• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Click here to download the  free ebook of Alberto Juantorena’s  detailed training workouts leading up to the 1976 Montreal Olympics

SpeedEndurance.com

Success in Track & Field ... and Life

  • Home
    • About
    • Contact
  • Track & Field
    • 400 meters
    • 800m & Mile
    • 1/2 & Full Marathons
    • Long & Triple Jump
    • Hurdles
  • Training
    • Weight Training
    • Abs & Core
    • Injury Prevention
    • Shoes & Spikes
    • Masters
  • Coaching
    • Freelap Friday Five
    • Interviews
    • Sports Nutrition
    • Sport Psychology
  • Archives
  • Shop
    • My account
    • Checkout
    • Basket

London 2012 Post-Mortem Part 1

You are here: Home / Coaching / London 2012 Post-Mortem Part 1
1
SHARES
FacebookTwitter

August 16, 2012 by Jimson Lee 5 Comments

Last Updated on March 12, 2013 by Jimson Lee

First, I can’t imagine the lines at Heathrow airport on Monday morning, August 13th.

There are so many stories with controversies, and so many stories to discuss and engage.

I started a few already, like the Kim Collins being sent home for “disappearing”.

So here are some various tidbits that deserve some explanations and trivia.

The 200m Blake vs Bolt Hype

Of course I hyped this story up.  I was getting 17,000 visitors a day at the start of the Olympics and with over 20,000 newsletter subscribers, plus 4000 Facebook fans and friends, I needed something to make YOU 40,000 people buzz and engage.  I could have made a “Don’t do Squats” or “Don’t do Sprint Drills” video and try to sell you a DVD.  Or, I could have written about the Steroid angle like “Bolt is Doping and You Know It”.

But at the end, I had a 20% chance of getting my bet right based on the responses, and I was wrong.

I didn’t care if I “embarrassed” myself because I made several people write back (who would never write or comment.. just lurkers and sponges and what we call trolls), and that engagement was all I really wanted.

Global Coaches House

I want to thank Frank Dick and Limkokwig University for hosting the Global Coaches House.  The seminars were top notch and the evening session had great Q&A interviews, but were at the same time as Athletics evening sessions.

So I had to make a choice.  Watch the events live or on big screen TVs at Canada Olympic House when I didn’t have tickets.  Or go to the seminars and sneak off to watch it some of the key events on the big screen TV downstairs.

See also  How to Do Different Starts… 2 Point, 3 Point, Falling Starts

At the end, I chose to the latter, and I’ll be posting the videos of Jessica Ennis and her coaches, as well as Sally Pearson’s coach Sharon Hannan. Stay tuned.  These were definitely one of the highlights of my trip for any coach.

Tribute to Bud Winter

It was nice to see a tribute to Bud Winter, who once gave a series of seminars to Glenn Mills and Stephen Francis, the coaches of Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, Asafa Powell, and Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce.

Even Botswana’s Amantle Montsho who came 4th in the women’s 400 meters.

You can read more about the history of Bud Winter in this 4 part series.  (Click here for Part 1, Click here for Part 2, Click here for Part 3)

His two current books for sale are So You Want to be a Sprinter and Rocket Sprint Start with Relax and Win coming out shortly.

Who Won the Shoe War?

In 2008, I wrote an article about Who Won the Shoes War? PUMA, NIKE or ADIDAS?

Here is a great article of Nike vs Adidas, but there was no mention of Puma.   Between NBC for TV rights and Nike,  the Olympics is big business.  Very Big.

If it weren’t for Usain Bolt, Puma would be unknown right now, next to Saucony, Ascis, Mizuno, Brooks, New Balance and Li-Ning.

How many people mentioned the men’s middle distance events when all the finalists wore Nike spikes of the same colour?  The florescent yellow spikes?

149948185

Top 3 Best Looking Athletes of 2012

According to the local British papers, the top 3 were Leryn Franco, Ryan Lochte and Jessica Ennis in that order. (combined results from both sexes)  They didn’t mention Lolo Jones.

See also  Men's Sprint Track Spikes for 100, 200, 400 meters (Review)

For those who don’t know, Leryn Franco is a javelin thrower for Paraguay and she competed in Beijing 2008.

For those who remember, she appeared in the 2011 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

I won’t post any images of these athletes, but you can use Google images to your heart’s desire.

Bad Officiating?

We’ve seen some officiating blunders that led to re-runs at the WJC.  Bad officiating is rare at the Olympic level, but it did happen in the Hammer throw.

You have to feel for the Chinese woman who thought she had a bronze going into the final round.  But the officials had a “lapse” and forgot to enter a previous mark.  We’ll never know the “best effort” if she knew she was currently in 4th place.  They should award 2 bronzes, just like synchronized swimming when the judges make scoring errors.

Or maybe she can hope for a drug positive test and get bumped up… oh, that happened already with the shot put!

And don’t get me started on the CAN-USA QF women’s soccer game.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/athletics-measurement-farce-mars-womens-hammer-002938524–spt.html

The Long Jump, Triple Jump Double

I can’t believe no one mentioned USA jumper Will Claye? He came 3rd in the Long Jump 2nd in the Triple. Last time someone doubled in LJ & TJ was in 1936! And it was a Japanese guy who did that!

On the USA team, there weren’t many that doubled… I can only think of Carmelita Jeter, Allyson Felix, and Galen Rupp.  Making the USA Olympic team in itself is an Olympics.

