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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Leo Manzano, American Olympic Silver Medalist

Leo Manzano took the Silver and Matt Centrowitz
was a very close 4th in the Olympic 1500 meters
(photo: TrackAndFieldPhoto)

The resurgence of American Distance Running is alive and well. First, Galen Rupp runs the race of his life for the Silver Medal in the 10,000, and now Leo Manzano has matched him in the controversial Men's 1500 meter final.

Manzano stormed the last 100 meters at a furious pace to close on eventual winner, Alegerian Taoufik Makhloufi, finishing second in 3:34.79, 0.71 second away from Gold. 2011 World Championship Bronze Medalist, Matt Centrowitz, wasn't far behind in fourth. He would finish just behind Morocco's Abdalaati Iguider in 3:35.17.

Makhloufi has been the talk of the games, with his unbelievable finishes through the rounds, and once again in the final tonight. He's also been infamous for his brief exit from the games for not trying in Monday's 800 prelims.

Put Makhloufi's name into Twitter and you will see another reaction; one that sends you down the Rashid Ramzi rabbit hole. Time will tell if these allegations are founded or misguided.

Regardless of speculation, a 2,4 finish in the Olympic 1500 final is phenomenal for the United States. We didn't have anyone in the Olympic final in 2008! Now we are keeping the Kenyans off the podium.

Well done guys.

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The Penn Relays kick off Olympic year coverage of Track and Field on NBC

Leo Manzano ran strong and
then plugged his Twitter handle
(photo: TrackAndFieldPhoto)

With most of the excitement in the American distance running world coming tomorrow at the Payton Jordan Invitational (at Stanford), I tuned into NBC's broadcast of the Penn Relays pretty casually. It's safe to say that my expectations were exceeded (if you followed my Tweets). While I focus on distance running here, I do appreciate the sprints (and more so, the relays) and it was great to see the American stars competing.

With the 4x100 as the first event, it was great to see a strong squad of Mike Rodgers, Justin Gatlin, Doc Patton and Walter Dix looking very strong, especially Gatlin, who appears to be sponsored by Adidas now (in addition to Chinese company XTEP).

So far there have been short pieces with Gatlin, Carmelita Jeter and Allyson Felix. Is Gatlin going to be one of the focal points for public interest stories the Olympic year? It appears that way early. The Women go on and dominate the 4x100 as well.

Now is when I started getting all kinds of interesting inquiries to find more information on certain female middle distance runners. NBC does a short piece on Erica Moore, who came on big during the indoor season to take the US 800 Title and then the Bronze at the World Championships. Unfortunately, her team dropped the baton and she never got to run. With her team's demise, the USA Blue team stormed to victory, thanks to a big last lap and very smartly executed leg by the popular Maggie Vessey. Vessey gives a great interview with Lewis Johnson and the internet starts to explode with Vessey fever.

Dwight Stones then interviews new USATF CEO Max Siegel (who says some nice things) after a piece on Sandra Richards-Ross and you immediately start to think that NBC has done some serious prep for this broadcast. Thank goodness! It was well done from top to bottom with great announcing and nice personal interest pieces to move the story along for some of the most "medal likely" athletes.

You ask & you shall receive "Maggie Vessey nude" googlers

There's plenty of obligatory Bill Cosby shots before they do a recap of last year's Distance Medley. Then the Bernard Lagat party starts. Lagat will be one of the most likely distance medal shots this summer in London (in the 5000). It wasn't his day today, as Leo Manzano got the best of him, but there's few better guys in the sport. Russell Brown and Tyler Mulder had excellent 1200 legs and reminded us of how difficult it's going to be to make the team in the 800 and 1500 this year. David Neville and Michael Tinsley both ran strong 400 legs before a newly shorn Nick Symmonds dominated the 800 leg over Khadevis Robinson. His 1:44.0 split should answer some of the questions that people had about Symmonds early season struggles. He got the baton to Lagat early, but Manzano caught up by lap four and showed his true miler speed down the homestretch.

Now in possibly a planned mention, Manzano plugged his (and his teammates) Twitter account(s). Fascinated by the Darren Rovell numbers side of sports, I immediately hopped over to Manzano's Twitter page and watched the numbers rise and rise. 30 new followers in 30 seconds and probably 100 more in the hour that I paid attention. People are watching and paying attention track and field on television.

