Monday, August 18, 2008

Injury Keeps Terrence Trammell & Liu Xiang Out of Hurdles

Olympics Day 10 - Athletics

The big story out of Beijing today is not Michael Phelps.

Nope.

The bigger story is that the Chinese people will not have the pleasure of watching Liu Xiang compete for gold in the 110-meter hurdles final.

Silence fell over the nearly 70,000 spectators on Monday at the Birdnest as the Chinese national hero was also unable to go.

After a false start was charged to the field, Xiang decided the pain was just too much and signaled that he was bowing out.

Xiang has raced very little as the 08' season has been a struggle with a nagging hamstring injury.

Terrence Trammell Goes Down In Hurdles.

A strain to his left string hamstring has ended Trammell’s gold medal hopes in Beijing. He earned silver in both 2000 and 2004 and was hoping to medal in a third straight Olympic Games. Doing so would have been accomplished something that no athlete has ever done before.

The Georgia native grimaced with pain on his face and pulled out of the race after the first set of hurdles.

The bodies of these stalwarts of the hurdling game simply gave out on them. This is arguably one of the most painful ways for athletes to see their Olympic dreams end.

David Oliver (13.30) and David Payne of the U.S. both won their heats.

By Jay Hicks.

4 comments:

  1. Not so fast, young Skywalker. Have been won in Olympic Games, many consecutive medals, indeed. Here's a few to keep you busy: The great discus thrower Al Oerter won gold medals for the USA in 4 straight Olympics: 1956, 1960, 1964 and 1968. Paavo Nurmi, the Flying Finn, won gold medals in 3 consecutive Olympics: 1920, 1924, 1928. Aladar Gerevich, a fencer from Hungary, won medals in 6 consecutive games. Rower Steven Redgrave of Great Britain won gold in 5 consecutive Olympics. In Judo, Japan's Ryoko Tani just won a medal in her 5th consecutive Olympics.

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  2. Hey Jimmie, let me clarify. Here is your home work to research.

    No HURDLER has medals in three straight Olympic Games...and that's a fact, jack!

    Jay Hicks
    Editor
    Prerace Jitters
    http://www.preracejitters.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'll buy that one. So who do you pick for medals now? Robles should be a cinch for gold, but will Oliver and Payne go 2 and 3?

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  4. I clarified my original statement--which is a lay up. If we talking about repeat Olympians we would not have to go back any further than MJ in the 400 (96' & 00').

    Thanks for keeping me honest.

    I'm not ready to give up on D. Oliver winning it all. Robles is running so well from a mechanical stand point, but if Oliver puts it together -- the D.O. could do it. Either way, if Payne doesn't fall, he should grab bronze.

    Hey Jimmie, who are taking and in what order in the women's 100 hurdles?

    Jay Hicks
    Editor
    Prerace Jitters.com
    http://www.preracejitters.com

    ReplyDelete