The year 2007 was filled with excitement, news- makers, and incredible times in track, cross country and road racing. Often, in a year leading up to the Olympic games, it's just that, a lead up. However, this year it wasn't the case as everyone across the board was unleashing monster performances. The Osaka World Championships saw American's back on top in many events. The World Cross Country Championships returned "home"" and were dramatic as ever. American distance runners found themselves making a difference on the world scene again. 2007 brought in new talent and new super stars. Ryan Hall and Tyson Gay come to mind. Familiar faces were also on the scene. Halie Gebresslassie still continues to amaze everyone every time he toes the line. There was also controversy and sadness with the deaths of a few greats in our sport. In this review I'll go over some of the more important moments in our sport this year. The newsmakers, World and American records, and big wins. Certainly it's a little top heavy with distance running marks, but it includes some field and sprint marks. The year 2007 started out amazing. Just 14 days into the year, Ryan Hall set the running world on fire when he ran an American Record for the Half-Marathon in Houston with a time of 59:43 (Click to see the race). He took a massive 1:12 off Mark Curp's 1985 record. This was the start of an amazing year for Hall. This was also a big time for Flotrack as they were the only ones with the video of the race, which is now one of the most popular on the site. Later in the spring he entered the London Marathon(Post London Marathon Flotrack Interview) and went huge in his debut. Taking the lead around 20 miles before falling back slightly, he would finish 7th in 2:08.24. The time an American Debut record was just 43 seconds off the win in one the most stacked races of the year. Prior to London he ran a 10,000 at Stanford and in his first track 10k. His 28:07, while running for training purposes was solid. In June he would run 10,000 at USA's and finish 7th, clearly not in competitive 10k form. Still his season wasn't over. In terms of big names going big, Alan Webb had a HUGE season. Certainly some might disagree given his 8th place in Osaka, but beyond that he was the real deal all season. His season included: Indoor mile: USA Champion Mile (4:01) Armory Mile (3:56) Boston (3:55) 3 sub 4's Low point- Millrose 4th 4:04.86 (66 last 400) Outdoor: 3:57 First Sub-4 in South Carolina 3:51 Drake Relay Record 1:47 Mt. Sac 800 Reebok Games NYC- win over stacked field - 3:52 USA - 1500 1st - 3:34 meet record. Malmo 800 - 1:45 Pairs Golden League Win 3:30- 1500 over Mehdi Baala and others American Record Mile - Atletiek Vlaanderen (Belgium low key meet) - 3:46.91 Heusden 800- 1:43.84 5th Avenue Mile winner- 3:52 Low points: Osaka final 8th - 3:35.69 less than a second off the win Zurich Golden League - 7th 3:39.69 less than a second off Baala's win World Athletics Final - 3:38.84 4th less than a second off the win here as well. All and all an amazing season for Webb. He has already said he is ready and will be doing things different in '08(http://www.flocasts.org/flotrack/speakers.php?sid=132&vid=6309). However, you can't take anything way from his amazing '07 season, which will only give him momentum as he heads into the Olympic Year. Bernard Lagat's season was very different from Alan Webb's. His only early season mark was his win over Mottram in 3:54.26 at Millrose. He then trained and wasn't heard from much until early summer, when he was losing to Webb. He did win a tactical 5k at USA's in Indianapolis, but was denied the double by Webb. He was then beat again in Paris. After some minor tweaks in personal health and training, Lagat started to pour it on. First in a slow rainy race in Sheffield he was 3rd in the 1500 and after that in London he finally won in 3:35. He continued to train hard for Osaka and by the time he set foot in Japan he was fitter than ever. He finally got his gold in a championship meet with