The meet ends with an interview with Carl Lewis and US domination in the 4x400's. Sandra Richards-Ross is very fit... and she's married to Super Bowl Champion, Aaron Ross (one thing track fans have heard ad nauseum). Full results are available here. Next up on NBC, Prefontaine (I'll be there).

Future Track on TV broadcasts are available here

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The Run Down: Jenny Simpson's double at USA's leads a big weekend

Simpson had lots to smile about in Albuquerque
 (photo: TrackAndFieldPhoto)

It was another incredible weekend to be a Track and Field fan. Whether you were competing or spectating, it was hard to keep up with it all. The USA Indoor Championships were happening in Albuquerque, NM, tons of conference meets were going on all over the country (USTFCCA has an excellent page with links to all results) and the Brooks PR Invite ended the weekend for the top preps the in country.

Jenny Simpson's performances led the way, as she repeated her 1500/3000 double at USA's. On Friday, she bided her time in the 3000 and took the win in a tactical 9:19.15 over Jackie Areson and Sara Hall and Saturday, she held off a hard charging Brenda Martinez and the newly signed to Nike, Sara Vaughn. It looks like she'll be skipping World's in Instanbul, so the above four ladies will be booking their tickets. Also, it should be noted that Erica Moore looked superb in the 800, winning in a very nice 2:01.08, and pulling her teammate, Phoebe Wright, along with her for a trip to Turkey.

Introducing Erica Moore...
(photo: TrackAndFieldPhoto)

On the Men's side, Bernard Lagat said it best with the line (to the AP): "I just wanted to show those guys that Daddy can still kick." That may have been the understatement of the night, as he left Lopez Lomong, a 1:45 and 3:32 guy in the blocks with a 25 second last lap in the Men's 3000. Duane Soloman made it look easy in the 800 and pulled Michael Rutt along with him to Worlds, while Leo Manzano outkicked an unknowing Matt Centrowitz in the 1500. Centro may indeed have heard him coming after he went past Galen Rupp, but it sure didn't look like it.

In the collegiate world, Southern Utah's Cam Levins quadrupled to help the Thunderbirds take the Summit League Men's title. There was also an 800 round he had to run in there to complete this impressive feat. Here's how his weekend went:

Friday - qualified in 800 semifinal (1:54) then won the 3000 final in 8:19 (meet record).

Saturday - at 1:20 pm, he won the Mile in 4:10. At 2:45 pm, he won the 800 in 1:50 (meet record). Finally, at 3:25 pm, he won the 5000 in 14:35. What a weekend. Hope he's got something left for NCAA's and Outdoor!

Martinez runs out of real estate in the
 1500 (photo: TrackAndFieldPhoto)

Finally, the Brooks PR Invite was back and produced some excellent results. Molly Seidel continued her excellent season by winning a competitive two mile in 10:13.45, while Texas' Daniel Vertiz ran a very strong race from the front and broke the meet record (in the same event) with a nice 8:59.15. He also led North Dakota's Jake Leingang under 9 in the process. Check out Flotrack's Crack Recap here.

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Daily Daegu: Bernard Lagat's quest for Gold starts today

Farah will look to spin Silver in to Gold in the 5000
(TrackandFieldPhoto)

Day 6 at Daegu kicks off tonight at 9:05pm Eastern with the Men's 5000 semis. The top 5 out of each heat qualify for the final in addition to the top 5 times after that. Galen Rupp and Bernard Lagat are in heat 1, with Kenya's Isiah Koech and Thomas Longosiwa, Ethiopia's Dejen Gebremeskel, Australia's Buster Mottram and Collis Birmingham, plus host of other excellent athletes. Kenenisa Bekele was supposed to be in heat 1, but apparently is not running. Andrew Bumbalough, who replaced teaammate Chris Solinsky on the team, is in heat 2 with Ethiopia's Imane Merga, Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge, Ireland's Allistar Cragg (via Mammoth TC), Australia's Ben St. Lawrence and some guy named Mo Farah, who will be looking for redemption. Rupp and Lagat should get through to the finals, but Bumby's gonna have his hands full. It will be a great experience for him at minimum for what's to come. No pressure is good.

