Finish Line Pundit: A Track and Field Blog

Hot 800m Action in Belgium Saturday

2007-07-27T09:20:00.000-05:00

Alan Webb is scheduled to race again on Saturday, July 28th, 2007 at the KBC Night of Athletics meet in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. He will race in the 800m this time, taking on Gary Reed of Canada, Dutch European champs Bram Som (outdoors) and Arnout Okken (indoors) as well as Nick Symmonds of the USA. Since the 800m is not his specialty, Webb is in for a hot race. Will he be able to hold his own?

Johnny Gray's American record of 1:42.60, set way back on August 28th, 1985, shouldn't be in jeopardy, but – with Webb in the shape of his life – you never know. He will certainly set a new PB. Reed and Som seem to be the class of the field, both boasting sub 1:44 personal bests, but Symmonds can claim a faster time than Som in 2007. Look for this race to be one of the highlights of the 2007 season.

Bad News Day for Track & Field

2007-07-26T11:16:00.000-05:00

Bad news seems to come in bunches. Yesterday the IAAF announced that it has provisionally suspended Jolanda Ceplak for a doping violation. Both her "A" and "B" samples failed in an out-of-competition test, showing positive for the blood-doping agent EPO. The Slovakian middle-distance runner is the 2004 Olympic bronze medalist and the indoor world record holder for the 800m Run. For what it's worth, Ceplak proclaims her innocence.

Today Walter Dix announced that he will not be competing at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka. Here's the pertinent section of the article in case the link gets removed:

FSU's Dix decides to 'call it a season'
By Steve Ellis
DEMOCRAT SENIOR WRITER

Walter Dix won't be adding to his impressive 2007 resume in track. The ACC male athlete of the year has decided against competing in the IAAF World Championships next month in Japan.

“He just decided to shut it down,” Florida State assistant coach Ken Harnden said. “It's been a long year. He's finishing up some classes . . . he just decided to call it a season. I knew he was tired.”

Dix plans to graduate in the spring and has said he'll continue to run for FSU at least up to that point. He was honored by the ACC on Tuesday following a junior year in which he won the 100 meters and 200 meters at the 2007 NCAA outdoor championships. He was also part of the winning 4x100 meter relay team, becoming the first male athlete to claim national titles in each of those three events since 1969. He won the 200 meters in the NCAA indoor championships and also owns the NCAA record in the 200 meters at 19.69 seconds.

Next year's Olympic Games is the obvious target for Dix.

“Certainly it's something we'll discuss the beginning of next year as to how much he wants to run indoor and maybe push the whole training and competition season back a little bit and focus on the Olympics,” Harnden said. “I think his main focus is the Olympics but certainly he wants some collegiate records as well."

Oh, Joy! My First Internet Troll

2007-07-26T09:23:00.000-05:00

I received a comment this morning from Anonymous:

I feel bad I have to give traffic to this website.. I wont [sic] be coming back. It sucks that the internet has the power to give complete idiots a voice. You are clueless if you are talking about the nation as a whole.How about this? If one of our American boys, including Webb, (he is a MD athlete), medal at worlds you shut your website down and never return. P.S. Look at how many HS boys broke 9 min in the 2 mile this past year. Andrew

It's ironic that "Andrew" is complaining about "the internet [having] the power to give complete idiots a voice" since he is the spokesman and poster child for their group. "Andrew" likes to disagree – and I certainly don't mind disagreements on this website – but "Andrew" states no position of his own, other than offering up some nonsense about high school runners breaking 9 minutes in the 2 mile. Not only that, but he hides behind a veil of anonymity, not leaving his e-mail message so that I can have a chance to reply directly to his vitriol. That's how internet trolls roll, though. They are not interested in debating, they're only interested in being haters.

Let me give you some advice, "Andrew." Read a book about logic. Take a debate class. Learn some manners. See a psychotherapist. Do something, please, and do it before it's too late! You see, right now you've got nothing to offer society other than your hate. That's not enough. I'm glad you won't be coming back. Not only do you have unresolved issues from your childhood that I'd rather not have to deal with, but – frankly – you're not smart enough, and too cowardly, to debate with me.

P.S. Unfortunately for the rest of my readers, I am disabling the anonymous posting function of my blog. Life's too short to have to deal with trolls. I'm doing it for Andrew's sake. Maybe if we don't enable him by giving him an outlet for his cowardice and stupidity, he will finally seek the help he so desperately needs.

FLP: Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is!

2007-07-24T10:32:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I wrote that there is no resurgence in American middle-distance running. Today I received a challenge from Christina and Ash Huzenlaub to back up my words. They wrote:

Would you be prepared to shave your head should you be proven wrong (that with the exception of Webb, the US grabs a middle distance medal in Osaka) and post the picture on your blog?

I immediately accepted their challenge in an e-mail reply. Let's define terms: I consider middle-distance running to be events that are between 800m and 3000m long. Other than Alan Webb, whom I expect to be crowned world champion in the men's 1500m run, if any American – man or woman – wins a gold, silver or bronze medal in either the 800m Run, 1500m Run or 3000m Steeplechase, I will shave my head and post a photo on my website. I could be persuaded to include the 5000m Run, but I would need to see some compelling evidence that the 5000m Run is a middle-distance, not a long-distance, race. Since no American has ever medaled in a WC 5000m Run, I think it's safe to say that I'm not risking much by allowing that event to be included in the bet. Still, for those of you who think it should categorized as a middle-distance event, I'd like to hear your arguments.

As for the challenge I received from Christina and Ash Huzenlaub today, I would imagine that Ash, a former 1500m runner at TCU with a PB of 4:13.89, is banking on Khadevis Robinson (a fellow Horned-Frog) to medal in Osaka. Let me say this: I would dearly love to be proven wrong. Nobody is a bigger fan of middle-distance running than I am. If the Americans actually do have a resurgence, nobody would be more thrilled than the Finish Line Pundit. Unfortunately, I just don't think it's going to happen anytime soon. Why not? Two words: the Kenyans. Here's a list of all medals won by American middle-distance runners since the inception of the World Championships in Athletics in 1983:

1983
Steve Scott, 1500m, silver
Mary Slaney, 1500m, gold
Mary Slaney, 3000m, gold

1987
Jim Spivey, 1500m, bronze

1991
Mark Everett, 800m, bronze

1993
None

1995
None

1997
Rich Kenah, 800m, bronze
Regina Jacobs, 1500m, silver

1999
Regina Jacobs, 1500m, silver

2001
None

2003
None

2005
None

2007
?

There is No Resurgence in American Middle-Distance Running

2007-07-23T16:53:00.000-05:00

The most overused word in marketing is "revolutionary." Similarly, the word "resurgence" is bandied about so often in American track circles lately, one would think that the Kenyans have decided to boycott the World Championships next month. But other than Alan Webb's season in the sun, who do we have in United States Middle-Distance Running? Let's take a peek at the IAAF top lists.

In the women's mile, American Donna MacFarlane's time of 4:33.52 is some 18 (17.89, to be exact) seconds behind Russian Yelena Soboleva's world-leading time of 4:15.63. In the 800m, Alice Schmidt has posted a respectable 1:58.75 for 3rd place in 2007, just 0.42 seconds behind Maria Mutola's 1:58.75. But a quick look at the 2006 top list reveals that, at season's end, the American women weren't even within striking distance of the indomitable Mutola or the Russians. The top 800m runner was Hazel Clark, who finished the 2006 season with only the 19th fastest time. This year, once the season-end rankings are posted, is unlikely to be any different. American women just don't have the kicks or the stamina to compete with the world's best.

Same story over on the men's 800m side with Khadevis Robinson's 7th best time of 2006. I will admit that his times, both in 2006 and 2007, are much closer to the world's best than are the womens' mediocre times, but, there's much left to be desired. Nick Symmonds' name is often associated with the phrase "resurgence in American middle-distance running," but so far he's being eaten alive in the European circuit this summer. I could be surprised, but I'm not going to bet on him to win, place or show in Osaka. In the 3000m Chris Solinsky's American best time of 7:36.90 is over 10 seconds behind Kenenisa Bekele's world-leading 7:26.69. On the women's ledger, Jenelle Deatherage's 8:57.36 (21st in the rankings) isn't even within shouting distance of Vivian Cheruiyot's 8:43.85.

No, there is no resurgence in American middle-distance running, not even close. Our hopes rest solely on Alan Webb's Nike's. He may be the only reason we don't get a goose-egg in the middle-distance medal count in Osaka.

Alan Webb Breaks 25-Year-Old American Record

2007-07-21T15:11:00.000-05:00

Alan Webb Broke Steve Scott's 25-Year-Old American Record in the Mile today at the Atletiek Vlaanderen meet in Brasschaat, Belgium. The video should be available soon on Flotrack.com.

Webb's time of 3:46.91 is the 16th fastest Mile ever run. Webb is the 8th fastest miler of all time, only behind the following men:

3:43.13, Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR)
3:43.40, Noah Ngeny (KEN)
3:44.39, Noureddine Morceli (ALG)
3:44.60, Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR)
3:44.90, Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR)
3:44.95, Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR)
3:45.19, Noureddine Morceli (ALG)
3:45.64, Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR)
3:45.96, Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR)
3:46.24, Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR)
3:46.32, Steve Cram (GBR)
3:46.38, Daniel Komen (KEN)
3:46.70, Vénuste Niyongabo (BDI)
3:46.76, Saïd Aouita (MAR)
3:46.78, Noureddine Morceli (ALG)

Do Taller Women Make Better Steeplechasers?

2007-07-20T09:47:00.001-05:00

The Message Board over at Track & Field News has a discussion about whether or not height gives women an advantage in steeplechasing. I contacted Ann Gaffigan, 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials champion in the steeplechase with a PB of 9:39.35, to ask her for her input into this question. In addition to being a world-class steeplechaser, Gaffigan is also the webmaster at Steeplechics.com and a computer programmer/ web systems developer at Gazelle, Inc. where she has built athletics-related databases. You can read a two-part interview with Gaffigan over on HerActiveLife.com (Part 1 | Part 2).

This is her reply to my question:

I think the switch from the flat 3K to the steeple depends on the person. And it is hard to predict. A lot of times, my coach (Jay Dirksen of Nebraska) has picked out the tall women and asked them to try it, and so far the success hasn't been great. I am not tall (5'5") and he asked me to try it because, as he put it, I'm an all-around athlete (I grew up playing every sport I could and played soccer until college). Well, last year he asked if anyone on the team would like to try it, because no one was really that tall. The 2 girls that wanted to try it are both about 5'3" and petite in frame. I thought "Well, I'm not going to tell them they can't do it". They really amazed us: they picked up the water jump in a matter of days and turned out to be very efficient hurdlers, despite the fact that they'd never hurdled before. They went 4-5 at the Big XII Outdoor meet in the steeple. Neither of they had even been on a Big XII team before except indoors for the DMR. Rachel Carrizales went on to then place 5th at the Midwest Regional and qualified for nationals. She ran a PR of 10:17 at nationals. Although she failed to qualify for the final, she ran a very respectable time!! Her first official time of the season, back in April, had been 10:51. So she really disproved the theory that it is better to be tall.

In watching steeplechases, I think it is more likely for the shorter athletes to be more efficient and more flexible. Maybe that helps them in the steeple.

