Trackledger

Category : Olympics


05 September 2016	Rio Reflections: Sprint queen Elaine Thompson takes sprint-double title 269 By O'Neil A Reid With a population of just under 3.0 million, Jamaica had produced many great track athletes, including Herb McKenley, Arthur Wint, Donald Quarrie, Merlene Ottey, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Usain Bolt. At the Rio Olympics, a lot was expected of Usain Bolt and he delivered three gold medals in the 100m, 200m and the 4x100m relays. The trend continued with the emergence of sprinter Elaine Thompson who captured the women’s 100m and 200m titles in 10.71 and 21.78 seconds respectively. Fraser-Pryce and Thompson are both coached by Stephen Francis at MVP Track Club in Kingston, Jamaica. Fraser-Pryce's 2016 season was plagued by a toe injury which significantly hampered her training and preparation for Rio. She did however finish third behind Thompson in a season-best time of 10.86 seconds. What more can you ask of Fraser-Pryce? Thompson, who ran a lifetime best time of 10.70 seconds (+0.3mps) in the 100m at the 2016 Jamaican National Championship i....
04 September 2016	Rio Reflections: Shaunae Miller dives to victory in the women’s 400m 269 By O'Neil A Reid The Rio women’s 400m finals event was a hotly contested affair involving the much-anticipated showdown between the American Allyson Felix and the Bahamian Shaunae Miller. Miller took the title in a personal best time of 49.44 seconds ahead of Felix (49.51), with Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson (49.85) taking the bronze medal. However, it was the manner in which Miller won the title that had Felix’s fans up in arms and Miller’s fans in admiration. As Miller approached the finish line she dived across the line to claim the victory. Miller fell and laid on the track for several minutes before she gained her composure. The internet and social media were all over this story, with some fans saying that Miller cheated when she dived across the line and that she should have been disqualified. Other fans called from a change in the rules that athletes should not be allowed to claim victory by diving across the finish-line. H....
03 September 2016	Rio Reflections: Van Niekerk 400m World Record Performance 269 By O'Neil A Reid For close to 17 years, the men’s 400m world record of 43.18 seconds set by American Michael Johnson in August 1999 seemed unbreakable. Many track fans wondered if this record would ever be broken. Over the years, Americans Quincy Watts (43.50), Jeremy Wariner (43.45) and LaShawn Merritt (43.65) seem to be the heir apparent to continue the U.S. stranglehold on the men’s 400m world record. After all, since 1968 the 400m world record was held by Americans Lee Evans (43.68- October 18, 1968), Butch Reynolds (43.29- August 17, 1988) and Michael Johnson (43.18 – August 26, 1999). Over the last few decades, with the exception of Grenada’s Kirani James, the U.S. had continued its dominance in the men’s 400m as evidence by its deep 4x400m relay pool. But at the 2016 Rio Olympics, a 24 year old South African named Wayne Van Niekerk changed everything. Van Niekerk showed up in Rio and had one of the most memorable performances when h....
02 September 2016	2016 Olympic Recap: Bolt claims triple-triple 269 By O'Neil A Reid On the eve of the 2016 Rio Olympics, there were doubts about the health and fitness of the fastest man on the planet, Jamaica’s Usain Bolt. After all, he had an injury-plagued 2016 season, highlighted by his withdrawal from the Jamaican National Trial back on July 1. Bolt, who turned 30 years old on August 21, was perceived by his rivals to be vulnerable and the Olympics were a great opportunity to dethrone the sprint king. Heading into Rio, Bolt had won a combined 6 gold medals in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics and was on the verge of pursuing an unprecedented triple-triple or 9 gold medals. The 6’5” Trelawny-born and Glen Mills-coached athlete would not be denied. Bolt retained his 100m title by coming from behind to beat American Justin Gatlin (9.89) and Canadian Andre De Grasse (9.91). Bolt winning time of 9.81 seconds (+0.2mps) was significantly slower than his personal best and world record time of 9.58 seconds. Next for Bolt was th....
18 April 2012	Why the Olympics still matter 269 By http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/track/story/olympics-countdown-to-london-pay-attention....