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: On the last day, Mo Farah gets his Gold

Farah's eyes now turn to London 2012

The Brits will have a lot to be excited about heading into London 2012. After many years of mediocrity in the distance events, they now have the favorite, or at minimum, co-favorite, for both the 5000 and 10,000 in Mo Farah. Farah looked great on Day 9 in Daegu, taking charge when he needed to and powering home for that Gold Medal in the 5000; the one he desperately wanted in the 10,000. His winning time was 13:23.26. Bernard Lagat gave a hard charge down the homestretch to pass the Ethiopians, Imane Merga and Dejen Gebremeskel, for Silver, but ran out of room to catch Farah. Merga held on for third, but was disqualified for stepping inside the rail. Karma for his continued jostling with force? Perhaps. Gebremeskel came in fourth, but will be awarded the Bronze. Farah's training partner, Galen Rupp, looked great until about 450 to go, when he just couldn't kick with the big boys. Rupp's last lap was 58, Farah's was 52. Rupp would finish ninth.

The Women's 800 was a barn burner as well, as it looked to be Gold for Caster Semenya with 200 to go. At that point, Russia's Mariya Savinova had one more push and outlasted Semenya to the line to take the Gold in a blazing 1:55.87. The early leader, Kenya's Janeth Jepkosgei, barely held off a diving Alysia Montano, for the Bronze. Montano's time was 1:57.48. Maggie Vessey finished sixth in a season's best of 1:58.50. A strong showing, but not likely what she wanted.

Kirui didn't stay with the pack long

The night before was the Abel Kirui show in the Men's Marathon. Kirui broke free around 25k and ran a 14:17 5k from 25k to 30k. That was enough to secure his victory and his victory was huge. Kenya's Vincent Kipruto finished second in 2:10:06, which was 2:28 behind Kirui's 2:07:38. Kirui is now a repeat World Champion. Can he bring that kind of intensity to London next year? He'll surely have better competition, but he would have beaten just about anyone today. Ethiopia's Feyisa Lilesa broke up the Kenyan sweep with a Bronze finish in 2:10:32. Mike Morgan, of the Hanson-Brooks Distance Project, was the top American in 31st in 2:18:30. Nick Arciniaga, the most accomplished American on the team, finished a disappointing 41st in 2:24:06. Hard to think he'll truly be a threat to make the London team with a performance like that going into the trials, but maybe he was holding back a little or just having a bad day. The Marathon is a strange beast.

The night finished with the 4x100's. The Women's went off first and the Americans did not disappoint. Bianca Knight got off to a great start, Allyson Felix worked the backstretch, Marshevet Myers ran an unbelievable curve and Carmelita Jeter isn't going to give away a lead in the final stretch. A job well done and a Gold Medal to show. The Men were up next and would be the last event on the track for the 2011 IAAF Track and Field World Championships. The Jamaicans were the heavy favorite and delivered as promised. They went above and beyond with a new World Record in 37.04. All this without Asafa Powell. The Americans failed to finish yet again, although this was just as much the British team's fault as it was Doc Patton's. Coming around the third curve, Patton caught an elbow from Great Britain's Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, sending him to the track and ending the United States' chances at Silver. Could it have been avoided? Probably. Just more disappointment for the 4x100. Not much you can do in that situation, except to be aware it may happen next time.

All in all, the 2011 IAAF Track and Field Championships went off without a hitch. The United States got more medals than expected and had some very nice surprises in the distance events with Jenny Simpson taking the Gold in the 1500 and Matt Centrowitz taking the Bronze in the 1500 as well. All eyes will focus on London 2012 now. Hope you enjoyed the coverage here and on Universal Sports!

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