Ann Gaffigan

Take the FLP Poll! Would You Do "Whatever It Takes" To Win?

2007-07-19T07:32:00.000-05:00

MSNBC.com contributor Mike Celizic has weighed in to the Pistorius debate with this cynical attempt at wit:

What if, the IAAF is saying, [Pistorius'] prosthetics give him an advantage that able-bodied runners don’t have? What if, in other words, the people with legs and feet are the ones who are disabled? What then? Do athletes start chopping their legs off in order to get the Pistorius pistons and win more races? (And you know that if the prosthetics are declared legal and really do give an advantage, there will be lines around the block waiting for amputations (emphasis mine-FLP). That’s how it is with athletes.)

I couldn't imagine purposefully crippling myself for life just to try and gain athletic advantage. Of course, steroids can do the same thing, but many people have no problem taking those. I'd never take steroids, either. Is it just me, or is Celizic right? Would you really consider having your legs chopped off just to gain athletic advantage?

NCAA Proposal: America Rejects the Metric System

2007-07-18T21:51:00.000-05:00

NCAA is proposing some amendments to the 2007 Rules Book that would reject the metric system in favor of the imperial system of measurement during collegiate track meets. to summarize the proposals, the 1500m Run would revert to the gold ol' Mile Run, and the field events would all have to be measured, displayed and announced as imperial units. Measuring in metric units would still be allowed for ratification of possible NCAA, American and/or world records. Why? Apparently Americans have rejected the metric system. I for one, never tried to embrace it in the first place. (Just give me a good old quarter-mile track to run on so I can run a few 220's!)

The rabid proponents of metrication (metricationists?) on the activist website Go Metric are appalled at such backwards thinking. The track and field fanatics over at the T&F News message boards are engaged in a furious debate. The purists are considering a boycott of NCAA meets while the pragmatists (including E. Garry Hill, Editor of T&F News) see the wisdom of trying to resuscitate a sport that seems to be dying a slow death as a spectator sport in this country.

Here is the text from the NCAA proposals:

Item 12 – Amend Rules 4.4.4 and 10.3 as follows: Replace all occurrences of the 1500 Meters with the Mile Run.

Rationale: The mile run is an event that we, in the United States, understand. The general public understands the four minute barrier. They understand the quality of that performance and have over time used four minutes as a bench-mark performance. The general public has not and will never be able to make the correlation between the 1,500 meters and the mile run.

This is an event that allows us to promote our track meets. Once again, the general public has NO understanding of how fast many young men are running and the competitiveness of the event. There is ready-made history for this event, much like the 100-yard dash, that we should tap into as we try to attract more fans. It will also allow for the general public to understand how fast our women are running.

Item 20 – Replace Rule 6.1.16b through 16.1.16d as follows:
b. Imperial is the preferred system of measurement. Distances will be recorded to the nearest lesser quarter-inch.
c. Metric will not be displayed or announced at meets.
d. World records, American records and NCAA records will be recorded in metric and imperial. However, the imperial measurement must be displayed and announced instead of or in addition to metric.

Rationale: Metric has hampered the opportunity to properly communicate the sport of track and field to the media, spectators, parents and athletes. America has rejected the metric system. Metric may be a better, more specific way to measure, but it is not understood by most Americans. It does not work to indicate both forms of measurements. Metric is still being shown exclusively at meets on indicator boards, video boards, announced in papers without imperial interpretation. This has alienated the sport from American mainstream. A person trying to watch, understand or follow this sport should not require an interpreter or translation dictionary.

Webb Set To Challenge Steve Scott's Mile Record

2007-07-18T17:24:00.000-05:00

Alan Webb, who already broke a couple of Steve Scott's records this season (his 28-year-old Drake Relays meet record in the Mile Run and his 25-year-old U.S. National Outdoor Championships meet record in the 1500m Run) is going for perhaps Scott's most prestigious record: the American Mile Run record of 3:47.69. He has lined up a couple of rabbits to pace him at the Atletiek Vlaanderen Meeting in Brasschaat, Belgium on July 21st, 2007.

According to this article, Webb will need ideal conditions and good pacing. The forecast for Saturday in Antwerp is partly cloudy with highs in the upper 60s and lows in the mid 50s, which is ideal for middle distance running.

As he tries for the record, we have to wonder: Is Webb peaking to soon? Probably not.
If we look at his 2005 timeline, he showed a remarkably steady progression (see chart. I converted his Mile times from both years to their 1500m equivalents) all the way from May to August (the sole spike on the 2005 line is his 9th place finish at the 2005 Helsinki world championships).

Going into the last part of the current season, the trend for his 2007 timeline appears to be vastly different than, and superior to, his corresponding 2005 timeline. Not only that, but he is much more experienced in international competition and his tactics should be much different than they were in Helsinki. Back then, he shot to the front at 800m, in effect acting as the sacrificial lamb, err... rabbit. This year, he has exhibited much more confidence in his kick by waiting it out, even in slow, tactical races, and then outkicking his opponents. He did this in June by outkicking Bernard Lagat at the national championships and he did it again in Paris, this time outkicking Mehdi Baala.

Here's the video of the 2005 1500m final (plus Webb's semi-final race which he led for most of the race, ending up 2nd in his heat). I found it on You Tube, so I had nothing to do with the cheesy jazz overdub or the completely moronic descriptive text that reads, "in the final of the 1500 Alan Webb again 'attacks' which was a good strategy... You have to 'go for it' to win." Whoever typed that must not know anything about 1500m running, or must not have watched how Webb paid dearly for his "attack" at 800m by getting passed in the last lap by nearly the entire field! The Alan Webb you'll see in this 2005 video is a much different runner than the Alan Webb 2007. Back then, he was still just a prodigy. This time around, he's obviously a contender.

Top 5 Sports Films of All Time

2007-07-17T19:48:00.000-05:00

Film Critic Kevyn Knox has an ongoing weekly "Top 5 Films" project on his website Cinematheque. Just this past week he and 20 other critics, film students, film historians and film enthusiasts took on the challenge of listing their favorite sports movies. One ~~film~~ boxing-film fanatic listed 5 boxing movies as his favorite sports movies. (How's that for wearing your biases on your sleeve?) Some of the nominations could hardly be considered sports movies. Spelling bees? Chess? Billiards? The Big Lebowski!!!? (Nothing against bowling as a sport, but the movie was hardly a ringing endorsement of athleticism.) How do you suppose films about track & field and/or running fared?

Running/Track & Field movies did not make the overall top 5 (Raging Bull, Hoop Dreams, Bull Durham, The Hustler and Million Dollar Baby topped the list), but there were a few pleasant surprises:

David Sterritt, Chairman of the National Society of Film Critics, voted The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (Tony Richardson, 1962) as his number 4 movie, ahead of Raging Bull.

Carrie Rickey, Film Critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer, voted Leni Riefenstahl's 1938 documentary Olympia, about the 1936 Berlin Olympics, as the number one sports movie of all time. It was supposed to be a Nazi propaganda film, but – since it celebrated "multi-national themes and its celebrations of the athletic successes of peoples from all nations and all races" – it ended up working against Hitler.

Kevin Cassidy, Film Enthusiast, voted Kon Ichikawa's 1965 documentary film Tokyo Olympiad as his 2nd favorite athletics-focused film. Running greats Bob Hayes and Abebe Bikila are featured.

Rich Cline, Film Critic and Creator of Shadows on the Wall, voted Chariots of Fire as his number four sports movie.

Finally, Kevyn Knox, Film Critic, Essayist + Historian and founder of the website I'm covering here, gave The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner his nod as the number two sports movie. For this reason, and this reason alone, I give the "Top 5 Films" project on the website Cinematheque a thumbs up.

Here's the link to the top 5 sports films site.

Wariner/Pistorius Race All Wet

2007-07-16T18:34:00.000-05:00

Here's the video from the rainy 400m at the IAAF British Grand Prix in which Jeremy Wariner lost his footing coming out of the blocks and Oscar Pistorius finished last then got disqualified for stepping out of his lane:

Legendary miler Steve Cram offers his opinion about that race as well as Kenenisa Bekele's commanding performance in the men's 3000m in which he destroyed the field, including Australia's Craig Mottram.

Online Preview of Master's Track & Field Book

2007-07-15T13:46:00.000-05:00

If you've ever wanted to explore the history of the master's track and field movement, you can read an online preview of Masters Track and Field: A History by Leonard T. Olson (Preface: 3 pages; Ch. 1, 3 pages; Ch. 2, 3 pages, Ch. 3, 2 pages, Ch. 4, 1 page) in order to determine whether or not the hefty ($65.00) price of the hardback is worth it.

From Amazon.com:

Book Description
It all began in 1968, when prominent civil lawyer David Pain introduced and implemented the idea of age-group competition for track and field. What began as a special mile run soon expanded into North American, then world, meets. This is the first book-length account of how the Masters Track and Field program (for men over the age of 40 and women over 35) was started, how it developed nationally and internationally, and where it is headed in the future. Key pioneer promoters of the sport are profiled. In addition to covering how the movement grew and spread, the work reviews the effects of aging on performance and how the event standards and scoring were adjusted to accommodate aging. Current leaders discuss the most recent plans for the future of Masters Track and Field.

About the Author
Leonard T. Olson has been involved with the Masters since 1970 both as an award-winning competitor and administrator. A retired electronic engineer with extensive experience in technical writing, he lives in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Norwich Union British Grand Prix - Sheffield (GBR)

2007-07-15T00:47:00.000-05:00

Live video stream (pay site: Monthly Pass $4.95, Annual Pass $49.95)

IAAF Preview
uk:athletics Preview

Entry Lists/Results: Women | Men

World Athletics Tour Standings

RESULTS:

WOMEN
200 metres
400 metres
800 metres
3000 metres
3000 metres steeplechase
100 metres hurdles
400 metres hurdles
high jump

MEN
100 metres
200 metres
400 metres
1500 metres
3000 metres
110 metres hurdles
pole vault
long jump
triple jump
javelin throw

Thermodynamics in Track and Field and Other Geeky Stuff

2007-07-14T13:03:00.001-05:00

I like to explore the depths of track and field websites. Geeky, huh? The IAAF website, for instance, has some ~~62,200 pages~~ (62,400 pages, just 4 hours later) over which I can obsess. While exploring the web pages of our sport's international governing body, I ran across a section titled New Studies in Athletics that I had previously overlooked for some reason.

While exploring it I found some easily-digestible summaries of some fascinating track and field research studies. These summaries are so short that even the complex scientific information they contain can be absorbed within a minute or two. Here's one that is so short, I'll just quote it in its entirety:

The effects of warm-up and pre-cooling on endurance performance in high ambient temperatures
Wednesday 18 April 2007
By Sandra Ückert and Winfried Joch

It is well established that warm conditions have a detrimental effect on endurance performance. If skin temperature is exceeded by the ambient temperature, heat dissipation is impaired and heat storage is likely to occur. A warm-up, which by definition entails increasing body temperature, is generally considered a vital part of the preparation for competition - including endurance performances in hot weather. On this understanding, the question arises if cooling prior to competition (pre-cooling) might be a better alternative. Twenty subjects performed two laboratory endurance tests in conditions of high ambient temperature and relative humidity. One test followed a 20-minute warm-up and the other a 20-minute pre-cooling procedure. The comparison of results shows that pre-cooling significantly extends the time to exhaustion and slows the increase in both body core temperature and heart rate. The authors conclude that pre-cooling, as opposed to a warm-up, optimises thermoregulatory processes before physical effort in warm conditions.

