Meb Keflezighi closes out a strong American showing in London

Meb Keflezighi streams the flag down the homestretch
(photo: The Oregonian)

Going into the final "Athletics" event Sunday, the United States Track and Field Team had earned 29 medals; only one short of Doug Logan's lofty goal of 30. All eyes were on fan favorite, Ryan Hall, to compete and potentially get that 30th medal. Needless to say, that didn't happen. Hall, along with Abdi Abdirahman, would both drop out just after the 10 mile mark. The man that came in with little fanfare nearly delivered #30 to a man that's no longer in office.

The word on the street, specifically from Meb Keflezighi's longtime coach, Bob Larsen, was that Meb had been injured and that he was under trained. With that knowledge available, no one gave much of a shot to the 2004 Athens Silver Medalist. And sadly, once Hall and Abdi dropped, I feared Meb may too. Luckily, that outcome was not in the cards.

Instead, Keflezighi slowed worked his was way up from 17th at the halfway mark to 14th at 25k to 10th at 30k to 6th at 35k, and finally, to 4th at the finish line. He was never in medal contention and finished 1:29 behind third placer, Kenya's Wilson Kipsang, but his run further validated his return to glory, after a disappointing 2008 Olympic Marathon Trials, one where he would break his leg and finish 8th, off the Beijing Olympic Team.

A job well done for the veteran. One of many inspiring performances from the American distance squad at the 2012 London Olympics.

Here are a few more of my favorite American Distance Moments of the 2012 games:

• Galen Rupp following his teammate, Mo Farah, to the promise land to earn a Silver Medal in the Men's 10,000 meters (story here).
• Leo Manzano kicking furiously over the last 100 meters of the Men's 1500 to take the Silver Medal, while Matt Centrowitz battled to within .04 seconds of the Bronze (story here).
• Duane Solomon (1:42.82) and Nick Symmonds (1:42.95) going 4,5 in the best 800 final of all time; one where David Rudisha would break the World Record (1:40.91).
• Shannon Rowbury's strong rally for 6th in the Women's 1500; the same race where Morgan Uceny's fall made every distance running fan in America feel sick to their stomach. 
• Evan Jager finishing 6th and Donn Cabral 8th in the Men's 3000 meter Steeplechase. Strong runs by both in an event where the US hasn't done anything in a very long time.
• Emma Coburn's continued improvement in the Women's 3000 meter Steeplechase. Her 9th place finish would net her another PR (9:23.54).
• The Men's 5000. It's been a long while since the United States had three men in the final. All three held their own and a trip with 100 meters to go is the only thing that kept Bernard Lagat off the medal stand.
• All three American's setting PR's in the Women's 10,000. Being your best on the biggest stage is what the Olympics are all about!

And if you're enjoying this Track & Field thing, DN Galan aka Diamond League Stockholm is this Friday, August 17th!

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Diamond Dash: Third time's a charm for Shalane Flanagan at DN Galan?

Dominating at USA XC Champs (TrackAndFieldPhoto)

Shalane Flanagan has made two great runs at the American 5000m Record this season. The first was at "Distance Night in Eugene," running 14:49.68 and the second was a strong 14:45.20 in Paris. Will the third time be the charm for Flanagan in Stockholm? If she can continue taking 4 seconds off per race, she'll be well under Molly Huddle's record of 14:44.76. Flanagan flew under the radar last week running within 1 second of her PR in the 1500 at Monaco in 4:06.63, insinuating she will be ready to go for something in the 14:41 area come Friday afternoon. She'll have another excellent field to pull her along with one potential American threat (Jenny Simpson), OTC's Sally Kipyego, Vivian Cheruiyot, Mercy Cherono, Violet Kibiwot and many other capable of running in the 14:40's (as well as the recovering Lauren Fleshman). Full startlist is here.

Another exciting race in Stockholm is the Men's 400. While I usually stick to covering the 800 and up, I can't wait to see what LaShawn Merritt has in him in the 400. It's obvious at this point that I'm a Tar Heel homer, but I went to ECU for grad school, which is where Merritt ran for one year, so I've always cheered for him. Now I am no fan of drugs in Track & Field, but Merritt's case is a little odd. I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt. I hope he lives up to it and has been training hard, as he could help the US medal count in Daegu in two places (400 and 4x400). From the looks of the startlist, he could potentially be in a "B" heat. If not, he'll have his hands full with Jeremy Wariner, Chris Brown, Jonathan Borlee, Angelo Taylor, Tabarie Henry and Renny Quow.

Other races to watch are the Women's 800 (Uceny, Schmidt, Beckwith, Montano, Semenya), the Men's 1500 (Brown, Brannen, Leer, Manzano, Wheating, Torrence, Willis, Kiplagat, Kiprop, Riseley, Gregson) and of course the finale, the Men's 200, featuring (a recently slower) Usain Bolt.

Full meet info is located here. The event will be broadcast live on UniversalSports.com and later on Universal Sports (with the US team).

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