Today is the final day of the Olympic Trials, and most of our attention will be on the qualifiers who earn their shot at Olympic fame in Beijing. As always, the U.S. team will be a mix of exciting newcomers and proven veterans.
There is also a bittersweet aspect to the trials. For some former champions, the meet represents their last chance to compete at the highest level of the sport. For others, their last chance to get to the Olympics. The games only come around every four years and many who competed for a trip to Beijing won't be around when the Olympics lands in London in 2012.
I remember having this same sense in 2000 watching Johnny Gray, the fastest 800 runner in U.S. history, jog home last in his race at the Olympic Trials in Sacramento. He took a lap of honor afterwards, and the crowd applauded wildly to show its appreciation for all he had accomplished... and to say good-bye.
Allen Johnson didn't get a chance for such a lap. The 37-year-old Johnson, a gold medalist in the 110 Hurdles in 1996 and a 4-time world champion in that event, aggravated a left leg injury in the prelims and stepped off the track. It is almost certainly the end of the season, and might be the end of his career.
It was hard to imagine that Adam Goucher will be back in 4 years. The 33-year-old finished 7th in the 10K in a personal best 27:59.31, but that might have been his swan song.
Likewise Meb Keflezighi, also 33 who won a silver medal in Athens in 2004, but failed to qualify for Beijing in either the marathon or 10K. Injuries take their toll on distance runners, and the future seems to belong to the Halls, Ritzenheims, and Rupps.
On of the top U.S. women in the middle distances over the past 12 years, Amy Rudolph finished 13th in the 10K, ending her quest to make her third Olympic team. At 35, it seems unlikely she'll be back in four more years.
Perhaps the most painful stories are of great athletes who never make it to the Olympic Games. 33-year-old David Krummenacker finished 4th in the 800m at the 2004 Trials, and failed to qualify for the finals in Eugene. That would seem to be the end of the Olympic dream for a man who won the world indoor championships in 2003, and won the U.S. outdoor 800m championships three years in a row. But the world belongs to Nick Symmonds and Andrew Wheating now.
At the 2008 Trials, we haven't seen a Johnny Gray moment. We might have seen one if 40-year-old pole vaulter Jeff Hartwig had finished lower in the standings at Eugene, but instead the soon-to-be-retired vaulter cleared 5.70m (18-8.25) to finish second and qualify for Beijing.
For Hartwig, the lap of honor will have to be postponed.
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1 comment:
I bet this is an Olympic farewell for Stacy Dragila as well.
John, your coverage of the trials has made following it more enjoyable for me. Many thanks.
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