Men's Prelims - Walker NH :(

[Mecham]

Results are now final, they have posted the q's on the live scoring.

Except there is no q by Gibilisco???

NBC has a Q next to his name

[zipsDIGSpv]

And the disappointment continues for USA Track & Field....this one hurts!

[BruceFlorman]

There's a 'q' for Gibilisco now.

[rainbowgirl28]

So wait, they STARTED the competition at 9:00pm Beijing time? Why did they start so late? They knew it would take hours, Im sure that had some affect on the vaulters

Yeah. Granted there was no morning session today, but the men's vault started 1:40 after the first event tonight. Ridiculous.

And it almost went another half hour, we easily could have seen them jumping at 5.70.

[rainbowgirl28]

IAAF: 0:03
We'll see you tomorrow morning - excuse us, later this morning - when the women's 20km racewalk begins at 9:00. Maybe a little sooner.
0:02
They seem to have decided in favor of the bakers-dozen final. No more vaulting.
0:01
The officials seem to be calling a halt. How bad could it be, they're asking, if we just took thirteen vaulters to the final?

[PVCookieman]

And it's over... 13 athletes cleared. I can't imagine they keep jumping.

Derek Miles is the only American to make the finals

Can he step it up and get a medal? We all know he is due for a PR...

Good for the Big Rig! He is STILL fighting the stomach problem! Way to hang tough and come through Derek!

[rainbowgirl28]

NBC:

Posted 11:57 AM ET
Last chance for Brad
Brad Walker is out of the Olympics. He has fouled all three of his prelim attempts. It has been a downward spiral for Brad since he set the American record at the Prefontaine Classic. At the U.S. Trials, Walker finished third behind Miles and 41-year-old Hartwig. That came two days after Walker took an indignant stand in the mixed zone after the prelims when NBC Olympics columnist Alan Abrahamson asked him how he was going to get to 20 feet when he was still four inches away. Now he has bombed out of the Olympics.
Posted 11:50 AM ET
Jeff Hartwig also up against it
Jeff Hartwig also has missed twice at 5.65m. Derek Miles, the U.S. Trials champion, cleared 5.65m on his second attempt.
Posted 11:42 AM ET
The men's pole vault is STILL going on
An interesting development in the men's pole vault. 2007 World Champion Brad Walker of the U.S. passed on all heights before electing to come in at 5.65m. He has now missed his first two attempts at that height. One more miss and he is gone from the Olympics.

[BruceFlorman]

Well, I probably ought to get to work now. But thanks again for running the show for us, Becca.

[KirkB]

What are the exact rules re Giuseppe needing to clear 5.75 or not? Can they take all 13, or do they need to continue, according to the IAAF rules?

[Sebes]

I'm so disappointed. I just wanted Walker, Sawano, and Lanaro....and none made it.

[rainbowgirl28]

What are the exact rules re Giuseppe needing to clear 5.75 or not? Can they take all 13, or do they need to continue, according to the IAAF rules?

They took all 13, it was just an error originally.

[KirkB]

It's really too bad for Brad.

I know that he's a smart, fierce competitor, and something just went wrong.

Whatever it was, he'll make the corrections and learn from it.

He's still young - 2012 is only 4 years away. And in Hartwig years, he has at least 3 more Olympics ahead of him.

I have confidence in Brad winning the next few World Championships. This was just a hiccup.

Kirk