That's A Wrap From Daegu

Easy 8 miler today the only difference being that it was mid morning not late afternoon as it was Labor Day.
Away from the run I spent some quality time in the recliner catching up w/ all the stuff I had to dvr last week to follow Worlds from South Korea which leads me to my time honoured tradition of a Top Ten list from a major championship,I began this in Beijing in 08 and followed suit in 09 after Worlds in Berlin so here are my top ten moments from the thirteenth World Championships.

10 Vivian Cheruiyot's 5,000m 10,000m double,Going one better than Berlin where she won the 5,000m Cheruiyot added another chapter to the long and storied rivalry between Kenya and Ethiopia,Tirunesh Dibaba did the 5,000m/10,000m double both at Worlds in Helsinki in 05 and at the 08 Beijing Olympics,can Kenyan Cheruiyot equal that in London?

9 Oscar Pistorius reaching the 400m semi final, Much has been made of the fact "The Blade Runner" has been trying to run at the World Championships since he arrived on the scene of world track and field a few years ago,for me the argument should've been put to rest once he reached the qualifying standard earlier this year but for good measure Pistorius advanced through the opening round and made the semis,I'd love to see him go one better at the Olympics.

8 Matt Centrowitz and Jenny Simpson both medal in the 1,500m, American middle distance running w/ the obvious exception of the "timeless wonder Bernard Lagat" has been in the doldrums for a few years,Simpson's gold and Centrowitz's bronze could signal a bright future.

7 Kirani James 400m Gold,to win your county's first ever medal much less Gold is one thing,to do it at only eighteen,that's impressive.

6 Cirian O Lionaird and Alister Cragg reach the 1,500m and 5,000m finals, The glory days of Irish track and field seem a long time ago,minus Derval O Rourke in the 100m hurdles and there's been little to cheer about the last few years,the return to form of Alister Cragg and the emergence of Cirian O Lionaird gives me hope that Irish track and field has something to look forward to.

5 Dai Greene wins the 400m hurdles, W/ his gold in Daegu Dai Greene now has 3/4s of the Grand Slam European,Commonwealth and World golds,if he wins Olympic gold next summer not only will he have all 4 championships golds but he'll also be the first British 400m hurdler since David Emery in Mexico 68 to win Olympic gold

4 Ezekiel Kemboi's celebration after the 3,000m steeplechase, Some will say his celebrations were over the top but when you're a Kenyan steeplechaser you know you have to uphold a tradition in this event so why not celebrate I say

3 Usain Bolt's DQ in the 100m and gold in the 200m, When the worlds most recognisable athlete gets dq'd shock waves reverberate around the world....when he comes back and wins the 200m it's restored to the natural order of things,the fact he handled the whole 100m dq issue w/ such grace and humility underscores his position as the best athlete on the planet in my opinion.

2 Mo Farah's 10,000m silver and 5,000m gold, Had Ibrahim Jeilan not caught Mo in the closing stages of the 10,000m we could've been looking at a Bekele double by the Brit,clearly his move to Oregon to train w/ Alberto Salazer has taken Farah to a level he wasn't at in Berlin(7th in the 5,000m) and proved his 5,000m/10,000m double in Barcelona last summer in the European C'ships was no fluke.

1 Jamaica win the 4x100 and set a new World Record, In some respects neither is a big deal,they've been doing it for years,the fact the order of events was changed from the traditional men's 4x400m relay closing out the meet to the men's 4x100m and they set a new World Record and the only one of the entire meet......that's how you close a championship.....till London.........