EXPRESS DELIVERY
When the Athletissima Super Grand Prix in Lausanne evolves into a member of the new Diamond League next year, it will have earned its place in the extended top rank of the worldwide athletics circuit.
From its beginnings 34 years ago in the tiny, homely wooden stadium on the shores of Lac Leman, with Mont Blanc rising blue in the twilight on the far, French side of the water, and the hordes of moths flocking around the flooodlights as the evening wore on, the switch to the soccer stadium in the centre of the city meant the meet lost a lot of enchantment. But it began a two-decade climb up the performance ladder. Which of course was warranted for a city which is the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee.
The old stadium was rebuilt and the track re-laid, and it was renamed Stade Pierre de Coubertin, after the founder of the modern Olympic movement. The bigger arena up the hill was given the grand name of Stade Olympique. But if the latter lacked character, it built an anecdotal history of its own to compensate. For example, there was the very un-Swiss behaviour in 1994, with Kim Batten leading Olympic champion Sally Gunnell in the early stages of the 400m hurdles when a cushion, thrown from the stands wafted across the track, and clocked Batten on the head. Thrown off her stride and out of the race, Batten got her due two weeks later when she became the only woman to beat Gunnell that year; the following year, Batten succeeded Gunnell as world champ, and went on to break the world record.
Then last year there was the case of high jumper Ivan Ukhov, whose bizarre behaviour could be described as very Russian. When Ukhov was spotted stumbling between two ranks of hurdles while supposedly readying himself for a jump, an official went to warn him that a race was about to get underway. Ukhov brushed him off and staggered across the high jump fan, only to collapse under the bar, and lie prostrate on the mattress for minutes. The British satirical magazine Private Eye has a euphemism for the state Ukhov was in - ‘tired and emotional’.
On the other hand, the move up from the lakeside to the city centre (literally, it’s probably 500m elevation difference) saw a commensurate hike in performance levels. Among the meet records are: Asafa Powell’s 9.72sec, Tatyana Lebedeva’s 15.33m, Ivan Pedroso’s 8.56m, Gail Devers’ 12.40sec, Maria Mutola’s 1.56.65, and Wilson Kipketer’s 1.42.61;and one that has survived from the lakeside era, Ed Moses’ 47.14sec quarter hurdles from 1981!
The all-time best, though was Liu Xiang’s 12.88sec world record in 2006. There was high hope that new record holder Dayron Robles might challenge that on Tuesday evening. Or that Powell might improve on that 9.72sec from last year. But that hope took a dive when Tuesday dawned damp and cloudy. Then got worse. The local events and B races managed to stay dry, but sure enough, when the international programme began, so did the rain.
Powell ran 10.07sec, and said it was the worst conditions he’d ever encountered in competition. Robles concurred after continuing his season unbeaten, with 13.18sec. Of the other Olympic champions present, Shelly-Ann Fraser won in 11.03sec, Barbora Spotakova was second with 64.38, Dawn Harper finished sixth in 12.75sec. After the pole vault took an hour’s break, Steve Hooker cleared 5.75m, and landed in a paddling pool. Even the bibulous Ukhov, who has jumped 2.40m indoors this year found rainwater just as disruptive as firewater, since he could manage no better than 2.23m for joint second place.
All of which serves to underline the superlative nature of Usain Bolt’s 200 metres in 19.59sec.
It was the only meeting record, and it was the fourth fastest in history, beaten only by his 19.30sec in Beijing, Michael Johnson’s 19.32sec in Atlanta ‘96, and Tyson Gay’s 19.58sec in New York five weeks ago, in warm conditions with a following wind. Bolt’s 19.59 in Lausanne was run into a 0.9mps headwind on a rain-soaked track.
The black cloud lowering over the stadium had shown glimmers of lifting mid-meeting, so the organisers took a ten minute time-out in the hope that it might stop for the 200. The rain resumed with renewed ferocity. But Bolt was more than equal to it.This was his only 200 metres before the world champs in Berlin in five weeks’ time, and he had said at the pre-event presser that, in contrast to his Lausanne outing last September - his first race after Beijing - when he coasted the last 20 metres, and ran 19.63sec, that he would go all out on Tuesday.
That he did so was clear to all. And appreciated by the 14000 full house that had endured the cold rainy evening waiting for him. The run would have warmed at least their spirits. Bolt won by close to a second, from Olympic 400 metres champ, LaShawn Merritt, himself a sub-20 man. But there was a better measure of the performance.
An astutely placed camera caught his quizzical untroubled expression as he rounded the turn and glanced at the trackside clock to see how he was doing at the 100 mark; while in the back of the frame, the face of 2004 Olympic gold medallist Shawn Crawford was contorted with effort. Crawford, who won the US 200 title ten days ago, finished fourth in 20.80sec.
Bolt emphasised afterwards that he wasn’t fully ready yet, but would be so in time for Berlin. Asked if the run was a message to anyone, ie Gay, Bolt said no, that if it was a message to anyone, it was to himself.
