Olympic track and field review and results

The Olympics have finished for a another four years and all in all it has been a very successful one for many. I feel the London organizers can be proud of the games they have put on for the world. On the track in the past week or so, we had the usual excitement, drama, heartbreak and fairytale stories to only wet the appetite for Rio 2016.

Two weeks ago before it all got underway, I gave you all my track and field gold, silver and bronze predictions. Now it has all done and dusted I will give a run down of all the results, and see how well …….Or not so I did!

 

Predictions                                                        Results

100m Men

1 Usain Bolt                                                            1 Usain Bolt
2 Yohan Blake                                                        2 Yohan Blake
3 Tyson Gay                                                           3 Justin Gatlin

As we all expected Usain Bolt made it back to back Olympic titles in the 100m impressively breaking his own Olympic record in the process. Young Jamaican Yohan Blake continued his meteoric rise by claiming silver, with the only surprise being veteran American Justin Gatlin taking bronze from fellow American Tyson Gay.

100m Women

1 Carmelita Jeter                                                  1 Shelly-Ann Fraser
2 Shelly-Ann Fraser                                             2 Carmelita Jeter
3 Blessing Okagbare                                             3 Veronica Campbell-Brown

I got the first two the wrong way round as Shelly-Ann Fraser made it an Olympic sprint double-double for Jamaica in the 100m from my favorite Jeter who took silver. Another surprise was veteran VCB claiming a respectable bronze.

200m Men

1 Usain Bolt                                                          1 Usain Bolt
2 Yohan Blake                                                     2 Yohan Blake
3 Christophe Lemaitre                                       3 Warren Weir

Called the first two again just like I suspect most people did, Bolt was close to breaking another record but seemed to ease down at the end. Blake again showed his potential and wasn’t far behind his training partner. Another surprise for bronze was Jamaican Warren Weir who came from nowhere to make it a historic 1,2,3 for Jamaica.

200m Women

1 Carmelita Jeter                                                  1 Allyson Felix
2 Allyson Felix                                                      2 Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce
3 Shelly-Ann Fraser                                            3 Carmelita Jeter

Well I got the top three correct but just not in the correct order. Allyson Felix went one better than I predicted to claim her first and deserved individual gold medal at an Olympics. Fraser-Pryce was close to making it a spring double took silver with my favorite Jeter only taking the bronze.

110m Hurdles Men

1 Liu Xiang                                                            1 Aries Merritt
2 Aries Merritt                                                     2 Jason Richardson
3 Dayron Robles                                                   3 Hansle Parchement

If it wasn’t for Chinese athlete Lie Xiang clattering virtually the first hurdle and going out he could have been in the top three. Due to this, my prediction for the silver medal Merritt claimed a deserved gold from fellow American Richardson with surprise again for bronze Parchment taking an impressive bronze

100m Hurdles Women

1 Sally Pearson                                                      1 Sally Pearson
2 Dawn Harper                                                      2 Dawn Harper
3 Kellie Wells                                                         3 Kellie Wells

Very proud to say this is my first 1,2,3 correct prediction as Sally Pearson completed her set of gold medals from all the major championships, breaking the Olympic record in the process. Silver went to the now former champion Dawn Harper with the up and coming prospect Kellie Wells taking a deserved and hard thought bronze from fellow American Lolo Jones.

400m Men

1 Kirani James                                                       1 Kirani James
2 LaShawn Merritt                                               2 Luguelin Santos
3 Tony McQuay                                                    3 Lalonde Gordon

It was all about the young Grenadian claiming the first gold medal for his country at an Olympic games, to add to his world championships gold. The silver medal was claimed by another youngster as Dominican Republic’s rising star Santos powered home with Trinidad and Tobago’s Gordon taking a surprise bronze.

400m Women

1 Amantle Montsho                                              1 Sanya Richards-Ross
2 Christine Ohuruogu                                          2 Christine Ohuruogu
3 Sanya Richards-Ross                                        3 DeeDee Trotter

Bronze medalist from four years ago Richards-Ross rolled back the years to storm her was to a surprise gold medal. As I called it Ohuruogu just claimed the silver, fighting off  surprise young American Trotter who just out dipped my favorite for gold and world champion Montsho.