wins in the 1500 (3:34.77) and amazingly the 5,000 (13:45.87), becoming the first man to pull this double at a world championships. He then went on to win the 3,000 at Zurich in 7:38 and closed out his season with a 2nd in Berlin in the 1500 in 3:34. Now double gold medalist Lagat will try to get his 3rd Olympic medal and make it a set with a gold as he already has silver and bronze. The United States did very well in Osaka at the World Championships. The men tallied 19 medals and 10 gold's. The women brought in 7 with 4 gold's. Notable US highlights: Tyson Gay: 3 gold's 100, 200, 4x100. Lagat 2 gold's (1500, 5,000) Jeremy Wariner 2nd World Championship (400 43.45) Kerron Clement making up for his Helsinki blunder with a 47.61 hurdle victory. The USA swept all relays Men: 4x100- 37.78, 4x400- 2:55.56. Women took their gold medals with times of 41.98 and 3:18.55. Allyson Felix won the 200 in an amazing 21.81 and then ran in both winning relays, splitting 48 flat. Kara Goucher got bronze in the 10,000. Reese Hoffa took gold in the shot with a launch of 72-3 1/4. At the time in the season, it was the biggest showdown of American distance runners in years; and the 2007 USA Cross Country Championships lived up to the hype. Held up at altitude in Boulder it brought out the big names. Abdi, Alan Culpepper, the Tori, Ritz, Goucher and others. Ritz took it out hard over the muddy course but was slowly reeled in by Culpepper who would go on to win the 12k in 37:09, followed by Goucher 26 seconds back, Ritz, and then Jorge Torres. Deena Kastor pounded from the start in the women's race and won by a minute over Shalane Flanagan, Kara Goucher, and Lauren Fleshman. Amid security concerns the World Cross Country(Pictures) meet was held in Mombassa, Kenya. Many of American's top runners backed out and we sent a relatively weak group. The US men finished 11th as a team and the Women 8th. The races were very exciting and completive. After saying all winter he was done XC for good, Kenenisa Bekele was looking for his 6th long race title. However, the pressure, heat (90 plus 75% humidity), and the strength of Zersenay Tadesse proved too much as he miss counted laps and kicked too soon. Shortly after that, at around 11k, Bekele stepped off the course, much to the delight of the 30,000 plus Kenyan crowd. Tadesse (35:50 12k) would go on to finally reap the glory he has often missed. Kenyan men took the team title with 28 points. Lornah Kiplagat running for Holland, but a native Kenyan, won the women's 8k race over Tirunesh Dibaba from Ethiopia as she covered the course in 26:23. For Bekele that would be his last blemish of the season. Before his loss in Kenya he had set the indoor World Record for 2k with the 4:49.99. On the track his main priority was to try and set the 3k WR. Unfortunately, he couldn't ever get the proper pacing, but still ran fast with times of 7:25, 7:26, and 7:29. Also, pre-Osaka he ran a speedy 5k (12:49) in Spain to reaffirm he was back. In Osaka he won his 3rd straight title in a hard fought battle over 10,000. He used his usual blistering last lap (55.5) to pull away from countrymen Sileshi Sihine (27:05 to 27:09). He attempted a 10,000-world record in Brussels and fell just short with a 26:46. He ended his season with a 1500 in Shangri where he ran 3:32. Halie Gebresslassie proves age means nothing as he set the running scene ablaze. He ran 26:52 (8th sub-27 for career) for 10k in Henglo. Had to DNF in London. Then he bounced back with a WR for the Hour (21,285m) adding 184 meters on Arturo Barrios' old mark. He brought the ruckus in NYC with a win in 59:24 besting a very strong field. But the real news came when he finally got the record he had been gunning at for a couple years. His 2:04.26 marathon in Berlin demolished Tergat's previous record by some 30 seconds. He ended his year with a course record of 42:36 for 15k in a small race in the Netherlands. Craig Mottram had a noteworthy season. It started with loses in America to Lagat at Millrose and Ritz at the