My plan for the day was to head out to the stadium around the time of the start of the meet to pick up a ticket for Sunday's meet, and the 100 meter final, Gay vs Bolt extravaganza. I found myself talking to some scaplers about the price of tickets and it seems they are selling really good seats for like half price. I could have bought a finish line ticket for sunday's races for 100 euros, compared to face value of 160. But I didnt do it. I'll go back tomorrow and try to get it for cheaper. But for today I wasn't going to go unless I could find something for 20 euros.. The original plan was to find one for free if any spectator had and extra. I got some pretty strange looks from the Germans when I was walking around with one finger in the air asking for extra tickets. I waited around until I found a guy willing to part with a 75 euro ticket for 20 Euros. It ended up being 10th row, near the start of the 200m , so a little far from the finish, bust still agreat seat, espcilally when they held the start of the womens 200m for the heptathlon. Some nice scenery on the track!
As I was saying the day was great. The womens 10k was a show of Ethiopan and Kenyan domination, they took over the final 3k with 3 Ethiopans and 2 kenyans in the lead pack, going into the final 200 meters they were still in a pack with 2 Ethiopians in the lead and looking like they were set for a 1-2 finish. I was seated at 100 meters from the finish in the 10 row ( I had gone over to the other side of the track to watch the starts of the mens 100m) as they came around the final turn the tall, lanky 19 year old Masai Kenyan athlete stepped out out into lane two, nearly tripping over here teammmate, and set her sights on the finish and her Ethiopians rivals ahead of her. The roar of the crown grew to a Crescendo as the 19 year old kenyan galloped towards the finish, finally passing her competors in the final 10 meters to capture the gold medal. It was one of the best finishes of a race I've ever seen, especially one of such importance.
For the mens shot I took my place back on the otherside of the track, directly in front of the competition, among coaches and Russian throwing team, once again in the 10th row. I've never really payed total attention to a throwing event. Mainly becaause I was a distance runner, but this one was fairly interesting. it came down to the final 2 rounds. The Plish guy with long hair, and reigning olympic champion uncranked a throw, catapulting him into the lead over American Christian Cantwell. In the next round the Pole threw even further for a little cushion. But Caantwell respondended with a mammoth heave over 22 meters and the longest throw in the world this year to take the lead and secure the gold medal. It was great experience to be so close, I could watch the throwere strut around in between throws pumping them selves up. I could hear their grunts and see the chalk fly off their neck when they threw the shot. And it was a nice feeling to know I only paid 20 euros, especially when I glanced up at the crowd in the second deck, most of who paid 50 euros. So hopefully tomorrow I will be just as fortunate to secure an equally good seat.
Lastly I'll talk about the shownman, the living legend Usain Bolt. You could feel the buzz as he warmed up for his heat with his hoodie over his head. You could see all the cameras focus on him. And when the race started he sprinted for about 40 meters, then shut it down as he looked to his fellow caribbean competitor to his right and jogged and chuckled their way to the finish line in roughly 10 seconds. In the replays shown on the big screen, both guys were laughing the second half of the race, while in the background, the other competitors were straining and pumping to make it to the next round.
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