The Women's 800 meter prelims go off at 10:40pm. Maggie Vessey goes off in heat 1 (with favorite Jenny Meadows). Alysia Montano goes off in heat 3 (with Janeth Jepkosgei). And finally, Alice Schmidt goes off in heat 4 (with Caster Semenya). All three should have a pretty easy time getting through to the semis, with Montano facing the hardest competition (4 other competitors sub 2:00 this year in her heat).

After an American night's rest and an afternoon's rest in Daegu, the night (Daegu)/morning (America) session will get going at 6:55am with the Men's 1500 Semis. Frenchman Mehdi Baala's protest was successful and he has been advanced to the first heat of the semis and will join Matt Centrowitz, Silas Kiplagat, Amine Laalou, Yusuf Kamel and others in a top 5 go automatically situation. The next 2 times will advance to the finals as well. Leo Manzano is in the second heat, with Asbel Kiprop, Nick Willis, Daniel Komen, Deresse Mekonnen and Irishman Ciaran O'Lionaird. Expect a tough, but doable run for Centro and expect Manzano to cruise through to the final.

Staying one step ahead of Kenya
(TrackAndFieldPhoto)

Next up is the Men's Steeple final at 7:25am. No Americans involved. It will be exciting to see Kenya's Brimin Kipruto coming off a .01 second miss of the World Record, against countryman Ezekiel Kemboi, and the two Frenchmen,  Bob Tahri (Mehdi Baala's training partner) and Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad (Mehdi Baala's sparring partner).

Finally, the Women's 1500 final goes off at 7:55am. Can the Americans get a medal, or possibly two? I would think so. Morgan Uceny has been incredible all year and has looked flawless in the prelims. Jenny Simpson has showed some bite in the prelims and has a furious kick from time to time. Their hands will be full with all the usual suspects involved, but Shannon Rowbury got the bronze in 2009, so they have a great chance to make it happen.

Follow along on Universal Sports and UniversalSports.com and check the results on the IAAF's Daegu page.

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Daily Daegu: Jenny B fights in the 1500, but should she come back to the Steeple?

Simpson threw down multiple moves to
make the final (TrackAndFieldPhoto)

Day 4 was the last busy day before the Day 5 off day (save the Women's 20k Race Walk). The action got started early with the Women's 5000 semi-finals. Amy Hastings ran strong enough out of Heat 1 to get a time qualifier, while Lauren Fleshman left nothing to chance by throwing down a major move with 250 to go to secure a big enough cushion to coast into the finals with an auto qualfier. Hard to believe she was just 8th at USA's. American Record holder, Molly Huddle, wasn't so lucky as she put up a good fight, but her injury and subsequent loss of training ultimately kept her out of the final. She'll be back next year.

The Men's 1500 heats were almost as exciting with Daniel Komen taking a huge lead in heat 1 to secure his entry to the semis, while U of O's Matt Centrowitz securing the final automatic qualifier in that heat. The second heat brought some drama as Frenchman, Mehdi Baala, tripped and went down with 100 to go. The French are protesting, but as of now, he hasn't been passed to the semis. Andrew Wheating's year full of injury ended in this heat, as he just didn't have a kick left. Like Huddle, he'll be ready to dance next year. Amine Laalou won heat 3 with Leo Manzano getting in off time and former Florida State Seminole, Irishman Ciaran O'Lionaird, channelling the power of the mullet and bursting into the final automatic qualifying slot of the heat. What a few months O'Lionaird has had. Going from a poor showing at NCAA's, to an excellent 6 second PR of 3:34 in the 1500, signing a professional contract with Nike and making the World semis in an event that may not even be his best.

Lauren Fleshman, riding dirty (TrackAndFieldPhoto)

The Women's 1500 semis were competitive as multiple time American Champ, Shannon Rowbury, came in next to last, while Morgan Uceny cruised in second, securing an auto-qualifier. Jenny B. Simpson had to fight like crazy, but had that one last move when it counted, to bolt into the lead and finish a comfortable second, making the final.

The Men's 800 went pretty much to plan with David Rudisha toying with the field and Yuriy Borzakovskiy nearly stealing the Silver from Abubaker Kaki with his well honed tactics. Nick Symmonds gave it quite a ride, but didn't have enough left down the home stretch to sneak onto the podium. His 5th place finish isn't what he wanted, but certainly a solid showing and more fuel for the London fire that he'll begin building this fall.