400m Hurdles Men

1 Dai Greene                                                          1 Felix Sanchez
2 Angelo Taylor                                                    2 Michael Tinsley
3 Javier Culson                                                     3 Javier Culson

Well, I stuck my neck out and got it completely wrong as Dai Greene finished just out the medals in fourth. But nobody would have predicted Sanchez rolling back the years to claim a gold to add to the gold he won 8 years ago in Athens. Michael Tinsley was another surprise coming from nowhere to claim his first medal at a major tournament with the one I got correct Puerto Rican Culson taking the bronze.

400m Hurdles Woman

1 Lashinda Demus                                                1 Natalya Antyukh
2 Perri Shakes-Drayton                                      2 Lashinda Demus
3 Natalya Antyukh                                               3 Zuzana Hejnova

In what was one of the closest races in the Olympic games, Russian Antyukh just held off the American and world champion Demus to claim gold by 0.07 seconds. In 3rd place taking bronze was the surprise Czech athlete Hejnova to claim her first medal at a major tournament. Unfortunately GB’s Perri Shakes-Drayton failed to reach the final.

800m Men

1 David Rudisha                                                   1 David Rudisha
2 Mohammed Aman                                           2 Nigel Amos
3 Nigel Amos                                                        3 Timothy Kitum

As I stated I couldn’t see anyone getting past the beast that is David Rudisha and he proved his dominance by breaking the world record. In second was young Botswana athlete Amos who ran a national record and a new junior record to take silver. In third was another bronze medal surprise in the shape of 17-year-old Kenyan Timothy Kitum. Aman finished in 6th but still run a Ethiopian national record.

800m Woman

1 Caster Semenyay                                              1 Mariya Savinova
2 Pamela Jelimo                                                   2 Caster Semenya
3 Mariya Savinova                                               3 Ekaterina Poistogova

Maybe not a big surprise in this event as my favorite Caster Semenya could only finish second behind the the reigning World, European and indoor champion and now Olympic champion Russian girl Savinova. Third maybe was a surprise, even though she was one of my medal possibilities, young Russian Poistogova came in third to win her first medal in a major games.

1500m Men

1 Asbel Kiprop                                                      1 Taoufik Makhloufi
2 Silas Kiplagat                                                     2 Leonel Manzano
3 Nixon Chepseba                                                3 Abdalaati Iguider

Well I got this event completely wrong, my top three didn’t even come in the top five in the final. In the end it was the young Algerian Makhloufi taking gold from American Manzano taking his first major medal. In third was Moroccan and current indoor champion Iguider.

1500m Woman

1 Genzebe Dibaba                                               1 Asil Cakir Alptekin
2 Abeba Aregawi                                                2 Gamze Bulut
3 Asil Cakir Alptekin                                          3 Maryam Yusuf Jamal

It was a Turkish 1,2 in this event as Alptekin stormed to her first gold in a major championships with fellow Turkish athlete Bulut taking the silver. In third was Bahrain runner and former world champion Jamal.

5000m Men

1 Mo Farah                                                           1 Mo Farah
2 Dejen Gebremeskel                                         2 Dejen Gebremeskel
3 Bernard Lagat                                                  3 Thomas Pkemei Longosiwa

I called it correctly as home town hero Mo Farah made himself a double Olympic champion in this event, and a double Olympic champion in these games, truly amazing achievement. Is second, as I said was the Ethiopian athlete Gebremeskel who was just piped into second place while Kenyan Thomas Pkemei Longosiwa claimed an unexpected bronze.

5000m Women

1 Meseret Defar                                                   1 Meseret Defar
2 Vivian Cheruiyot                                              2 Vivian Cheruiyot
3 Sally kipyego                                                     3 Tirunesh Dibaba

I called the 1,2 on this one, I said I was expecting Defar to pull off one last magical run and that she did to claim a memorable gold medal. In silver was Kenyan Cheruiyot who had run the fastest in this event this year. In third was a surprise for me, 10,000m winner Dibaba who I thought this would just be too much for with her recent injuries, ran a spirited race.

