I was a bit tired from all of the excitement and stress from the previous day so I slept very well the night before the mens race. I received my wake-up call at 6:45am from Val, Hunter Kemper's wife, wanting to know if it was okay to visit to heat Hunter's pancakes up for his pre-race breakfast. "No problem" I said. I was running all food production and preparation in my itty bitty hotel room so I had to be available whenever.
The day of the mens race was beautiful. Nice blue skies, clean air and a lot of heat and humidity. It did get pretty hot but not too much to cause problems for the athletes. I was lucky in that my role that day was merely as a spectator and photographer. I hung out with Scott (USAT team leader) and Alex (USAT sport chiropractor) and clipped some good photos during the race.
The mens race was similar to the womens as their wasn't a break in the swim but during the bike, there were 3 (then 2) athletes who made a break and put almost 1 minute on the pack. Gutsy move but they were swallowed up by the fast runners on the second lap of the 10k course.
There were about 5 runners at the front who consistently ran together the entire race. It wasn't until the last 10-15 meters where the winner was decided. It was probably one of the most exciting finishes I have witnessed as it literally came down to a sprint finish for gold, silver and bronze. In the end, a dark-horse from Germany (Frodeno) won the gold and outkicked Simon Whitfield (2000 gold medalist). Simon took the silver and the kiwi Bevan Docherty (2004 silver medalist) took the bronze.
Our guys had a good day also. Hunter improved on his previous two Olympic finishes by coming in 7th, Jarrod finished in 18th and Matty in 32nd. Great job USA!
I'm off to finish up my time in China with one more week at Beijing Normal University helping the USOC pack everything up. Enjoy some photos I took of the mens race.
Hunter leading a small chase pack.
coachbob@fuel4mance.com
The day of the mens race was beautiful. Nice blue skies, clean air and a lot of heat and humidity. It did get pretty hot but not too much to cause problems for the athletes. I was lucky in that my role that day was merely as a spectator and photographer. I hung out with Scott (USAT team leader) and Alex (USAT sport chiropractor) and clipped some good photos during the race.
The mens race was similar to the womens as their wasn't a break in the swim but during the bike, there were 3 (then 2) athletes who made a break and put almost 1 minute on the pack. Gutsy move but they were swallowed up by the fast runners on the second lap of the 10k course.
There were about 5 runners at the front who consistently ran together the entire race. It wasn't until the last 10-15 meters where the winner was decided. It was probably one of the most exciting finishes I have witnessed as it literally came down to a sprint finish for gold, silver and bronze. In the end, a dark-horse from Germany (Frodeno) won the gold and outkicked Simon Whitfield (2000 gold medalist). Simon took the silver and the kiwi Bevan Docherty (2004 silver medalist) took the bronze.
Our guys had a good day also. Hunter improved on his previous two Olympic finishes by coming in 7th, Jarrod finished in 18th and Matty in 32nd. Great job USA!
I'm off to finish up my time in China with one more week at Beijing Normal University helping the USOC pack everything up. Enjoy some photos I took of the mens race.
Hunter leading a small chase pack.
Jarrod and Matty on the heels of Marceau.
Check out the different run form of these athletes. Hunter is in the front.
Matty with an ice vest on trying to pre-cool before the race.
The eventual gold and silver medalist leading the front pack.
The lone athlete making a break on the entire pack. You can see the pack coming into the transition area.
coachbob@fuel4mance.com