Healthy Kidney 10k. Mottram then ran 3:54 for 3rd in NYC for the mile (where Mark and Craig met!) and added a sensational 8:03 for 2 miles at Prefontaine (where he had the balls and Mark and he met again!). He beat an African laden field in Ostrava a few weeks later over 5k in 13:04 with a 54 second close. Bekele then beat him over 3k at Sheffield (7:29-7:35). He season and World Championship medal hopes were derailed after a serious hamstring injury hampered training. He pressed on and finished 13 in Osaka and then tried a few European meets with little success. Mottram later admitted he shouldn't have kept the injury a secret and that it caused more problems then he thought it would. Other Noteworthy Performances: Robert Cheruiyot won the 2006-2007 World Marathon Majors and took home $500,000. Ethiopian Meseret Defar had an awesome year. She set the WR for 5k with her 14:16 and 2 miles with her 8:58 and indoor she ran 8:23 3k was a WR. She also ran 8:27 and 14:30 among other excellent times this season. She went on to win gold in Osaka. The Collegiate Scene College athletes were running strong as well. Galen Rupp and Josh McDougal had huge years. Galen Rupp - Indoor: 3k-4th, 5k-3rd; Outdoor: 10k-2nd XC-2nd He also set a collegiate record for 10k with his amazing 27:33 and also ran 13:30 for 5k. He went on to make the world championships and finish 11th in Osaka. Josh McDougal - Indoor: 3k-3rd, 5k- 8th Outdoor: 10k-3rd, 5k-4th, XC-Champion Ran times of 3:57, 13:20, 22:57 for 8k. Team titles: Indoor: Men - Wisconsin & Women - Arizona State Outdoor: Florida State & Arizona State XC: Oregon (they're back!) & Stanford (again!) Walter Dix went nuts, winning the 100, 200, and 4x100 to lead his team to an outdoor title. He also won the 200 indoor. He ran times of 9.93 for 100 and a collegiate record 19.69 at the NCAA Regional meet. At the USATF meet in Indy 22 collegiate (or just graduated) athletes scored top 3 spots, with 4 taking wins. Other Notable American Distance/ Mid-Distance wins/times: Nick Symmonds rise to fame - first his 3:57 mile indoor then his win at the USA Indoor meet. His big break through came at The Prefontaine Classic with a win over a stacked field in 1:44. He was runner up at USA's and then didn't make the final in Osaka. Chris Solinsky - Won indoor 5k, 2nd in the 3k, won the 5k outdoor. Went pro, 7th at USA's, and then ran PR's of 3:37, 13:12, and 7:37 in his debut season. Matt Tegenkamp - ran near American record indoor 3k of 7:41. Ran AR 8:07 at Pre 2 mile. Runner up to Lagat in 5k at USA's, 3:33 1500 in Athens, 7:36 3k, 13:07 5k late season. His big moment came in 5k final in Osaka where he missed a medal by .03. Dathan Ritzenhien - Started with some romps in the mud at a few cross country meets and finished 2nd at USA XC. Controversy ensued when he opted out of Mombassa. He won the Healthy Kidney 10k over Craig Mottram in a course record of 28:08 and donated some of his winnings to charity (and was named Visa Humanitarian of the Year for this). Ritz was 3rd at the USATF meet in the 10k and finished 9th in Osaka. He ran 8:11 for 2 miles at Pre. Over in Europe, he ran 2 5k's and set a PR of 13:16(Race, Interview) in the same meet Webb set the AR for the mile. To cap a strong year, he set a PR 2:11 and earned a 2nd at the Olympic Trials in NYC. Kara Goucher - Bronze in 10k at Osaka(http://www.flocasts.org/flotrack/speakers.php?sid=25&vid=4721), Beat Radcliffe in AR 66:57(http://www.flocasts.org/flotrack/speakers.php?sid=25&vid=5034) and ran PR's: 3k- 8:34, 5k- 14:55 Shalane Flanagan - 8th in Osaka 5k, US Champ 5k, 5k AR- 14:44(http://www.flocasts.org/flotrack/races.php?vid=1008), 1500 - 4:04(http://www.flocasts.org/flotrack/races.php?vid=4541), indoor 3k AR- 8:33 Sprinters: Allyson Felix- 21.82 200 World Champ, US Champ 200, ran on both winning relays and ran 2nd leg of 4x400 in a mind boggling 48 flat. Also beat Sanya at her own game in the Stockholm 400- 49.70-49.72. Jeremy Wariner - 1st in Osaka in PR 43.45 (5th best performance ever), Stockholm- 