I'd never imagined that a warm-up, as opposed to a hot-weather "pre-cooling" procedure, could be so detrimental to a distance runner's performance during a hot-weather race. Back in high school, we always warmed up prior to training runs and races whether it was 95° (usually late during track season) or 45° (usually late during cross-country season). The concept of a hot-weather "pre-cooling" procedure is so simple yet logical, I wonder why I hadn't thought of it myself.

ExxonMobil Bislett Games

2007-07-13T16:35:00.000-05:00

If you missed the original live video coverage of the ExxonMobil Bislett Games back on June 15th, 2007, here it is in its entirety. The "official coverage" doesn't begin until 5:05 into the video, but the announcer – not realizing that he's broadcasting live – begins testing his microphone 3:56 into the coverage. By the way: before you begin watching, be sure the stove is turned off. The video is 3 1/2 hours long.

Golden Gala Event Coverage & Links

2007-07-13T12:40:00.001-05:00

Click here for highlights of the pre-race press conference. Click here for some (awkward Italian/American-translated) video coverage of the press-conference.

Links to the complete results can be found below.

RESULTS

MEN
100 metres
400 metres
800 METRES
1500 metres
5000 METRES
110 METRES HURDLES
400 metres hurdles
long jump
triple jump
javelin throw

WOMEN
100 metres
400 metres
800 METRES
5000 metres
100 METRES HURDLES
400 metres hurdles
high jump
pole vault

USATF Selection Process "Strongly Favored by the Athletes"

2007-07-13T09:26:00.000-05:00

I recently corresponded with Jill Geer, USATF Director of Communications, regarding the USATF's current selection process. Here is the exchange:

Hi, Jill.

I hope all is well. Sanya Richards should trounce TEAM USA in the women's 400m dash at the Golden Gala in Rome. Once she does, questions will arise again about the seemingly imperfect selection process that the USATF currently has. If she wins, it could be easily argued that we aren't sending our best women's 400m team to Osaka. It could also be argued just as easily that she should have made the team when she was required to do so. Care to comment on this dilemma?
Regards,
Jimmie R. Markham
Finish Line Pundit

Here is her reply:

Jimmie:

Any selection system is imperfect, but our system is strongly favored by the athletes, since under this system, they select themselves to the team – not somebody sitting in an office ordaining a team. They understand the system and know what they need to do to make the team, instead of being subject to someone else’s judgement call or personal preferences. It is the only purely objective selection system.

Unfortunately, one consequence of this system is that sometimes you do have the stunning development such as Sanya not making the team or Dan O’Brien no-heighting in the pole vault in ’92 – situations where Team USA almost certainly loses a modal. However, the self-selection system also results in unlikely athletes making the team and then going on to win medals. For instance, in 2004, I doubt that Lauryn Williams would be on anybody’s ‘chosen’ list to make the team, but she won the Olympic silver medal and went on to become a World Champion at 100 meters. I remember Calvin Davis miraculously making the 1996 Olympic Team in the men’s 400 hurdles, taking third at the Olympic Trials. He ended up winning a bronze medal at the Games. There are countless examples like this.

It is very unfortunate that Sanya did not make the team in the 400 – to say everyone was shocked is an understatement. But it happened, and our selection system says the top 3 make the team. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best system we have, and the one that the athletes themselves want.

Also, I should point out that our system also is meant to mimic the rigors of the World Championship and Olympic models, with athletes running rounds. This helps self-select a team that is uniquely suited to Championship running. (This is an issue different from the Sanya issue but is relevant to how and why our system is what it is.) There is a difference between a runner who excels in one-off races and those who excel in the Championship model of rounds. Examples of the latter are Rich Kenah (’97 World Outdoor bronze medalist in the 800) and Lauryn Williams. Of course, many athletes excel at both.

Jill M. Geer
USATF Director of Communications

Her arguments make perfect sense to me. Besides, if we did have a subjective selection process, who would we trust to make those decisions? If I were a world-class athlete, I'd rather let my performances make those decisions for me than some committee over which I may or may not have any influence. And who could put up with all of the second guessing if the selections that were made resulted in poor showings at championship meets? Those types of irrelevent debates wouldn't be any good for the image of track & field.

Pole Vault & 100m Showdowns Take Center Stage in Rome

2007-07-12T18:09:00.000-05:00

Click here to read an interview with meet director Luigi D'Onofrio, who complains about the depletion of his long-distance events, "some of the best distance races of the year." The entire Ethiopian contingent has withdrawn from the Golden Gala meet. They were "diverted by their national federation because of the African Championships."

Here's a lengthy preview of the meet. It is an IAAF Golden League event with a million bucks at stake. Perhaps the premier event of the meet will be the Pole Vault showdown between Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia, who is still vying for the jackpot along with three other athletes, and Jenn Stuczynski of the USA. Click here to read an article specific to that Pole Vault showdown.

Also featured will be a Caribbean 100m duel between 2nd cousins – Jamaican Asafa Powell and Bahamian Derrick Atkins. Powell, fresh off an injury, anchored a 4x100m victory for Team Jamaica in Lausanne Tuesday night then declared himself fit for the season.

An interesting – but ultimately meaningless – race will be the rematch between Sanya Richards and Team USA for the women's 400m Dash: DeeDee Trotter, Natasha Hastings, and Mary Wineberg. You might recall (see video below) that Trotter won the U.S. National race that determined the Team USA representatives for Osaka, while Hastings and Wineberg overtook a fading Richards for the final two spots. The 22 year-old sprinter will have to console herself by going for the $1,000,000.00 Golden League jackpot, for which she is still eligible, and by trouncing Team USA. If she wins tomorrow, should we again debate the seemingly imperfect selection process of the USATF, or should we simply resign ourselves to that reality (that there is no perfect selection process) and move on?

Internet Still Abuzz About Webb's Paris Victory

2007-07-11T12:04:00.000-05:00

The internet is still buzzing about Alan's Webb's superb victory (and 2007 world-leading time of 3:30.54) in the men's 1500m Run at the Meeting Gaz de France (Paris Saint-Denis) last week. There's even chatter by Track and Field journalists about a World Championships victory by Webb in Osaka later this season.

Here's the video of the race. Watch how Mehdi Baala gives up toward the end of the race when he realizes that he's beaten. (Could this race be a preview of the Osaka 1500m final?) Notice, too, (take notice, ESPN, CBS and NBC) how much better the British commentators are at covering a track event than their American counterparts:

Click To Play

No Bull: These Heavyweights are Swift Middle-Distance Runners

2007-07-10T15:50:00.000-05:00

Yep, it's that time again, time for "El Encierro" (literally, "the enclosing") or, as it's more-commonly known, "The Running of the Bulls" at the Fiesta of San Fermin in Pamplona, Spain. This tradition dates back to the end of the 16th century. You might know that hundreds of young (and sometimes not-so-young men) try to outrun six bulls as they make their way from the corrals on the outskirts of town to the Plaza de Toros. What you might not know is how far and how fast these bulls run.

The course is 850 meters long. Today's encierro was covered by the bulls in a time of 2 minutes and 46 seconds, the equivalent of a 2:36 800m run, or a 5:14 mile. That's right, folks. These are 1,422 lb. bulls running at a pace that's faster than many well-trained high school middle-distance runners! It's no wonder that most people are unable to outrun the bulls and so they have to earn their rite of passage into manhood by nearly being trampled to death. And that's no bull.

Update: Anonymous has left a link to this website explaining that even Wilson Kipketer, the world record holder for 800m, couldn't beat the fastest bull. Amazing. Think about that the next time you consider trying to cut across a fenced-in pasture.

The Ugly American Goes to Rio

2007-07-09T19:51:00.000-05:00

Americans have been losing big international-relations points in South America lately. First there was the story of a simpering Cameron Diaz wearing a Maoist messenger bag while visiting Peru's historic Machu Picchu, oblivious to the fact that tens of thousands of Peruvians had died at the hands of the wicked Maoist Sendero Luminoso ("Shining Path") guerillas. Now we find out that members of the United States Olympic Committee have been perpetuating the "Ugly American" stereotype yet again while visiting Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the Pan-American Games.

One of the USOC workers wrote "Welcome to the Congo!" on a dry-erase board in the Pan-American Games media Center. USOC media employee Kevin Neuendorf claimed that the words were written because "it’s really hot in Rio." Of course, anyone with an inkling of a notion about world travel would know that July is wintertime in the Southern Hemisphere, so the excuse he gave is dubious at best. Once we discover that the temperature that day in Rio was in the lower 80's, hardly unmanageable when we consider that some cities in the United States registered a temperature of 116 degrees this weekend, we realize that Neuendorf's excuse was merely a lame attempt at covering up the fact that self-centeredness and an American passport are an ugly, potentially-disastrous combination. In this climate of increasing hatred toward the United States in just about every corner of the world, the USOC should screen its ambassadors more carefully and leave the morons and bigots at home.

Oh, did I mention the fact that we have a pretty decent track and field team representing the USA in Rio? It's too bad that this fact had to be overshadowed by such despicable, arrogant, demeaning, thoughtless behavior as exhibited by the USOC worker.

Dorcus Inzikuru: Is She Playing 'possum?

2007-07-08T17:17:00.000-05:00

Reigning 3000m Steeplechase World Champion Dorcus Inzikuru is bowing out of this year's World Championships in Osaka, claiming that "she has encountered health and fitness problems." She hasn't competed since her DNF at the World Cross Country Championships this past March in Mombasa, Kenya. Is she really finished for the year, or is she simply employing a classic pre-race psychological tactic to take the pressure off of her?

This article from Uganda's Daily Monitor details her health problems (sinus trouble) and claims that she "won't be defending her gold medal at the World Athletics Championships due August 25 -September 2 in Osaka, Japan." Even so, Dr. Flavio Pasquato, part of her Italian management team, "believes it is too early for Inzikuru to pull out of Osaka and that she can return on time to fitness":

"Inzikuru faced similar problems last year before she travelled for the Commonwealth Games and she surprised everybody with a gold medal triumph in the finals, I can’t rule her out in July, let's wait until the World Championships start."

If it is just a tactical ploy, Gulnara Samitova-Galkina of Russia and Eunice Jepkorir of Kenya are probably not too worried. After all, Samitova-Galkina has posted a world-leading time this year of 9:11.68 while Jepkorir has a time of 9:14.52. Both times are faster than Inzikuru's PB of 9:15.04. If she doesn't compete in Osaka, that means Uganda will not be represented this year by a female athlete.

Salazar "Coaching From His Bed"

2007-07-07T21:04:00.000-05:00

An article in The Oregonian indicates that Alberto Salazar is coaching from his bed. Salazar had a heart attack a week ago at the Nike World Campus and was rushed to St. Vincent. A stent was inserted to open an artery.

The article states:

He remains in the St. Vincent Cardiac Care Unit, listed in fair condition. He was unavailable Friday for interviews but apparently was monitoring his athletes' training.

Galen Rupp, coached by Salazaer, said, "from what I can tell, he's doing pretty well. He's anxious to get back to doing what he loves to do. We just have to make sure it's not too much too soon."

I wish him well, but can you say "Type A Personality?"

