Olympics: Athletics

Bloody hell, Yohan Blake eased up so much he almost got passed in that 200m semi!

Usain practically jogged that last 100m and still finished with a time of 20.18!

The women's 200m was won comfortably by USA's Allyson Felix with Jamaica's Fraser-Pryce taking silve and USA Carmelita Jetter third.  Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica came fourth and USA's Richards-Ross was fifth.  I was surprised by the margins in that race, 21.88, 22.09, 22.14, 22.38 and 22.39 were the top five times.  Quite big margins between the top four!

This should be a great race!  The beeb's pre-race build-up:

1830:
 ONE TO WATCH - ATHLETICS
But perhaps the most intriguing race of all will be the women's 200m (21:00 BST) which features three Olympic champions across three different distances. Veronica Campbell-Brown is the defending champion, but she'll face big competition from fellow Jamaican Shelly-Anne Fraser-Pryce, who defended her 100m title on Saturday, and Sanya Richards-Ross who won gold in the 400m. Throw American Allyson Felix, twice an Olympic silver medallist and three-time world champion over the distance, into the mix and this is shaping up to be an absolute humdinger...

Looking forward to this!

Allyson Felix was always going to win that race as she is head and shoulders above the rest in the 200M which is her specialist event. I love watching her run, she makes it look effortless. I actually thought she would run a faster time.

WTF?  Off the beeb:

1941:
 OUCH!
American runner Manteo Mitchell has revealed he ran the last 200m of the Olympic men's 4x400m relay heats earlier today with a broken left leg.

"As soon as I took the first step past the 200m mark, I felt it break." he said.

"I didn't want to let the three guys or the team down, so I just ran on it."

Hard as nails and tough as teak, take a bow Mr Mitchell.

WTF?  Off the beeb:

1941:
 OUCH!
American runner Manteo Mitchell has revealed he ran the last 200m of the Olympic men's 4x400m relay heats earlier today with a broken left leg.

"As soon as I took the first step past the 200m mark, I felt it break." he said.

"I didn't want to let the three guys or the team down, so I just ran on it."

Hard as nails and tough as teak, take a bow Mr Mitchell.

Still did it in 46.1 seconds, insane stuff!

Bolt does it in the 200m once again! 19.32 seconds with Blake second and Weir third. A 1,2,3 for Jamaica!

All Jamaica in the podium. Awesome.

Usain Bolt!

<o/

What a legend, eased off again at the end!!!

WTF?  Off the beeb:

1941:
 OUCH!
American runner Manteo Mitchell has revealed he ran the last 200m of the Olympic men's 4x400m relay heats earlier today with a broken left leg.

"As soon as I took the first step past the 200m mark, I felt it break." he said.

"I didn't want to let the three guys or the team down, so I just ran on it."

Hard as nails and tough as teak, take a bow Mr Mitchell.

F***ing hell, that's unbelievable. Respect to the guy. 

What a legend, eased off again at the end!!!

He might have broken the world record if he hadn't eased off.

Retains both his titles. Amazing athlete.

Rudisha breaking the world record topped anything Bolt did at these Olympics. That was an incredible 800m from the man!

Rudisha breaking the world record topped anything Bolt did at these Olympics. That was an incredible 800m from the man!

That was a fantastic run. He was the hottest favourite in athletics and he delivered.

F***ing hell, GB men's 4x100m relay team will be disqualified.  F***ing hell, why are we so sh*t at baton changes.  That was a boss run apart from that error.

SIGH.

Oh well lads, you did your best.  Gutted for them.

A very honest interview by the GB relay lads then.  Inexperience maybe by young Adam Gemili.  Rack this one up to experience lads and take it to Rio!

New WR by the USA's women's 4x100m team!  41.37 reduced to 40.82!  Great run!

New WR by the USA's women's 4x100m team!  41.37 reduced to 40.82!  Great run!

Yeah they pissed it, great run.

When is the mens final on? Tomorrow?

That was mental!

Yeah they pissed it, great run.

When is the mens final on? Tomorrow?

9pm tomorrow mate.

9pm tomorrow mate.

Thank you!

Oooooh, unlucky Martin!  Almost got third for the men's 4x400m GB team!  What a race by the Bahamas though to beat the USA!

New WR by the USA's women's 4x100m team!  41.37 reduced to 40.82!  Great run!

That was a stunning effort to take more than half a second off one of the oldest records in the book. Fantastic.