10,000m Men

1 Wilson Kiprop                                                    1 Mo Farah
2 Kenenisa Bekele                                               2 Galen Rupp
3 Mo Farah                                                           3 Tirike Bekele

Mo Farah surprised me by storming to the 10,000m Olympic gold, he ran and intelligent race throughout and in the end steamrolled the field to gold. In second was a surprise as American Rupp produced a sprint finish to claim his first major tournament medal with Tirike Bekele claiming bronze from his older brother Kenenisa Bekele who came fourth.

10,000m Women

1 Tirunesh Dibaba                                               1 Tirunesh Dibaba
2 Vivian Cheruiyot                                              2 Sally Kipyego
3 Sally Kipyego                                                    3 Vivian Cheruiyot

I was so close to claiming a second 1,2,3 in this event as Dibaba retains her 10,000m crown in impressive fashion by running it in a world leading time. Second was the young Kenyan Kipyego to add to the silver she won in the 2011 world championships, in front of fellow Kenyan Cheruiyot  in third.

Decathlon Men

1 Ashton Eaton                                                   1 Ashton Eaton
2 Trey Hardee                                                    2 Trey Hardee
3 Eelco Sintnicolaas                                            3 Leonel Suarez

Even though I said I did not know much about this event I was close to claiming a 1,2,3 with world championship silver medalist Ashton Eaton fulfilling his favorite position by taking gold from fellow American Trey Hardee. The bronze went to Cuban athlete as it did four years ago in Beijing.

Heptathlon Women

1 Jessica Ennis                                                    1 Jessica Ennis
2 Nataliya Dobrynska                                       2 Lilli Schwarzkopz
3 Tatyana Chernova                                          3 Tatyana Chernova

Again I was one away from claiming a 1,2,3 with Olympic golden girl Jessica Ennis drawing on the crowd to bulldozed her way to an almost flawless games, winning it with a world leading points tally. The surprise was German girl Schwarzkopz claiming silver with Russian Chernova taking the bronze as she did four years ago. Reigning champion Dobrynska disappointingly had to bow out through injury.

Long Jump Men

1 Irving Saladino                                                 1 Greg Rutherford
2 Sebastian Bayer                                               2 Mitchell Watt
3 Greg Rutherford                                              3 Will Claye

Team GB’s Rutherford surprised one and all by claiming a tremendous and unexpected gold medal from Australian Watt who added to the silver he won in the world championships last year. Bronze went to triple jump specialist Will Claye. My favorite Saladino didn’t make a single recorded jump by fouling all three of his attempts.

Long Jump Woman

1 Brittney Reese                                                   1 Brittney Reese
2 Blessing Okagbare                                            2 Yelena Sokolova
3 Lyudmila Kulchanova                                       3 Janay Deloach

As predicted I couldn’t see anybody getting past the current world and World Indoor Champion Brittney Reese. In the end she only just beat Russian Sokolova into second by 5 inches. American and world indoor silver medalist Deloach took the bronze. In the end Nigerian sprinter had a poor games and did not even make the long jump final.

Triple Jump Men

1 Will Claye                                                             1 Christian Taylor
2 Christian Taylor                                                 2 Will Claye
3 Phillips Idowu                                                     3 Fabrizio Donato

I got the 1 and 2 in this event the wrong way around as Christian Taylor took the gold medal from fellow American and long jumper Claye. In the end he did win a pretty significant margin. In third was European champion Fabrizio Donato. The big disappointment was home town boy Idowu who everyone had concerns about his injuries leading up to these games and it took its toll as he did not even make the final.

