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feather_ghyll) wrote2024-08-11 03:16 pm
feather_ghyll) wrote2024-08-11 03:16 pm
SPORTS: Paris 2024, mainly athletics, lots of athletics
Day eleven: This was a less engaging night of athletics, with some semi-finals on the track and less drama on the field. Apparently Canada are good with a hammer, well done them, while there weren’t many men’s long jump attempts that mattered. The women’s 3,000m steeplechase was a good race, with the top five running off at a fast pace, and the top three coming from there, and everyone behind them running fast times.
The much touted 1,500m men’s was also fast, because Ingebrigtsen took the lead early and pushed the pace. Josh Kerr had clearly got into his head, and stayed on his shoulder, but Ingebrigtsen had mistimed it, because not only did Kerr overtake him on the outside, but the Norwegian left space on the inside, which speedy Cole Hocker took advantage of, and Nuguse came very close to nabbing silver off Kerr. Ingebrigtsen had lost any medal, and, while a little disappointed to not get the gold, Kerr was mostly positive, as he’d stuck to his tactics, run a national record and upgraded his bronze. (I believe he’d have been less sanguine had Ingebrigtsen beaten him, or had he come third.)
The 200m was something of a letdown, in that favourite Gabi Thomas…came through to win, if not in an exceptionally fast time. Her closest rival, Julian Alfred, came a respectable second, and the real battle was for third. Brown of the USA got it, Dina Asher-Smith finally ran a good race to come fourth and Neita, who, like Alfred, is more of a 100m sprinter learning the 200m, came fifth. The two Englishwomen were gracious about it. In the middle of that, the BBC seemed to think that we needed to switch to the boxing (because someone from the UK was up for a medal). Beyond seeing what they’d done to Roland-Garros, they were wrong.
Day twelve: None of the heats or semis seemed particularly fast, perhaps because it was a little cooler. Amber Anning seemed very good among the more expected 400m runners who got through to the final. There was a lot of build-up for the men’s 400m final, which was both open and (from the Brit supporting BBC’s perspective) Hudson-Smith’s to take. He had two likely contenders around him, but took the lead, until Quincy Hall (an American) found another spurt of speed and launched himself over the line in the fourth fastest time ever, Hudson-Smith’s time was the fifth, but he got silver, and seemed a little more gutted than Josh Kerr had been. The speed in this race belied what had come before.
The men’s 3,000m steeplechase involved puzzling Ethiopian tactics, one fall, and then another, which did for the former silver medallist. An inspired American, Rooks started kicking into the lead – a touch too early I thought, but the Moroccan who always wins had enough to overtake him.
Meanwhile, in the field events, Nina Kennedy had her game face on, and jumped higher than everyone in the women’s pole vault, Sandy Morris had to take silver and a Canadian with a strong red lipstick came third. Jamaica got their first athletics gold…in the men’s discus.
Day thirteen: I was trying to follow the heptathlon on the BBC, and then got caught up in seeing the sprint relay heats and they never showed the first women’s, so I did end up switching to Discovery’s coverage which was fuller, less nationalistic and a little less expert. KJT was doing well, but so was Thiam, what with their season’s bests and personal bests in various events. and after them a couple of others, probably battling for bronze. As for those sprint heats, the Americans won both, although they had issues with the baton. The Jamaican men did not qualify for the final, the British men did, but I’m not sure how much more they can give; however, the British women, with Asher-Smith and Neita to come, seemed like definite medal contenders.
I saw bits of other heats and finals, and then, in the evening, the men’s javelin turned out to be quite good, with Pakistan’s first gold in anything but hockey for a 90+ metre throw, backed up by another, which nobody else could match. Mihambo couldn’t match (American) Davis-Woodhall in the women’s long jump, where she was the only woman to go beyond 7 metres.
