FanNation - The Republic of Sport

It is always fun when a big event comes to town... and living here in Track Town USA, the event is most often going to be an elite athletics spectacle. Last summer the city of Eugene, home of Hayward Field (the Mecca of American track and field), hosted the U.S. Olympic Trials for the first time since the city was the site of the selection for the ill-fated 1980 U.S. Olympic team that would never see Moscow. This year the American stars returned to Hayward once again to square off for the U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Nationals. And along the way a couple of hometown heroes punched their tickets to Berlin in September for the World Championships. 

Andrew Rupp won his last race wearing the green and yellow of the Oregon Ducks, finishing the 10,000-meter race in 27:52:53 to claim the national championship and a return to international competition after his showing at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Other Ducks who will be joining Rupp are Ashton Eaton, who took second in the decathlon, and Rachel Yurkovich, who was runner-up in the women's javelin. Other Oregonians who will be traveling to Germany in a few months include defending American champion Nick Symmonds of Oregon Track Club in the 800-meter race; Kara Goucher (who won the 5000-meters but will only be racing the marathon in Berlin); the Oregon Track Club trio of Matt Tegenkamp, Chris Solinsky and Evan Jager in the 5000. Two who missed their chance included the University of Oregon's Andrew Wheating in the 800-meter race, who was forced to scratch due to a left calf injury, and defending long-jump champion and Eugene resident Jesse Williams, who couldn't replicate last year's performance and settled for fourth, just outside the qualification. Despite the absences of the Ws, Oregon acquitted itself quite well on home track... 
 

But the fun doesn't stop just outside one's municipality. Take last week's column, for instance. Considering the fact that Spain had a charmed 2008, dominating most all the major sporting events of the year, their falling off what was ultimately a pace which could not be maintained forever seemed at the time to be a sign that the changing of the calendar had altered the nation's fortunes. Rafael Nadal, after all, is not at Wimbledon, and Spain's soccer team went and lost to a bunch of Americans. One Spaniard, though, is managing to restore some of his country's pride. 

Aschwin Wildeboer Faber, a 23-year-old backstroke specialist born in Sabadell to Dutch immigrant parents, just defeated the most recent world record of two-time Olympic medalist Aaron Piersol in the 100-meter backstroke during his first leg of Spain's 4x100-meter medley relay at the Mediterranean Games in Pescara, Italy. Wildeboer Faber, who took seventh in the event in Beijing, shaved sixteen-hundredths off the world-record time of 52.54 which won Pierson the 2008 Olympic gold. But the Spaniard, who set a national record with his seventh-place Olympic finish (53.51) as well as the short-course world record over 100-meters with a time of 49.20 during December's Spanish Short-Course National Championships, has been steadily improving. The son of the Danish national swimming coach Paulus Wildeboer and brother to Olaf, who has used his Dutch ancestry to swim for Holland, Aschwin has steadily improved since appearing at the 2004 Athens Olympics as an 18-year-old. Perhaps this is a sign of good things to come, perhaps a Pierson/Wildeboer duel in London? 

We don't even have to speculate, though. All around the world there are some hallowed events either coming to their exciting conclusion or preparing for their commencement. We saw the Americans hold their own against several of the world's most decorated soccer squads, and a clear path is set for the home crowd to witness its dream final at Wimbledon. And, in a departure of the past few editions when at most one previous winner started the race, four different Tour de France champions will line up at the start of the opening stage in Monaco on Saturday, all with visions of another maillot jaune awaiting them in Paris three weeks later. So, like Wildeboer, let's dive right in and set a good pace through this week's A Non-Traditional Sports Fan in America!

We saw home fans rewarded for their loyalty, world records falling in the pool, a Cinderella story strike midnight just before victory could be achieved, and a whole host of favorites blasting balls on the lawns of Wimbledon. What a week for a non-traditional sports fan in America!

 Come read all of this week's edition by following this link to Informative Sports!

Bigalke is a freelance journalist who has been writing for FanNation since December 2007. An archive of Bigalke's writing can be found here. He is also the managing editor of Informative Sports and a contributing writer at Helium. Got something to say to Bigalke -- questions, comments, suggestions, derision to sling, vengeance to exact, commendations to render, or contracts to offer? You can reach Bigalke through FanMail, the comments box below or here...