Around The World: Belgium, Madrid Meets

With a majority of the US Olympic Team heading overseas this weekend to prepare for London, there were a number of tune-up meets. Diamond League Paris was the big one, but there were some hot performances at meets in Belgium and Madrid.

KBC Nacht van de Atletiek

Heusden, Belgium - Kenya's Pamelia Jelimo ripped the 800m field to shreds, running a WL 1:56.76 as she won by 4 seconds. The men's 5000m, while not as insane as the Paris meet, still saw 3 men break 13:03. Daniel Komen was 5th in 13:09 and Australia's Craig Mottram ran 13:16. In the men's 800m, Kipchirchir Rotich ran 1:43.15, nearly 2 seconds ahead of second place. If this was a David Rudisha-less world, that would be a pretty swift time. Matt Scherer (USA) was once again diligent in his pacing duties in that one. New Zealand 1500m ace, Nick Willis, finished 3rd in 1:46.18, which is not a bad result for him in this event. Finally, the men's 400m proved that nobody should worry about Oscar Pistorius getting on the medal stand in London, as he bladed to a 46.28 (4th) behind Belgium's Jonathan Borlee (44.91). Manteo Mitchell (USA) was 2nd in this one in 45.75.

Full results can be found here.

Meeting Madrid

Madrid, Spain - Meanwhile, in Spain, Belgium's Kevin Borlee, brother of Jonathan, won the 400m there in 45.09. These two brothers are amazingly similar. Martyn Rooney of the UK was 2nd in 45.17. Everybody's favorite, Lolo Jones, won the 100m Hurdles in 12.70. In the women's 800m, Molly Beckwith, who narrowly missed making the Olympic team in the event, was 2nd in 2:00.35, while Shannon Rowbury, who is on the 1500m team, was 10th in 2:04.53.

Full results.

Diamond League: Doha

The outdoor track season has officially commenced with the running of the Diamond League meet from Doha, Qatar. Here's some quick recaps of the events:

Walter Dix wins the 200m in 20.02. Not a great field, but was into a slight headwind.

Pamela Jelimo runs a 1:56.94 in one of the most exciting women's 800m races I've ever seen, especially for a non-championship event. Oh, and it's 95 degrees there. American Molly Beckwith got under 2 in 1:59.51 (7 women total under 2 minutes).

In the men's 100m, Jamaica's Asafa Powell had a great start and led until the closing meters, when Justin Gatlin snuck by him to win in 9.87, which is just off his PR of 9.85. Slight tailwind.

Men's 800: who else? David Rudisha wins in 1:43.10. Slowest time was 1:45.12.

In the very stacked (no pun intended) women's 100m, our favorite, Allyson Felix, GETS THE WIN. Pretty incredible as the field was very competitive and she is not a 100m runner. It was an incredible race for her.

Men's 1500m was a huge field, and the pace was lightning fast as the rabbit brought them through 2 laps at 56 (1:52 at 800m) and through 1200m at 2:50. Asbel Kiprop tripped on the rail heading into the home straight and ended up getting beat by Silas Kiplagat, with both guys running under 3:30. Russell Brown, the only American, finished 12th place in the race, but ran 3:34.11 (PB), which is well under the Olympics "A" standard (if he should qualify at US Trials).

Men's 400m: Lashawn Merritt cruises to the easy win in the fastest time in the world this year - 44.19. Guess Extenze really works.

Read the full article on Running Maryland: Diamond League Sizzles in Doha Opener