Triple Jump Women

1 Olga Rypakova                                                    1 Olga Rypakova
2 Olha Saladukha                                                   2 Caterine Ibarguen
3 Tatyana Lebedeva                                              3 Olha Saladukha

I am happy to say I called this right, did say I would go against form and stick my neck out for a surprise gold and nailed it. The girl from Kazakhstan was jumping well and won gold by a semi comfortable margin. Silver went to Colombian athlete Ibarguen who added that to the bronze she won in the world championship last year. Bronze went to my silver medalist prediction Ukrainian Saladukha. Beijing triple and long jump silver medalist Lebedeva ended London in 10th place.

High Jump Men

1 Jesse Williams                                                      1 Ivan Ukhov
2 Andrey Silnov                                                      2 Erik Kynard Jr
3 Ivan Ukhov                                                          3 Barshim / Druin / Grabarz

This event was a wide open one and it showed. In the end somewhat surprisingly former European champion, Russian Ukhov took the gold, just from Unknown American Kynard Jr. It was a three-way tie for bronze with my medal possibility, GB’s Robert Grabarz joining young Qatar athlete Mutaz Essa Barshim and Canadian Derek Druin who all claimed their first medal at a major tournament in third.

High Jump Woman

1 Anna Chicherova                                                 1 Anna Chicherova
2 Chaunte Howard-Lowe                                      2 Brigetta Barrett
3 Tia Hellebaut                                                       3 Svetlana Shkolina

As predicted current world champion Chicherova claim the Olympic title to her resume ahead of young American and one of my two medal possibilities Barrett by way of only 2 inches. In third was the other one of my medal possibilities Russian Shkolina who cleared the same height as the American but took bronze due to more fouls. Lowe and Hellebaut finished 5th and 6th respectively.

 Pole Vault Men

1 Bjorn Otto                                                          1 Renaud Lavillenie
2 Ranaud Lavillenie                                             2 Bjorn Otto
3 Steve Hooker                                                    3 Raphael Holzdeppe

Unfortunately I got the top two in this event the wrong way around, Frenchman Lavillenie claimed gold while breaking the Olympic record. Silver was my favorite German athlete Otto. Fellow German, Young Holzdeppe took a surprise bronze with a personal best height of 5.91 which was the same as his compatriot but took bronze by way of more fouls.

Pole Vault Woman

1 Yelena Isinbayeva                                            1 Jennifer Suhr
2 Fabiana Murer                                                  2 Yarisley Silva
3 Jennifer Suhr                                                    3 Yelena Isinbayeva

Huge surprise is this event as the reigning Olympic and world champion also the world record holder couldn’t defend her title and only claimed bronze. American Suhr and Cuban Silva both jumped the same height but the American took gold by having made the least fouls, but it was close only by one. Brazilian Murer failed to make the final.

Javelin Men

1 Vitezslav Vesely                                                 1 Keshorn Walcott
2 Andreas Thorkildsenn                                      2 Oleksandr Pyatnytsya
3 Matthias De Zordo                                             3 Antti Ruuskanen

As stated previously,this is an event I had not a lot of knowledge in and it showed. In saying that the gold medal winner was a big surprise as Trinidad and Tobago athlete took it by way of 7 inches with a national record throw from Ukrainian Pyatnytsya who was my medal possibility. In third was Finnish athlete Ruuskanen to claim his first medal at a major tournament.

Javelin Women

1 Mariya Abakumova                                           1 Barbora Spotakova
2 Barbora Spotakova                                            2 Christina Obergfoll
3 Sunette Viljoen                                                   3 Linda Stahl

I think I did ok here considering I wasn’t well versed in this event. my silver medal prediction took gold. Czech athlete Spotakove retained her Olympic title and was head and shoulders above the rest. My medal possibility German athlete took the silver with fellow German and again bronze medal surprise Stahl taking the bronze for her first medal at a major event.

Shot Put Men

1 Christian Cantwell                                             1 Tomasz Majewski
2 Reese Hoffa                                                        2 David Storl
3 Tomasz Majewski                                              3 Reese Hoffa

Again my predictions didn’t do too badly, Polish athlete retained his Olympic medal just (by way of 3 inches) from German athlete and world champion Storl who was my medal possibility. American athlete Hoffa took the bronze with my favorite Cantwell coming in fourth.

