2011 Season Wrap and 2012 Predictions

Now that the dust from last week's spectacular performances in Brussels has settled, I can finally reminisce on the season in it's entirety. It's fair to say Yohan Blake, Sally Pearson and Kirani James were the biggest track stars to emerge in 2011.

James and Blake came from relative obscurity to being on the edge of greatness.Let's start with Blake. His journey took him from a 3rd place finish in the 2006 World Junior championships, to breaking the 10 second barrier in 2009, to claiming gold in Daegu. This season the world watched as Blake transformed from promising young sprinter into a world champion and top athlete. Even if he never breaks the world records in either sprints, two gold medals and a lifetime best of 19.26 in the 200m are enough to put him down in the history books.

Brussels Diamond League: Yohan Blake, Usain Bolt, Danielle Carruthers and Kennesia Bekele

Today's meet in Brussels brought an end to what can only be described as a superb track and field season. There were several fabulous performances but the real shocker was Yohan Blake's jaw dropping 19.26 sec in the men's 200 metres,  the second fastest time EVER.

Don't get me wrong Blakes' victory is not a total surprise, I remember him running 19.78 in Monaco last year, so I did peg him to beat Walter Dix to the  line with maybe a 19.75 or even a 19.73. To say I grossly miscalculated would be putting it mildly. I honestly had to do a double take on the time. This young man stunned the audience and in the process banished Usain Bolt's earlier performance of 9.76 in the 100m to distant memory.

Daegu Wrap - Day 9: Usain Bolt, Carmelita Jeter, Christian Taylor, and Mo Farah

The men's 4x100m provided the 1st and only world record of the championships ad what a fitting end to 9 days of glorious performances on the track.

The Jamaican quartet of Nesta carter,Michael Frater, Yohan Blake and Usain Bolt sped to a jaw dropping world and national record of 37.04 sec.
Carter started brilliantly on the first leg, giving Jamaica a sizable lead from the get go, handing over to Frater who maintained it, then to Blake who literally flew around the bend to Bolt who exploded on the backstretch. And to think an injured Asafa Powell wasn't even on the team. The men ran a mind blowing average of 9.25 seconds each.

Daegu Wrap - Day 8: Sally Pearson, Usain Bolt and Matthias De Zordo

Sally Pearson

Ending the curse of cover, Australia's Sally Pearson delivered one of the most spectacular displays in history giving her country it's first gold medal of the championships. The sprint hurdler shocked the world with a brilliant 12.36 win the semi finals, which tied her at 6th place on the all time list, only to come back in the final and run a blistering 12.28.


Thus clocking a personal best, an Australian and Championship record, which puts her squarely down in history as the 4th fastest ever in this event. This is also the fastest time for this event in 23 years. With an unbeaten streak all season Pearson was naturally the pre-race favourite but no one, myself included could have anticipated, the absolute destruction she brought in the final.

Daegu Wrap - Day 7: Veronica Campbell Brown, Vivian Cheruiyot and David Storl

Veronica Campbell Brown

Jamaica's Veronica Campbell Brown bagged her first World Championship 200m gold in Daegu. The penultimate event, promised fireworks and boy did it deliver.

Starting in lane five, VCB got the best start of the field, literally flying around the curve. Then on the backstretch Jeter began pumping for it. 70 metres to the line, she was up on Campbell brown's shoulder and looked like pass her for the win. But, VCB said not today and produced a last surge of energy to power away, winning in a season's best of 22.22sec. Jeter finished 0.15 secs later for silver in 22.37 while three-time defending champion Allyson Felix copped the bronze in 22.42

Daegu Wrap - Day 6: Jennifer Barringer Simpson, Lashinder Demus and Dai Greene

Jennifer Barringer Simpson

America's Jennifer Barringer Simpson stunned her rivals with a surprise win in the women's 1500 metres. Simpson won convincingly in a time of 4:05:40. To understand how big a shock this is, let me put it into perspective.

Pior to the championships Simpson had the 25th best time of the season, she wasn't even expected to make it past semi-finals much less the gold. Simpson, however, did not let her poor ranking trouble her and romped home to gold with a smile of utter jubilation. Britain's Hannah England ran strong in the last metres for silver in 4:05:68, overtaking a tiring Natalia Rodriguez of Spain. Two time defending champion and pre-race favourite Maryam Jamal never really factored in the final and ended a disappointing 12th.