Sport
London 2012: Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake rivalry adds more excitment to track events
Of course, no sporting event in Britain would be complete without high expectations for the home athletes.
On the track, the greatest hopes will be vested in Mo Farah, the Somalia-born long-distance runner who is the reigning world champion at 5,000 meters and runner-up at 10,000. Defending 400-meter Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu, world heptathlon runner-up Jessica Ennis and 38-year-old marathoner Paula Radcliffe are among the others who will have to deal with hometown pressure on top of everything else.
“Head down and concentrating,” Farah said of his preparations, which have taken place in Oregon – in part, an attempt to stay far from the media glare in London.
In the 800 meters, Caster Semenya of South Africa makes her Olympic debut, three years after questions about her gender forced her to undergo tests and drop out of competition for nearly a year before track’s governing body cleared her to race again. She was the silver medalist at last year’s world championships.
And hovering over the entire track meet, especially the sprints, will be the new false start rule introduced for this Olympic cycle. In the past, the entire field was given a freebie, and disqualifications didn’t start until the second person jumped. These days, it’s a no-tolerance policy: You jump once, you’re out.
The most high-profile victim of the rule thus far was Bolt. At the world championships last year, he was disqualified from the 100 for a false start, clearing a path for Blake’s victory.
Until a few weeks ago, most track aficionados thought Bolt could beat Blake if the two actually ran head-to-head.
