Ten Years Ago Today: Konstantinos Kenteris Captured the 200m Gold Medal at 2000 Sydney Olympic Games

>> September 28, 2010

It was ten years ago today Konstantinos Kenteris of Greece won the men’s 200m at Sydney Olympics. He clocked a time of 20.09s, beaten Darren Campbell (20.14) on the silver position. Ato Boldon, who won silver in 100m earlier, came third in 20.20s.

Kenteris was a 400m runner before switched to 200m during the outdoor season in 1999. At the 1999 World Championship in Seville, he had beaten Maurice Greene (who later became the world champion) in the R1 of 200m but withdrew the quarter finals due to injury.

During the 2000 Olympics, most people surprised when he managed to get a slot of the 200m final. Not like Maurice Greene who won the 100m final earlier, came to Sydney with an overwhelming prospect.

Early in the year, I had predicted the top three on the Olympics podium for 200m would be Michael Johnson, Maurice Greene and Frank Fredericks.

However, both American didn’t proceed due to hamstring injuries en route the 200m final at the U.S Olympics trials. About two weeks before the Olympics, Fredericks pulled out himself due to (ankle?) injury.

In the absence of the three  monsters, John Capel and Ato Boldon were the ones to watch. After the prelim rounds, QFs and SFs, John Capel seems to have a big chance to win, besides Ato Boldon was already run seven times (4 in 100m and 3 in 200m) and rather tired.

NOTE: The men’s 200m SF and Final were held at the same session, which was two hours interval not ONE DAY interval like today’s system. The men’s long jump final also held at the same time, Carl Lewis would get angry with the sort of schedule!

In the final, the field seems very close to each until the 150m mark where all of a sudden Kenteris took the lead and eventually leaving the field to emerge the Olympic champion.

John Capel, who won the U.S Olympic trails (19.85), unfortunately stumbled out of the blocks and finished eighth.

After the Olympics, Kenteris went to win two other major meets, the 2001 World Championship (20.03) and the 2002 European championship (19.85).

Video of 200m Final (Sydney Olympics and Edmonton World Championship)


Men's 200m Final
1, Konstantinos Kenteris, GRE, 20.09. 2, Darren Campbell, GBR, 20.14 3, Ato Boldon, TRI, 20.20. 4, Obadele Thompson, BAR, 20.20. 5, Christian Malcolm, GBR, 20.23. 6, Claudinei Silva, BRA, 20.28. 7, Coby Miller, USA, 20.35. 8, John Capel Jr, USA, 20.49.

SF 1: 1,John Capel Jr, USA, 20.10. 2, Christian Malcolm, GBR, 20.19. 3, Ato Boldon, TRI 20.20. 4, Obadele Thompson, BAR, 20.21. 5, Christopher Williams, JAM, 20.47. 6, Stephane Buckland, MRI, 20.56. 7, Francis Obikwelu, POR, 20.71. 8, Tommi Hartonen, FIN, 20.88.

SF 2: 1, Konstantinos Kenteris, GRE, 20.20. 2, Darren Campbell, GBR, 20.23. 3, Claudinei Silva, BRA, 20.30. 4, Coby Miller, USA, 20.45. 5, Kim Collins, SKN, 20.57. 6, Floyd Heard, USA, 20.63. 7, Koji Ito, JAP, 20.67. 8, Shingo Suetsugu, JAP, 20.69.

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How Fast Can Cristiano Ronaldo Run in the 100m?

>> September 26, 2010

Cristiano Ronaldo, a player who is reportedly worth 130 millions in USD has been said the fastest elite football player in the world.

It has been predicted that the Portuguese has a potential to run around 10.6s in the 100m. But some people have claimed he can do 10.5s. After that, they exaggerated the time to 10.3s and then lowered again to 10.2s. But those who don't know track and field or complete silly still believe that he could run as fast as the fastest man on the planet, Usain Bolt. Yikes..!

However, a study conducted by Germans in 2009 found that Cristiano Ronaldo reaches an average speed of 33.6 kph. They also indicated Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney and Arsenal’s Robin Van Persie had recorded 32.6kph and 32.1kph respectively, thus slower than Ronaldo.

Last time in a training session I had a flying 60m time recorded at 5.5s (FAT 5.74). This could be roughly translated to 0.9567s per 10 metres segments. Thus, my average speed in kilometer per hour (kph) was about 37.63.

My fastest time over 100m at the time was 10.6s.

Usain Bolt, at the 2009 World Championship in Berlin recorded 9.58s and reached a top speed on the 60-70m segment with +- 0.805s, therefore 44.72kph. His average speed for the distance of 60-80m was 44.72kph, as well (link).

How fast can Ronaldo run the 100m?