I didn’t have access to any NBC coverage if they mentioned this rare feat, but they are probably still talking about Lolo Jones.  (I guess the word “coverage” is a loose term)

See also  Jana Pittman - 400mH World Champion, Bobsleigh, and now Doctor

BTW, Mike Conley was also an awesome LJ-TJ-200m guy back in my days, and I actually beat him in the TJ back in 1985.. technically.

Running on a Broken Leg

The 4x400m broken leg story is old, but it reminds me of the Japanese Gymnastics Team competition with Shun Fujimoto at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games.  He was a late replacement for Japan’s #1 gymnast.  Imagine breaking your leg on the floor routine, then doing the pommel horse, and finally landing from the rings on a broken leg!   This was his first and only Olympics and to this day he has never fully recovered.

When I was watching the 4×400 Men’s heats , I didn’t understand why Manteo Mitchell was running so poorly, and in a split of 46 point.  Surely he wasn’t saving himself for the Finals, or Zurich for that matter (sorry, Suzy, and I’ll stop calling you Shirley)

Now that is “taking one for the team”

Too bad USA lost in the Finals, but I’ll save the relays for another post.

Category iconCoaching,  London 2012 Olympics,  Long & Triple Jump,  Sport Psychology,  Success,  Track & Field Tag iconBud Winter,  Yohan Blake

About Jimson Lee

I am a Masters Athlete and Coach currently based in London UK. My other projects include the Bud Winter Foundation, writer for the IAAF New Studies in Athletics Journal (NSA) and a member of the Track & Field Writers of America.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. OKtav says

    August 16, 2012 at 4:16 am

    Cool article…

    Reply
  2. Sebastien says

    August 16, 2012 at 9:11 am

    “with Relax and Win coming out shortly”

    Already on my “to buy” list – will be on kindle I hope? :)

    Reply
  3. OKtav says

    August 16, 2012 at 12:51 pm

    I’ve published 3 days ago a similar title article…but it was only about the “death” of track and field in Romanian sport…An absolute disaster which came a little bit to late in my opinion. I’m waiting it for 25 years…I’m wondering how did they do to resist all this time… Today remained only few clubs (maximum) in the whole country… Club being a very arrogant word in these circumstances… For me “London post-mortem”… means one country less on the track and field world’s map

    Reply
    • Jimson Lee says

      August 17, 2012 at 7:32 am

      @Oktav, I would love to read your articles once they get translated :)

      Reply
  4. ventsi says

    August 18, 2012 at 4:32 am

    Oktav, I am Bulgarian (i.e. your neighbour), and the situation here is not less disastrous. Reaching a semifinal at the Olympics is considered as a great performance and success.
    In the totalitarian years the State was pouring buckets of money in sport because of propaganda reasons. The problem now is not only in the lack of money. It’s also lack of motivation, lack of stadiums and sport halls, false values stimulated by low-quality pop-culture, etc.
    Look at Jamaica – their school athletic competitions (in 3 groups – age up to 14, 16, and 19) are like Olympic games, especially in sprints, with crowds of 30,000 or more on the stadium. Even 14-year old kids run 100 m for 11,00 sec. !
    On some forum one Jamaican said (wrote): “You can’t understand that in Jamaica we eat, sleep, breathe and sh*t track”. This is the way the future champions appear – from a small and poor country.
    But in Romania you have at least one great veteran (masters) athlete – Adrian Neagu. I am proud to know him personally and admire him – now he is 59, and long-jumps almost 6 m! (Last year he became a European indoor champion; after few days he has to compete in evacs2012.com). I am 11 years younger than him but 6 m are a big “bite” for me.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Recommended

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xbs-aWxyLk

Shop Our Store

  • Bud Winter (9)
  • Championship Productions (6)
  • Clyde Hart (2)
  • Derek Hansen (1)
  • Electrical Muscle Stimulation (2)
  • Jim Hiserman (6)
  • Jimson Lee (4)
  • Uncategorised (0)

Articles by Category

Products

  • Jim Hiserman - Developing 800m Runners: Identifying, Categorizing and Developing 400m-800m Type Athletes $42.99 $39.99
  • Private Coaching - Monthly Plan $600.00 $525.00
  • Jim Hiserman-Developing-Distance-Runnersv2 Jim Hiserman - Developing Distance Runners Volume 2: A Systematic Approach to Developing Individual Success within a Dynamic Team Culture $34.95 $29.95
  • Feed-the-Cats-Clinic-3-Pack-701 'Feed the Cats' Clinic 3-Pack $64.99
  • Tony Holler's Feed the Cats": A Complete Sprint Training Program Tony Holler's "Feed the Cats" Complete Sprint Training Program $49.99
  • Bud Winter and Speed City presents Arthur Lydiard 509x716 Bud Winter & Arthur Lydiard MP3 [Download only] $9.99

RECENT POSTS

  • Oregon22 Coaches Club now Online
  • IFAC 2022: The Return of In-Person Conferences (with Virtual option)
  • Here is our 400m Discussion Recording… over 2 Hours Long
  • The Best Free Coaching Book – post Beijing 2022 Olympics
  • The Ultimate 400m Track Webinar for Coaches & Athletes
  • NACAC Athletics Coaching Science Series 2022
  • Top Six 400m Predictor Workouts (Number 4 is my Favourite)
  • Best 6 Podcasts for 2021 (and Beyond)
  • Why Karsten Warholm’s 45.94 400mH WR is my Highlight of 2021
  • Sprinting: 10 Research Articles for Effective Sprint Training [Part 23]

Copyright © 2023. SpeedEndurance.com is owned and operated by Aryta Ltd. Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}