English Stuff

Lizzie Bird is going back to the Olympic Games.

And she's doing it in TigerBlog's favorite track and field event. 

Bird is a 2017 graduate of Princeton, where she was a Heptagonal cross country champion and a two-time Heps champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. A native of England, Bird finished ninth in the steeplechase in Tokyo three years ago, setting the United Kingdom national record of 9:19.68 in the final.

The qualifying standard for the upcoming Summer Games in Paris is 9:23, meaning that to be eligible to compete, a runner has to meet that time in this calendar year. Earlier in June, Bird ran a 9:18.39 to finish third at the European Championships. 

She cemented her spot for Paris over the weekend when she won the U.K. championship, winning by four seconds over the second place finisher and 16 seconds over the third place finisher. 

This, by the way, will be the fourth straight Olympic Games in which Princeton has at least one of its own compete in the steeplechase. Also, this will only be the fifth time that women have run the steeplechase in the Olympics, something that seems a bit hard to believe.

Bird's performance was impressive, though it probably wasn't the most-noticed in the country this weekend. Did you see how the UEFA Euro 24 Round of 16 knockout game between England and Slovakia yesterday? 

The English team trailed 1-0 well into the final minutes. In fact, it was past the final minutes, into the 95th minute to be exact, before Jude Bellingham's fabulous bicycle kick tied it. Then, just seconds into extra time, Harry Kane's header made it 2-1, and it stood up from there.

Shockingly, England advanced to the quarterfinals, where it will take on Switzerland. That's a tough way to go out if you're Slovakia. 

The Euro 24 tournament is not quite the World Cup, though it is a great event. It gets even better when it gets to the knockout round.

TB has had the opportunity to see a game at Barcelona and a game at Tottenham, as well as a World Cup qualifier in Costa Rica. Those are some of the very best sporting events he's ever seen.

It would be hard for him to rank all of the events he's attended. It's clear that those soccer games would be way up there.

At the same time, so would his experience a year ago at the Henley Royal Regatta. 

This was more than just a sporting event. TigerBlog likened it to a combination of sports and Reunions, and that's a pretty good way of putting it. 

It might be more accurate to call it sports and Reunions from, say, the 1920s or so. It was definitely like stepping back in time, with its traditions and rules that have not changed in forever.

They're pretty easy to get into when you're there, by the way. TigerBlog loved the "gentlemen must wear suits, ties and hats at all times in the Stewards Enclosure," for instance.

Henley dates all the way back to 1839, making it the oldest rowing event in the world and one of the oldest in any sport. Somewhere around 300,000 fans will make their way to watch before it ends Sunday.

The course on the River Thames is 2,112 meters, and the format is a single-elimination tournament. Depending on how many boats are a particular event, a crew could row fie days in a row. 

This year's Henley event is underway, about 40 miles west of London. Princeton, a regular competitor in the event, has sent three heavyweight men's 8s to row. 

The first varsity will be in the Ladies' Challenge Plate division, which is slightly below the division for the national team boats. There are only eight crews in the Ladies' Plate, which means that Princeton will not row until Friday.

The 2V and 3V will both be in the water tomorrow in the Temple Challenge Cup, as the 2V will race against Durham University "B" at 11:40 local time (6:40 am Eastern Time) and the 3V rows against Exeter University Tuesday at 2:15 UK time/9:15 Eastern Time.

Win or lose, it's an incredible experience to be there, whether as a rower or a spectator. 

And that's today's episode of "English Stuff."

Tomorrow TigerBlog will be talking about Canada.