Alan Webb Becomes Fastest American-Born 1500m Runner of All Time

2007-07-06T16:37:00.001-05:00

With his 3:30.54 win in the men's 1500m run at the Meeting Gaz de France, Alan Webb became the third fastest American of all time and the fastest American-born 1500m runner of all time. Only Sydney Maree and Bernard Lagat, both naturalized American citizens, have run faster times as Americans. Maree has run a time of 3:29.77. Lagat holds the American-record with a time of 3:29.30 and has also posted a time of 3:29.68 as an American. He has run faster several times, running as fast as 3:26.34 (2nd fastest of all time), but he ran those times as a Kenyan citizen.

Webb's time in Paris surpasses his previous PB of 3:32.52 by 1.98 seconds. His PB for the Mile is 3:48.92. The 1500m time he ran today is the equivalent of a 3:47.38 mile, which would be 0.31 seconds faster than Steve Scott's American record of 3:47.69. Fresh off of his PB of 1:45.80 in the 800m run and with his blazing kick today, Webb has situated himself as one of the favorites to win the 1500m at the Osaka World Championships in September. Here's a post-race interview with Webb by T&F News.

Here's a summary of the entire meet. Yelena Isinbayeva and Sanya Richards were both highlights. Isinbayeva nearly bested her world record of 5.01 with three attempts at 5.02, including one close attempt. She settled for a world-leading 4.91m. Richards redeemed herself after her poor showing at the U.S. Nationals with a world-leading 49.52 in the women's 400m dash.

The lowlight of the meet was the inept officiating in the last event, the men's 3000m Steeplechase. In that event, the lap counters miscounted the laps, leading the runners to believe the race was over when, in fact, there was one lap to go. The bigger blunder, though, was when the officials – thinking the race was over – removed one of the barriers before the steeplechasers had a chance to regroup and run the final lap. This embarrassing gaffe negated all of the times for record-keeping purposes.

The Long Green Line

2007-07-06T16:01:00.000-05:00

Check out this clip of The Long Green Line, a feature-length documentary about Joe Newton and the York Community High School (Elmhurst, Illinois) Cross-Country team. Newton has coached the Dukes for over 50 years and they have won 26 state championships and 1 national championship. Imagine being on a cross-country team with over 220 runners! Here's a discussion about the movie on Track and Field News Message Board.

From the website:

Newton encourages his athletes to remember that it is, “Nice to be great, but far greater to be nice.” Being a respectful gentleman is given priority over being a star athlete. By leading a respectful life as individuals, the entire team becomes that much greater. As the York team grew in number, the green uniforms began to dominate the cross-country course. In the meets without an entry limit, opponents watched in awe as the Dukes would cross the finish line – one after another – creating THE LONG GREEN LINE. It is a lifeline for these young runners as they move from adolescence into manhood. The Long Green Line is not only a team, but a rite of passage and has become cross-country legend. Newton’s teams have won more championships than any other team in the history of the world.

Meeting Gaz De France

2007-07-06T11:18:00.000-05:00

Live internet radio coverage for the Meeting Gaz De France is available from 12:30 PM to 3:00 PM (Central Time). Click here to access the live feed. You can read an interview with the meet director here.

Start lists can be found by clicking on the links below. Results will be available by clicking on the links as the events conclude:

Men
100 metres
400 metres
1500 metres
3000 metres
3000 metres steeplechase
110 metres hurdles
400 metres hurdles
triple jump
javelin throw

Women
100 metres
400 metres
1500 metres
5000 metres
100 metres hurdles
400 metres hurdles
high jump
pole vault

Kiwi Willis Serves Notice to Osaka 1500m Field

2007-07-05T17:54:00.000-05:00

While many of the favorites to win the men's 1500m run at the World Championships in Osaka this September are off racing in Europe this summer, New Zealander Nick Willis is taking a page from fellow Kiwi Peter Snell's training book. Willis is skipping the European circuit this season to prepare for Osaka:

"I've gone to Europe the past couple of years and run some fast times. But I haven't been able to match that same fitness a month later at the Olympics or world championships," Willis said.
"So this season I want to make sure I have my best fitness at the world champs rather than waste it in races early on.
"Getting fit is not really my problem. Holding my fitness seems to be the issue, so that is the idea behind this."

Willis' strategy is in marked contrast to the pack of world-class milers who will be running tomorrow night in the Meeting Gaz de France in Paris, including Bernard Lagat, Mehdi Baala, and Alan Webb. They might run some fast times tomorrow night and over the course of the next few weeks, but will they be able to sustain their fitness over the next couple of months and keep up with a fresh-legged Willis in Osaka when a world championship is on the line?

U.S. National Track & Field Hall of Fame: 2006 Inductees

2007-07-05T11:29:00.000-05:00

The bio's of the 2006 inductees to the U.S. National Track & Field Hall of Fame have finally been published on the USATF website.

Here are the links to the bio's:

Ollan Cassell
Rex Cawley
Ben Eastman
Lynn Jennings
Matt McGrath
Bill Nieder
Dan O'Brien
Kevin Young

Here are some interviews with the inductees.

Name That Olympic Legend!

2007-07-03T10:12:00.000-05:00

Who is the man in this photo?

Hints:

His nicknames were "White Lightning" then "El Caballo (The Horse)."

He was born December 3, 1950 in Santiago, Cuba.

He is now an IAAF Council Member.

He was a basketball player until he as 21, at which time he was discovered by Polish track coach Zygmunt Zabierzowski.

He was eliminated in the semi-finals at the 1972 Munch Olympics.

Give up?

He is none other than Alberto Juantorena, the ~~first~~ only athlete to win gold medals in both the 400m and 800m at the same Olympics, the 1976 Montreal Olympics. In the photo above he was doing some early shopping for 2007 Osaka souvenirs. In the photo to the right he can be seen outpacing Rick Wohlhuter of the USA and Ivo Van Damme of Belgium in the 1976 Olympic men's 800m final and setting a world record of 1:43.50. Here's the video of that classic race as well as the men's 1500m final.

Paris Too Hot For Alan Webb?

2007-07-02T00:10:00.000-05:00

This coming Friday's Meeting Gaz de France in Paris Saint-Denis may be too hot for Alan Webb to handle. He is scheduled to compete in the men's 1500m against 7 of the 8 highest-ranked 1500m runners in the world, according to the IAAF rankings. Webb is not even ranked in the top 100. Even so, Webb has the 8th fastest 1500m time in the world this year with a 3:34.82. Since he also boasts the 5th fastest mile time in the world in 2007 with a 3:51.71, he certainly belongs in the race. But how will he do?

Ten men in the race have faster 1500m PR's than Webb's PR of 3:32.52. Webb would have to beat his PR by 1.47 seconds just to match Mehdi Baala's 2007 world-leading 3:31.05. Webb's kick at the national championships indicates that he is ready to contend in the European circuit this year. Only trouble is, he is probably going to have to break Bernard Lagat's American record of 3:29.30 to do it. Paris will be a preview of what we can expect from Webb in Osaka.

Here's the start list, along with the PR's of the men in the race:

Bernard Lagat, USA, 3.26.34
Mehdi Baala, FRA, 3.28.98
Daniel Kipchirchir Komen, KEN, 3.29.02
Alex Kipchirchir, KEN, 3.30.46
Shadrack Korir, KEN, 3.30.72
Adil Kaouch, MAR, 3.31.10
Tarek Boukensa, ALG, 3.31.58
Augustine Kiprono Choge, KEN, 3.31.73
Youssef Baba, MAR, 3.32.13
Nicholas Willis, NZL, 3.32.17
Alan Webb, USA, 3.32.52
Mounir Yemmouni, FRA, 3.32.97

Legendary Distance Runner Alberto Salazar Hospitalized

2007-07-01T11:23:00.001-05:00

Alberto Salazar has been hospitalized after collapsing at the Nike World Campus with heart trouble. He did not have a heart attack but a stent has been inserted to open an artery. He is listed in serious condition at the Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, OR.

You can follow this evolving story by watching the articles from the RSS feed that FLP has added below. It will continuously update you with breaking news on Salazar's condition. Let's pray that his condition improves:

My Summer In Europe, by Jeremy Wariner

2007-06-30T11:40:00.001-05:00

Jeremy Wariner's summer schedule is posted on his website. He plans on running 5 races in Europe between July 10th and 8/07/07 leading up to the IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan, which will be held between August 25th and September 2nd.

Wariner hasn't listed, like he usually does, which events he'll be running. We can assume that he will be running mostly 400m races with maybe a 200m or two thrown in for speed-tuning purposes. A check of the meet websites doesn't reveal much about which events he will be running, although we do know that he will be racing Oscar Pistorius in the 400m in Sheffield. No 400m Dash is scheduled for the Vardinoyiannia in Greece, so we can assume Wariner will run the 200m there. Wariner is listed in the 200m start list of the Athletissima website. Finally, we can assume Wariner will run the 400m in Galan because he has run the 400m there both in 2005 and 2006, winning both times. As for what event he will run in London, we can only speculate, but that meet will be so close to the world championships that running a 400m race would make sense.

7/10/07: Athletissima (Lausanne, Switzerland) 200m
7/15/07: Norwich Union British Grand Prix (Sheffield, England) 400m
7/18/07: 23rd Vardinoyiannia (Réthimno, Greece) 200m?
8/03/07: Norwich Union Super Grand Prix (London, England) 400m?
8/07/07: DN Galan (Stockholm, Sweden) 400m?

IAAF Decision Makers Do About-Face

2007-06-29T08:29:00.000-05:00

The IAAF has decided to let double-amputee Oscar "Blade Runner" Pistorius compete in the 400m Dash at IAAF Grand Prix events this summer. You might recall the story about Pistorius that FLP covered here.

In that article I suggested that Pistorius be tested against other athletes in his event to determine whether or not he has any advantage from using his carbon-fiber prosthetics. Apparently the IAAF agrees, because they have cleared Pistorius to race. What's more, he will immediately get to test himself against none other than 400m World Champion Jeremy Wariner at the Norwich Union Sheffield Grand Prix on July 15th, 2007. Should be a fascinating race.

I wonder what will happen if Pistorius beats Wariner. Will the IAAF immediately ban him if he does win? I have a bad feeling they will.

Good News for American Track & Field Athletes

2007-06-28T11:22:00.000-05:00

The latest IAAF newsletter is out and, guess what? No Americans are on the "Athletes Sanctioned for Doping Offenses" list on page 7!

Here is a list of countries cited, in descending order of number of athletes sanctioned:

Iran, 8
France, 2
Turkey, 2
Great Britain, 1
Jamaica, 1
China, 1
Brazil, 1
Slovenia, 1
Belgium, 1
Nepal, 1
Russia, 1
South Africa, 1

What, you might ask, is Nepal doing on the doping sanctions list? Apparently, steroids are handed out like chocolates in Nepali sport. In fact, they are chocolates!

Here's an article in which the Nepalese athlete who got sanctioned, Rajendra Bhandari, states that his victory in the men's 5000m at the 10th South Asian Games, "is due to my hard work and effort from the coaches." Now that Bhandari has been suspended for 2 years and his victory at the South Asian Games has been nullified due to the "presence of the prohibited substance Norandrosterone (S1. Anabolic Agents) in his doping control sample," we know what kind of "effort from the coaches" he meant.

