Usain Bolt's false start in the 100m final this past weekend prevented him from achieving a nearly supernatural "triple-triple." Had he managed to defend his 100m title he would have had a chance to be the first to win the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at three consecutive global championships (2008 Olympics, 2009 World's, 2011 World's).
Beyond Bolt, the Caribbean has become the global sprint power region since around the time the IAAF training centre opened in Jamaica a few years ago. Later on today the men's 400m final will feature 4 sprinters from the West Indies, joining the 5 men and 4 women from the region who contested the 100m finals, and the 2 Jamaicans who appeared in the women's 400m final.
This has been an unusual Championships for the 400m men. There were only 5 heats, far fewer than normal, and while we saw some exceptionally fast (sub-45) runs in the preliminary rounds the slowest qualifier was way back at 46.10. Over the past several years a high 44 second run wouldn't be enough to guarantee a spot in the final but this year the slowest qualifier was 45.53.
I feel terrible for Chris Brown, always fourth at global championships (although he won world indoors), who became even more unfortunate this year by losing his spot in the final by 0.01 seconds because of what I can only assume was a total lack of concentration. I can sympathize because I made a virtually identical mistake in the semi-finals at the 2005 World Universiade (World Student Games, or, FISU).
After watching the rounds here is my prediction for the men's 400m final:
1 Kirani James GRN
2 LaShawn Merritt USA
3 Kévin Borlée BEL
4 Jermaine Gonzales JAM
5 Jonathan Borlée BEL
6 Rondell Bartholomew GRN
7 Tabari Henry ISV
8 Femi Ogunode QAT
The winning time will be 44.5 and there'll be a big spread after that with all the athletes being tired after their fast times in the opening rounds. I realize LaShawn Merritt ran a world-leading 44.35 in the first round. That's why I don't think he'll have enough to beat Kirani James, who has looked much more comfortable thus far.
UPDATE: YES! I called it. :) Find results here.
UPDATE #2: See what happened to Lashawn Merritt in the last 10m here.
Beyond Bolt, the Caribbean has become the global sprint power region since around the time the IAAF training centre opened in Jamaica a few years ago. Later on today the men's 400m final will feature 4 sprinters from the West Indies, joining the 5 men and 4 women from the region who contested the 100m finals, and the 2 Jamaicans who appeared in the women's 400m final.
This has been an unusual Championships for the 400m men. There were only 5 heats, far fewer than normal, and while we saw some exceptionally fast (sub-45) runs in the preliminary rounds the slowest qualifier was way back at 46.10. Over the past several years a high 44 second run wouldn't be enough to guarantee a spot in the final but this year the slowest qualifier was 45.53.
I feel terrible for Chris Brown, always fourth at global championships (although he won world indoors), who became even more unfortunate this year by losing his spot in the final by 0.01 seconds because of what I can only assume was a total lack of concentration. I can sympathize because I made a virtually identical mistake in the semi-finals at the 2005 World Universiade (World Student Games, or, FISU).
After watching the rounds here is my prediction for the men's 400m final:
1 Kirani James GRN
2 LaShawn Merritt USA
3 Kévin Borlée BEL
4 Jermaine Gonzales JAM
5 Jonathan Borlée BEL
6 Rondell Bartholomew GRN
7 Tabari Henry ISV
8 Femi Ogunode QAT
The winning time will be 44.5 and there'll be a big spread after that with all the athletes being tired after their fast times in the opening rounds. I realize LaShawn Merritt ran a world-leading 44.35 in the first round. That's why I don't think he'll have enough to beat Kirani James, who has looked much more comfortable thus far.
UPDATE: YES! I called it. :) Find results here.
UPDATE #2: See what happened to Lashawn Merritt in the last 10m here.
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