Shot Put Woman

1 Valerie Adams                                                   1 Nadzeya Astapchuk
2 Nadzeya Astapchuk                                         2 Valerie Adams
3 Gong Lijiao                                                         3 Yavgeniya Kolodko

Again I did pretty well in this event. Surprised that Belarus athlete Astapchuk took gold from favorite and reigning Olympic and world champion Adams, bigger surprise it that it wasn’t even close. There was drama for the bronze as Chinese girl Lijiao thought she had it but after a re-measure it was given to Russian athlete and my medal possibility Kolodko.

Discuss Men

1 Robert Harting                                                   1 Robert Harting
2 Piort Malachowski                                             2 Ehsan Haddadi
3 Virgilijus Alekna                                                 3 Kerd Kanter

As expected German thrower Harting claimed the gold medal to go with his two world championship golds. Silver and bronze was taken by my two medal possibilities. Iranian athlete Haddadi added silver to his world championship bronze and Estonian athlete and reigning Olympic champion Kanter took the bronze.

Discuss Woman

1 Nadine Muller                                                     1 Sandra Perkovic
2 Yangfeng Li                                                         2 Darya Pishchalnikova
3 Sandra Perkovic                                                 3 Yangfeng Li

Considering I was not well versed in this event I did pretty well. Croatian athlete Perkovic took gold to add to her European gold with a national record throw of 69.11. Taking silver was Russian and my medal possibility Pishchalnikova which was a surprise. Bronze went to Current world champion Chinese athlete Li.

Hammer Men

1 Koji Murofushi                                                   1 Kristian Parz
2 Ivan Tsikhan                                                     2 Primoz Kozmus
3 Krisztian Pars                                                    3 Koji Murofushi

Hungarian athlete Pars impressively took gold to add to his European gold and world championship silver. In second was Slovenian and reigning champion who some thought was on the slide Kozmoz. Third was my favorite and current world champion Murofushi.

Hammer Women

1 Tatyana Lysenko                                                1 Tatyana Lysenko
2 Betty Heidler                                                       2 Anita Wlodarczyk
3 Aksana Mirankova                                             3 Betty Heidler

As I expected, Russian athlete and world champion added the Olympic gold to her resume. In second was Polish athlete, European champion and one of my medal possiblities Wlodarczyk with the German and current world record holder Heidler in third.

4×100 Relay Men

1 Jamaica                                                                  1 Jamaica
2 USA                                                                        2 USA
3 France                                                                    3 Trinidad and Tobago

Almost got the 1,2,3 int this as Jamaica broke the world record for the third major championships running which is an amazing stat. USA did push them all the way as was expected and in the end set a new national record. In third was a deserved Trinidad and Tobago team who finished only four hundreds of a second ahead of France.

4×100 Relay Woman

1 USA                                                                          1 USA
2 Jamaica                                                                   2 Jamaica
3 Trinidad and Tobago                                             3 Ukraine

As stated before Russia romped home due to mistakes from other countries but there were no mistakes this time as the USA team stormed home to a new world record that had stood since the 80s. In second was the Jamaican’s who set a new national record with former champions and one of my medal possibilities in third.

4×400 Relay Men

1 USA                                                                            1 Bahamas
2 Jamaica                                                                     2 USA
3 Team GB                                                                   3 Trinidad and Tobago

The Bahamas who were one of my medal possibilities pulled off a scintillating performance by upsetting the world and Olympic champions to claim gold. USA was pushed into silver with the team of Trinidad and Tobago just holding off Team GB to claim bronze.

4×400 Relay Women

1 Team GB                                                                    1 USA
2 Russia                                                                         2 Russia
3 USA                                                                             3  Jamaica

In the end it was the same as it was four years ago as the USA team stormed to another Olympic gold medal. Is silver again was the Russian’s who had to fight to finish in second place from the Jamaican’s with one of my medal possibilities Ukraine in fourth.