But I think we all got it.
July 8th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
I predict - Bolt 19.27 in Berlin. Any takers?
JOB
July 8th, 2009 at 11:03 pm
Pat, the elevation difference between the two stadia is only 223 m, not 500 m.
Olympique: 599 m per Google Earth
Coubertin: 376 m
Lake Geneva: 371 m
Can you tell us what year the athletics meetings were moved up the hill to the Stade Olympique?
July 8th, 2009 at 11:42 pm
I predict a 19.10 or 18.99 as long as he is pushed by Gay who will probably run a 19.4
July 9th, 2009 at 1:07 am
19.27?! I see no reason to doubt that he could do that! Imagine someone as incredible as Tyson Gay running a 19.4 and getting SECOND! Incredible!
July 9th, 2009 at 6:12 am
I am sure that Tyson Gay got the message. Many Americans really think that he can challenge Bolt over 200 metres in Berlin - yes, maybe for the first 110 metres; then the Lightening Bolt will go into overdrive, and the race for the gold medal will be over. Gay can run in the region of 19.45 and still lose by 4 metres.
Bolt also has some unfinished business over 100 metres. In Bejing he ran 9.69 in spite of shutting down over the last 15 metres - and he made world class sprinters behind him look like untrained schoolboys.
We have yet to see what this amazing man can really do - and when he moves seriously up to one lap of the track, it will certainly be GOODBYE MJ’s 43.18 from Seville in 1999.
I agree that the greatest 100 metres ever raced (in terms of media hype and expectation) was the 1988 Olympic final in Seoul. Ben Johnson’s classic finish - easing off as he threw his right arm aloft, index finger extended and looking back to his left at a dismayed Carl Lewis was an unforgettable moment for me. Of course BJ went from ‘hero to zero in 9.79 seconds’ but so what? It was still an awesome thing to witness. ‘Big Bad Ben’ was certainly not the only doper in the sport yet was treated like a child molester in some quarters perhaps because he was eventually honest enough to own up to his extensive drug use at the Dubin Inquiry that followed.
I resent the hypocrisy of a society that demands (and awards) great performances only to reel back in self-righteous horror on discovering that athletes are doping in order to reach the very high standards required. Without chemical aid it is simply impossible to put in the countless hours of training and then recover enough to compete at a very high level. Extensive training is still required as I am sure that Rashid Ramzi will tell you (!) There are no ‘magic pills’ that will turn a slob into a world class athlete overnight, yet some ignorant people still believe that to be the case.
Those who really want to ‘clean up’ modern professional sport should consider reverting back to amateur athletics. Remove the incentive (large cash payments for appearance and performance) and you will largely eliminate drug abuse. I know of course that this is totally unrealistic and will never happen. Market forces rule and athletes who can fill a stadium on their name alone will always command enormous appearance fees.
July 9th, 2009 at 8:28 am
thanks, Charley, for the correction on elevation, I should have checked, instead of relying on my own impression of the vertiginous stroll up the hill towards the ‘Olympique’
the move from lakeside was in 1987, when 19000 people crammed into Stade Olympique, the maximum now is 14000, which was the crowd on Tuesday
Incidentally, I should have reminded readers that Gay is the reigning world 100/200 champ, having beaten Bolt into second place in the latter, in Osaka
and Alfons Juck reports that Bolt’s reaction time in Lausanne was very slow, even by his standards, 0.228sec
July 9th, 2009 at 9:08 am
The times suggested for Bolt later in the season is wishful thinking as there are so many things that can go wrong. The weather conditions in Berlin could turn sour what with wind and/or rain, and there is the ever present threat of injury. Bolt is not immune to the latter, since that sort of thing eventually happens to virtually all fast sprinters. Then there is the ugly thought that he might be using a chemical assist. If that happens, it will make the 1988 Olympic 100m scandal look pale indeed. I am reminded of the saying, “If something seems to be too good to be true, then it usually is too good to be true”. Bolt does these fast times but are they the result of just hard training and talent? I remember reading some years back that a Swedish coach stated that it was physically impossible for a man to run 100m under 10.00 seconds without “help”. Perhaps that is a bit extreme, but still it makes one wonder. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in Berlin.
July 9th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
wow, these bolt jock riders never cease to amaze me.Bolts times are gonna plummet,but gay will only run 19.45.What i’m wondering is how you precogs figure gay can only run 19.45 after he ran 19.58 in his first outing,but bolt will run 19.10 or faster.And you base this on what.When I compare the times these two have run so far they seem to match up well.Both ran 9.7 windy.Both ran 19.5 in the duece(bolt jogging the last 180 of course).But according to the bolt faithful, gay has reached his limit (in his first race no less) but bolt will continue to improve.I guess Gay doesn’t train to peak at worlds.Thats a strategy reserved for bolt.No way gay can break a record or improve his 19.5 .Everyone knows the limits of his abilities,combined with his work ethic.WOW.Please someone send me that memo cause I didn’t get it.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Lausanne has earned the event, I think.