Top Runners of 2008: A Tribute
As the year draws to a close, let's see who are the best runners of the year, shall we?
Yes, this is a little unconventional. Most would look at big stars like (not in ranked order):
1. Michael Phelps, who owns strings of world records in swimming - 14 career Olympic gold medals (the most ever), 8 Olympic gold medals (the most in an Olympic ever) with 7 of that in world record times, and hey, he's only 23, two months younger than my brother.
2. Usain Bolt - 3 Olympic gold medals with all 3 of that in world record times (never before in history) in the 100m, 200m and 4 X 100m, and also breaking Michael Johnson's 12 years world record in the 200m even with a -0.9 m/s head wind blowing against him! No sprinter in history had ever set a world record with THAT strong a head wind. Guess what? He's only 22.
3. Rafael Nadal - ended legendary Roger Federer's 237 consecutive weeks at the top of tennis rankings, ended Federer's record streak of five consecutive Wimbledon titles and 65 straight wins on grass courts, ended the year as number one despite injuries, won the 4th straight French Open, became the first male player ranked in the top five to win the Olympic gold medal, and hey, he's only 22.
4. Tiger Woods - limping and wincing and gimping on a left leg that he would later admit had two stress fractures in addition to a wrecked knee, Tiger birdied the 18th hole to force an 18-hole Monday playoff against Rocco Mediate in the U.S. Open. On the first sudden death hole, he won it. Within days, he was undergoing surgery on his leg that would sideline him for the rest of the season and the beginning of 2009. Considering his injury and Mediate’s heroic play, it went down as one of the greatest Opens ever and the greatest win of Woods’ incredible career. It was the 14th major of his career, just four short of Jack Nicklaus’ all-time record.
5. Danica Patrick - the first woman to win an Indy Car race. Who said women can't drive? She is 26.
6. Lewis Hamilton - became at 23 the youngest F1 champion ever — and also the sport’s first black champion.
7. Elmo - winning the World Cookie Eating Championship. He is only 3 and a half years old.
As you may have observed, in websites, newspapers, TVs, these are the names that will normally appear when it comes to top athletes of the year. But what happened to runners? They deserve a tribute too! So here's my compilation and tribute to all these great runners of this year, a great source of inspiration to me :)
1. Haile Gebrselassie - broke his own world record in the marathon, with the time of 2:03:59, the first sub-2:04 in history. He also set the year's best time in the half marathon, with the time of 59:15.
2. Dayron Robles - broke the world record in the 110m hurdles, with the time of 12.87 seconds.
3. Tirunesh Dibaba - broke the world record in the women's 5000m, with the time of 14:11.15.
4. Gulnara Samitova-Galkina - broke the world record in the women's 3000m steeplechase, with the time of 8:58.81, the first sub-9:00 in history.
5. Kenenisa Bekele - set the year's best time in the 10km, with the time of 26:25.97. He is still the current world record holder of 26:17.53, a record since 2005. He also set the year's best time in the 5km, with the time of 12:50.18. He is also still the current world record holder of 12:37.35, a record since 2004.
6. Paul Kipsiele Koech - set the year's best time in the 3000m steeplechase, with the time of 8:00.57.
7. Irina Mikitenko - set the year's best time for women in the marathon, the 4th fastest time in history, with the time of 2:19:19.
As the year draws to a close, let's see who are the best runners of the year, shall we?
Yes, this is a little unconventional. Most would look at big stars like (not in ranked order):
1. Michael Phelps, who owns strings of world records in swimming - 14 career Olympic gold medals (the most ever), 8 Olympic gold medals (the most in an Olympic ever) with 7 of that in world record times, and hey, he's only 23, two months younger than my brother.
2. Usain Bolt - 3 Olympic gold medals with all 3 of that in world record times (never before in history) in the 100m, 200m and 4 X 100m, and also breaking Michael Johnson's 12 years world record in the 200m even with a -0.9 m/s head wind blowing against him! No sprinter in history had ever set a world record with THAT strong a head wind. Guess what? He's only 22.
3. Rafael Nadal - ended legendary Roger Federer's 237 consecutive weeks at the top of tennis rankings, ended Federer's record streak of five consecutive Wimbledon titles and 65 straight wins on grass courts, ended the year as number one despite injuries, won the 4th straight French Open, became the first male player ranked in the top five to win the Olympic gold medal, and hey, he's only 22.
4. Tiger Woods - limping and wincing and gimping on a left leg that he would later admit had two stress fractures in addition to a wrecked knee, Tiger birdied the 18th hole to force an 18-hole Monday playoff against Rocco Mediate in the U.S. Open. On the first sudden death hole, he won it. Within days, he was undergoing surgery on his leg that would sideline him for the rest of the season and the beginning of 2009. Considering his injury and Mediate’s heroic play, it went down as one of the greatest Opens ever and the greatest win of Woods’ incredible career. It was the 14th major of his career, just four short of Jack Nicklaus’ all-time record.
5. Danica Patrick - the first woman to win an Indy Car race. Who said women can't drive? She is 26.
6. Lewis Hamilton - became at 23 the youngest F1 champion ever — and also the sport’s first black champion.
7. Elmo - winning the World Cookie Eating Championship. He is only 3 and a half years old.
As you may have observed, in websites, newspapers, TVs, these are the names that will normally appear when it comes to top athletes of the year. But what happened to runners? They deserve a tribute too! So here's my compilation and tribute to all these great runners of this year, a great source of inspiration to me :)
1. Haile Gebrselassie - broke his own world record in the marathon, with the time of 2:03:59, the first sub-2:04 in history. He also set the year's best time in the half marathon, with the time of 59:15.
2. Dayron Robles - broke the world record in the 110m hurdles, with the time of 12.87 seconds.
3. Tirunesh Dibaba - broke the world record in the women's 5000m, with the time of 14:11.15.
4. Gulnara Samitova-Galkina - broke the world record in the women's 3000m steeplechase, with the time of 8:58.81, the first sub-9:00 in history.
5. Kenenisa Bekele - set the year's best time in the 10km, with the time of 26:25.97. He is still the current world record holder of 26:17.53, a record since 2005. He also set the year's best time in the 5km, with the time of 12:50.18. He is also still the current world record holder of 12:37.35, a record since 2004.
6. Paul Kipsiele Koech - set the year's best time in the 3000m steeplechase, with the time of 8:00.57.
7. Irina Mikitenko - set the year's best time for women in the marathon, the 4th fastest time in history, with the time of 2:19:19.
Kudos to these great runners :)
2 Comments:
I was surprised when I read Rafael Nadal, but when I read the full description- I understood- Yeah. As a tennis player- he should acquired that speed to beat his tennis buddies.
Anyway, never heard these runners before but now--I know. Thanks!
:) You're most welcome!
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