That makes 2 IAAF newsletters in a row in which an American has not been sanctioned for doping violations! Way to just say no, American athletes!

A Scathing Indictment of Track & Field by the Washington Times

2007-06-27T08:23:00.000-05:00

Dan Daly of the Washington Times offers a scathing indictment of the sport of Track & Field in his latest article, one that focuses on Tyson Gay's recent achievements. Titled On a Fast Track to a Life of Doubt, Daly's contention is that, "Track has never really recovered from 1988. Every year, it seems, it loses a little more of its credibility, a little more of its relevance — and Gay is a prime example of that."

What? "Gay is a prime example?" What does Daly know that we don't know? Apparently nothing except for unsubstantiated claims and rumor-mongering. Daly goes on to say that, "with track these days, there's always an "except." We may want to believe Gay's times are genuine, ungoosed by performance enhancers, but experience tells us to beware."

"Always?"

Shouldn't we be more concerned about a supposedly-objective journalist's sweeping generalizations than about Gay's remarkable performances? Shouldn't experience tell us that there's something wrong with Daly trying to besmirch Gay's character when he has absolutely no evidence to back up his claim? Daly goes on to say:

"Right now, Gay's only guilt is by association — association with track people. He has absolutely no points, so to speak, on his license. But when a guy blows away the field the way he did Friday and Sunday — in events often decided by nanoseconds — it's only natural to wonder what Magic Undetectable Elixir his chemists have stumbled upon."

"Association with track people?" Daly makes it sound as if the entire sport were some sleazy, smoke-filled, backroom pitbull-fighting contest. Newsflash: Michael Vick is in the NFL, not a track & field athlete.

Daly concedes that, "it's not that other sports are much different. Baseball and football certainly have their rogue elements. It's just that track can't afford to behave like this. It doesn't have the following — or to put it another way, nobody has Tyson Gay on his fantasy team."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Daly seems to be saying that a sport is given a free pass as long as it's a featured sport on ESPN's SportsCenter. If ticket sales are high, then the athletes within that sport can do whatever they please, and nobody will notice or care that what they're doing is illegal.

Perhaps Daly doesn't understand that it's the other way around: track doesn't have as good a following precisely because it does hold itself to a higher standard than do the other sports. If the other sports were to have cheating and doping policies that were half as stringent as track and field's and cycling's, so many "rogue elements" would be exposed in those sports that people would begin to realize that the sport of track and field is part of the solution, not part of the problem. Ironically, now that so many of the NFL's athletes have become so sociopathic that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's admirable efforts to finally hold them accountable somehow makes the NFL come across as credible. We're talking murderers, rapists, addicts of illegal narcotics, drug dealers, dog fight owners and promoters, the list goes on. And Daly says track has become less credible and relevant with every passing year?

If track and field were as lax in its policies as other sports are, it would come across as squeaky-clean in comparison to most other sports. Unfortunately, since the governing bodies of track and field aren't in denial like the governing bodies of other sports are, track and field ends up losing credibility with every passing year precisely because the sports holds itself to a higher standard!

Ultimately, Daly proves that he has little understanding about the sport when he suggests that, "[p]erhaps track could improve its image if it took NASCAR's approach to punishment. Whenever a runner is nabbed cheating, don't ban him from competition, make him race — beginning from the back of the pack. Waaaaay back. And if that doesn't work, outfit him with a restrictor plate."

On the contrary, perhaps track could improve its image if an incompetent journalist like Dan Daly would stop covering a sport about which he knows so little. And if that doesn't work, outfit him with a muzzle.

You can read what the track aficionados at the Track & Field Message Board are saying about the Washington Times article by clicking here.

Convoluted Selection Process

2007-06-26T14:47:00.000-05:00

I love scanning through the "Today's Headlines" section of the Track & Field News home page. It's so low-tech that it's quaint. Still, it is Track & Field News, so it's guaranteed to contain only the most relevant news on the internet. While scanning the headlines just now, I noticed a particularly interesting headline: Jonathan Johnson Still Hoping For Osaka 800 Berth.

Since Johnson finished 4th at the Nationals (only the top 3 in each event go to the world championships), I was curious to find out how he planned on pulling off such a feat.

Of course! The issue of the A/B standard rears its ugly head again. Duane Solomon, who finished third in the race, hasn't met the "A" standard of 1:45.40 required in the men's 800m run by the IAAF for an athlete to qualify for Osaka. If Solomon doesn't reach that standard, but Johnson does, then Solomon stays home and Johnson goes.

I can understand the point of having minimum qualifying standards at national championships, the world championships and the Olympic Games. Elite events such as these with no standards would attract all kinds of athletes who wouldn't be competitive. It's really just a matter of administrative efficiency and marketing. Why have endless qualifying rounds just to sort out the athletes who are virtually pre-determined to be in the finals anyway? Having all of those heats would do nothing but tire all of the athletes, including the elite ones, causing the finals to be anti-climactic. Anti-climactic finals don't do anything for the ratings.

But, if athletes like Johnson can circumvent the selection process, what's the point of have qualifying meets like the national championships in the first place? We either need to do away with the national championships altogether and select the best three athletes in each event based on their times/marks in other meets, or else we need to select only the winners of those meets and not allow any circumventions of the process.

There's something to be said for doing it either way. What is your opinion?

Quick: Name the Third Man to Run a Sub Four Minute Mile!

2007-06-26T09:05:00.000-05:00

Let's see, Roger Bannister of Great Britain did it first on May 6th, 1954 with a time of 3:59.4, then John Landy of Australia quickly followed on June 21st, 1954 with a time of 3:57.9, then...

Wes Santee? No, he came close, but – unfortunately – the "Ashland Antelope" never did better than a 4:00.5, thanks to the myopia exhibited by the oligarchical power mongers of the AAU prior to the Steve Prefontaine-inspired Amateur Sports Act of 1978, an act that stripped the AAU of its vice-like grip on Track & Field in the United States. For all of the moaning and groaning we hear about the USATF and the way it governs the sport, it's certainly much better than the AAU ever was.

Ron Delaney? No, he was 7th.

Jim Bailey? No. Although he was the first man to break the four-minute barrier on American soil, Bailey, an Australian, was only the 6th man to break the barrier.

I know! Don Bowden! Nope. Although he was the first American to break the barrier, he was only the 12th man in history to do it.

If you said Laszlo Tabori, you are correct! Pat yourself on the back for being such a marvelous track historian.

Tabori, Chris Chataway and Brian Hewson became the 3rd, 4th and 5th men, respectively, to finish a mile in under four minutes. What's more, they all did it in the same race with their 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishes at the British Games in London on May 28th, 1955.

Of course, theirs wasn't the first race in which multiple runners broke four minutes in the same race. That race was the well-documented "Mile of the Century," in which Bannister and Landy raced one another in their long-anticipated matchup at the British Empire Games. This historic showdown occurred in Vancouver, B.C. on August 7th, 1954. Santee, much to his chagrin, announced that race at the NBC headquarters in New York. He would have dearly loved to run in that race because he always believed that he would have beat them both on that day. If you've never read about that historic race or these fascinating athletes, you can find out who won "Mile of the Century" by ordering a copy of Neal Bascomb's fabulous account titled The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It. Bascomb's scintillating account of the race makes it seem as if you were actually there. I highly recommend his book.

Here are the first 10 runners who broke the four-minute mile, in order:

What major psychological barrier will be broken next in Track & Field? It has to be the women's four-minute mile barrier. A look at the men's world-record progression reveals that the record for men just 39 years prior to Bannister's achievement was Norman Taber's 4:12.6. Taber's time was slower than Svetlana Masterkova's current world record of 4:12.56, which she set on August 14th, 1996. If the same time (39 years, 304 days) elapses between Masterkova's record and the first four-minute mile for women as it did between Taber's record and Bannister's barrier-shattering achievement, then we should expect to see the first woman break the four-minute mile barrier on or around June 4th, 2036. Mark your calendars. Oh, if you haven't already – and whether you agree with me or not – be sure and take the poll!

Team USA Selection Process

2007-06-25T12:22:00.001-05:00

David Woods, a journalist for the Indy Star, has posted an op-ed about the Darwinian selection process for Team USA. Because Sanya Richards, whom Woods considers to be the "world's best athlete" finished 4th in the women's 400m dash at the U.S. nationals and didn't make the team in that (her best) event, he opines that, "as this sport becomes increasingly competitive internationally, Team USA is ill-served with an all-or-nothing selection process." Does Woods have a point?

For one thing, Richards certainly didn't look like the world's best athlete on Saturday when she faded to a 50.68 finish, over one second behind Dee Dee Trotter's impressive – and world-leading – time of 49.64 seconds. Yes, she has been fighting an illness all spring and no, she's not in top shape right now. What about Trotter, Natasha Hastings (49.84) and Mary Wineberg (50.24) who all finished ahead of Richards Saturday? Should one of their performances be disregarded because of Richards' stellar past and uncertain rest of the season? That certainly wouldn't make sense. Of course, completely disregarding Richards' previous string of 18 consecutive outdoor victories in the 400m doesn't make sense, either.

So what is the best way to overcome this dilemma? Unfortunately for Richards, there seems to be no answer, at least for this season. She will have to just focus on the 200m dash, for which she did qualify for worlds in Osaka. Next season, though, the USATF should take note. By holding the trials from June 27th to July 6th, the athletes are going to have to hold their peaks for at least 40 days. That's tough to do. The athletics events in Beijing begin on August 15th, 40 days after the last trials event is held. Even if you account for travel time and time to allow the athletes to overcome jet-lag, 40 days is way too long for the athletes to maintain their peaks.

This year, the athletes will have had to maintain their peaks for at least 61 days when they compete in Osaka. That's practically impossible. All future trials should be held within 3-4 weeks of the world-championship or Olympic event. That way, a one-shot selection process would make much more sense because no excuses could be made for an athlete not being in shape.

A Jingoistic Rant

2007-06-24T14:48:00.000-05:00

You might have noticed that the meet assistants at the 2007 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships kept shoving Japanese flags in the winners' hands along with an American flag so that they could take their victory laps waving both flags. What kind of statement does that make?

First of all, let me make it clear to any Japanese readers I might have that I have absolutely nothing against Japan or its people. I have nothing but fondness, respect and admiration for Japan and its people and I look forward to watching the upcoming world championships meet in Osaka. But the IAAF World Championships and the Olympic Games are both international (inter= between" and national=of or relating to or belonging to a nation or country) events. In these events athletes who represent their nations compete against other athletes who represent their nations. I ask you, would the Athletes of the Japanese national championships be asked to wave the American flag if the World Championships were to be held in the USA? Of course not. But a spirit of politically-correct globalism seems to have overtaken much of American culture, including, apparently, the USATF National Championships.

What is the purpose of a national flag? According to Wikipedia, "a national flag is a flag that symbolises a country. The flag is flown by the government, but usually can be flown by citizens of that country as well." Notice it doesn't say "citizens of other countries" but "citizens of that country."

