American Track League

American Track League: Rapid Recap

American Track League: Rapid Recap

Aug 1, 2015 by Karsten Kaufmann
American Track League: Rapid Recap


It was a hot and humid night in "The A" as Dwight Phillips calls it, but this did not take away from some great racing and the incredible atmoshphere at the American Track League in Atlanta this evening.



Veronica Campbell-Brown started the night off with a win in the women's 100m, finishing in a time of 11.22. Campbell-Brown, who owns eighteen international medals came back later that evening and also won the 200m in a time of 22.82. 

Maggie Vessey and Melissa Bishop showcased one of many exciting finishes to come out of this evening in the women's 800m. Vessey ended up taking the win in 2:00.30 over the Canadian in 2:00.43. This is the fifth time Vessey has run 2:00 this year. 


In one of the more anticipated events of the evening Pan Am champion Andrew Wheating took down David Torrence in another home-stretch battle, winning in a time of 3:39.17.

After leading the first kilometer of the race Nick Symmonds was nowhere to be seen the next lap. After convincing myself the USA champion stepped off the track due to suffering a season-ending injury, Wheating mentioned that Symmonds was just helping with pacing duties in a post race interview. All is well. 


The race of the night however was the men's 400m. As expected, the 19-year-old Steven Gardiner took down a very expierenced field, running 45.11. Ashton Eaton set a personal best in the event, running 45.55.


In the final event of the night, Asafa Powell ran to victory in 10.01 over Jason Rodgers at 10.23. Guest commentator Dwight Phillips pointed out that Powell has run under 10.00 over 90 times in his carrer. This is more than any other athlete in history.