daegu. New Zealand's Nick Willis took the early lead at right about 3:45 1500 pace and Centro tucked in right behind, not giving up the rail. The proved to be an excellent tactic in the semis and it proved the same in the final. When the group behind him began to charge, he maintained his composure and began to kick with 250 to go. He closed harder than anyone in the final 100, looking super smooth in his shifting of gears and rolling past everyone but Kenyan favorites, Asbel Kiprop (Gold) and Silas Kiplagat (Silver) to finish a strong third in 3:36.08. What a way to finish an excellent season.

The field saw a lot of Bolt's back tonight

The Women's 4x400 team matched the Men with another Gold, and Danielle Carruthers took the Silver and Dawn Harper the Bronze in the Women's 100 hurdles (aka the Sally Pearson Party). The Usain Bolt show closed the night with an excellent win in 19.40. Walter Dix ran the second fastest time of his life in 19.70 for the Silver, while a hard charging Christophe "White Lightning" Lemaitre broke 20 for the first time, bringing home the Bronze in a French National Record of 19.80.

Day 9 kicks off tonight for us in America (and in the morning in Daegu) with the Men's Marathon at 8pm eastern. Once again, it will likely look like a Kenya vs. Ethiopia dual meet up front, but with a stronger Ethiopian contingent than on the Women's side. Watch out for NYC Marathon winner, Ethiopian Gebre Gebremariam, to sit and try to take it from one of the Kenyans at the end. Vincent Kipruto, Benjamin Kiptoo and Abel Kirui will lead the Kenyan assault against Gebremariam and countryman, Feyisa Lilesa.

The final session on the track kicks off at 6:40am eastern with the Men's 5000. This is an event that many distance fans have been waiting for. Is this Bernard Lagat's chance at Gold? Is this Mo Farah's chance at redemption? Can Galen Rupp run as smart and tactically as Matt Centrowitz, and sneak on the medal stand? Will Imane Merga throw anyone to the track? Lots of questions for the 5k, but it should be a good one. To make the medal stand, you better be ready to run a sub 4:00 final mile and possibly a sub 53 final 400 if it gets real tactical.

Next up is the final distance race of the championships, the Women's 800. This will be another excellent race as no one is quite sure which Caster Semenya will show up. If she runs like she did in the semis, it's over. If she runs like she has the rest of the season, it's anyone game. Jamaica's Kenia Sinclair  has had an excellent season, but barely snuck in. Same with Kenya's Janeth Jepkosgei. Can Maggie Vessey or Alysia Montano make the medal stand? They've surely got a great shot. If Vessey closes like she did in the semis, finishing second to Russia's Yuliya Rusanova, she should be in the cards. We'll know at 7:15am.

Closing it all out will be the Women's 4x100 at 7:35am and the Men's 4x100 at 8:00am. Can the Women and/or Men top Jamaica for Gold? Can both teams finish without dropping the baton? We'll know in less than 24 hours!

Watch the action unfold on Universal Sports.

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Daily Daegu: Maggie Vessey powers into Women's 800 Final

Vessey drops the hammer in the last 10
(TrackAndFieldPhoto)

Maggie Vessey got things started in the night session of Day 7 at Daegu by running a near perfect race in the semis of the Women's 800. Vessey glided by Great Britain's Jenny Meadows in the final meters to secure a spot in the final and thus eliminating Meadows, a medal favorite in the process. Her time was a quick 1:58.98 and was the slowest of the 8 qualifiers for the final. Alysia Montano sprinted into the final as well with one of the two time qualifiers. The other non-auto qualifier was Jamaica's Kenia Sinclair, another favorite. The final is going to be a good one, but watch out for Caster Semenya. As I mentioned on Twitter this morning, it looks like she's been sandbagging. Her final 200 in the semis was lightning fast. If she unleashes something like that in the finals, it will be a fight for Silver.

The Women's 5000 was a hard fought battle between the Kenyans and Ethiopians, specifically the eventual winner, Vivian Cheruiyot, her teammate, Sylvia Kibet (Silver) and Ethiopia's Meseret Defar (Bronze). The only competitor to break up the Kenya/Ethiopia dual meet was our own Lauren Fleshman, who dug deep and kicked down Ethiopia's Genzebe Dibaba in the final steps, for a very respectable 7th in 15:09.25 (one place better than she finished at USA's). Amy Hastings didn't have it today, but for a marathoner to even make the 5000 Final at Worlds is quite the accomplishment.

In the sprints, Usain Bolt, Walter Dix and Christophe Lemaitre look like the medal favorites in the 200, where Veronica Campbell Brown took Gold in the Women's 200 Final, with Carmelita Jeter taking Silver and Allyson Felix taking Bronze. The Men's 4x400 Relay had to work for it, but in the end, LaShawn Merritt used a miler's sit and kick tactics and powered home on the last straightaway to secure the American Gold.

Day 8 has the Men's 50k Race Walk in the morning and then gets fired up on the Track at night (or the early morning Stateside). The fun starts at 7:15am eastern with the Men's 1500. Matt Centrowitz has surprised with his calm and veteran-like demeanor in qualifying for his first World Final. Should we really be that surprised though? Centro has proved to be an excellent rounds and tactical race runner. The final should see how good he really is. A medal shouldn't be out of the question, and at minimum, he should be there in the mix with 200 to go. He'll have quite the competition, with Kenyan favorites Asbel Kiprop ('08 Olympic Gold Medalist) and Silas Kiplagat ('11 World Leader), as well as Nick Willis ('08 Silver Medalist), Mehdi Baala ('08 Bronze Medalist), plus many others, including the most improved, and most beloved, "Bullet with the Mullet," Ireland's (via Florida State) Ciaran O'Lionaird. Check out Flotrack's prediction contest as well.

Closing out Day 8 will be three sprint races. The first is Women's 4x400 Relay at 7:40am. Can they match the Men's Gold? Next up is the Women's 100 hurdles at 8:00am, where they have to run the semis 1:45 beforehand. Closing out the day at 8:20am will be Mr. Bolt vs. the World in the Men's 200 final. Walter Dix looked great in the semis, but can he stay within a few tenths of the king? We'll see. He may not have to if Bolt "false starts" again.

Follow along at Universal Sports!

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