The Women's Steeplechase was fast with Russia's Yuliya Zaripova taking the win in 9:07.03 and Tunisa's Habiba Ghribi taking the silver in 9:11.97. What you probably didn't realize is Jenny B. Simpson's 9:12.50 in the 2009 World Championships would have netted her the bronze today. Unless she comes in top 5 in the 1500, she should give serious thought into returning to the Steeple for London. Her protege, Colorado's Emma Coburn, had a tough race, but finished a strong season as the NCAA Champion, USA Champion and a finals qualifier at Worlds. Not too shabby! (Also, Anna Peirce's 9:22 PR would have been good enough for 5th and she's not at Worlds).

Finally, the Men's 400 went from being possibly LaShawn Merritt's return to glory, to the youth gone wild show, with Grenada's Kirani James sneaking past Merritt in the final meters (a la Mo Farah in the 10,000) to take the Gold. The only tougher loss for Merritt would be one where the IOC outlaws him form competing in London next year. We'll know the answer to that by the end of September.

With Day 5 being a quiet day, I'll preview Day 6 tomorrow!

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Diamond Dash: Will Angela Bizzarri's ticket get punched to Daegu on Day 2?

Can Hastings carry Bizzarri's flag?

Angela Bizzarri has been in this position before. This is the second time she's qualified for a worlds team without having hit the A Standard. In 2009, she tried to get the standard, but was out of steam after a strong NCAA season (and a 5000 meter title). This year, her teammate Amy Hastings, has been trying to duck under the 15:14.00 A Standard so that Bizzarri can get in with the B. Hastings has come very close running 15:15 twice and will take one more crack at it in London tomorrow. She'll have the help of another teammate, ageless Jen Rhines, who could be helping as a personal rabbit, as she's already qualified for Daegu in the 10,000. Best of luck to Hastings and Rhines, that's true teamwork! Here's the finishing order from the USA Championships in June.  Also in the field is a re-surging Lauren Fleshman, as well as Boston Marathon runner-up, Desi Davila. Full startlist for the 5000 is here.

Also on Saturday is an American filled Women's 3000 meter Steeplechase. National Champion Emma Coburn leads the Americans with 2010 NCAA champ Bridget Franek and new Nike signee, Lindsay Allen, competing as well. Coburn and Franek will be preparing for Daegu against a strong field.

Former Tar Heel, Erin Donohue, will be leading many Americans in the Women's 1500. Donohue will likely be targeting the 2012 Olympic Standard of 4:06.00 (full 2012 London A & B Standards listed below), as her seasonal best is 4:07.04. The statesiders that will be joining her (and seeking the 2012 A) are Daegu-bound Shannon Rowbury, Treniere Moser and Gabrielle Anderson. Also in the field is the local favorites, Lisa Dobriskey and former FSU star Hannah England (as well as a host of others).

Finally, the Emsley Carr Mile will feature a slew of Americans, with Bernard Lagat, Leo Manzano, Lopez Lomong and Russell Brown competing, as well as former Wisconsin Badgers (and now New Balance runners) Craig Miller and Jack Bolas (from Chapel Hill, NC) setting the pace. They'll have their hands full with local favorite Andy Baddeley, new British star James Shane, Australia's Ryan Gregson, Kenya's Augustine Choge and a host of others giving chase. Here's the link to the full Emsley Carr Mile field.

The event will once again be broadcast on Universal Sports and full meet info can be found here.

Here are the 2012 London Olympic A & B standards:

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The Run Down: Manzano, Wheating and Centrowitz get A-Standard in Paris 1500

In a field with 19 competitors, there wasn't much room for error today at Areva Paris. Luckily, all three Americans (and Bernard Lagat) achieved the A-Standard for guaranteed entry to the World Championships in Daegu, Korea. Amine Lalou led a strong field in 3:32.15, with Bernard Lagat finishing on the podium (3rd) in a season best time of 3:33.11.

The Americans competing in Daegu finished in 3:33.66 (Leo Manzano, 6th), 3:34.39 (Andrew Wheating, 9th) and 3:34.69 (Matt Centrowitz, 11th). The standard is 3:35.00 and the 3:34.69 is a big PR for Centrowitz. Official results are here

Also of note, Shalane Flanagan narrowly missed the American Record in the 5000, finishing in 4th in 14:45.20 (Molly Huddle's record in 14:44.76).

The event will be broadcast tonight at 8pm (with the American broadcast team) on Universal Sports.

Official Men's 1500 results:

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