9.58

I eagerly anticipated the showdown between Tyson Gay and Usain Bolt.  I told Annika to pay attention, as something special was about to occur.  But I have to say that I did not expect 9.58.  Wow.  I was in the stands when Michael Johnson obliterated the 200m WR, running 19.32 at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.  I said at the time that it would take at least 25 years before another specimen challenged that feat.  And then of course a Bolt of lightning eclipsed it last year (only 12 years later).  It will be interesting to see if Bolt can also bring done his 200m WR this coming thursday.  And it will certainly be interesting to see if this young remarkable talent can continue to bring down the 100m and 200m world records for years to come.

73 years ago, my grandpa, Johnny Loaring, arrived in Berlin as an relatively unknown 20 year-old young man, and left Berlin as a 21-year-old Olympic medalist.  His first of nine races in Berlin, the 400m hurdles heats, coincided with his 21st birthday -- 1936-Aug-03.  Still to this day, he is the only Olympian to compete in the final of all three track events involving the 400m distance (2nd 400m hurdles, 6th 400m run, & 4th anchoring Canada's 4 x 400m relay).  WWII deprived him of additional potential Olympic opportunities during his prime years, as the 1940 and 1944 Olympic Games never came to be.

Johnny Loaring moments after claiming the silver medal in the 400m hurdles at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games.

And of course, 73 years ago also featured a fellow by the name of Jesse Owens...

Although the "blue ribbon" event of the IAAF World Track Champs has cemented itself into the history books, I look forward to many events over the course of the next week!