Report #17 From Outdoor World Championships

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BERLIN , GERMANY. - Will be entering the stadium for a last time in a few minutes. Big doings at the marathon today. Russian girl, who looked like a high schooler, really hammered from the halfway point to about 22 miles before falling apart. That broke up a pack of about 20, and got rid of Goucher, who came back briefly into fourth place.
 
A Chinese, Japanese, and Ethiopian battled over the final 3K for the gold, with all really pushing. Ethiopian was the first to break, losing it at 2K remaining, and with 1,000 meters to go, the Chinese girl pulled ahead for good. Big crowds on the Unter den Linden today, and also yesterday. A little cooler today than yesterday, but still hot.
 
1- Xue Bail (China) 2:25.15, 2. Yoshimi Ozaki (Japan) 2:25.25, 3. Aselefech Mergia (Eth.) 2:25.32, China slo 4-5. the Russian girl who set the pace, Nailiya Yulamanova, was 8th in 2:27.08, and Goucher 10th in 2:27.48. Desiree Davila was 11th for USA in 2:27.53, and Terry Moody was third USA finisher, 28th in 2:36.29.China easily takes the team prize.

The final day of track here in Berlin, and the last you'll hear from me until I'm back in the states. Then, a fll wrapup, and impressions. Tmorrow, we cross the border into Bohemia, to Prague, then Vienna, then Budapest. Should be back in early September-Rosemary takes care of travel details. I pay.
 
Good day for the USA, with Brittney Reese taking the long jump, and the 2 4x400's winning easily.
 
Sanya Richards ran 48.43 on her anchor leg, and was never threatened. USA won in 3:17.84, and men won in 2:57.87.
 
The 800 went to Muluadzi of South Africa, who led at 400 in a slowish 53.44. Symmonds was right next to him, and with 150 to go, was right there. But this is not a domestic field, and he slipped back to sixth in the last 40 meters. Not a bad race, hówever. He put himself in a position to win, and just isn't up to running with some real killers. The guys who beat him- Kamel, Borzakovskiy, Laalou, etc., are all experienced international athletes.
 
An athlete who always puts himself in a position to win is Bernard Lagat, who followed the moves of Bekele and the Kenyans through a slow pace. Each kilomtere turned out to be fastr than the preceding one, but that doesn't mean it was fast, and with 1,000 meters to go, no one was dropping off.
 
Bekele led with 400 to go, and a lot of people were there. Lagat pulled up to Bekele's shoulder with 120 to go, but Bekele had enough to hold him off.
 
Bekele will probably say that it was a hard race- all races are. He ran his last kilometer in 2:24.87, and last 400 in 53.71.
 
When you consider that he runs 3x2,000 in 5 minutes for a workout, and 5x1,000 in 2:24 to work on his last lap speed, you realize that it he had the race under control, taking the lead, slowing down, etc.
 
Andreas Thorkildson of Norway has been the most consistent thrower since the great Zelezny.
 
He pumped one out on the second throw, and that was it. The Finns were out in force, with four in the final, but the best they could do was 5-6.
 
The women's 1,500 was the typical physical affair, and the Ethiopians have protested, since Burka, leading with 200 to go, appeared to have been fouled by Rodriguez of Spain, who tried to cut in on the inside. She succeeded, but.... Burka went down, and the crowd whistled for minutes after the replay was shown on the screen.
 
Shannon Rowbury was fourth, Chritsin Wurth-Thomas sixth, and Anna Willard seventh, and all three may move up is Rodriguez is dq'd.
 
We may get more info in a few minutes, now it's out to the closing ceremonies. You may get the info on US tv before we do. I hiope they showed the marathon in its entirety today, but I'm probably hoping for too much. It was quite a race, and those women were tough. And so were the guys yesterday.
 
Auf wiedersehn from Berlin. See you back in the USA.

Update:

Could not leave you hanging about the 1,500- Rodriguez was dq'd, and everyone moved up a place, which means Rowbury medals.
 
One other note. It's been widely publicized here that Bernard Lagat, who ran for Kenya, got US citizenship, has been quoted as saying that he feels more at home in Germany than in the USA. Evidently, he spends the summer here, has some $$ invested, etc.
 
There's a crowd of athletes on the infield, and many outside the stadium- you would never see that in the so-called ''major sports'' in the USA. These are real athletes, with real personalities. In the USA, those people who call themselves athletes are entertainers. Don't get me started on this topic. I could write a book.

 
GK

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