Meeting Areva Paris: A Truly Colossal Track Meet by Kevin Mangan Let me preface this by saying that I’ve never been to a track meet anything like this one. The stadium is colossal. The crowd is loud. The star athletes entered the stadium and got paraded around the track in old school Citroens. Renaud Lavillenie, the HJ trio of Chicherova, Barrett and Vlasic, Aries Merritt, Bernard Lagat, Christophe Lemaitre and last but not least in the hearts of the fans, Usain Bolt all got the Citroen entrance. Lavillenie and Bolt got the first ever moving, in stadium interviews I have ever seen from their Citroens. One thing I have seen before is a crowd that just loves to cheer for the athletes, but never with a crowd this big. 50,026 spectators makes this by far the biggest track meet I have ever been too. The conditions were perfect. The track is fast. There was almost no wind at all. It was low to mid 20s (Celsius). Women’s Triple Jump Hanna Knyazheva took an early first round lead with a new season’s best and new Israeli record of 14.58. In the second round perennial contenders Caterin Ibarguen and Olha Saladukha jumped 14.54 and 14.55 to get close to taking the lead. Ibarguen broke through in the third round and jumped 14.69 (with a -1.3 m/s headwind) to take the lead. Nobody in the field improved their mark in the last three rounds and Ibarguen’s 14.69 was never challenged after she jumped it. Another win for the great competitor. Women’s 400 Hurdles Hejnová had won the first three Diamond League meetings of 2013 so far but doesn’t have the world lead, which was set by Kori Carter with her NCAA record to win the NCAA title in early June. Moline got out to a quick start and had a step or two on the field after 100. Hejnova moved well down the backstretch and really took control of the race on the turn. She had about and eight-meter lead on Moline and Shakes-Drayton coming into the homestretch and just kept building on it. A technically sound race, Hejnova knew exactly what she was going to do and didn’t overextend herself early. She paced it perfectly, which is what a smart, experienced veteran will do. Despite winning with a very clean, mistake-free race, she could not quite get the world lead. Her 53.23 was a new personal best and new Czech record, but two hundredths off Carter’s NCAA winning time. The way she raced and the confidence she possessed in getting behind Moline early told me she knew exactly what she was doing. She’ll be very tough to beat in Moscow. Perri Shakes-Drayton ran a good race to take second in 53.96 and Moline got more good international experience and finished third in 54.19. Men’s 400 James vs. Merritt, who ya taking? These two are racing a lot this season and it’s exciting. James out well to make up the stagger on Merritt into the 2nd turn. James came off the turn with a slight lead and you could tell he was digging deep to hold off Merritt. He must have sensed Merritt over his should because you could see the determination on his face, the determination that only comes with trying to beat someone, not going for time. But Kirani accomplished both the win and a fast time. His 43.96 WL was the first sub 44 in the world in 2013 and only .02 slower than his lifetime best, if he can improve even slightly between now and Moscow he could be untouchable. However, LaShawn Merritt wasn’t a slouch today and had a great race himself, matching James over the last 200. He let James make up the stagger early on him on the backstretch, but he finished strong. Don’t count out LaShawn, Moscow will be an absolute dogfight between these two. McQuay and Verburg took 3rd and 4th and both were under 45 seconds. They ran solid races today. With three Americans under 45 the US hopes for reclaiming the 4x400 throne seem much better than last year. Women’s 800 Montaño got out hard and has a 5 meter lead heading into the bell with a 55.89. Niyonsaba lead the chase pack. Montaño had the lead around the last turn and heading into the homestretch but was no match for the close of Niyonsaba, who won in 1:57.26. Not as easy of a win as when she set the WL at Pre, but she looked solid all the way to the line. Akkaoui ran an almost 2 second PB to take second in 1:57.64 and Montaño was a ways clear of fourth in a solid time and season’s best for her in 1:57.75. Kate Grace ran a solid race to go sub 2 for the first time and beat some very good runners with her 1:59.47 performance. Ajee Wilson ran okay, but not as well as she would have liked as she was sixth in 2:00.90. Stanford runner and former CCS (my home section in California) athlete Justine Fedronic ran well and got a 2:00.97 PB. Women’s HJ To the surprise of absolutely no one, the last three remaining in the competition were