Day 5 of the Olympics--Evening session...

8:00 am--Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain wins in 3:32.94...the pace was fast from the start, going through 400 in 56.5, a slow next lap at 1:57, then they picked it up, splitting 1200 in 2:53.

Asbel Kiprop from Kenya, who was among the leaders early, was second in 3:33.11, then Nick Willis of New Zealand was third in 3:34.16, nosing out Mehdi Baala of France.

This was a great night of track. There's no morning session tomorrow, so we shall see you Wednesday night at 19:00 Beijing time for men's 800m heats.


We will put up links to stories later today. See you then!

7:48 am--
The men's 1500 runners are now lining up. Interesting to see if this will be a tactical slow race, or if it's going hard from the start.

In the mens discus, world champion Gerd Kanter from Estonia wins with a toss of 68.82m/225-9.

7:30 am--
LoLo Jones was en route to winning, when she hit hurdle 9. Harper wins in a PR 12.54. In an upset, Sally McLellan of Australia second in 12.64, and Priscilla Lopes-Schliep third in the same time. Jones looks devastated. Deja vu of Gail Devers.

The long time track & field writer, Jim Dunaway, says,
"That's what comes of running too fast" .

Wow.

7:25 am--Women's 100 hurdles lining up now. Team USA has LoLo Jones, Damu Cherry & Dawn Harper.

7:18 am--
Britain's Christine Ohuruogu wins the 400 in 49.62. Shericka Williams of Jamaica silver in 49.69, and Richards bronze, 49.93. On the CBC feed, we had Richards crossing 200 in around 22.3--way too fast!

7:05 am--
In the 400, Jeremy Wariner (44.15) and LaShawn Merritt (44.12) win their semis. David Neville gets second in his heat at 44.91. Looks like a big battle between Merritt and Wariner in the finals.

6:40 am--
Coming up to the climax of day 5. In the 200, no surprises...Usain Bolt looked sooo easy in winning heat 2. All three Americans--Shawn Crawford (20.12), Wallace Spearmon (20.14) , & Walter Dix (20.19) advance to the finals.

Three semis in the men's 400 (top 2 + 2 to the finals), then finals in the women's 400 with Sanya Richards, the women's 100 hurdles with LoLo Jones, and the men's 1500 are the last four events left on the track. The men's discus has been underway, with the Pole, Malachowski, in the lead.

6:30 am--
They just had the medal ceremony for the women's pole vault. Jenn Stuczynski doesn't look too happy even though she's only been vaulting for four years, and got beat by the world record holder. Interesting take on Jenn at letsrun.com...

Meanwhile, Andrey Silnov just jumped into the stands after his win in the high jump.


Two semis in the mens 200 on the track now.

6:20 am--
With the second round of the 110 hurdles over, no real surprises. Americans David (King of ) Payne and David Oliver win their heats in 13.24 & 13.18, respectively. No real surprises unlike the first round with the loss of Trammell, and Liu Xiang.

Anyone want tickets to the finals of the 110 hurdles? The word is that folks are wanting to get rid of their tickets after Liu's injury.

6:05 am--
Parker writes, "The medals are decided: Silnov, Mason, and Rybakov in that order."

5:50 am--
David Payne just won the first of four second round heats in the 110 hurdles. Meanwhile in the high jump, Stefan Holm has a second miss; he missed at 2.34, then passed to 2.36 (7-8 3/4) to keep himself in the medals. He's in fourth, in a battle with Silnov and Rybakov of Russia, and Germaine Mason of Great Britain. As we type, Silnov's over 2.36 and into the lead!

5:30 am--
High jump's at 2.34m/7-8, with eight jumpers left. Stefan Holm of Sweden & Russia's Andrey Silnov are the only ones who are all clean with no misses.

5:22 am--
Parker Morse from the IAAF writes, "Defar sprints for the win. Cheruiyot next. 14:56.32 for Defar. Shobukhova third, Cherono fourth, Abeylegesse, Flanagan (14:59.69) advance automatically. Goucher 15:00.98 will advance on time. Metcalfe at 15:11.23 and Rhines from the first heat will advance as well.

5:15 am--
Looks like heat 2 of the women's 5000 is going to be a hair quicker. Kara Goucher has kept herself near the front, while Flanagan's content to tuck behind. Meanwhile, the bar's at 2.29/7-6 in the high jump.

4:55 am--
While we wait for heat two, here's a link to a blog post by Steve Kelley of the Seattle Times on Federal Way's Aretha Thurmond, who finished tenth in the discus in her first final...

4:51 am--
Heat one of the women's 5000 is now over, and Jen Rhines gets the last auto qualifier, finishing sixth, in 15:15.12. Thought she ran a smart race, making sure she had room to run, positioning herself in the front on the outside, and defending her space.

4:25 am--
All three Americans in the women's 200--Allyson Felix (22.74), Muna Lee (22.83), and Marshevet Hooker (22.76) advance out of the second round.

In the high jump, the bar is at 2.20m/7-2 1-2.

Women's 5000 heats are next--Jenn Rhines will be in heat one, while Shalane Flanagan & Kara Goucher are in heat 2. The top 6 and the three fastest go to the finals.

4:05 am--
Welcome to the evening session of day 5 of Olympic track & field. Finals tonight include the men's high jump, men's discus, women's 400, women's 100 hurdles, and the men's 1500 meter runs.

They just completed the first of four heats of the second round women's 200m with Allyson Felix. Top 3 athletes plus four advance to the semifinals.

While the 200s are going on, they are introducing the finalists in the men's high jump, of which there are no Americans.

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