In between that, the women’s 1,500m semis mostly proceeded as expected, but the men’s 200m final was quite something. Tebogo was excellent, running a fast time and looking strong at the end. He had been piqued at not getting a medal in the 100m, and had lost his mother this year. Bednarek also looked strong, while Lyles, who’d talked so much about getting a gold, did not have it in him at the end of the race and only got a bronze. This backed up his semis. As we saw him getting medical assistance, while Botswana celebrated its gold, the news broke that he’d tested positive for COVID, and they probably knew after he got tended to after the semi…and surely there ought to be protocols for this at Paris 2024. COVID is still infectious, and you don’t know exactly how people are going to react – for Lyles it meant he didn’t have 100%, but what about everyone else he was in contact with? It looked as though he was masking up indoors (but that’s only a mitigation) and he hugged Bednarek outdoors, which is bang out of order. Did Bednarek know about the COVID or have a choice to step away? Won’t that affect the American sprint relay (TBH, the ones that ran the heat are probably good enough to win the gold, but who knows how much interaction they’ve had with Lyles?) What about athletes from other countries? Or the unmasked medics who tended to Lyles after the race? Or volunteers? The organisers had a duty of care to them, and you can’t just let athletes abide by what they think is right or what’s the norm in their country. While I expect most of the athletes and French people would be vaccinated, and while I get that there’s a buzz to having so many people here compared with Tokyo, there should have been clarity on this.
I can understand it being tough for Lyles to do what Adam Peaty did and withdraw once he knew he had COVID, but that’s where medics and managers step in. His bronze is tainted by pretty selfish and cowardly behaviour.
The much touted women’s 400m hurdles followed. I always thought McLaughlin had the gold, but Femke Bol believed differently and stuck with her at the start of the race, paying the price by fading at the end. McLaughlin broke her own world record by another decent chunk, Anna Cockrell was strong at the end, running a PB for silver, while Bol had to be disappointed with her bronze, because she didn’t run her own race, which should have got her a silver. There was talk of the mixed 400m taking it out of her legs, but she was always going to run that after losing her team the gold at the world championships, and I still think the silver and a better run would have been on if she’d stuck to her own race plan. I feel a bit disassociated from McLaughlin (certainly enough that I haven’t taken in her full surname since marrying) because she hasn’t been on the scene much, choosing not to race, which is totally up to her, and what she’s been doing has obviously worked, because she’s just broken the world record while winning an Olympic gold.
The final track race was the men’s 110m hurdles, where fatigue with the Americans winning everything was so rampant (especially when they’re willing to give other people COVID in the name of it?!) that Michael Johnson felt obliged to mention Botswana, Pakistan and St Lucia and the globalisation of sport. It maybe took the edge off Holloway’s victory. He was the favourite, and this gold, missing from his trophy cabinet, was clearly the one he wanted, so it was a great story. There were a few Jamaicans in this race, but it was Daniel Roberts of the USA who could have challenged, except he clattered a few hurdles, while Holloway ran clean. The time was quick enough, and it obviously meant a lot to him.
Day fourteen: I think I did a better job on catching up on the morning session of the athletics, where the heptathletes were battling the swirling wind, but KJT and Thiam’s longest jumps were near enough in length. Anna Hall’s longest jump was disappointing, giving others the chance of a bronze. There were 400m women’s heats, the 100m hurdles heats, which were open enough that the record holder didn’t make it through. I saw a lot of the javelin in the heptathlon, where KJT got one good-for-her distance, but Thiam predictably did better. I think it was only by the night that I realised that KJT would need to finish the 800m eight and a half seconds ahead of Thiam, and how tall an order that would be. Vidts of Belgium was in third.
It was all finals in the evening session, and unexpected rain affected the sprint relays, but not as much as we’d hoped. The US women still got it around fastest. Asher-Smith and Neita came into the British team, and both performed, helping GB get a silver. But the changeovers (especially involving Amy Hunt) were not great. There was also a minor worry over straying into other lanes, but the results stood, with differing views over whether better stretched changeovers could have got the British ladies (as they called each other) closer. Shi’cari Richardson was clearly moved at getting her gold in the ceremony. The surprise was the Germans’ bronze.
