Ivan hopes he’ll test negative to keep medal.
M40 hammer thrower
Ivan Tsikhan of Belarus took silver in Rio, hitting 77.79 (255-2 1/2) on Friday. (The listed M40 WR is 82.23 by
Igor Astapkovich.) Hope he tests clean this time. He’s had
two positives in the past. It’ll be hard for another geezer to beat Ivan’s medal. But fellow fortysomethings
Bernard Lagat and
Meb Keflezighi will try this weekend in the 5000 and marathon, respectively. Too many 35-plusers are in the Games to count, but we’ll be cheering for 37-year-old
Ruth Beitia of Spain in the high jump (against our submasters hero
Chaunte Lowe, profiled in The New York Times.) And a shout-out to
John Nunn, 38, for surviving the 50K walk despite cramps, where nearly half the field didn’t finish. “Nunn was on personal-record pace through 30K when cramps set in that he couldn’t shake,” USATF reported. “Nunn struggled to maintain form and focus over the latter stages of the race, but stayed in it until the end, crossing in 4:16:12.” Who are your favorite masters-age Olympians?
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From IAAF report on women’s 20K walk:
Competing in her fourth Olympics, Italy’s 2008 Olympic bronze medallist Elisa Rigaudo, now 36, finished 11th in 1:31:04.
https://www.iaaf.org/news/report/rio-2016-olympic-games-women-20km-race-walk1
Beitia [37] won the women;s high jump, Vlasic [33] was third and Lowe [32] fourth. A pretty good showing in an event that is usually dominated by the young jumpers. Lagat ran very well. A great night for the older athletes at Rio!
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