Penultimate Day fireworks , Russians storm the
Arena , a British Legend , Samba-stumble and (Yawn) another Jamaican Victory.
Records....crazy
celebrations....tears.....shock......double extra-time....and gallons of
adrenaline.... the penultimate day of the games could n0t have seen better action.
The jury is now out
on the sportsman who will be knighted earlier...Bradley Wiggins or Mo
Farah....Farah added the 5000m gold to his 10000 m title in a searing
home-stretch finish. Not content to simply cross the line in first place, he
promptly did a Usain Bolt and added a few crunches for good measure.
That celebration
probably woke Bolt up for good as he anchored a spectacular Jamaican 4x100 m
relay effort home becoming the first team ever to break the 37 s barrier.
Halfway through , the race the Americans seemed ahead , before Tyson Gay was
slowly reeled in by Yohan Blake , who handed the baton to Bolt, right on the
shoulder of the American anchor and the conclusion from that moment on was
foregone.
Bolt does the Farah Salute
The country of the
day however was Russia , who made a late gold medal surge winning the men’s and
women’s race walks , the women’s high jump and 800m as well as a creditable if
distant silver (from an awesome US team) in the 4x 400m women’s relay. The Russians won a total of 6 gold medals with Evegena Kanaeva imperious in her defence of the all-round rhythmic gymnastics title.
If track and field
event went as per predictions, all hell was let loose in Wembley where an
inspired Mexico toppled a cocky and ultimately a defensively inept Brazilian
team 2-1 thanks to Oribe Peralta’s brace (the first goal coming in the 1st
minute of play). Chelsea recruit Oscar had the chance to tie the game with virtually
the last piece of notable action but headed above the cross-bar from point
blank range. The Brazilian women’s volleyball team fared considerably better
winning 3 sets to 1 against the USA with a comprehensive performance after
being whipped in the first set.
In a another upset,
though not of such epic proportion, Germany yet again pulled the rug from under
the feet of perennial rivals Holland to win the gold in the men’s hockey.
Honourable mentions
for India’s Yogeshwar Dutt who came through 3 rapid repechage rounds to take
bronze in the 60 kg freestyle wrestling and Brit Tom Daley who finally repaid
some wild home expectations by winning the bronze in the men’s 10 m platform diving
event.
Performer of the
Day : Elena Lashmanova of Russia , who won the women’s 20 km race walk in world
record time in an astonishing race, pipping her compatriot and defending gold
medallist Olga Kaniskina. Kanishkina had led the entire race bar the final 100
odd meters where Lashmanova took over, astonishingly after at one point having
been more than a minute behind her.
Lashmanova : Leading a Late Russian Charge
Quote of the Day :
Brazil are turning ‘living dangeously’ into an art form in this final.
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