Kip Lagat (briefly) wins bronze in 5000; Ruth Beitia keeps her gold
Ruth’s 1.97 winner would have beaten the Lyon worlds W35 champion by nearly a foot.
More about that women’s high jump:
In a footnote to the event, the gold medal-winning height of 1.97m was the lowest to win an Olympic gold since Italy’s Sara Simeoni leapt exactly the same height at the 1980 Moscow Games. It was also one centimetre less than Nafissatou Thiam of Belgium and Great Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson achieved competing in the heptathlon in the Olympic Stadium eight days earlier.
About Chris Brown’s anchor:
Jamaica muscled their way into silver in 2:58.16 thanks to a stunning 43.78 anchor from Javon Francis. In a tight battle for bronze, veteran Chris Brown held off the late-charging Kevin Borlee (43.67) of Belgium by just three hundredths, recording a time of 2:58.49.
It was also a historic moment for 37-year-old Brown, who became the first man in history to win four Olympic medals in the men’s 4x400m. Besides today’s bronze, he also won 2000 bronze, 2008 silver and 2012 gold medals. It was also a record-breaking fifth successive Olympic 4x400m final appearance for the man they call “The Fireman.”
Finally, a quibble with NBC’s incessant reminder that Matthew Centrowitz’s 1500 gold was the first for an American since 1908.
True that. But don’t forget what might have been. Jim Ryun had mono and was running at Mexico City altitude when he took silver to Kip Keino in 1968. And he was the heavy favorite to win in 1972 when he was tripped in the first round — in a race where a computer misread his mile time as a 1500 and misplaced him in the heats.
My fellow Jayhawk would have won twice (he was the world record man, remember) if stars had luck been on his side.
Now time for Meb to get M40 gold!
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Note that Lagat’s time shatters his Masters 5k record by over 8 seconds. Also, in case you missed it, Jo Pavey nudged down her European Masters record in the 10k by about a second.
Scott
It should be noted that Ruth Beitia is the co-holder of the W35 world record at 2.01
Ken-I was a big Jim Ryun fan also, but for some reason Olympic 1500 finals usually have an unexpected result. Both the men and women finals in Rio went out excruciatingly slow. The blazing finishes of both were exciting but runners who are used to following a fast pacer are out of their element. A shame for Jim Ryun to never win Olympic gold but he is still one of the milers ever in my eyes.
Meb (M41) shows a good sense of humor during his marathon finish:
https://vine.co/v/5MYFjjZzKh2
Feel like saying “our own” Chaunte Lowe…1.97 m could have been her gold. 1st thru 4th same height.
I was really hoping for her to make the next ht and she would have been 1st instead of the “dreaded” 4th place.
Still, she is just awesome! Hope to see her again at one of our Masters meets. Last year at Nationals in Jacksonville I enjoyed sitting next to her and chatting, and just admiring her jumps.
I second everything that Christel says about Chaunte and want to add that the the sincerity of Chaunte’s congratulatory embrace of Ruth showed what true sportsmanship is all about. Chaunte is a class act all the way.
Beitia today in Paris 1.98.
I would guess that Beitia will be ranked # 1 at the end of the season. Since she is the oldest to win the Olympic high jump, that should make her the oldest to be # 1 in the HJ.
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