Olympic Trials "recap"

Now that Jeneba Tarmoh has withdrawn from the 100 Meter run off, the Olympic Trials are officially over. Team USA appears to be stacked and poised to bring home a pirate’s booty worth of medals from London. As a sports and running dedicated, blog, we probably should have posted on the trials before, but we’re still in our infancy here at Philly Sports and Running.

Rather than do a full recap-I’m sure you’ll have no problem finding one if that’s what you’re looking for-we want to know what races did you find the most exciting?

The easy answer for the most exciting race is the women’s 100 Meter Dash where Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tormah tied for the final qualifying spot. While there’s obviously no wrong answer, there may have been a few even more exciting races. We had a pair of superman style finishes in the men’s hurdle races. Jeff Porter’s snagged him the final qualifying spot in the 110s while Bershawn “Batman” Jackson’s left him a couple hundreths short of London in the 400 Hurdles. There is no spot worse in sports than 4th at the US Olympic Trials, especially in an event like the 400 Hurdles where a potential Olympic Gold Medalist stays home.

But probably the greatest example of the agony of defeat and the thrill of victory-or more precisely 3rd place with an “A” standard-is the Women’s 5000. Julie Lucas, already with an “A” standard, held a substantial lead going into the bell lap. With the fourth and fifth place runners both in need of not only a top three finish, but an “A” standard, she looked to have her ticket to London punched. Lucas began to labor, however and eventual winner Julie Culley and American record holder Molly Huddle both went by her, but she still held onto third…..until the final stride of the race where Kim Conley passed her, and in the process dipped under the “A” standard of 15:20 with a 15:19.79 to beat Lucas’ 15:19.83. Lucas tied up badly in the final stretch where it appeared she was running in quicksand, a feeling I’ve felt before, but never with such harsh consequences. If second place is like kissing your sister, I can’t imagine what 4th place is.

So give us your thoughts......