Take a look at a comparison. We had a research project (static vs. dynamic stretching...) in 2009 andcollected data for a flying 40 meters among junior sprinters. One of the sprinters has a PB of 11.17 in the 100m (but my project was held during off season) and he recorded a 4.29s (for dynamic stretching). This equates to about 33.57kph, exactly the same to Ronaldo’s average speed.

Though I'm unable to consider environment factors,will Ronaldo run a 11.17 or 10.9 in the 100m?


Update: Read latest article "Cristiano Ronaldo Will Not Run Sub 10s 100m"

Recommended reading:
Cristiano Ronaldo: Champion of the World
Cristiano Ronaldo - Moments
Cristiano Ronaldo (World Soccer Stars / Estrellas Del Futbol Mundial)
The Story of Real Madrid

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Mohd Elfi Mustapha

>> September 23, 2010


Name: Mohd Elfi Mustapha
Nationality: Singapore
Event: Sprints (100m)
Born: 4 November 1987
Height: 5-9
Weight: 70

Personal Best: 
100m 10.56 -0.4 Singapore (25 July 2010)
200m 22.42

Major Meets:
Asian Championships- Kobe 2011
World University Games- Shenzhen 2011

Career Highlights:
2010: Gold Medalist at 100m (10.59)  in the ASEAN University Games.

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Ten Years Ago Today: Maurice Greene Won Gold Medal at 2000 Sydney Olympics

It was ten years ago today Maurice Greene captured gold medal in the men's 100m final at 2000 Olympic Games at Sydney, Australia.

Greene who came to the Olympics as the world fastest man with 9.79 set a year before, crossed the line in 9.87 -0.3 ahead of training partner Ato Boldon 9.99 and Barbados' Obadeli Thompson 10.04.

A few days later he, along with teammates John Drummond, Bernard Williams, and Brian Lewis, won the 4x100 meter relay in 37.65.

Greene's 100m time still ranks among the top-10 on the all-time list. Usain Bolt holds the current WR in 9.58, second fastest is Tyson Gay in 9.69, followed by Asafa Powell (9.72) and Nesta Carter (9.78).

As of today, he is the only sprinter to hold the Indoor 60m (6.39) and 100m (9.79) WR at the same time. His 60m WR which set twice still stand.

Greene, who dominated the sprint century for at least six years during his prime time has 53 times sub 10s in the 100m which at the time was more than any other sprinter in history.

On February 2008, he announced his retirement from athletics following a spat of injuries which have derailed him since 2006.

AdrianSprints.com rated Maurice Greene one of the greatest sprinters of all time, no doubt along with Jesse Owens, Bob Hayes, Tommie Smith, Carl Lewis and Usain Bolt.


Maurice Greene R1, QF, SF and Final (Video)




Men's 100m Final Results (-0.3)

1 Maurice Greene (USA) 9.87
2 Ato Boldon (TRI) 9.99
3 Obadeli Thompson (BAR) 10.04
4 Dwain Chambers (GBR) 10.08
5 Jon Drummond (USA) 10.09
6 Darren Campbell (GBR) 10.13
7 Kim Collins (SKN) 10.17
DNF: Aziz Zakari (GHA)

Men's 100m SF 2
1, Maurice Greene (USA) 10.06s. 2, Jon Drummond (USA) 10.10s. 3, Ato Boldon (TRI) 10.13s. 4, Aziz Zakari (GHA) 10.16s. 5, Matt Shirvington (AUS) 10.2s6. 6, Aliu Deji (NGR) 10.32s. 7, Sunday Emmanuel (NGR) 10.45s. 8, Bruny Surin (CAN) 50.94s.

Men's 100m SF 1
1 Dwain Chambers (GBR) 10.14s. 2, Obadeli Thompson (BAR) 10.15s. 3, D Campbell (GBR) 10.19s. 4, Kim Collins (SKN) 10.20s. 5, L Myles-Mills (GHA) 10.25s. 6, Curtis Johnson (USA) 10.27. 7, Koji Ito (JAP) 10.39s. 8, Lindel Frater (JAM) 10.46s.

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72nd Singapore Open Track and Field Championship 2010, Results and Videos

>> September 20, 2010

The 72nd Singapore open track and field championship was held from 18-19 September 2010 at Gombak Stadium, Singapore. Following are the full results and videos from sprint events:

Results: Click here (Singapore Athletics)

Video of Men's 100m Final


Video of Women's 100m Final



Results and Videos Courtesy of Singapore Athletics

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Lemaitre Wins IAAF VTB Bank Continental Cup 2010 in 10.06s

>> September 05, 2010

European sprint king, Christophe Lemaitre took advantage in the absence of the likes Gay, Carter, Bolt and Powell to win the men's 100m title of the IAAF VTB Continental Cup in Split, Croatia.

