Sprinter Felix captures third straight 200m title

Hello from Berlin, Germany.

Championships Update

In case you missed some of the action from Friday, I will provide the readers with a brief update. Let's start with the good news for the United States. Sprinter Allyson Felix captured her third straight 200m world title last night in a dominating performance over Jamaica's Veronica Campbell-Brown and the rest of the field. Felix ran the half-lap sprint a time of 22.02 to defeat the defending Olympic champion from Beijing. “I have worked really hard,” said Felix. “I defended my title — I can't ask for more. I am very happy here… This one happened in a stadium with a lot of history. So this is definitely something special for me.”

The U.S. earned gold and silver in the men's 400m dash with LaShawn Merritt and Jeremy Wariner finishing 1-2. Merritt ran a world leading 44.06 while Wariner managed a season-best 44.60. The duel between the two Americans was one of the more eagerly awaited events at the World Championships and Merritt was eager to show that last year's Olympic title was not a fluke. “I just hit my zones harder,” said Merritt. “When I got to the backstretch I went to work. At 300, I was in great position. Actually, I came home strong, and at 350, I realized I had cleared the field.”

Now for the bad news… The recent relay woes for the United States continue at this year's World Championships. Most breathed a sigh of relief when the U.S. men successfully got through three baton passes in the heats of the 4 x 100m relay. Unfortunately, they didn't. Officials reviewed video of the race that apparently showed that outgoing runner Darvis Patton made contact with the baton before the exchange zone. The team was disqualified, and a USATF appeal failed. Let's hope the U.S. women have better results in their qualification round tonight.

Unbelievable Numbers

Larry Rosen, a track & field commentator for ESPN, spoke at the Track and Field News Tour luncheon that we attended yesterday. He had been playing with the numbers that Usain Bolt had posted in his world record 100m dash. Taking away the recorded reaction time to the gun and converting Bolt's first 40 meters to yards, the tall Jamaican would have run the “football 40” in an astounding 3.82 seconds. Bolt's last 40 yards of the historic 100 meters were covered in 2.9 seconds. I would hate to be a defensive back attempting to take the proper angle on that kid!

Day 8 Action

Another relay disaster for the United States. This time it was the women's turn to have a mishap in the 4 x 100m relay preliminary round. The first exchange from Lauryn Williams to Alexandria Anderson was passed without error. However, as Anderson prepared to hand off to Muna Lee, the nightmare for the American sprint relays continued. Lee's initial attempt to grab the baton failed and as she adjusted her stride to secure the hand-off, she experienced a leg injury of some sort and the baton and Lee fell to the track. The American fans are once again left speechless.

The night wasn't all bad for the red, white and blue. USA's Dwight Phillips leaped 8.54m (28' 0.22”) to win the world championship in the men's long jump. The gold medal will be added to the collection of the rejuvenated Phillips who has an Olympic gold from Athens from his younger days.

The perseverance award at the 2009 Championships should go to Steven Hooker of Australia. Hooker entered the world championships as the favorite in the men's Pole Vault. However, in the weeks prior to the meet, the Aussie sustained a leg injury and announced that he would not be able to compete. The fact that his event was on the eighth day of competition gave Hooker some much needed rest. With that in mind, Hooker released a statement two days ago that he would compete and had maybe one or two good jumps in his body. As it turned out, the 27 year old needed only two jumps to win the pole vault gold medal by clearing 5.90m (19' 4.28”).

Bryce and Bailey, mom and dad will be home soon.