Just after an emotional Alan Webb won the men's 1500m run, two meet assistants surrounded him and one of them draped the American flag around his shoulders. One of them also tried to hand him the Japanese flag, but he ignored her. Even though he kept changing directions to try and avoid her, she was persistent and kept calling to him ("Hey! Alan! Alan! You have to...") and kept trying to make him take the flag while a male meet assistant blocked his way. The producers, perhaps realizing they might be showing a potentially compromising scene live, quickly cut away to a replay of the race. During his interview, Webb could be seen holding the Japanese flag, so those assistants did finally get their way. Afterwards, however, he seems to have taken a measure of revenge by irreverently holding the wooden Japanese flagstick between his teeth as he mugged for the camera.

Why the insistence by the event organizers that the athletes wave the flag of another nation? I can't imagine what kind of statement the meet organizers were trying to make. It was obvious that Webb did not want to take the flag. They were wrong to hand out the Japanese flags at the USA National Championships in the first place. They were especially wrong in forcing athletes who were obviously not comfortable doing so to wave another nation's flag. I think Alan Webb would agree with me. Here's the video of the race and the post-race shenanigans by the meet assistants.

Here's some more videos of NBC's coverage of the meet.

USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Decathlon and Heptathlon Results

2007-06-24T14:31:00.001-05:00

The USATF website chopped off the results of the men's decathlon and covered some of the results of the women's heptathlon with merchandise advertising. I published them here so that you would be able to see them in their entirety: Multi-Event Results.

National Championships: Open Competition, Day 2

2007-06-23T09:47:00.000-05:00

TYSON GAY'S PERFORMANCE INSPIRATIONAL – ESPN2'S JUST THE OPPOSITE

In the men's 100m final of the 2007 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Tyson Gay scorched the last 25m of the race to win in a time of 9.84. That such a fast early-season time was run into a .5mps (1.1185mph) headwind is every indication of what's to come later on this season, especially at the World Championships in Osaka: Tyson Gay is going to rewrite the 100m history books in 2007.

As for ESPN2's coverage of the meet, I can only say that it was hardly worth the hour I invested watching it. Truly mediocre. I've never seen anything as bad as what I saw last night. I've seen more exciting golf coverage. It's not that yesterday's events were boring – far from it. Shalane Flanagan kicked some serious butt like she always does. Torri Edwards' impressive comeback must have felt as good to her fans as it did to her. Watching Bernard Lagat outkick an overconfident Matt Tegenkamp just two hours after winning his 1500m semi-final was good theater.

Trouble is, the producers who covered yesterday's meet either don't know a thing about track & field, or else they are having to kowtow to the ESPN executives and "marketing gurus" so completely that they are powerless to cover a meet the way its supposed be covered. There's no other explanation as to why they can't seem to devote any more time to the coverage of a 5000m race than they can for a 100m race.

I really shouldn't be surprised. If you go to ESPN's website and try to find the link to their Track & Field page in their main menu, your search is going to be futile. You would think they could at least throw a link to track and field at the bottom of the "More +" dropdown menu, but I guess there wasn't any room left after they added links to the Bassmaster Tournaments, Cricket and Lacrosse pages. No, instead you're going to guess that ESPN's online coverage of track and field can be found on the Olympic Sports page and then wade through the yacht-racing coverage to find an article about track and field. That's the same kind of contempt they show for the sport in their TV coverage as well.

I urge every reader of Finish Line Pundit who cares about Track and Field to e-mail ESPN/ABC TV at this link and tell them how disgusted you are about their pathetic broadcast of the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships last night. Feel free to direct them to this post so that they can read an evaluation of their failing performance. They need to know that they are one of the main reasons there is little interest in this sport anymore in the United States.

What Happens When Runners Lose Their Minds

2007-06-22T15:17:00.000-05:00

From Yahoo News:

NEW YORK - Ultramarathoner Dean Karnazes will attempt to break the world record by running more than 153.76 miles in 24 hours on a treadmill in Times Square.

This is what happens when runners lose their minds from overdosing on endorphins.

Seriously, though, it's for a worthy cause. Karnazes is raising money for Athletes for a Cure Foundation, an organization devoted to funding prostate cancer research.

Yahoo also indicted that Karnazes' "next goal is to run 4,200 miles across North America in the spring."

I wish Mr. Karnazes the best of luck. I also recommend that he search this site for a reputable psychologist.

New Track and Field...er, that is, Athletics Blog

2007-06-22T11:54:00.001-05:00

Athletics Weekly, the British version of Track and Field News, seems to have quietly started a new blog. I have found only 3 posts, and I can't imagine older posts would just disappear, so it seems that we've managed to jump on board right as this blog is leaving the station.

As expected, the posts tend to focus on British athletics. So far, Jason Henderson, Editor at Athletics Weekly, has written about the relationship between high IQ and athletics performance. Britta Sendlhofer has written about sponsorship of British Athletics. Henderson has also published a post about the Great Ethiopian Run in Addis Ababa, so the blogging is not exclusively about British athletics.

If you want some insight into the British perspective on track and field... er, that is, athletics, their new blog is certainly worth checking out.

National Championships: Open Competition, Day 1

2007-06-21T20:28:00.000-05:00

FINALS
Men's Javelin Throw

Breaux Greer broke his own American record and world-leading mark of 90.71m with a huge throw of 91.29m. You might recall that the Pundit called this one beforehand. One down, six to go! Greer also set a USATF Championship record for consecutive victories with his 8th national title.

The following athletes will represent Team USA in Osaka

1st Place: Breaux Greer, 91.29m (New American Record)

2nd Place: Mike Hazle, 75.06m

3rd Place: Justin St Clair, 74.71m

Women's Triple Jump

American-record holder Tiombé Hurd did not finish in the top 3. Hurd has not had a good 2007 season. She qualified for the National Championships with a jump of 13.43, a mark that ranked her only 13th going into the meet.

The following athletes will represent Team USA in Osaka:

1st Place: Shani Marks, 14.08m

2nd Place: Yvette Lewis, 13.59m

3rd Place: Erica McLain, 13.57m

Men's 10,000m Run

The following athletes will represent Team USA in Osaka:

1st Place: Abdi Abdirahman, 28:13.51

2nd Place: Galen Rupp, 28:23.31

3rd Place: Dathan Ritzenhein, 28:31.88

Women's 10,000m Run

The following athletes will represent Team USA in Osaka:

1st Place: Deena Kastor, 31:57.00

2nd Place: Kara Goucher, 32:33.80

3rd Place: Katie McGregor, 32:44.69

FIRST-ROUND SURPRISES

The following athletes had top-9 qualifying times coming into the National Championships yet did not make it past the first round:

Complete Results/Schedule

New Era for Track & Field Records?

2007-06-21T15:41:00.000-05:00

If you're a track and field purist, you might want to avert your eyes because you might not like what you're about to read. There's been talk again of scrubbing the record books clean, establishing a new set of records for the sport and/or (as Garry Hill, editor of Track & Field News, suggests), "going to a bifurcated system... [to] give the sport back its thrill of the world record chase."

The other day Track and Field Superfan suggested a slight rewrite of some of the records. Now David Woods of Indystar.com puts in his two cents (and, if you track purists are still with us, this is your last chance to get out while the getting is good):

"A convenient way to amend some records is to change weights of implements (shot, discus, hammer) or to raise heights of women's hurdles."

I have long-thought it would be a good idea to go the rest of the way in the gender-equalization of events and implements. Women have come a long way (literally and figuratively) from the days when the longest Olympic event for them was the 800m run. That was in 1972. In 1976, the patriarchal oligarchy of the IOC graciously allowed women to run another 700m and compete in their very own 1500m run. Women scoffed at this paltry distance and asked for more. Over the next few years, they got more. Few aficionados can forget Joan Benoit's victory in the inaugural Olympic women's marathon in 1984. Female pole vaulters were considered to be a newsworthy curiosity as recently as 2001. Now, even the 3000m steeplechase – a grueling event long feared even by the toughest male distance runners – is fair game for women. Why not go the rest of the way? There's such a little way to go:

Add another 10m to the women's hurdles sprint, or, even better, reduce the distance in the men's race to an even 100m (perish the thought!). The 110m hurdles is a holdover from the days of the imperial 110 yard hurdles anyway. Let's toss out that archaic thinking.

Raise the height hurdles in the 100m, 400m and 3000m steeplechase for women's events to the same height the men use. Standardize the weights of the field-event implements (shot, discus, hammer, javelin) so that women throw the same weight as men do. Finally, do away with the heptathlon and introduce the world to a women's decathlon. (Did I leave any events out?) That should do it. Women are fully capable of adapting the rest of the way. Why shouldn't they be given the opportunity to try? Men could adapt to certain new realities, too, as long as they make sense for the sport.

That would kill two birds with one shot put: equalize the sport for women and do away with most of the tainted records in the women's books. As for the "iffy" records in the rest of the events and in all of the men's events?

That's a tough call. I'm no purist by any stretch of the imagination, but I can't see changing the weights of the implements just for the sake of scrubbing records. A coordinated effort needs to take place, one that finally levels the playing field. A bifurcation (splitting the records into two millennial eras) makes okay sense, but I'm not crazy about the idea. Besides, until we can outsmart the dopers, it'd be an exercise in futility anyway. The new "set" of records would quickly get tainted, too.

Setting new standard distances and weights that are coordinated with current standards makes more sense to me. Even in these here United States of Imperial Measurement Systems, the tracks are 400m. Doesn't it make sense to make even-lap distances the standard? The mile run was the blue riband during the imperial-measurements era (remember running 4 quarters and being a "miler" in the good old days?). In the metric era, the 1500m wore the crown so awkwardly that the 100m has replaced it as the premier event in track. 1500m runs are an awkward 3.75 laps. That doesn't sit well with symmetry-loving track fans. Speaking of symmetry, a 4000m race would equal 10 laps of a 400m track. In this digital age, races run in increments of 10 laps make a whole lot of sense. If we're going to run around the circumference of a rounded rectangle (oval is a misnomer), shouldn't we start and finish at the same place? That makes more sense than the 12.5 laps of a 5000m run.

Anyway, many of you are probably thinking I checked my brain at the door today, but the Powers That Be in athletics (Gianni Merlo, chairman of the IAAF press commission, for one) are the ones suggesting change in the first place. Certainly we can be more creative than simply erasing the chalkboard and pretending that we've started over. Let's change the weight of a shot from the imperial 16 lbs. (7.26 kg) to 6kg and let both men and women use the same implement. Women currently throw a 4kg shot, so 6kg roughly splits the difference between the two and is a nice, round number.

In the early days of modern track and field, a variety of distances were run during competition, including races of 2000 yards, 1.25 miles, 1.5 miles, 1.75 miles, and more. These were all distances that were compatible with a 440 yard (1/4 mile) track and would allow races to be run in whole-lap increments. Lets' do the same for our current 400m standard track. It doesn't take a genius to suggest this idea (and I'm just the non-genius to do it!): 400m, 800m, 1600m, 4000m, 8000m, etc., are all whole-lap distances. Once we make real, common-sense changes like these, then we track and field nuts can sit back and watch a flurry of new world records! Talk about reenergizing the sport! That makes perfect sense to me. Let me know what you think.

Miss Manners Hacks USATF Website?

2007-06-21T05:01:00.000-05:00

Obviously Miss Manners has hacked the USATF's National Championships website. What other reason could explain the link I found to an absolutely useless page titled Professionalism? When I saw that link while perusing the Athlete Information page, I clicked on it, expecting to find a codified 232-page manual along the lines of the IAAF Competition Rules, one that covers competition rules, doping, eligibility, and the like. Instead, I found a skimpy, persnickety, useless exercise in overstating the obvious.