The 20-year-old was slow out of the block but surged through the field and crosses the line in 10.06, just ahead Antigua's Daniel Bailey who has recorded 10.10. Briton Mark Lewis Farncis came third in a season best time of 10.16.

Lemaitre is the first caucasian (white) sprinter to break the 10s barrier with 9.98s, set at the French nationals. He also won a triple gold medals at the European Athletics Championship. At the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Rieti last week he improved on his 100m record to 9.97 at the final race that saw Jamaican, Nesta Carter became the fourth fastest man of all time by recording 9.78.

Click here for full results

Video:
 

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Sabah's First Olympian Datuk Gabuh Piging Dies

>> September 02, 2010

Datuk Gabuh bin Piging, PBs LJ: 7.15m, TJ: 15.38m



Sabah’s first Olympian, Gabuh bin Piging passed away during the 53rd National day on the 31st of August 2010 at his hometown Tambunan, Sabah, after fighting with a series of illnesses. He was 78 years old.

Gabuh bin Piging was one of the most illustrious and successful athletes from the land of Borneo. His athletics career started in the early 1950s. Several years later he would take part in major athletics events.

Gabuh had represented North Borneo (now known as Sabah) at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne in the triple jump. Out of 28 participants, he finished 24th after clearing a distance of 14.55m. His teammate, Sium bin Diau leaped 14.09m to place in 28th position. Both Gabuh Piging and Sium Diau became the first men of Sabah to compete in the Olympics.

In 1958, he attended the VI British Empire and Commonwealth Games at Cardiff, Wales and competed in two events (triple jump & long jump). In the triple jump, he finished 6th at a distance of 15.10m. Australian Ian Tomlinson won in 15.74m, with the second-place winner in 15.69m distance. The next finishers have registered the distances of 15.45m, 15.45m and 15.40m, respectively. In the long jump, he finished in 17th position.

During the Police Championship at Jesselton (now known Kota Kinabalu) in June 1959, Gabuh who at the time, was the best triple jumper in the region (15.25m) had a good form to break his records. He leaped 15.38m in the triple jump, which was 13cm better than his previous mark. This mark was subsequently recognized as the Malaysian national record when the federation of Malaysia was formed in 1963. It would remain the national record until 1986 when the 19-year-old Sidik Sahak registered a 15.45m during the 18th Borneo Games at Kota Kinabalu to renew Gabuh's record.

In the long jump, he leaped 23ft 2 ¼  (7.07m) distance which as well accepted as a national record, erasing the 21-year-old Malayan’s long jump record of 23ft 2in (7.06m) that was set in 1938 by Lee Fun.

Two months later during the MAAU Championship in Kuala Lumpur, Gabuh had renewed his long jump record again with a distance of 7.12m, which was also a new Malaysian national record. Unfortunately for Gabuh, he actually had four foul jumps (out of six jumps) during that meet and one of the jumps looked exceeding 24ft (7.3+m), a distance that he had already achieved multiple times during training.

In his favorite hop step and jump (now known triple jump), Gabuh was also in the best form to set another record. However, he ended up setting a best jump of 15.11m as he injured on his thigh muscles.

American Tom Rosandich who came under USSA sponsor coach quoted, “it was pity that Gabuh had a pulled thigh muscle, otherwise he would have brought off a big surprise as he had jumped more than 52ft (15.85m) during training session”. It was a significant attempt as the winner of the 1958 Commonwealth Games had only jumped 15.74m.

At age of 30 in 1962, Gabuh competed in the Asian Games at Jakarta in both the long and triple jump events. Once again, he broke the long jump record with a distance of 7.15m. In the triple jump, he managed to register 14.64m.

These results also enabled him to compete at the VII British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Perth, Western Australia. In Perth, he finished 10th in the triple jump and again 17th in the long jump.

At age of 42 in 1974, Gabuh took part again in the Police Championship held at Gurney Road, Kuala Lumpur. He cleared 14.45m in the triple jump to add another gold medal in his collection from the first ones in the 1950's. This performance remains Malaysia's veteran national best performance.

In 2003, Gabuh was conferred the Datukship in recognition for his all-time achievements. This award is equivalent to a British’s Knighthood.

As of today, his personal record of the triple jump remains one of Malaysia's All-Time best performances.

Following are the All-Time lists of the triple jump for Malaysia:

16.29 Zaki Sadri 1989
16.24 Sidek Sahak 1991
15.80 Firdaus Salim 2007
15.80 Hakimi Ismail 2009
15.65 Chai Song Lip 1997
15.57 Zulkifli Salleh 1991
15.47 Ammar Fitri 2010
15.38 Gabuh bin Piging 1959
15.36 Mazlan Mahmud 1984

Article by Jad Adrian, ATFS statistician

*photo courtesy of YAKEB

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