From Luton to Liu

Day Seven over and what a fabulous night - sheer quality. Three performances of the highest class by two Americans, Allyson Felix and Jeremy Wariner, and one Chinese, Liu Xiang. But I am worried about a new acquaintance, Chuu Pengg, who I met at the subway station three nights ago after we had both missed the last train home.

But I had better talk about the athletics first.

Felix blew away the field, winning in 21.81sec, the quickest time anywhere by a woman since Inger Miller won the world title in Seville eight years ago. Even Marion Jones ran quicker only three times during her controversial career.

I never thought I would say this word to describe Sanya Richards but here we go – “slouch”. Because that is how she looked compared with Felix. Richards, the world athlete of the year in 2006, had failed to qualify for the US team at 400m and had nothing less than victory in mind at 200.

Felix’s run also denied Veronica Campbell a double. Campbell won the first Jamaican 100m gold by a man or a woman at a World Championships or Olympics four nights ago but was half a second down here. In sprinting terms that’s a country mile.

Wariner ran one lap of a track in a time that only two men have run quicker – Michael Johnson and Quincy Watts. Even the great Johnson moved faster than Wariner’s 43.45 here only three times. Wariner is coached in Waco, Texas, by Clyde Hart. Same place, same coach as Johnson had through his career.  Now Johnson manages Wariner. Small world, eh?

Now Wariner is at halfway towards matching Johnson’s collection of championship gold medals at 400 metres. Johnson won two Olympic and four world titles. Wariner has one and two.

Finally to Liu Xiang – and Chuu.

Liu came here as the Olympic champion and world record holder in the 110 metres hurdles and now he is world champion as well. He is the face of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and there is not a sportsman anywhere in the world with the following that Liu has in China. Chuu is here to write about Liu for his newspaper in Beijing.

As we had both missed the last train the other night, Chuu began to talk with me in the English (apparently a year in Luton was most helpful). We agree to share a taxi back into town and part of our conversation in the cab goes like this –

“What is your assignment here, Chuu?”

“To write about Liu Xiang”

“How much do you have to write?”

“Two or three pages a day”

“Two or three pages a day!”

“No , I joke”

“How much, then?”

“One page”

“What, a whole page? You have access to Liu for interviews then?”

“No”

(pauses for effect)

“My life is a misery”

Liu’s win last night will not make Chuu’s life any easier.

Comments

[Sean Dunne]

Two runners have indeed run the 400 faster than Jeremy Wariner, but one of them isn’t Quincy Watts.
The second fastest ever is, of course, Harry (Butch) Reynolds who ran 43.29. Watts ran 43.50