Are you ready for RIO RIO RIO?!

Photo: @michaelsstores

The Games of the 31st Olympiad in Rio, Brazil began yesterday with football but officially start today! The Games will run from August 5-21. Athletics begin next Friday, August 12.

The Opening Ceremony will start at 6pm this evening at the Maracaná Stadium and will be shown on TvJ with a Pregame show at 4pm. No station seems to have full rights to show the Games so no channel should be blocked.

Brazil’s Olympic Village may not be ready but our Jamaican athletes surely are ready.

However, Suga does not expect the level of magic that occurred in Beijing and London to occur in Rio. Jamaicans need to understand that our Athletics is going through a change in generation, where veterans are either no more such as Kerron Stewart or not as fast after rounds as they used to be, e.g. VCB, and most of the young, upcoming athletes are not quite ready to deliver the quality we have been spoilt with over the past 2 Olympiads.

However, enough of being a Debbie Downer. Even though that may be at the back of my mind, I remain positive and know that veterans like Usain Bolt can still deliver and newcomers like Elaine Thompson should deliver. Omar McLeod and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce are on the ropes but there seems to be something about the Olympics that just puts a torch under our you know what and then sparks just fly.

We have newcomers to look forward to in Gymnastics such as Toni-Ann Williams, Yona Knight-Wisdom for Diving and Timothy Wynter for Swimming.

Will our Alia Atkinson finally get her Olympic medal? I sure hope so. She gets closer every time.

Swimming, Tennis and Basketball start tomorrow. Fret not for the hot races in Athletics because they are mostly in the evenings and on weekends. You can set in your calendars from now:

Women’s 100m FINAL:

Saturday, August 13 @ 8:35pm

Men’s 100m FINAL:

Sunday, August 14 @ 8:25pm

Women’s 200m FINAL:

Wednesday, August 17 at 8:30pm

Men’s 200m FINAL:

Thursday, August 18 at 8:30pm

The 4×100m Relay FINALS will be run on the Saturday before the Olympics end.

If you didn’t get your Free Jamaica Observer Olympics Supplement in the Sunday paper, you can be sure to stay tuned to Suga’s posted schedules, updates and commentary on this website and like Suga Lifestyle’s Facebook page.

There is also a Flow Rio 2016 App that you can download on your phones for free. Not sure if it is as user friendly as the London 2012 app yet but it seems to have a decent layout so far. Too early to endorse.

Well Suga Bears, let the Games BEGIN!!!

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Jamaican Athletes under scrutiny for skipping races while US Athletes burn up the track at their Trials

All the foreigners and locals who bought their tickets to watch our talented Jamaicans at the National Stadium over the weekend were left disappointed.

Not only did Usain Bolt pull out of the 100 and 200m due to a Grade 1 Hamstring tear but so did Elaine Thompson. Why? She hasn’t even made her name fully on the International circuit, not that who you are should exempt you, but it is alleged she just felt a twinge somewhere. Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce also pulled out of the 200m but it is known she has been battling with a toe injury. So now she just has to put all her eggs in one basket for the 100m in a packed field. Gamble much?

It is said that Elaine Thompson will get exempted. What kind of effect will this have on future trials? I think the rules will be changed or restrictions will be put in place so athletes know they need to perform if a severe injury was not declared before the trials or it will be a free for all.

Mike Rogers of the USA certainly had a lot to say about Usain Bolt not running, along the lines that he should run because they don’t get that option, they wouldn’t be exempted. Perhaps he should have been spending more time preparing to make it to RIO to run in the 100m instead of running his mouth because he ran 10 flat, failing to qualify in the top 3 last night.

So yes, let us talk about where the US athletes are at. They are looking quite good. The ladies have a strong team and should win the 4×100m unless they have a mishap. All eyes were on Tori Bowie, the favourite, Tianna Bartoletta who also qualified for the Long jump and English Gardner. Bowie started out ahead, then came Bartoletta but at the end of the race English Gardner passed them all in 10.74s! Bartoletta and Bowie clocked 10.78s. Impressive.

