Hup Holland!

The Netherlands’ Dafne Schippers won the 200m tonight in 21.63, a championship record and the fastest time in the last 17 years. Many are calling it the greatest women’s 200m ever run, as Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson and Veronica Campbell-Brown won silver and bronze in 21.63 and 21.97.

Schippers won the first Dutch World or Olympic gold medal since 1992 when Ellen van Langen struck Olympic gold at 800m in Barcelona.

Schippers completed her ascendancy to the top of the world sprinting ranks which began with double gold at the European Championships in Zurich last summer.

The 33-year-old Campbell-Brown won her 18^th major meet medal.

Schippers took the lead with 3-5 meters to go in an exceedingly close race. She knew she had it, but I wasn’t celebrating along with my many Dutch relatives quite yet. There was a hush in the stadium as fans awaited the posting of the results – and then a huge roar as the very popular Schippers’ name came up first.

Medal ceremony is at 18:05 local time on Saturday for those of you - ok, us – who have waited 23 years to hear Het Wilhelmus, the Dutch national anthem, played at a World or Olympic championships.

Radio

In a previous post I mentioned my interview by Radio Beijing. How this came about was that I was at the press conference for the medalists in the men’s hammer throw. I am covering this event for my own website as well as Track and Field News and the Throwholics website in Germany. I had some questions for the medalists, including ones about their technique. In a press conference in which only four questions were asked, I asked three of them.

A reporter from Radio Beijing approached me afterwards and she asked if I’d be comfortable with being interviewed. Remind me next time to ask what about.

That evening, Su Bingtian, had become the first Chinese man to qualify for the finals of the 100m. The reporter asked if I was surprised that a Chinese man would make the 100m final.

Not exactly a softball question! I replied that I was not, of course, and went on to have a thoughtful discussion with her about the socioeconomics of track and field. We discussed one of my favorite parts of the meet, the first round of the men’s and women’s 100m, when athletes from countries which sometimes don’t have a single track compete at this definitive distance. This year, for example, Tashi Dendup, a teenager from Bhutan, set his country’s national record of 12.15. I’ll let you know if the interview is posted.

Interview with Segman

trackerati.com gets to the bottom of the Segway fiasco

trackerati: How are you liking your new digs in Outer Mongolia?

Segman: I didn’t know it was possible to get here so fast!

trackerati: We didn’t know there still was a Chinese Gulag.

Segman: There wasn’t! They made one just for me.

trackerati: How long do you expect to stay?

Segman: How long have you got?

trackerati: That’s not the question. How long have you got?

Segman: (blank stare)

trackerati: So, why did you take out Bolt?

Segman: I was just trying to get a great pic of him.

trackerati: Did you?

Segman: It’s a lovely photo, really, except his feet are in the air.

trackerati: If only you had knocked over Justin Gatlin instead, The Guardian would have paid for your new life in Great Britain.

Segman: So that’s who was screaming at me saying I hit the wrong guy!