May I Introduce...

Derrick Peterson, United States Olympic Athlete!
Yes!

I watched the race with my sisters (who have never met Derrick) last night and we cheered for him all the way around. I must admit after the first lap things didn't look too good for derek. He was on the inside of the track, bunched in and in 6th or 7th place. (Only the top three go to the Olympics.) At about the 600 meter mark, Derrick made his move to the outside lane. With 100 meters remaining, Derek was still on the outside, but had moved up to fourth.

For a moment, it looked like he might stay there for the remainder of the race and miss out on the Olympics again. Then, with 60 meters left, Derrick kicked it into high gear and began to overtake the man in 3rd, David Krummenacker. David was expected to not only win a spot on the team, but possibly win a medal in this event in Athens. Derrick pulled ahead of David in two steps and never looked back. It was awesome to see Derrick on television, smiling and enjoying the moment.

"Actually, I raced a little more aggressively than I used to and it worked out. That last 100 meters was probably the most never-wracking 100 meters of my life. Normally, I'm relaxed, but knowing I had David Krummenacker and a great field behind me, I knew I had to push it. The whole theme of my week was Redemption. Being a favorite four years ago and not making the final, I spent the next four years with that driving me. Now I can say 'Derrick Peterson' is an Olympian."

"Any time you have something as big as the Olympics on the line, no part of the race is going to be comfortable. I'm going to celebrate this and get ready for Athens. I knew when I crossed the finish line, my prayers had been answered."

Official results:
Derrick Peterson - 1:45.08

The stadium record was 1:45.67, which incidentally is the time in which the 4th place runner finished. So the top four tied or broke the stadium record.

I'm so thrilled for Derek that I can hardly contain myself.
It's weird to be even loosely connected with these Olympics.
And yet, it is awesome.
It gives me a whole new excitement for the games.

Oh, and if you missed it, the top 4 American men in the 100 meter sprint finished under ten seconds. Only one other runner in the world has finished under ten this year. So if we run like that in Athens, we have a great shot at sweeping the event. It also positions us solidly for a gold medal run in the 4x100 relay.

On a related note, let's hope that Athens is ready to host the games by the time they start. It seems they have a little problem with their power supply.