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Women’s 100m at the US trials last night

English Gardner after many disappointments is certainly determined and coming hard for RIO. After the race you can usually expect some antics from the Americans. She made the motion of eating food from her plate to the camera. She definitely has bulked up in size, so does that mean that eating some food did it? Or is she familiar with the Jamaican saying and was telling rhe world and Jamaica that ‘she jus eat dem (Bartoletta and Bowie) food’? Who knows. But she is on our radar.

Dafne Schippers who Jamaicans call the ‘Dutchie’ will be running the 100m this Friday at a Manchester meet at about 7pm.

For the US men’s 100m, Gatlin who is now greying at 34 years old ran 9.83s in the semifinal and lowered that time to win the final in 9.80s. Trayvon Bromell clocked 9.84s and Marvin Bracy clocked  9.98s. Mouthy Mike Rogers came 4th in 10.00s and Tyson Gay, 5th. We are not worried about their 4×100m team though.

The antics after the race? Justin Gatlin said they are going to get the 1-2-3! Hilarious. Looks like he is greying and becoming even more delusional.

Moving on to the 400m Men. La Shawn Merritt is back! He won in 43.97s, the only sub -40 time this year. Not even the Donkey man can catch that for Jamaica. We also have South Africa and Grenada to think about.

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In the heats of the Women’s 400m, the Jamerican Sanya Richards Ross could not complete. Quite unfortunate as she was looking to qualify for her last Olympics but has been suffering from a Hamstring injury. This was her goodbye to fans on social media:

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So who took it? Felix the cat of course. Allyson Felix suffered a severe ankle injury months ago but she isn’t going anywhere. It is known how much of a fierce competitor she is. Felix came around the curb in 4th and Hastings was way ahead. She somehow found another gear and burnt up the stretch to win in 49.68s, breaking sub 50! Our athletes are nowhere near that time. Can’t touch our ladies for the 4×400m though. Strength in numbers. Phyllis Francis came 2nd for the USA followed by Natasha Hastings who usually goes out too fast and does not have enough for the finish.

Felix will be contesting the 200m later this week.

It’s going to be quite a summer!

 

 

 

200m Finals Today and more at The National Stadium!

The track will heat up again today even without Usain Bolt. Usain Bolt is ranked 3rd in the world for the 200m and according to the JAAA rule he can therefore seek medical exemption from the 200m, once in the top 3 in the world. He will have to prove his fitness in the 200m as well before RIO.

The ladies are looking good for the 400m. It should be a showdown. Christine Day and Stephenie McPherson have been showing they are the ones to beat but it’s all about the final. Will Shericka Jackson and Novlene Williams-Mills have answers for them?

For the 200m men, Warren Weir still looks wary coming off of injury. Can he make it to Rio? Yohan Blake looked the best yesterday, quite comfortable with 20.30s. Nickel Ashmeade and Julian Forte are the other athletes expected to step up for 2nd and 3rd.

Ironically, Nickel Ashmeade seemed to have a false start in the 200m last night, though there was a slight possiblity there could have been a fault with the blocks. Looks like he was ‘given the benefit of the doubt’ and got off with a warning. Hopefully the false start drama doesn’t follow him to the final, though Friday night for the 100m there was no doubt about it that Livermore was the culprit for the false start.

For the 200m ladies, Shelly is in it but still not herself. Elaine looks just as good in the 200m and should take the win. Simone Facey looks good as well but did she put out too much too early like how she did in the 100m? She secured a good lane though as she ran hard to finish ahead of Shelly in her semi final. Veterans Kerron Stewart and VCB are also going for it. However it looks like age has finally caught up with VCB. She can still put fast times out there but she is suffering to produce them after the rounds.

The 100m hurdles women final should also be a treat. Is World Champ Danielle Williams ready?

Here is your schedule. Have fun Jamaica!