It’s amazing how many people get so excited over a race that takes
less than 10 seconds to run. The lead-up of the showdown of Asafa
Powell, Usain Bolt, and Tyson Gay was second only to the sea of
photographers and their remote cameras that descended on the National
Stadium tonight for the men’s 100m final. There were a wide spectrum of
experience present; from snappers who cover Athletics religiously, to
those who cover it only at the Olympics, to those who witnessed their
first 100m tonight. I fall somewhere in the middle of that pack, but
can never get too excited for this race. Case in point, Peter Reid
Miller of Sports Illustrated posed the question to me tonight before
the start of the finals, “Do you even remember who won the 100 in
Athens?” I was there, I shot it, I remember taking an OK frame of it,
but for the life of me I couldn’t remember who won [It was Justin Gatlin of the U.S.--ED].
And you know why, after tonight NOBODY CARES. The athlete, whether it’s
one of the Jamaicans or the American, will be on the front cover of
every newspaper and Website for the next 24 hours. You won’t see them
again in the headlines for another four years. Unless, that is, one of
them tests positive for doping...
Testing my finish line remote on the Men's 20km Walk Final. Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK
This was my riser position where I sat for the race. Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK
A view of the main finish line moat with about 100 remote cameras and SI's Bill Frakes in charge (half of the cameras are his!!)
Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK
Infield remotes facing back to finish line. Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK
Photographers sit and wait for the 100m. Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK
Nevertheless, photographers and media come in droves to set-up shop,
some of them scoping out positions and setting up remote days before
the event actually starts. Most are on edge, scrambling to get their
cameras in position, knocking over cameras, yelling at their assistants
or even at other photographers. Is it really worth getting all hot and
heavy over a little foot race? The spectacle that surrounds the race
that decides the fastest man on the planet every four years is one to
behold and one that I would sometimes like to miss. But you have to go
and cover it, and we did. Between the three of us, with Mike having the
most experience under his belt, and specializing in Track and Field for
years, he took the head-on moat position. Vince was going to do the pan
position on the front stretch, good for a low-percentage, but a very
nice photo of the athletes in full sprint at a slow shutter, but he
opted out after the BOB camera appeared to block his view. I did this
shot in Athens '04 and it was good for one really nice frame and
nothing else. So Vince went to the moat position around the bend, which
is usually solid for the follow-through react. That left me in the
elevated head-on safe position, which was fine by me, especially since
I could surf the internet and start writing this blog in the five hours
we had to wait for the 10:30 p.m. start. My stress levels were also
alleviated by the fact that I dropped off my gear and set up a couple
remotes before I went to Aquatics this morning to cover Phelps. I
placed one remote wide almost parallel with the finish line framed with
eight lanes and the Olympic Flame in the background. The second remote
was head on with 4 lanes, repositioned to lanes 4-7 after the semifinal
split Bolt and Powell in lanes 4 and 7 respectively. Amazingly (but not
really) Tyson Gay did not make the final.
And after a bunch of unfortunately insignificant races that no one cared about, it was go time....
A NEW WORLD RECORD OF 9.69!!!!!
Angle from remote #1 (finish line 24-70). Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK
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