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Published: June 26th 2017
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Geo: 44.069, -123.082
On Saturday there was only an afternoon session so we got to sleep
in and relax for the morning. It was another warm sunny day but with a
cool breeze. We managed to get our front table again which gave us a
great view, especially for the relays.
The most exciting
competition was in the Men's Pole Vault. This started at 2-30pm and
continued throughout the session. We had Jack Hicking in this. He
vaulted well and improved his PB to 5-40 before going out. Every vaulter
in the field did a PB with the winner, Chappelle from France improving
by about 20cms. They just kept jumping out of their skins! In the Men's
Discus Matt Denny and Mitchell Cooper threw well gaining 4th and 5th
spots overall. An excellent effort though it would have been nice to get
another medal. Both the 4x400 relay teams made it though to the final
and the day ended with the USA taking out both 4x100 relays.
We then went back to the Duck and had dinner there. We caught up with some of the Australian coaches as well as our friends from the last few days. More conversation and conviviality.
On Sunday
morning after another sleep in I did a load of washing and we both chilled out. We got to the track about 2-30 for a 3pm start. We didn't manage to snare our usual table but we found one with a good view of the Women's High Jump We were again sitting with Matt Mahon who is Vice-President of Athletics Australia. He is a great young guy with a genuine love of the sport and a good head on his shoulders. Hopefully he can have a positive influence on the future of the sport.
Cassie Purdon jumped well in the High Jump equalling her PB of 1-85 but missed at 1-88m. The comp was eventually won at 1-93 by Morgan Lake, a British girl who had won the Heptathlon on Wednesday. A great effort from her. The4x400m relays were won by the US with the Australian boys putting in a great run for 6th. We did rather get tired of the Stars and Stripes being played!!
After the competition we met Lawrie, Gwen and Julie at Beppe's and Gianni's for dinner. Peter and Peanut also joined us. Fantastic company but my halibut was rather dry and had grill marks on it with
a rather burnt taste. After dinner we walked back to the Matthew Knight Arena for the VIP Reception and after party. We were in a side room while the main action for the youngsters was in the main arena with a DJ and very loud music. We ended up talking with a scientist, Keith Baar, originally from Canada but not doing research in the US. He was telling us about the latest advances in sports science and new knowledge about the way the tendons etc work. Fascinating. We were also joined by a former US team doctor. Interesting conversations.
We said our goodbyes to Matt and then had a pleasant walk back to the car. It has been a wonderful competition with many new names to watch for in the future. A great event!
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