Rio Post #1: Women's Gymnastics Individual All-Around
Rio Post #2: Qualifying Stages and Specialized Events
Rio Post #3: The City of Rio de Janeiro
Rio Post #4: Saturday Night at the Blue Oval
Rio Post #5: Party on the Beach
There are few things that generate the electricity, energy, enthusiasm, and excitement of a big-time college football game at night. It is rare and it is special. A big athletic competition on a Saturday night has a different feel than an event on any other night. Most people have been off of work and don't have to work the next day so they can "enjoy" the day and night without inhibition. That creates a boisterous atmosphere that crackles as people walk to the stadium, find their seat, and soak in the action on the field. Certain Hawkeye night games in Kinnick stick out like Arizona St in 2003, Syracuse in 2007, Michigan in 2010, and Pittsburgh last year. Tailgating all day, the gradual crescendo of energy, the jubilant crowds of people cramming into Kinnick, the black and the gold, and an Iowa victory create emotional snapshots of what a big sporting event should feel like. I'm sure the Iowa-Iowa State game at Kinnick Stadium this Saturday will have that type of intensity and atmosphere, but I will never deign to attend one of those games again.
I mention all of this because there was this kind of energy as we went to track and field on Saturday night. As we were going through labyrinthine lines and queues, the energy emanating from the Brits and Jamaicans (whether they were native, diasporan, and/or bandwagoners from other Caribbean countries) was palpable. As we were herded this way and that to eventually reach the train and then the stadium, I remember commenting to the group that this had a feel of a big time sporting event. The Brits and Jamaicans were so excited because the corresponding Saturday night at the 2012 Olympics in London had been a big night for them. On the first Saturday night of track and field, there are four gold medals awarded: women's 100 meter dash, women's heptathlon, men's 10,000 meters, and men's long jump. In 2012, a Jamaican woman won the 100, and Brits won the other three gold medals that night. So on this warm, humid Saturday night in Rio, Jamaicans and Brits were understandably excited as the potential for a repeat in the same events was possible.
Adding to the personal excitement of the evening was that this would be the first time to ever see a professional track and field competition. There are very few people who love track, but I truly did. It helped of course that I was a fast sprinter so I didn't have to run any 400s or 800s or any other foolish distances. And since the track was blue, it brought back memories of competing on the blue track at Drake Stadium and the blue tint that is on the bottom of my track spikes that are still in the closet in my old bedroom in Remsen.
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| The blue track! |
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| The Giffords |
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| Lindsay has a jacket on. It must cooler than 80 degrees. (This is before they moved by us.) |
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| Paul in the upper deck |
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| Paul with a great seat upgrade. (He moved down by us.) |
At the actual competition, there wasn't anything as exciting as a kickoff to get us started. The first events were the men's pole vault prelims (which took the entire evening) and the javelin portion of the women's heptathlon. The most exciting thing early on was that American Michelle Carter, who had won the women's shot put earlier in the day, was honored with the playing of the national anthem and the American flag was raised right in front of the Gifford's and me.
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| Is he going to make it?!!!! |
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| Um, no. Time to slide down the fire pole. |
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| Michelle Carter |
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| I did not sit or kneel during the National Anthem. |
Heptathlon
I do remember that the 800 meter run portion of the Heptathlon was the last event of the evening. Going into Belgian had a commanding lead over Jessica Ennis-Hill, the defending champion from Britain. Ennis-Hill, however, was a much better 800 runner than the Belgian. She didn't quite have enough and Ennis-Hill finished second. It would have been more fun if Ennis-Hill had won since there were so many Brits there.
A side note: our seats were right by the tunnel where the runners come out. After I returned to the states and watched track on TV, I realized that I could have been on TV all night but I only went right by the tunnel once.
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| In the tunnel. Ennis on the left. The Belgian in the middle. |
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| Ennis-Hill in the lead, but she didn't quite win by enough. Paul likes this picture because they look like they're skipping in unison! |
Men's Long Jump
The long jump was very exciting. Jeff Henderson, an American, was the second to last jumper and in second place. His final jump put him into first. Clutch. The final jumper was another American, Jarrion Lawson. He had a tremendous jump and where his feet would have landed would have won it. He thought he had won it. His college coach from Arkansas thought he'd won it. Everyone in the stadium thought he'd won it except for me and officials working the pit. While watching on the jumbotron, I saw his arm drag. He finished fourth and he and his coach went nuts and the crowd gasped and I basked in the keenness of my eye. So Henderson won the gold, a South African won the silver, the Brit who was the defending champion won the bronze, and Lawson was fourth.
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| I'm not sure which American this is. But Paul took an amazing picture. And this is about a 25 foot jump. |
Men's 10,000 Meter Run
My antipathy for distance running and endurance exercise is well-documented in the pages of this blog (see here and here). So an event in which the competitors run twenty-five laps seems pretty boring. However, this event is a testimony to the difference in watching a competition on TV versus watching it live. I was interested for all twenty-five laps by the strategy, the pace (all the laps were between 62-70 seconds for the leaders), and the drama of the favorite Mohamed Farah. In the middle of the race he was tripped by another runner and fell and the entire stadium gasped. The finish was super intense as it became evident that he might rebound from the fall and win. Everyone was cheering him on because we understood what a remarkable physical feat he was about to accomplish. And he won! He fell down and still won! Incredible! Here is a recap of the race that includes his fall and victory.
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| About to run 25 laps. |
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| If you're going to run 25 laps, what's another 150 meters? |
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| An early lap |
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| Mo Farah wearing the Union Jack. "I think I'll walk this victory lap." |
Women's 100 Meter Dash
The premier event of the night, of course, is the 100 meter dash which is highlighted by the sprint rivalry between the US and Jamaica, mon. It's very strange the highlight of the night was done in ten seconds, but there's something dramatic about pure speed on display. Since we have a lot of good pictures, I'll let the pictures tell most of the story.
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| Check out those asses. |
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| On your mark! |
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| Set! |
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| Jamaica, MON!!!! |
Conclusion
It was a great night of competition, but throughout the meet (and many of the other competitions) one of our concerns was keeping tickets in pristine condition and making sure we left the stadium with our commemorative beer cups. I think we all left the stadium with our corners sharp and cups in our possession. It was a fitting way to conclude a big time sporting event.
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