Gatlin Wins in Lausanne and Monaco

Lausanne and Monaco IAAF Diamond League Meets

Two great athletic meets took place during the last two weeks. Justin Gatlin easily won both races. On July 9, Gatlin ran 9.75 beating Asafa Powell (9.92) and Tyson Gay (9.92). Powell was ahead of Gay by less than one one-hundredth of a second. On the 17th in Monaco, Gatlin ran 9.78s against a -0.3 m/s headwind beating Tyson Gay (9.97) and Jimmy Vicaut (10.03). Young sprinting sensation, Trayvon Bromell was disqualified after a false start. At the same meet, the American 4x100m relay team consisting of Gatlin, Bromell, Rodgers, and Gay ran a strong 37.87s.

My sprinting projection (see http://logbook2015.blogspot.ca/2015/07/the-2015-sprinting-season-is-going-to.html) did extremely well for the 100m race in Lausanne.

Here are the final results (in brackets actual minus projected times are stated):

1. Gatlin (USA): 9.75s (-0.07)
2. Powell (JAM): 9.92s (-0.01)
3. Gay (USA): 9.92s (-0.01)
4. Rodgers (USA): 10.03s (+0.10)
5. Bledman (TTO): 10.03s (+0.09)
6. Collins (SKN): 10.08s (+0.03)
7. Young (USA): 10.11s (+0.04)
DNS Batson (USA)

The ranking was 100% on the mark. The average error in times (absolute error) was 0.05s. Note that the projection could obviously not predict Batson not appearing on the start list for this race.

Here are the predicted results for the Monaco meet (in brackets time interval is stated):

1. Bromell (USA): 9.82s (9.56-10.08)
2. Gatlin (USA): 9.82s (9.64-10.00)
3. Ashmeade (JAM): 9.90s (9.63-10.44)
4. Gay (USA): 9.91s (9.72-10.10)
5. Vicaut (FRA): 9.91s (9.68-10.14)
6. Bledman (TTO): 9.94s (9.75-10.13)
7. Ujah (GBR): 10.03s (9.79-10.27)
8. Biron (FRA): 10.18s (10.08-10.28)

Adjusting to account for Bromell's disqualification:

1. Gatlin (USA): 9.82s (9.64-10.00)
2. Ashmeade (JAM): 9.90s (9.63-10.44)
3. Gay (USA): 9.91s (9.72-10.10)
4. Vicaut (FRA): 9.91s (9.68-10.14)
5. Bledman (TTO): 9.94s (9.75-10.13)
6. Ujah (GBR): 10.03s (9.79-10.27)
7. Biron (FRA): 10.18s (10.08-10.28)

Actual results:

1. Gatlin (USA): 9.78s (-0.04)
2. Gay (USA): 9.97s (+0.06)
3. Vicaut (FRA): 10.03s (+0.12)
4. Ujah (GBR): 10.08s (+0.05)
5. Bledman (TTO): 10.10s (+0.16)
6. Ashmeade (JAM): 10.11s (+0.22)
7. Biron (FRA): 10.17s (-0.01)
DQ Bromell (USA)

Every time was off by average 0.09s. Each rank was off by average 1.

The models fared very well in both races.

Is Bolt Back?

The next Diamond League race will be in London from July 24 to 25. World record holder, world champion, and Olympic champion Usain Bolt has stated that he plans to race in this meet. This is the last major race before the World Championships in August, so it will be a good test to see if Bolt will be fit to compete. Bolt only really trains for major competitions, so despite running poor times this year, he may do well in London. However, he has to run at least in the 9.8's in order to have a shot at beating Justin Gatlin in the Worlds. Unfortunately, we will not see Bolt and Gatlin face off in London. Gatlin has not been invited due to previous drug bans. This seems somewhat hypocritical, since other former performance enhancing drug users, such as Michael Rodgers, will be competing. We will have to wait until the World Championships in Beijing to see who is the fastest man: Bolt or Gatlin?