The American men…could learn from the American women. Bedanek had come into the team (no Lyles and quite right too), but because he started running too quickly the first changeover was a mess, while every other team’s changeover looked better in comparison, and some of them legitimately were better. The final leg was wide open, with Zharnell Hughes having come in to chase down, South Africa having Simbine and Canada (a very experienced team) having De Grasse to do the same, and it was Canada who reached the line first on the inside. The US haven’t won this for decades, and you can see why. They might have done better with the semi-final team. (But seeing as they have won so many golds overall, I think the rest of the world will enjoy this schadenfreude.) Great for the British men to get the bronze, and even though I find him a bit much, Kielty’s delight as Udah’s doping results lost him the Tokyo medal was fair. Simbine and his countrymen had looked good in the semis, and good on the Canadians.
In the women’s 400m, Paolini just turned out to be a class apart. Adeleke might be disappointed at fourth, but Anning seemed pleased to have broken the British record to come fifth.
The women’s 10,000m was not a great race. As the commentators kept pointing out, everyone was running it in a way that favoured the favourite, Beatrice Chebet even more. And lo, that is how it went, with the speed not really getting up until the last lap. Chebet took it, getting the double, but good on the Italian for getting silver, she covered every move and was ready and able to follow Chebet when she ran for it. The iconoclastic Siffan Hassan who’d stuck to the back of the leading group for most of the race, took bronze again. (It sounded as though Kipyegon was reinstated in the 5,000m, although that was never made clear.)
The men’s triple jump was decided between three former Cubans who have come to different European countries, while a former heptathlete won the women’s shotput.
Most of the attention went to the heptathlon, with two former champions in the studio, and when they told KJT’s story (although I thought there were gaping holes in it) of having competed in four Olympics but not having medals in the past three, despite twice being world champion, the silver didn’t seem so bad. And having seen the athletes do six events already over the past two days, watching them push themselves for the gruelling 800m garnered a lot of respect from me. KJT ran well, but so did Thiam, winning her third gold at the Olympics, which is a massive achievement. The silver was enough for KJT, I think, and Vidts came through for the bronze.
The final race of the night was the men’s 400m hurdles, which has three outstanding athletes, but also had a potential French challenger. Dos Santos had an unfavourable inside lane because he hadn’t won his semis, but how exactly did defending champion Warholm get his beloved lane 7 draw AGAIN? He hasn’t been quite himself, and in the last 150m, Rai Benjamin was stronger, cleaner and faster than him. The French contender came fourth (despite the massive crowd roars, they haven’t really delivered in athletics.)
Day fifteen: the final finals night in athletics featured the men’s 800m, where Kenyan Wanyangi was rewarded for front running, although it got a little tight at the end. The women’s 100m hurdles was exciting, although not for the two athletes who clattered out. The eventual winner, the American Masai Russell, was about fourth or fifth until she wasn’t, but Frenchwoman Cyrena Simba-Mayela FINALLY gave the French a medal, coming a close second, meaning that the defending champion got the bronze. The men’s 5,000m was a chance for Ingebrigtsen to get a gold, and although he seemed a bit boxed in as the last lap was starting, of course he found a way through and powered first to the line. Of course an American got a bronze. Very decent post-race interview with Ingebrigtsen.
The women’s 1,500m was fast, with Tsegay puzzling the commentators for going out in the lead and making it a fast one, as she’d done a lot of running, without getting any medals, and this type of race probably wasn’t going to help her tired legs rectify that. The medallists came from the group that stayed with her, including, of course, Faith Kipyegon, the favourite. She was followed by Aussie Jess Hull and, a little surprisingly, Georgia Bell, who was rewarded by a bronze and breaking the British record. Kipyegon having won more medals since having her daughter than before and Bell having returned to athletics to become an Olympic medallist at 30 were good stories. (Laura Muir came fifth in her fastest time, and seemed quite certain that the way she’d run the race was the only way she could have run fast, and so seemed happy with it.)