It offers a handful of school-marmy tips intended to, "help raise the bar of professional demeanor, attitude, and interaction before, during, and after events." There's no mention of doping, tampering with lab tests, making false starts, or running outside of one's assigned lane like one would expect to find in an overview of professionalism; rather, Miss Manners exhorts athletes to "wear [bibs] in the best place to preserve your uniform's sponsor marks and team name, " and to "thank the sponsors who enable the event to take place." If you haven't read it yet, go ahead and click here. It's mind-boggling.

By far, the most patronizing edict can be found in the "compete like a professional" section. In it, the athletes are berated for having the audacity to worry about their times or marks (isn't that a fundamental aspect of being a track and field athlete?):

"The statistics/results of the competition will be available after the event. It is inappropriate for you to worry about your time at the finish line or your marks from each round in the field. Distance athletes: it looks particularly bad when you stop your watch at the finish--blocking your bib with the sponsor's name on it and the name of your team or country."

Of course! Checking one's Timex for a possible new world record is rude and impertinent! We're selling long-distance service, poultry products and chocolate bars here. How dare an athlete who has just performed a heroic act of extending the limits of human potential insult the sponsor by checking his or her time!

Are you as worried as I am, knowing that "the future of our sport" depends on our athletes' "being [models] for professional manners?" I'm not sure what might have given me this impression, but I thought that the future of our sport depended, not upon the athletes' blocking the sponsors name on their bibs during post-race interviews, but upon greedy athletes not causing the great sport of track and field any further embarrassment, humiliation or irreparable harm by being suspended for doping violations. I stand corrected.

The Pundit Calls His Shot

2007-06-20T18:39:00.000-05:00

I've put on my prognosticator's hat (gray felt with a green feather) so it's time to make those predictions that will either make me look like I might know what I'm talking about or else make a complete fool out of me. Here's my list of which American records are safe and which ones are in danger this week at the AT&T USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. [Takes deep breath.] Here we go:

Green=Safe
Red=In Danger

MEN
100m (record: 9.79, Maurice Greene)
200m (record: 19.32, Michael Johnson)
400m (record: 43.18, Michael Johnson)
800m (record: 1:42.60, Johnny Gray)
1,500m (record: 3:29.30, Bernard Lagat)
5,000m (record: 12:58.21, Bob Kennedy)
10,000m (record: 27:13.98, Meb Keflezighi)
110m Hurdles (record: 12.90, Dominique Arnold)
400m Hurdles (record: 46.78, Kevin Young)
3,000m Steeplechase (record: 8:08.82, Daniel Lincoln)
20,000m Race Walk (record: 1:23:40.0, Tim Seaman)
High Jump (record: 2.40 m/7'10½", Charles Austin)
Pole Vault (record: 6.03 m/19'9¼", Jeff Hartwig)
Long Jump (record: 8.95 m/29'4½", Mike Powell)
Triple Jump (record: 18.09 m/59'4¼", Kenny Harrison)
Shot Put (record: 23.12 m/75'10¼", Randy Barnes)
Discus Throw (record: 72.34 m/237'4", Ben Plucknett)
Hammer Throw (record: 82.52 m/270'9", Lance Deal)
Javelin Throw (record: 90.71 m/297'7", Breaux Greer)
Decathlon (record: 8,891 pts., Dan O'Brien)

WOMEN
100m (record: 10.49, Florence Griffith Joyner)
200m (record: 21.34, Florence Griffith Joyner)
400m (record: 48.70, Sanya Richards)
800m (record: 1:56.40, Jearl Miles-Clark)
1,500m (record: 3:57.12, Mary Slaney)
5,000m (record: 14:44.80, Shalane Flanagan)
10,000m (record: 30:52.32, Deena Drossin)
110m Hurdles (record: 12.33, Gail Devers)
400m Hurdles (record: 52.61, Kim Batten)
3,000m Steeplechase (record: 9:29.32, Brianna Shook)
20,000m Race Walk (record: 1:33:28.15, Teresa Vaill)
High Jump (record: 2.03 m/6'7¾", Louise Ritter)
Pole Vault (record: 4.88 m/16'0", Jenn Stuczynski)
Long Jump (record: 7.49 m/24'7", Jackie Joyner-Kersee)
Triple Jump (record: 14.45 m/47'5", Tiombé Hurd)
Shot Put (record: 20.18 m/66'2½", Ramona Pagel)
Discus Throw (record: 67.67 m/222'0", Powell-Roos Suzy)
Hammer Throw (record: 73.87 m/242'4", Erin Gilreath)
Javelin Throw (record: 64.19 m/210'7", Kim Kreiner)
Heptathlon (record: 7291 pts., Jackie Joyner-Kersee)

200m School with Professor Ato Boldon

2007-06-20T09:57:00.000-05:00

Since the AT&T men’s 200m Dash takes center stage at 2007 AT&T USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, let's have a quick video lesson on how to run (and, by extension, how to watch) the 200m dash. Ato Boldon, the 1997 200m World Champion from Trinidad and Tobago and now the color commentator for track meets on both NBC and CBS, is certainly an authority on the event, having run a lifetime best of 19.77 seconds in the event.

Clyde Hart: 400m Dash Guru

2007-06-20T09:31:00.000-05:00

The first rounds of the men's and women's 400m dash at the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be held tomorrow. Two of the top athletes competing tomorrow – Darold Williamson and Sanya Richards – are coached by Clyde Hart, Director of Track and Field at Baylor University. Hart, as you may know, coached the indomitable Michael Johnson and currently coaches 400m king Jeremy Wariner. I unearthed a video that features coach Hart talking about the event, his protégés and his coaching philosophy. Listen to what he has to say about Williamson and Richards.

View of IU Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium from 1286 ft

2007-06-19T16:45:00.000-05:00

I thought you might get a kick out of seeing an aerial view of the Indiana University Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium, the venue where the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be held beginning tomorrow. This image is courtesy of Google Earth. If you've never downloaded this program, I highly recommend that you do so. It's a blast!

[double-click on thumbnail
for full-size image]
IU Michael A Carroll Track and Soccer Stadium
1001 West New York Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-5193
[for more information, visit the IUPUI website]

USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Are Nearly Upon Us

2007-06-19T14:00:00.000-05:00

Indiana University's Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium in Indianapolis, IN will host the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships beginning on Wednesday, June 20, 2007 at 12:30PM with the junior women's heptathlon 100m hurdles. The National Championships go all the way through Sunday, June 24, 2007, concluding at 2:50PM with the men's 110m High Hurdles. Of course, Team USA will be determined based on performances at this meet. Team USA will go on to compete at the IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan beginning 67 days from now. The Status of Entries page over at USATF.org is bursting at the seams with qualifiers. TV coverage begins Friday.

WOMEN'S FINALS
Thursday, June 21, 2007 6:20 PM Triple Jump
Thursday, June 21, 2007 8:55 PM 10,000m
Friday, June 22, 2007 4:00 PM Discus Throw
Friday, June 22, 2007 7:00 PM Javelin Throw
Friday, June 22, 2007 8:04 PM 100m
Friday, June 22, 2007 8:14 PM 5000m
Saturday, June 23, 2007 2:26 PM 1500m
Saturday, June 23, 2007 2:36 PM 400m Richards faces tough field in AT&T women's 400
Saturday, June 23, 2007 2:52 PM 100m Hurdles Who will reign in Hershey’s women’s 100H?
Saturday, June 23, 2007 3:10 PM High Jump
Saturday, June 23, 2007 3:20 PM Hammer Throw
Saturday, June 23, 2007 3:30 PM Long Jump
Saturday, June 23, 2007 5:50 PM 3000m Steeplechase
Sunday, June 24, 2007 6:30 AM 20 km Race Walk
Sunday, June 24, 2007 12:00 PM Pole Vault
Sunday, June 24, 2007 12:45 PM Shot Put
Sunday, June 24, 2007 1:50 PM 800m
Sunday, June 24, 2007 2:10 PM 400m Hurdles
Sunday, June 24, 2007 2:30 PM 200m

MEN'S FINALS
Thursday, June 21, 2007 7:00 PM Javelin Throw
Thursday, June 21, 2007 8:20 PM 10,000m
Friday, June 22, 2007 5:00 PM Hammer Throw
Friday, June 22, 2007 5:45 PM Pole Vault
Friday, June 22, 2007 6:00 PM Long Jump
Friday, June 22, 2007 8:35 PM 5000m
Friday, June 22, 2007 8:52 PM 100m
Saturday, June 23, 2007 6:30 AM 20 km Race Walk
Saturday, June 23, 2007 12:40 PM Shot Put Heavy Artillery hits the Visa men’s shot put
Saturday, June 23, 2007 2:18 PM 400m Hurdles Anybody’s Game in Tyson men’s 400H
Saturday, June 23, 2007 2:44 PM 400m
Sunday, June 24, 2007 12:15 PM High Jump
Sunday, June 24, 2007 12:20 PM Discus Throw
Sunday, June 24, 2007 12:30 PM Triple Jump
Sunday, June 24, 2007 1:05 PM 3000m Steeplechase
Sunday, June 24, 2007 2:00 PM 800m
Sunday, June 24, 2007 2:20 PM 200m AT&T men’s 200 takes center stage at AT&T USA Outdoor Champs
Sunday, June 24, 2007 2:40 PM 1500m
Sunday, June 24, 2007 2:50 PM 110m Hurdles

WOMEN'S HEPTATHLON
Friday, June 22, 2007 10:00 AM 100m Hurdles
Friday, June 22, 2007 10:45 AM High Jump
Friday, June 22, 2007 1:00 PM Shot Put
Friday, June 22, 2007 2:50 PM 200m
Saturday, June 23, 2007 12:30 PM Long Jump
Saturday, June 23, 2007 1:45 PM Javelin Throw
Saturday, June 23, 2007 3:45 PM 800m

MEN'S DECATHLON
Bryan Clay teleconference excerpts
Friday, June 22, 2007 10:30 AM 100m
Friday, June 22, 2007 11:30 AM Long Jump
Friday, June 22, 2007 1:00 PM Shot Put
Friday, June 22, 2007 2:30 PM High Jump
Friday, June 22, 2007 5:10 PM 400m
Saturday, June 23, 2007 10:30 AM 110m Hurdles
Saturday, June 23, 2007 11:30 AM Discus Throw
Saturday, June 23, 2007 2:00 PM Pole Vault
Saturday, June 23, 2007 4:15 PM Javelin Throw "A"
Saturday, June 23, 2007 5:15 PM Javelin Throw "B"
Saturday, June 23, 2007 6:30 PM 1500m

Slate Article "Explains" But Doesn't Offer Conclusions About the Accuracy of Electronic Timing

2007-06-19T12:01:00.000-05:00

Daniel Engber, an associate editor and self-proclaimed "Explainer" at Slate, recently posted an article on their website that asks these questions:

Can we trust track & field records? How accurate are they? How accurate are the devices used to time these events?

He goes on to describe the minutia associated with electronic timing. But does he answer his own questions? I read the entire article several times to try and sort through the facts and to determine whether or not he answers the questions he poses in the article.

He suggests that the finish lines of track, due to their imprecise placement, are not even the true finish line – at least for determination of world records in the 100m and 200m dashes. Instead, he suggests that the real finish line is a virtual "thin slice of space" created by photo finish cameras right above the track's physical finish line. I can buy that.

