Solid results from the Aussies
Milburn 2nd - 44.80 (PB)
Wroe 2nd - 45.17 (PB)
Wroe ran up to his form - seems to be slowly chipping away at his PB every run.
Milburn seems an unknown, everytime he steps on the track he is improving. He looks to be a good chance to make the final on his heat run. He looked comfortable and relaxed, and could possibly run a 44.5x
Merrit and Wariner looked comfortable
KK - your thoughts on the aussies?
edited Wroe’s time to 45.17
you mean 45.17
1st and 2nd looked pretty set with Wariner or Merritt, 3rd is open.
Liked the way Milburn ran, and how he sounded in the post race interview. Agree that 44.5 is possible, and has to be a chance to make the final. Hopefully Wroe can break 45.
They both have good semi-final draws. Milburn has avoided the 2 favourites, and has lane 5. Wroe has lane 4, inside of Rooney & Merritt.
I only caught the last 50 of Joel Milburn’s heat. He looked all-out to me. On the basis of the short bit of his overall race that I saw, I think the only improvement can come from dropping his shoulders. They were up around his ears during that last 50m.
He can cut his PB by keeping his hands up while dropping those shoulders. Restricted shoulder roll means restricted hip rotation, which means less power which means shorter stride length. If he and coach Penny can make that change in the next round, he should run faster.
Whether he can run fast enough to get to the final I really don’t know.
Milburn’s other issue has been his regeneration between races. He has pulled up poorly due to continued semi-tendinosis soreness the day after all his other races in Europe this season, but in Beijing he’ll have the best medical attention (presumably) and they can work on him right up to the time of his semi if needs be.
I still think Milburn has a lot of room for imporovement, but he’s 21 and so he’s got a lot of time to work on things if he is motivated sufficiently to perfect his art.
But in running a PB on the biggest stage, he’s shown he has the grit and competitive instincts - as well as the right coach in Penny Gillies - to take him a long way further than he’s likely to go in Beijing this year. It’s a good start to his international career.
the Australian Milburn in 400m heat - shoulders appear to be “on the rise” halfway down home straight
Anybody saw the costarican guy? He ran extremelly relaxed.
Heat 1
Tuesday 19 August 2008 - 21:45
Lane Athlete Country SB 2008 PB
2 William Collazo [CUBA] CUB 45.37 45.29
3 Kévin Borlée [BELGIUM] BEL 45.21 45.21
4 Saul Weigopwa [NIGERIA] NGR 45.18 45.00
5 Chris Brown [BAHAMAS] BAH 44.40 44.40
6 Jeremy Wariner [UNITED STATES] USA 43.86 43.45
7 Nery Brenes [COSTA RICA] CRC 45.21 45.01
8 Tabarie Henry [VIRGIN ISLANDS] ISV 45.36 45.36
9 Claudio Licciardello [ITALY] ITA 45.25 45.25
Heat 2
Tuesday 19 August 2008 - 21:52
Lane Athlete Country SB 2008 PB
2 Andretti Bain [BAHAMAS] BAH 44.62 44.62
3 Jonathan Borlée [BELGIUM] BEL 45.25 45.25
4 David Neville [UNITED STATES] USA 44.61 44.61
5 Joel Milburn [AUSTRALIA] AUS 44.80 44.80
6 Leslie Djhone [FRANCE] FRA 44.95 44.46
7 Andrew Steele [GREAT BRITAIN & N.I.] GBR 44.94 44.94
8 James Godday [NIGERIA] NGR 44.90 44.90
9 Ricardo Chambers [JAMAICA] JAM 44.80 44.62
Heat 3
Tuesday 19 August 2008 - 21:59
Lane Athlete Country SB 2008 PB
2 Gary Kikaya [DEMOC. REPUBLIC OF CONGO] COD 44.89 44.10
3 Cedric van Branteghem [BELGIUM] BEL 45.13 45.02
4 Sean Wroe [AUSTRALIA] AUS 45.17 45.17
5 Renny Quow [TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO] TRI 44.89 44.89
6 Martyn Rooney [GREAT BRITAIN & N.I.] GBR 44.72 44.72
7 LaShawn Merritt [UNITED STATES] USA 44.00 43.96
8 Johan Wissman [SWEDEN] SWE 44.81 44.56
9 Michael Mathieu [BAHAMAS] BAH 45.17 45.17
Look at the SB & PB for each heat, and that the top two qualify automatically for the final.
Heat 1:
Wariner is only racing one other guy who has ever broken 45.00.
Heat 2:
This is nasty, and I really feel for those guys. There are two guys with SB of 44.61 and 44.62, then there are 5 guys with an SB of 44.80 to 44.95. It could be very close across the finish line.
Heat 3:
Merritt’s SB is about 3/4 of a second better than the next fastest guy, and EVERYONE ELSE has their SBs within 0.45 seconds: 44.72 to 45.17.
Not that they had a choice if they wanted to progress, but I was happy for the Aussies that they ran their heat like it was their final because it ensured Wroe and Milburn would at least live to run another day, and that both due to their PB runs had given themselves a chance of a more favourable lane draw for the semis.
I don’t think either could have planned it better and it’s good for them that they made a commitment and that it was rewarded in the semi seedings.
It’s a very long shot for both those guys, but perhaps Milburn has a slightly better chance of making the final (although seemingly drawn in a tougher semi) if he can get the balance right between aggression and relaxation.
