A Fantastic Effort For Julia Ratcliffe

TigerBlog has watched more than just the Princetonians in the Olympic Games.

He has, for instance, continued to be amazed by the equestrian events, particularly the dressage. He's referred to it in the past as "horse dancing," and he's not 100 percent sure that he'd consider it sport as much as art. 

Still, it's difficult not to get caught up in just how amazing it is to see the rider and the horse in such amazing sync. It is, definitely. art.

Oh, and speaking of the equestrian events, did you see that Jessica Springsteen competed for the U.S. team in the jumping? The last name is familiar, right? And yes, that's The Boss' daughter (can you name the Springsteen song where he sings about the boss' daughter?)

Jessica Springsteen's first Olympic event was the individual event yesterday. The top 30 advanced to the final, and she finished tied for 31st. She'll be back in team jumping later this week.

TB also liked the introduction into these Games of the mixed relay events, in swimming and in triathlon. He especially enjoyed the mixed triathlon, a four-person event with two men and two women who all do a swim, bike ride and run, all of which are way shorter than an Ironman. It was really entertaining. 

TB watched the men's 10,000 meters the other night. That was an incredible race, won by Ethiopia's Selemon Barega, by 0.41 seconds over Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda. The bronze went to another Ugandan, Jacob Kiplimo, who was another 0.25 seconds back. Still, having three runners finish a 10,000-meter race with .66 seconds of each other was astounding.

There have been races where runners seem like they have a medal wrapped up, only to be caught just before the finish. What are these athletes thinking as they approach the tape? What must go through your head when you're that close to a medal?

This came up in the women's 800. Great Britain's Jemma Reekie looked all the world like she would win bronze, but she was caught just at the wire by American Raevyn Rogers, who would take third by nine-hundredths of a second. That's a rough one to lose. The gold was won by the USA's Athing Mu, followed by Great Britain's Hodkinson, a 19-year-old who smashed a 26-year old British record to win silver.

When it comes to British record-holders, TB is much more interested in the woman in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Lizzie Bird. The Princeton graduate, Class of 2017, runs this evening Tokyo time (8:00 Wednesday night) or this morning in New Jersey (7 am). In England that's noon. 

Bird qualified for the final, which will have 16 runners, which is itself an incredible accomplishment. She follows Donn Cabral, who reached the final in the last two Olympic men's steeplechase events, and she was one of two Princetonians to run the steeplechase at these Games, along with men's runner Ed Trippas.

Speaking of incredible performances in Tokyo, Julia Ratcliffe finished ninth in the women's hammer throw yesterday. Interestingly, the eight-place finisher was American DeAnna Price, who finished one spot ahead of Ratcliffe in another event, the 2015 NCAA finals, where Price was No. 1 and Ratcliffe was No. 2. Ratcliffe was the 2014 NCAA champion.

Like Bird, Ratcliffe is also her nation's record-holder in her event, in her case for New Zealand. Ratcliffe's performance in Tokyo was extraordinary. Reaching the final in any Olympic event is something to be wildly celebrated. Doing so in your first Olympic appearance for a nation that has not had great success in the event is an even bigger deal.

TB remembers when Peter Farrell, then Princeton's women's track and field coach, first mentioned Ratcliffe, shortly before she arrived at Princeton. Farrell said she'd be an NCAA champion and an Olympian, and now he's been right about both. TB had never heard him speak that way about any recruit of his. To that, in fact, you can add Olympic finalist. 

So this morning it's Lizzie Bird's turn at the Olympic finals. These are very exciting times for Princeton.

Oh, and the Springsteen song? It was 4th of July, Asbury Park (one of TB's absolute favorites), where in the second chorus he sings:

Oh, Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
This pier lights our carnival life on the water
Running, laughing 'neath the boardwalk
Ah, with the boss' daughter