Chicherova, Barrett and Vlasic. They were alone after Green Tregaro, Simic and McPherson couldn’t clear 1.95. Barrett cleared 1.98 first try and Vlasic and Chicherova on their second attempts. Chicherova then proceeded to take the lead by clearing 2.01 on her first try. 2.01 took Barrett and Vlasic to their third attempt and Vlasic had a poor attempt and Barrett showed signs of youth and didn’t even leave the ground and just ran past the bar. After conquering the competition, Chicherova tried to conquer 2.05, just 2cm off her PB. Men’s 110 Hurdles The 200 has Usain Bolt, but this is the real event of the meet with the last two Olympic (Merritt and Robles) and World Champions (Brathwaite and Richardson), one of whom is also the World Record Holder and one the former WR holder (also Robles and Merritt). Robles, Oliver and Merritt have all run under 12.90. If anyone is going to break 13 seconds this year, it will be one or more of these men. Aries Merritt got off to a great start and had a slight lead at the first hurdle. From hurdles two to five, Oliver and Brathwaite pulled almost even with Merritt and the rest of the field was very, very close behind. This was a very tight race with only six hundredths separating the first six runners. Over the last three hurdles Merritt was able to maintain his lead just enough and got one of the least comfortable victories of his career. This was a great semi-breakthrough for Merritt after starting the season a little slowly. He bettered his season best by .14 and finished in 13.09. He’ll be very happy with the victory, he’ll be right in the thick of it come Moscow. He’s got a great shot. Men’s 1500 (with specific attention on Americans) Can the Americans get the standard? Who will win in this talented field? They get out hard, the rabbit sprinted really hard to start. Lagat, Centro and Manzano all tuck in just behind the first two runners with a little gap behind that grew on the second lap. Manzano lead the chase pack through 800 with Lomong in tow and Lawi right behind and Lagat and Centro right behind them. Centro fades towards the back at the bell. Centro fell off and dropped out with 250 to go. Manzano moved up the final stretch very well to just nip Lawi at the line. Ayanleh Souleiman’s kick was the best of the day and he just held off a hard charging Aman Wote. They finished 1-2 in 3:32.55 SB and 3:32.65, a new PB for Wote. Leonel Manzano ran very well and had a great last 100 meters to take third after entering the home straight in about seventh place. Very similar to his finish in London last year, but obviously different circumstances. He was comfortably under the standard with a season best 3:33.14, a fantastic race for Leo. He got the job done today. Also finishing strong was Lawi Lalang who finished 5th in 3:33.20, .02 behind Moustaoui. That’s a fast new PB for Lawi and he still has NCAA eligibility. Lagat lacked his kick of old and finished second to last in 3:36.36. Centro really didn’t look good today and dropped out with about 250 left. Per FloTrack’s Chris Chavez, he will make it to Moscow as US Champ. Hopefully tonight was a fluke because he was a contender in Daegu (3rd) and London (4th). Men’s 200 The crowd absolutely roared for both Bolt and Lemaitre during intros. A clean start and Bolt gets out well. Weir is on his should the whole way but once he really gets going over the last 100 meters, it’s over. Bolt runs hard and gets an easy victory with a World Leading and Meet Record 19.73 (+0.2 m/s) (.01 better than Tyson Gay’s USA Champs victory). Warren Weir ran a solid race and was second in 19.92. French favorite son Christophe Lemaitre ran a 20.07 SB for 3rd place. After his victory, the Usain Bolt show proceeded around the track. He was absolutely adored by the fans as he went by and mobbed by at least 20 cameramen. The man is a walking spectacle. He commands the whole stadium, all 50,000 people. He could command the attention of four times that many people if they built a stadium big enough to hold them all. Miscellaneous Thoughts This crowd gave more love and louder cheers to Usain Bolt than Lemaitre or Lavillenie during the Citroen introductions. They saved the best (in terms of crowd response at least) for last with the Citroens. The crowd went nuts when Benabbad took the lead with one lap to go and sub 8 a real possibility. Classy move by Kemboi to give him the victor’s flowers for setting a European record in front of the French fans. Wait, I have to race Lawi at Pac 12s? I don’t like to mentally concede defeat to anyone before a race, but I might have to make an exception with him to avoid cognitive dissonance.
Posted on: Sat, 06 Jul 2013 23:31:42 +0000
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