In the field, the women’s javelin competition underperformed compared with the men’s. The Japanese world champion threw quite far quite early, and nobody else could match or beat it. The drama came from the men’s high jump, where Tambieri failed early, but Bashan looked good, as did several others, until they got to the 1.34, 1,36, 1,38 heights, and there were only three men left. Bashan faltered, meaning he, the oldest competitor, would get a bronze, but MeEwen (I know nothing about the man, but he's American) and Hamish Kerr of New Zealand, who has been winning a lot this year, couldn’t be separated. Would they both accept a gold as had been done in the last Olympics? No, there’d be a jump-off.
The men’s 400m relays were interesting for who had changed personnel (the Americans had dropped the underperforming 16 year old for Rai Benjamin for one) and rejigged the order (many teams.) Passing the baton was less fraught than in the 100m sprint relay, but after something happened involving the French team, it was between four teams. The US has a slight lead, but Botswana had put Tebogo on the last leg, chasing Benjamin, and he really did push, but Benjamin had enough strength and speed to stay first. GB were trying to stave off Belgium, although by the time Charlie Dobson got the baton, the bronze looked safe enough. I still don’t know what happened to the French team, they showed the footage again but with commentary about the high jump over it.
To sort out the high jump gold, they tried again at 1.38m, both failing, and went back down in height. Kerr had the advantage of going second, but I was starting to think they were both so tired that they wouldn’t be able to clear a height until it was embarrassingly low. Fortunately, Kerr did clear at 1.34m, and The Rest of The World celebrated with New Zealand. (I was perhaps affected by the BBC studio’s jaded sarcasm about the US success in the athletics.)
The women’s 400m relay felt a bit more open after the Americans, who’d also brought in 400m hurdlers who could run really, really fast. They were well away by the second leg. Jamaica were doing well, but pulled up – I thought because of injury, but it turned out that it was the baton being knocked out of her hand. Ireland (with Adelecki in) were competing with GB, but the Netherlands were close enough at the last changeover that Femke Bol would eventually overtake to get a silver. However, Amber Anning stayed strong enough for the bronze, shutting Ireland out. The US were closer than ever to the record (held either by Russia or the Soviet Union).
We had to switch to more taekwondo than I wanted to see, and the wrap-up was mainly interviews, and no overview of the athletics at the Olympics but a tribute to Denise Lewis who is moving to work for UK athletics, which was understandable, but disappointing. As for the interviews, the British athletes kept parroting a thank you to the National Lottery players, as if any of them are thinking of funding athletes when they are gambling to try to win money. Pfft.
The much touted 1,500m men’s was also fast, because Ingebrigtsen took the lead early and pushed the pace. Josh Kerr had clearly got into his head, and stayed on his shoulder, but Ingebrigtsen had mistimed it, because not only did Kerr overtake him on the outside, but the Norwegian left space on the inside, which speedy Cole Hocker took advantage of, and Nuguse came very close to nabbing silver off Kerr. Ingebrigtsen had lost any medal, and, while a little disappointed to not get the gold, Kerr was mostly positive, as he’d stuck to his tactics, run a national record and upgraded his bronze. (I believe he’d have been less sanguine had Ingebrigtsen beaten him, or had he come third.)
The 200m was something of a letdown, in that favourite Gabi Thomas…came through to win, if not in an exceptionally fast time. Her closest rival, Julian Alfred, came a respectable second, and the real battle was for third. Brown of the USA got it, Dina Asher-Smith finally ran a good race to come fourth and Neita, who, like Alfred, is more of a 100m sprinter learning the 200m, came fifth. The two Englishwomen were gracious about it. In the middle of that, the BBC seemed to think that we needed to switch to the boxing (because someone from the UK was up for a medal). Beyond seeing what they’d done to Roland-Garros, they were wrong.
Day twelve: None of the heats or semis seemed particularly fast, perhaps because it was a little cooler. Amber Anning seemed very good among the more expected 400m runners who got through to the final. There was a lot of build-up for the men’s 400m final, which was both open and (from the Brit supporting BBC’s perspective) Hudson-Smith’s to take. He had two likely contenders around him, but took the lead, until Quincy Hall (an American) found another spurt of speed and launched himself over the line in the fourth fastest time ever, Hudson-Smith’s time was the fifth, but he got silver, and seemed a little more gutted than Josh Kerr had been. The speed in this race belied what had come before.