43.50, Shanghai- 44.02, Berlin and London wins- 44.05, anchored WC 4x400 (43.1 split). Sanya Richards - This lady had a very busy season. She won every Golden League meet and split a cool Million with Russian PV'er Isinbayeva. Low point was what she called a "mental breakdown" and not fighting for the 3rd and final spot in the 400 at the USATF meet. Made Osaka in the 200 where she got 5th. Won the World Athletics final. Season marks: 100-10.97; 200- 22.44; 400-49.52, 49.36,49.29, 49.27(x2). Tyson Gay - a super star on the rise and probably the next "big thing" in track and field, established himself as the worlds best with triple Osaka golds and a double win at the US Championships. Notable marks: 9.76 (+2.2) at Reebok, 19.66 into .5 headwind at USA and 9.84 in the 100 into another headwind (his 100 mark is 2nd fastest into a headwind ever). Other marks included 9.85 at worlds, 19.76 at worlds, and 19.79 at Lausanne. On the dark side of things Marion Jones tearfully admitted to using performance enhancing drugs and was stripped for her 5 gold medals and has been asked to return all winnings from some 6 years of racing. Hopefully, she will explain how this happened and help the USATF and IAAF hone their drug enforcement skills. Xavier Carter, who was injured at the USATF meet, was arrested twice for minor crimes. Some American field notes: Breux Greer: 3rd at Worlds, AR- Jav- (91.29m 299 ft) @ USA's. Earlier he tossed 90.71m. Reese Hoffa- World Champion Shot- USA Champ. Threw 73-7 1/4 in London. Jen Stuczynski- Pole Vault AR- 16ft. The Men's Olympic Marathon trials proved to be one the highlights of the year. The super hyped race turned out to be better than expected with all the big names going head to head. Abdi, Meb, Hall, Ritz, Sell, Khalid, Browne, Culpepper, and many more. The race was classic and Hall made a monster moved and dropped some sick splits to gap the field and pull away to win in 2:09.02, he was followed by Dathan Ritzenhien in 2:11.07, and the feel good story Brian Sell who ran 2:11.40. Sadly, the race was marked by tragedy when collapsed and died at mile 5 in the race. The High School kids were at it too: Bryshon Nellum was on a tear all year. He led his Poly Long Beach 4x400 to victory in 3:09 over a strong, Jamaican heavy field at Penn Relays. He then went on to run 20.43 for 200 and 45.38 for 400. He won both USATF and Pan-AM Juniors. The Nike Outdoor Nationals 2-mile was as deep as ever with Matt Centrowitz, who earlier in the season had run 4:03.40 for a mile, taking victory in 8:41.55 over Craig Forys (8:44.53). The time ranks him as #4 all time just ahead of Steve Prefontaine. Sam Borchers took the yearly lead in the mile with his 4:03.33 win at NON. In the rare HS hammer, Walter Henning continued his dominance indoor and out with wins at every big meet from NON, USATF, and Pan-Am juniors. He finished with a HSR 255-11. Jordan Hassay tore the track up with her marks of 10:04 for 3200 and 4:16 (4:37 converted) for 1500, before heading off to Europe where she battled the African's in the World Youth games and earned silver in the 1500. Chanelle Price also went wild with her run of fast 800 races. She ended the season with a PR of 2:02.38. She also won her state meet, NON, finished 7th in the senior race at USATF after surviving 2 rounds before the final. She had troubles at the World Youth meet where she finished 6th. The Roosevelt, MD ladies relay team dominated everywhere they went and every relays they ran. With times of: 4x400- 3:39.44, 4x800- 8:51.19, SMR- 3:51.96 (HSR), and DMR- 11:43.59. They double wins at Penn in the 4x400 and 4x800. Won the NON-4x800 and SMR and also placed in the 4x400 and DMR there. That is a basic recap of some of the more important events of the year in Athletics 2007. 2008 is just around the corner and the stories and plot lines for the Olympic year are already hot. With American distance running getting better every year and our sprinting domination continuing, I personally can't wait to see what next year holds.