How the sport works
Athletics, what North Americans call track & field, includes a variety of running, jumping, and throwing events. I won’t explain every single event here, but you can generally assume the winner completed the event the fastest, highest, or furthest.
Men’s 400 meter hurdles semi finals
I was lucky enough to attend the Sydney Olympics in 2000 where I saw Angelo Taylor of the USA win the gold medal. That night as I was leaving the Olympic Park, Taylor, along with a few of his teammates, was coming back from a celebratory trip to McDonald’s and letting people touch his gold medal. I never thought I’d get to touch an Olympics gold medal, so I was pretty excited! So for the past twelve years, I’ve been a big fan of Taylor’s and was thrilled to learn he’d made the semi finals here in London and that I’d get to cheer him on.
Along with other big names like the Dominican Republic’s Felix Sanchez (pictured below, far left) and Puerto Rico’s Javier Culson, Taylor advanced to the final to be held two nights later.
Women’s 100 meter semi finals
It was incredible to see how fast the world’s fastest women can run. In the three semi final heats, favorites like Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Veronica Campbell-Brown and, my family’s favorite, Alison Felix of the USA all advanced to the final as expected.
Women’s 400 meter semi finals
The twenty four women competing for the eight spots in the next night’s final were all off in a flash. Americans DeeDee Trotter and Sanya Richards-Ross and defending gold medal champion of Great Britain, Christine Ohuruogu, advanced to the final.
Women’s discus final
Sandra Perkovic of Croatia took home the gold by out throwing her nearest competitor by almost two and a half meters.
Medal results
Gold: Sandra Perkovic, Croatia
Silver: Darya Pishchalnikova, Russia
Bronze: Yanfeng Li, China
Women’s heptathlon: 800 meters (final event)
I like events like the heptathlon because it rewards individuals who are incredible all-around athletes. Heptathletes compete in seven running, jumping, and throwing events over two days, earning points for each results. Tonight was the last of the seven events in the women’s heptathlon, the 800 meters. Going in to the 800 meters, Jessica Ennis of Great Britain was in the overall lead. The crowd absolutely adored her and the stadium roared when she was introduced. Ennis coped well with the tremendous pressure on her shoulders, winning her 800 meters heat and thereby taking home the gold.
Medal results
Gold: Jessica Ennis, Great Britain
Silver: Lilli Schwarzkopf, Germany
Bronze: Tatyana Chernova, Russia
Men’s long jump final
This was a big night for Team GB as the women’s track cycling team had already set two new world records, Jessica Ennis had her gold medal, and Greg Rutherford had the two longest jumps of the night.
Medal results
Gold: Greg Rutherford, Great Britain
Silver: Mitchell Watt, Australia
Bronze: Will Claye, USA
Men’s 10,000 meters final
I know the sprint events tend to be the crowd favorites, but I personally prefer the longer distances (maybe its because, even when rounded down, my 100 meters time is still closer to what it should take to run 200 meters!).
Somali born, British raised Mo Farah was the crowd’s darling. If they adored Jessica Ennis, then they loved Farah. I never thought a stadium full of people would be on their feet for an entire 10k, but that’s exactly what happened. Eighty thousand people roared nonstop for Farah and the noise only grew with each lap he completed. I’ve been to a lot of loud sports events, including when New Zealand won the Rugby World Cup on their home turf last year, but I have never heard noise like this before. Below, Farah leads on the home stretch.
Farah won by half a second, slapping his shiny, bald head in shock and joy as he crossed the line. Victory secured, he started doing the “Mo-bot”–spelling his name, YMCA style.
Medal results
Gold: Mo Farah, Great Britain
Silver: Galen Rupp, USA
Bronze: Tariku Bekele, Ethiopia
Women’s 100 meter final
Defending gold medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce couldn’t be beat and retained her title by three one hundredths of a second.
Medal results
Gold: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce
Silver: Carmelita Jeter, USA
Bronze: Veronica Campbell-Brown, Jamaica