The men’s 3,000m steeplechase involved puzzling Ethiopian tactics, one fall, and then another, which did for the former silver medallist. An inspired American, Rooks started kicking into the lead – a touch too early I thought, but the Moroccan who always wins had enough to overtake him.
Meanwhile, in the field events, Nina Kennedy had her game face on, and jumped higher than everyone in the women’s pole vault, Sandy Morris had to take silver and a Canadian with a strong red lipstick came third. Jamaica got their first athletics gold…in the men’s discus.
Day thirteen: I was trying to follow the heptathlon on the BBC, and then got caught up in seeing the sprint relay heats and they never showed the first women’s, so I did end up switching to Discovery’s coverage which was fuller, less nationalistic and a little less expert. KJT was doing well, but so was Thiam, what with their season’s bests and personal bests in various events. and after them a couple of others, probably battling for bronze. As for those sprint heats, the Americans won both, although they had issues with the baton. The Jamaican men did not qualify for the final, the British men did, but I’m not sure how much more they can give; however, the British women, with Asher-Smith and Neita to come, seemed like definite medal contenders.
I saw bits of other heats and finals, and then, in the evening, the men’s javelin turned out to be quite good, with Pakistan’s first gold in anything but hockey for a 90+ metre throw, backed up by another, which nobody else could match. Mihambo couldn’t match (American) Davis-Woodhall in the women’s long jump, where she was the only woman to go beyond 7 metres.
In between that, the women’s 1,500m semis mostly proceeded as expected, but the men’s 200m final was quite something. Tebogo was excellent, running a fast time and looking strong at the end. He had been piqued at not getting a medal in the 100m, and had lost his mother this year. Bednarek also looked strong, while Lyles, who’d talked so much about getting a gold, did not have it in him at the end of the race and only got a bronze. This backed up his semis. As we saw him getting medical assistance, while Botswana celebrated its gold, the news broke that he’d tested positive for COVID, and they probably knew after he got tended to after the semi…and surely there ought to be protocols for this at Paris 2024. COVID is still infectious, and you don’t know exactly how people are going to react – for Lyles it meant he didn’t have 100%, but what about everyone else he was in contact with? It looked as though he was masking up indoors (but that’s only a mitigation) and he hugged Bednarek outdoors, which is bang out of order. Did Bednarek know about the COVID or have a choice to step away? Won’t that affect the American sprint relay (TBH, the ones that ran the heat are probably good enough to win the gold, but who knows how much interaction they’ve had with Lyles?) What about athletes from other countries? Or the unmasked medics who tended to Lyles after the race? Or volunteers? The organisers had a duty of care to them, and you can’t just let athletes abide by what they think is right or what’s the norm in their country. While I expect most of the athletes and French people would be vaccinated, and while I get that there’s a buzz to having so many people here compared with Tokyo, there should have been clarity on this.
I can understand it being tough for Lyles to do what Adam Peaty did and withdraw once he knew he had COVID, but that’s where medics and managers step in. His bronze is tainted by pretty selfish and cowardly behaviour.
The much touted women’s 400m hurdles followed. I always thought McLaughlin had the gold, but Femke Bol believed differently and stuck with her at the start of the race, paying the price by fading at the end. McLaughlin broke her own world record by another decent chunk, Anna Cockrell was strong at the end, running a PB for silver, while Bol had to be disappointed with her bronze, because she didn’t run her own race, which should have got her a silver. There was talk of the mixed 400m taking it out of her legs, but she was always going to run that after losing her team the gold at the world championships, and I still think the silver and a better run would have been on if she’d stuck to her own race plan. I feel a bit disassociated from McLaughlin (certainly enough that I haven’t taken in her full surname since marrying) because she hasn’t been on the scene much, choosing not to race, which is totally up to her, and what she’s been doing has obviously worked, because she’s just broken the world record while winning an Olympic gold.
