Picture taken by me. Saturday, June 12, 2010.
In June 2010, I had the opportunity to attend the prestigious Adidas Grand Prix Track and Field meet at Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island in New York City.
Icahn Stadium is a 400-meter Mondo surface running track, it has a huge cover over the spectator seating, and it overlooks the East River. It's a beautiful and well kept facility. I felt like I was in Disneyland being there.
I went to this particular meet for a few reasons. First, I love track and I love New York City so it was the perfect opportunity to experience the sport in one of my favorite places in the world. Secondly, I went to see a young man by the name of Karjuan Williams compete in the 800m run. At that time, my really good friend was coaching him and I wanted to see him run at the professional level. Going into that meet Karjuan was the fastest American male with a time of 1:45.79. That's moving! My third reason for attending this competition was to see the distance running star Bernard Lagat.
Lagat is Kenyan born and he used to compete for that country in 2000-2004 but in 2005 switched over his citizenship to the United States of America and now he's the American record holder in the 1500m, Mile, 3000m and 5000m. He's also has the record for Kenya in the 1500m. Lagat is a twelve time medalist in World Championships and Olympics including five gold medals. He'a an amazing, talented, and gifted athlete.
Laget was competing in the 5000m run as part of the Samsung Diamond League series. From the above picture that I took, you can see that he positioned himself near the front of the pack (he was the third from the front), but with one lap to go, Dejen Gebremeskel (winner) and Tariku Bekele of Ethiopia opened up a gap, extending the lead to about 15 meters. The lead was just enough for Gebremeskel, to hang on for the victory running 13:05.22, with Lagat closing for second in a 13:05.46. I will admit that I was sad that he lost. Later that day, after the meet, I went to pick up Karjaun for dinner at his hotel. He was staying at the Hilton in Manhattan. As I was waiting for him in the lobby, out of the elevator comes Lagat and I had the opportunity to meet and talk to him. About 30 seconds later, Karjuan arrives and introduces me to Lagat. That was an awesome moment.
Two year later, Lagat came back to the Adidas Grand Prix meet hungry and he was victorious winning the 1500 meters. On June 9, 2012 Lagat ran 3:34.62 beating out Ayanleh Souleiman who ran 3:34.73 I didn't get to see his race live this year, because I was in Ohio, but it was a great win for him to have before the Olympic trials.
Icahn Stadium is a 400-meter Mondo surface running track, it has a huge cover over the spectator seating, and it overlooks the East River. It's a beautiful and well kept facility. I felt like I was in Disneyland being there.
I went to this particular meet for a few reasons. First, I love track and I love New York City so it was the perfect opportunity to experience the sport in one of my favorite places in the world. Secondly, I went to see a young man by the name of Karjuan Williams compete in the 800m run. At that time, my really good friend was coaching him and I wanted to see him run at the professional level. Going into that meet Karjuan was the fastest American male with a time of 1:45.79. That's moving! My third reason for attending this competition was to see the distance running star Bernard Lagat.
Lagat is Kenyan born and he used to compete for that country in 2000-2004 but in 2005 switched over his citizenship to the United States of America and now he's the American record holder in the 1500m, Mile, 3000m and 5000m. He's also has the record for Kenya in the 1500m. Lagat is a twelve time medalist in World Championships and Olympics including five gold medals. He'a an amazing, talented, and gifted athlete.
Laget was competing in the 5000m run as part of the Samsung Diamond League series. From the above picture that I took, you can see that he positioned himself near the front of the pack (he was the third from the front), but with one lap to go, Dejen Gebremeskel (winner) and Tariku Bekele of Ethiopia opened up a gap, extending the lead to about 15 meters. The lead was just enough for Gebremeskel, to hang on for the victory running 13:05.22, with Lagat closing for second in a 13:05.46. I will admit that I was sad that he lost. Later that day, after the meet, I went to pick up Karjaun for dinner at his hotel. He was staying at the Hilton in Manhattan. As I was waiting for him in the lobby, out of the elevator comes Lagat and I had the opportunity to meet and talk to him. About 30 seconds later, Karjuan arrives and introduces me to Lagat. That was an awesome moment.
Two year later, Lagat came back to the Adidas Grand Prix meet hungry and he was victorious winning the 1500 meters. On June 9, 2012 Lagat ran 3:34.62 beating out Ayanleh Souleiman who ran 3:34.73 I didn't get to see his race live this year, because I was in Ohio, but it was a great win for him to have before the Olympic trials.
Some highlights from the 2010 meet: "Before the end of the day, an astonishing total of 11 meet records would fall. To get things off to a great start, young French sensation Teddy Tamgho became the third-best triple jumper of all time when he uncorked a ferocious jump of 17.98 meters/59 feet to defeat both Christian Olsson and Phillips Idowu. Continuing the great Jamaica-U.S. rivalry here, two-time Olympic gold medalist Veronica Campbell-Brown put on a stunning display in the 200 meters, blazing to a win over three-time World Champion Allyson Felix in 21.98 in their first meeting at this distance on U.S. soil. It would be the fastest time in the world for all of 2010, and the fastest run in the U.S. in almost a decade. Valerie Vili (shot put), Nicholas Kemboi (1500m), Kerron Clement (400m hurdles) and Mbulaeni Mulaudzi (800m) were among the rest in the star-studded international field who posted meet records." (Adidas Grand Prix)
References:
http://www.diamondleague-newyork.com/Meet-Info/Who-we-are/History/
References:
http://www.diamondleague-newyork.com/Meet-Info/Who-we-are/History/