There, at the high-jump pit, was Belgium’s versatile, bespectacled Tia Hellebaut springing an upset on the long-unbeatable Blanka Vlasic. There in the women’s 1,500 meters was a victory from the Kenyan veteran Nancy Jebet Langat.
For a change, they did not falter. First, Sanya Richards shrugged off the disappointment of losing the individual 400 last Tuesday by running down the Russian Anastasia Kapachinskaya on the anchor leg of the women’s 4x400-meter relay to give the Americans a gold medal. Then, in less dramatic fashion, Jeremy Wariner put the finishing touch on another dominant performance by the American men’s 4x400 team.
“We’ve had our ups and downs,” said Allyson Felix, who ran the second leg for the American women. “We came out with a new attitude tonight — men and women — and it worked out. We wanted to end on a high note.”
At least that mission was accomplished. The two relay victories put the United States atop the track-and-field table with 23 medals, 7 of them gold.
Those figures, despite the string of gaffes and disappointments in the sprints, relays and middle-distance races, were in line with the American team’s performance at the 2004 Olympics, where it finished with 25 medals and 8 golds. It was also an improvement on the revised results from the 2000 Sydney Olympics, which, with the fallen star Marion Jones being stripped of her 5 medals for doping, now stand at 15 medals and 7 golds.
The results were not what the Americans were hoping for coming off their 14-gold-medal performance at last year’s world championship in Osaka, Japan.
It was indeed a Jamaican-flavored week at the Bird’s Nest, but with Usain Bolt now finished breaking world records and the opposition’s spirit, the Jamaicans were only minor players Saturday. Their only medal was a bronze in the women’s 4x400 relay.
The American team of Mary Wineberg, Felix, Monique Henderson and Richards won that race in 3 minutes 18.54 seconds, finishing just ahead of the Russians in 3:18.82.
Bekele’s winning time, 12:57.82, broke the Olympic record by more than eight seconds. The world champion Bernard Lagat, who didn’t qualify in the 1,500 meters, capped a disappointing Games with a ninth-place finish.
When the normally self-contained Bekele crossed the line, he wagged one index finger, then wagged the other. Perhaps the exuberant Bolt is rubbing off on other champions.
Langat followed that with her unexpected victory in the 1,500. Coming into these Games, the Kenyan women had never won gold in Olympic track. Now they have two, with Pamela Jelimo winning the 800 earlier in the meet.
“There is a change in mentality in Kenya,” said Bungei, the captain of the Kenyan team. “They are no longer becoming housewives and mothers. They are allowed to be professional. What you are seeing is a change in how our Kenyan women are being treated.”
Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway retained his Olympic title in the men’s javelin with an Olympic record of 90.67 meters, or almost 297 feet 6 inches, on his fifth throw. Ainar Kovals of Latvia was second with a mark of 86.64 and Tero Pitkamaki of Finland third in 86.16.
Drama in the field was reserved for the women’s high jump. Vlasic, the exuberant Croatian, has been the dominant force in the event for more than a year, winning 34 consecutive competitions. Her streak did not appear in danger as she cleared her first seven heights on her first attempts.
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