The final track race was the men’s 110m hurdles, where fatigue with the Americans winning everything was so rampant (especially when they’re willing to give other people COVID in the name of it?!) that Michael Johnson felt obliged to mention Botswana, Pakistan and St Lucia and the globalisation of sport. It maybe took the edge off Holloway’s victory. He was the favourite, and this gold, missing from his trophy cabinet, was clearly the one he wanted, so it was a great story. There were a few Jamaicans in this race, but it was Daniel Roberts of the USA who could have challenged, except he clattered a few hurdles, while Holloway ran clean. The time was quick enough, and it obviously meant a lot to him.
Day fourteen: I think I did a better job on catching up on the morning session of the athletics, where the heptathletes were battling the swirling wind, but KJT and Thiam’s longest jumps were near enough in length. Anna Hall’s longest jump was disappointing, giving others the chance of a bronze. There were 400m women’s heats, the 100m hurdles heats, which were open enough that the record holder didn’t make it through. I saw a lot of the javelin in the heptathlon, where KJT got one good-for-her distance, but Thiam predictably did better. I think it was only by the night that I realised that KJT would need to finish the 800m eight and a half seconds ahead of Thiam, and how tall an order that would be. Vidts of Belgium was in third.
It was all finals in the evening session, and unexpected rain affected the sprint relays, but not as much as we’d hoped. The US women still got it around fastest. Asher-Smith and Neita came into the British team, and both performed, helping GB get a silver. But the changeovers (especially involving Amy Hunt) were not great. There was also a minor worry over straying into other lanes, but the results stood, with differing views over whether better stretched changeovers could have got the British ladies (as they called each other) closer. Shi’cari Richardson was clearly moved at getting her gold in the ceremony. The surprise was the Germans’ bronze.
The American men…could learn from the American women. Bedanek had come into the team (no Lyles and quite right too), but because he started running too quickly the first changeover was a mess, while every other team’s changeover looked better in comparison, and some of them legitimately were better. The final leg was wide open, with Zharnell Hughes having come in to chase down, South Africa having Simbine and Canada (a very experienced team) having De Grasse to do the same, and it was Canada who reached the line first on the inside. The US haven’t won this for decades, and you can see why. They might have done better with the semi-final team. (But seeing as they have won so many golds overall, I think the rest of the world will enjoy this schadenfreude.) Great for the British men to get the bronze, and even though I find him a bit much, Kielty’s delight as Udah’s doping results lost him the Tokyo medal was fair. Simbine and his countrymen had looked good in the semis, and good on the Canadians.
In the women’s 400m, Paolini just turned out to be a class apart. Adeleke might be disappointed at fourth, but Anning seemed pleased to have broken the British record to come fifth.
The women’s 10,000m was not a great race. As the commentators kept pointing out, everyone was running it in a way that favoured the favourite, Beatrice Chebet even more. And lo, that is how it went, with the speed not really getting up until the last lap. Chebet took it, getting the double, but good on the Italian for getting silver, she covered every move and was ready and able to follow Chebet when she ran for it. The iconoclastic Siffan Hassan who’d stuck to the back of the leading group for most of the race, took bronze again. (It sounded as though Kipyegon was reinstated in the 5,000m, although that was never made clear.)
The men’s triple jump was decided between three former Cubans who have come to different European countries, while a former heptathlete won the women’s shotput.
Most of the attention went to the heptathlon, with two former champions in the studio, and when they told KJT’s story (although I thought there were gaping holes in it) of having competed in four Olympics but not having medals in the past three, despite twice being world champion, the silver didn’t seem so bad. And having seen the athletes do six events already over the past two days, watching them push themselves for the gruelling 800m garnered a lot of respect from me. KJT ran well, but so did Thiam, winning her third gold at the Olympics, which is a massive achievement. The silver was enough for KJT, I think, and Vidts came through for the bronze.
The final race of the night was the men’s 400m hurdles, which has three outstanding athletes, but also had a potential French challenger. Dos Santos had an unfavourable inside lane because he hadn’t won his semis, but how exactly did defending champion Warholm get his beloved lane 7 draw AGAIN? He hasn’t been quite himself, and in the last 150m, Rai Benjamin was stronger, cleaner and faster than him. The French contender came fourth (despite the massive crowd roars, they haven’t really delivered in athletics.)