He is quite inexperienced at this level, having only broken 46 for the first time just this year. Now he’s a 44.80 man - we’ve gotta be happy for him and his coach Penny G.
And props also of course to Eric Hollingsworth, a former British decathlete and occasional training buddy of Daley Thompson.
Eric has been coaching Sean Wroe for a few years. I think Eric has done a superb job in the conditioning and psychology area with Wroe who appears to have less upside potential than the taller, more powerful Milburn.
Why did Merritt and Wariner run such fast times in their semis? Low 44.1 is not a trivial thing when you only need to qualify.
Perhaps with a day off to the finals, a final blowout for two sub-44 performers was part of their program. It probably seemed lighter to them than the time indicated.
I remember someone wondering why Taylor ran 47.9 in his semi. We’ll know in two days!
I haven’t seen any of the 400m in fact not much at all of T&F. This weekend is catch up.
I hope the 2 Aussies boys don’t final so they can run well in the relays. Although if they PB in Semi’s they have a chance, will they have to run mid 44 or low 44’s to make final?
you got your wish
Semi 1
Rank Bib Name NOC Date of Birth Lane React. Fn Result
1 3253 WARINER Jeremy United StatesUnited States Jan 31 1984 6 0.224 44.15 Q
2 1095 BROWN Christopher BahamasBahamas Oct 15 1978 5 0.244 44.59 Q
3 1124 BORLEE Kevin BelgiumBelgium Feb 22 1988 3 0.162 44.88 NR
4 1436 BRENES Nery Costa RicaCosta Rica Sep 25 1985 7 0.169 44.94 NR
5 2504 WEIPOGWA Saul NigeriaNigeria Jun 14 1984 4 0.168 45.02 SB
6 1486 COLLAZO Williams CubaCuba Aug 31 1986 2 0.191 45.06 PB
7 2065 HENRY Tabarie Virgin Isl, USVirgin Isl, US Dec 01 1987 8 0.165 45.19 NR
8 2097 LICCIARDELLO Claudio ItalyItaly Jan 11 1986 9 0.259 45.64
Semi 2
Rank Bib Name NOC Date of Birth Lane React. Fn Result
1 1733 DJHONE Leslie FranceFrance Mar 18 1981 6 0.159 44.79 Q SB
2 3209 NEVILLE David United StatesUnited States Jun 01 1984 4 0.190 44.91 Q
3 1049 MILBURN Joel AustraliaAustralia Mar 17 1986 5 0.187 45.06
4 2166 CHAMBERS Ricardo JamaicaJamaica Oct 07 1984 9 0.220 45.09
5 1123 BORLEE Jonathan BelgiumBelgium Feb 22 1988 3 0.191 45.11 PB
6 2505 JAMES Godday NigeriaNigeria Sep 01 1984 8 0.185 45.24
7 1098 BAIN Andretti BahamasBahamas Dec 01 1985 2 0.196 45.52
8 1838 STEELE Andrew Great BritainGreat Britain Sep 19 1984 7 0.216 45
Semi 3
Rank Bib Name NOC Date of Birth Lane React. Fn Result
1 3205 MERRITT LaShawn United StatesUnited States Jun 27 1986 7 0.187 44.12 Q
2 1830 ROONEY Martyn Great BritainGreat Britain Apr 03 1987 6 0.126 44.60 Q PB
3 2955 WISSMAN Johan SwedenSweden Nov 02 1982 8 0.211 44.64 q SB
4 3023 QUOW Renny Trinidad/TobagoTrinidad/Tobago Aug 25 1987 5 0.204 44.82 q PB
5 1412 KIKAYA Senga Gary DR CongoDR Congo Feb 04 1980 2 0.187 44.94
6 1096 MATHIEU Michael BahamasBahamas Jun 17 1984 9 0.203 45.56
7 1059 WROE Sean AustraliaAustralia Mar 18 1985 4 0.205 45.56
8 1134 van BRANTEGHEM Cedric BelgiumBelgium Mar 13 1979 3 0.199 45.81
Final lineup
Lane Bib Name NOC Date of Birth Personal
Best Season
Best Result Rank
2 3023 QUOW Renny Trinidad/TobagoTrinidad/Tobago Aug 25 1987 44.82 44.82
3 2955 WISSMAN Johan SwedenSweden Nov 02 1982 44.56 44.64
4 3205 MERRITT LaShawn United StatesUnited States Jun 27 1986 43.96 44.00
5 1095 BROWN Christopher BahamasBahamas Oct 15 1978 44.40 44.40
6 1733 DJHONE Leslie FranceFrance Mar 18 1981 44.46 44.79
7 3253 WARINER Jeremy United StatesUnited States Jan 31 1984 43.45 43.86
8 1830 ROONEY Martyn Great BritainGreat Britain Apr 03 1987 44.60 44.60
9 3209 NEVILLE David United StatesUnited States Jun 01 1984 44.61 44.61
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2AF4hig7U0
he went through 200m in around 21 flat and 300m in 31.6X. Looking back and slightly easing with about 12 or 13 strides before finish, roughly around the 370m mark. His first 200 and first 300 is there and judging by his final time(44.15) with ease around 370 I assume he is ready to run 43.5 or lower in the final. I think he may have went through 350m mark at around roughly 37.1X-37.2X
haven’t seen the merritt semi-final.