TrackTown, USA: I feel like I watched a two-hour Olympics today. The Prefontaine Classic was simply amazing, and nearly every race brought a slash of past records. Meet records fell like dominos. National records. Personal records. A few athletes, such as Elaine Thompson-Herah, set some-sort of record for records. Her 10.54 victory in the 100m was a personal best, meet record, Diamond League record, national (Jamaica) record and the fastest time run in the world this year. I'm not going to give all the results, because I really do not want to, but here is the link to the results if you are curious.
It was a wonderful day for a track meet.
Fresh off a stunning NCAA performance, and winning 800 Gold in Tokyo, Athing Mu (pronounced moh) won the 800m today with a personal best, meet record, American record (her own American record), and a world-leading time of 1:55.04 - faster than she ran in Tokyo. Mu turned 19 in June. She was so far ahead of the next runners, she was the only figure in my photo:
Right before the Bowerman Mile, the organizers recognized the meet director for the past 37 years. Tom Jordan is retiring. He will be missed, but now maybe we can watch a meet with him? Tom is in the center of the photo below, in black cap. Congratulations, old friend, and thank you so much for 37 great meets!
Miles are not raced very often, even though there is a big group vowing to bring it back. I just love the mile and I just love milers.
Eleven racers today (and one rabbit). It wasn't a very dramatic event, but with the Olympic 1500m gold medalist, Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Norway) and silver medalist, Timothy Cheruiyot (Kenya) in the pack, I knew it would be a fast time. Ingebrigtsen is another youngster bringing heat to the sport. He is 20, and his 3:47.24 mile was a world-leading, meet record, national record (for Norway), Diamond League and a personal best. Remember when it was a big deal to run a sub-four-minute mile?
Dave and I sat alone (did not visit a hospitality tent). We had few people in the stands around us and everyone was wearing a face mask. Still, when the meet ended and everyone filed out to the concourse, it was a bit too crowded for my comfort, so we positioned ourselves along the back railing which looked out the warm-up/cool-down area for the athletes. We saw a few runners, waved to a few coaches and for the first time, I noticed the cute mural on an adjacent building - GO DUCKS!
Quiet evening. We picked up a Greek pizza from the Coburg Pizza Company and watched the meet again (from our DVR). Yeah, we are track nerds.
Until my next update, I remain your very very happy correspondent.
You forgot to mention your neighbours to the north’s winner in the 100 meter.
Goooo Andre De Grasse Gooooo. Canada is so proud.
Congrats to Tom! Amazing run.