Day fifteen: the final finals night in athletics featured the men’s 800m, where Kenyan Wanyangi was rewarded for front running, although it got a little tight at the end. The women’s 100m hurdles was exciting, although not for the two athletes who clattered out. The eventual winner, the American Masai Russell, was about fourth or fifth until she wasn’t, but Frenchwoman Cyrena Simba-Mayela FINALLY gave the French a medal, coming a close second, meaning that the defending champion got the bronze. The men’s 5,000m was a chance for Ingebrigtsen to get a gold, and although he seemed a bit boxed in as the last lap was starting, of course he found a way through and powered first to the line. Of course an American got a bronze. Very decent post-race interview with Ingebrigtsen.
The women’s 1,500m was fast, with Tsegay puzzling the commentators for going out in the lead and making it a fast one, as she’d done a lot of running, without getting any medals, and this type of race probably wasn’t going to help her tired legs rectify that. The medallists came from the group that stayed with her, including, of course, Faith Kipyegon, the favourite. She was followed by Aussie Jess Hull and, a little surprisingly, Georgia Bell, who was rewarded by a bronze and breaking the British record. Kipyegon having won more medals since having her daughter than before and Bell having returned to athletics to become an Olympic medallist at 30 were good stories. (Laura Muir came fifth in her fastest time, and seemed quite certain that the way she’d run the race was the only way she could have run fast, and so seemed happy with it.)
In the field, the women’s javelin competition underperformed compared with the men’s. The Japanese world champion threw quite far quite early, and nobody else could match or beat it. The drama came from the men’s high jump, where Tambieri failed early, but Bashan looked good, as did several others, until they got to the 1.34, 1,36, 1,38 heights, and there were only three men left. Bashan faltered, meaning he, the oldest competitor, would get a bronze, but MeEwen (I know nothing about the man, but he's American) and Hamish Kerr of New Zealand, who has been winning a lot this year, couldn’t be separated. Would they both accept a gold as had been done in the last Olympics? No, there’d be a jump-off.
The men’s 400m relays were interesting for who had changed personnel (the Americans had dropped the underperforming 16 year old for Rai Benjamin for one) and rejigged the order (many teams.) Passing the baton was less fraught than in the 100m sprint relay, but after something happened involving the French team, it was between four teams. The US has a slight lead, but Botswana had put Tebogo on the last leg, chasing Benjamin, and he really did push, but Benjamin had enough strength and speed to stay first. GB were trying to stave off Belgium, although by the time Charlie Dobson got the baton, the bronze looked safe enough. I still don’t know what happened to the French team, they showed the footage again but with commentary about the high jump over it.
To sort out the high jump gold, they tried again at 1.38m, both failing, and went back down in height. Kerr had the advantage of going second, but I was starting to think they were both so tired that they wouldn’t be able to clear a height until it was embarrassingly low. Fortunately, Kerr did clear at 1.34m, and The Rest of The World celebrated with New Zealand. (I was perhaps affected by the BBC studio’s jaded sarcasm about the US success in the athletics.)
The women’s 400m relay felt a bit more open after the Americans, who’d also brought in 400m hurdlers who could run really, really fast. They were well away by the second leg. Jamaica were doing well, but pulled up – I thought because of injury, but it turned out that it was the baton being knocked out of her hand. Ireland (with Adelecki in) were competing with GB, but the Netherlands were close enough at the last changeover that Femke Bol would eventually overtake to get a silver. However, Amber Anning stayed strong enough for the bronze, shutting Ireland out. The US were closer than ever to the record (held either by Russia or the Soviet Union).
We had to switch to more taekwondo than I wanted to see, and the wrap-up was mainly interviews, and no overview of the athletics at the Olympics but a tribute to Denise Lewis who is moving to work for UK athletics, which was understandable, but disappointing. As for the interviews, the British athletes kept parroting a thank you to the National Lottery players, as if any of them are thinking of funding athletes when they are gambling to try to win money. Pfft.