He talks about how hand-timing is allowed in events longer than 800m and how "official times are often less precise" using this method. Make sense, too. Most longer races don't come down to photo finishes. I might add, however, that most top-quality meets are not hand-timed, not even for the longer events.

He then mentions light beams and how those are used for a "quicker and less accurate reading" than that of the photo finish system. He talks about how these "initial readings are often padded with some extra time so officials never have to adjust up—and take away a world record." His sources are Giles Norton of Lynx System Developers, Inc., and Imre Matrahazi and István Gyulai of IAAF, so I don't doubt the veracity of this statement. Besides, the "official" time always does seem to be lower than the initial time. Announcers on TV are always careful to suggest that we wait for the official times, which are inevitably lower than the initial times.

Finally he gives a quick lesson about how the speakers behind each runner are triggered by the starter's pistol, then – in turn – signal the clock in the photo finish system, and all within .001 seconds. I thought those speakers were so that the runners would all hear the gun at the same time, but I guess there is more to the speakers than just that.

He ends the article without summarizing his argument or offering any kind of conclusion. The last words in the article are yet another question posed by the author: "Next question?" What does he mean, "next question?" He hasn't even answered the questions he posed in the article!

I recall a 800m race I ran in high school which was a photo finish between myself and a runner from another school. His hand-timed time was faster than my hand-timed time (my time will remain a closely-guarded secret), and only one of us would go on to the finals, so I thought I was done for the weekend. It was so close a finish that there was a delay of some 5 minutes or so while the officials analyzed the digital images. In the end, I advanced to the finals while the other runner did not because I was ahead of him according to the images from the photo finish.

Hand times are accurate to within .2 seconds, the time it takes our fingers to react to the smoke from the starter's pistol. Photo finishes are much more accurate than that. They are accurate to within 1/1000th of a second. So, to draw some conclusions from my experience and the data from the incomplete Slate article, I would say that electronic times are accurate and can be trusted. Hand times are not as accurate and cannot be trusted as much, at least for record-keeping purposes or in close races. In fact, hand-timed times are usually designated as such in the record books. Hand-timed results are penalized in the IAAF world rankings calculations. Events from 50m to 200m are penalized .24 seconds for hand times. Events from 300m to 500m are penalized .14 seconds for hand times.

The IAAF website states that, "Statistics are an essential part of the sport of athletics, where the precise measure of performances and the recording of the same are fundamental criteria." Most international caliber meets have full electronic timing systems. It should be understood that the hand times from lower-level meets are not quite as accurate as the electronic times from higher-level meets. But, since track and field is all about the competition – not about the times – we shouldn't have to worry about this question anyway. Right? Next question?

Gender Differences in Athletic Performance, Part 2

2007-06-18T19:50:00.000-05:00

In my original post Gender Differences in Athletic Performance, I compared current men's and women's IAAF world records to try and determine whether or not the theory that there is a 10% gender difference for athletic performances is true. For the most part it was reasonably accurate, but there were some glaring exceptions, notably in the field events and in the sprints. Track and Field Superfan cleared up some of these discrepancies by suggesting that the disputed records be tossed out.

I took his suggestions and recalculated the variances. (See chart below. Superfan recalculations in bold. Variance of more than 2% highlighted with yellow background.) When I did, some of the variances fell more in line with the 10% theory, but most actually went further away and not in favor of women. The average discrepancy is 12.12% (12.54% for Superfan recalculations), but if you take out the field events and calculate the average only for the running events, the average discrepancy is 10.61% (or 11.37% for the Superfan recalculations).

My gut feeling is that Superfan's suggestions are a more accurate indication of the "true" records than are the IAAF's current official records. One look at Jarmila Kratochvílová's image (click image to enlarge) should leave no doubt that there is every reason to question the validity of her 1983 world record time of 1:53.28 in the 800m. I mean, female 800m runners just don't have that kind of physique, (sorry, I take that back. Some of them do). Unfortunately, there is no way to prove that all of those records from the 1980s were enhanced by steriods.

No matter which records we use, I think it's safe to conclude that the 10% rule (give or take a couple of percentage points) can be applied only to running events. The field events involve more strength, which (there surely cannot be any dispute) is an area in which men have a marked advantage over women.

FLP Polls: Will Wariner Break the 400m World Record in 2007?

2007-06-18T14:28:00.000-05:00

Will Jeremy Wariner break Michael Johnson's World Record of 43.18 in the 400m dash in 2007? Take the FLP poll!

Some Statistics: 2007 USATF U.S. National Championships

2007-06-18T11:47:00.000-05:00

I was taking a look at the Status of Entries page on the USATF website. Here are a few observations I made (as of 6/18/07 at 11:30AM):

Number of Applications: 1188 (men: 655, women: 533)
Qualified (Met "A" Mark): 830 (men: 419, women: 411)
Provisional (Met "B" Mark): 247 (men: 175, women: 72)
Not qualified (mark not acceptable; reasons vary): 70 entries (men: 37, women: 33)
Most Applications, by Affiliation: (you guessed it) Unattached, 460 entries/121 qualified
2nd Most Applications, by Affiliation: Unattached/Nike, 152 entries/61 qualified
Most Applications, by actual team: Oregon TC Elite, 17 entries/12 qualified
Most Applications, by event (men): 100m, 61
Most Applications, by event (women): 200m, 40
Largest Field, by event (men): Men's 800m, 21
Largest Field, by event (women): Women's 200m,
Smallest Field, by event (men): 20 km Race Walk, 9
Smallest Field, by event (women): 20 km Race Walk, 8
Events in which 100% of entrants qualified: Women's High Jump, Women's Masters Mile, Men's Masters Mile, Men's 20 km Race Walk, Women's 20 km Race Walk
Event with most provisional, pending entries: Men's 1500m, 13
Qualified but Scratched:
Men's 110m Hurdles Kevin Craddock
Men's 1500m Nicholas Symmonds (declared in Men's 800m)
Men's 200m Reggie Witherspoon (declared in Men's 400m)
Men's 200m Willie Perry
Men's 400m Xavier Carter (declared in Men's 200m)
Men's 800m Zach Glavash
Men's Discus Throw Kibwe Johnson (declared in Men's Hammer Throw)
Men's Masters Mile Kevin Vidana-Barda
Men's Masters Mile Nolan Shaheed
Women's 10000m Jennifer Rhines (declared in Women's 5000m)
Women's 5000m Amy Rudolph
Women's 10000m Amy Rudolph
Women's 10000m Michelle Sikes (declared in Women's 5000m)
Women's 10000m Catherine Ferrell (declared in Women's 5000m)
Women's 100m Shalonda Solomon (declared in Women's 200m)
Women's 1500m Nicole Teter (declared in Women's 800m)
Women's 1500m Arianna Lambie (declared in Women's 5000m)
Women's 200m Donniece Parrish
Women's 400m Hurdles Shauna Smith
Women's 400m Hurdles Aleesha Barber
Women's 400m Hurdles Ashley Brown
Women's 5000m Sara Hall (declared in Women's 1500m)
Women's 5000m Molly Huddle (declared in Women's 10000m)
Women's Masters Mile Joan Mabe
Women's Masters Mile Lesley Chaplin-Swann
Most Qualified Entries, by Athlete:
Antonette Carter (Women's 100m, Women's 200m, Women's Long Jump)
Kara Goucher (Women's 10000m, Women's 1500m, Women's 5000m)
Adam Goucher (Men's 10000m, Men's 1500m, Men's 5000m)

Training Methods on the Web, Part 1

2007-06-17T11:05:00.001-05:00

I happened across a 29 page training manual (PDF required. If you don't have it, get it here.) written by New Zealand's acclaimed running coach, Arthur Lydiard. It even has a section that tells you how to lace your shoes properly!

Finding such a gem inspired me to search for some more websites that offer solid training tips for runners, jumpers and throwers. Here's what I found:

Training for the Champions (Haile Gebreselassie, Sebastian Coe, Japhet Kimutai, Wilson Kipketer, Norredine Morceli, Herb Elliott, Hichem El Geurrouj, Paul Tergat, Kip Keino, Jim Ryun, Bob Kennedy) [link]

Sample of Seb Coe's training method:

Never ran more than 90km a week
Trained extensively with weights during winter
Focussed on aerobic capacity training at 5000m pace to build aerobic endurance

Training at 18 years of age (1500m 3:45; 3000m 8:14):

Example 1:

Sunday A.M. 5 miles easy; P.M. 30 x 100m on slight hill
Monday 7 miles easy
Tuesday 7 x 800m
Wednesday 11 miles easy
Thursday A.M. 1 x (400m + 300m + 200m + 150) P.M. 3 miles easy
Friday 4 x 1200m, 10 x 150m
Saturday A.M. 30 x 100m on slight hill. P.M.4 miles easy
Sunday 7 x 400m
Monday 7 miles easy

OZTRACK.com: Website focused on providing Training Tips for Serious Athletes and Coaches and also Australian Athletics News. Sections include (click on INFORMATION tab on the top horizontal menu) Training Ideas, Sprint Training, 400m Training, 800m Training, Distance Training, El Guerrouge (sic) Training, Glycemic Index, More Tips & Tricks, Core Training and more.

Sample Speed Training method:

Lately my squad have been simply using just two drills as follows:

1. Ankling - circular movements of lower leg maintaining dorsiflexion. Do 6-8 of these over 6-8s.

2. Quick Recovery High Knee Running - they catch their leg early bring it rapidly up underneath and keeping their pelvis stable lift their knees as high as they can without 'sitting'. They do these at varying speeds maintaining good form which means no extra bum out or sitting as well as keeping their feet dorsiflexed. They do about 6-8 of these over 6-8s at varying speeds.

Shot Putting Articles [link]

Includes articles on Preliminaries, power position, and follow through; Spin (rotational) approach; Glide (linear) approach; Drills, Teaching Progression, Technique.

Everything Track & Field Training Zones
Includes articles about Pole Vault, High Jump, Shot Put, Discus, Sprints, Middle Distance, Javelin, Hurdles and more. From the website:
"Our event specific training zones offer the latest and greatest technique and training information from top experts! The experts on the M-F Athletic team keep apprised of the latest techniques, rules, and equipment. Our goal is to help you become a better coach, athlete, or team!" [link]

Sample of a training article from Everything Track & Field:

Long Jump Technique and Training, by Jim Giroux, M-F Athletic. Giroux's article discusses the following: 1) Accelerate to maximum controllable speed 2) Transition this approach into a takeoff and 3) Land the jump in as efficient a manner as possible:

Teaching the rocking start
The athlete will begin with their takeoff foot forward and rock back so most of their weight is on the rear leg. Make sure they swing their arms in opposition to their legs when pushing out of this position and “rocking” back over their front leg. All forces should be directed horizontally into the ground. By starting in this fashion the athlete is able to use momentum generated from the rock to aid the start. It helps insure a consistent reliable, start that leads to an accurate approach.

As I find more articles about training, I'll include them in a post titled "Training Methods on the Web, Part 2." Until then, happy and productive training to you!

Gender Differences in Athletic Performance

2007-06-16T10:38:00.000-05:00

After I heard the radio broadcast of Meseret Defar's fabulous Women's 5000m world-record run yesterday, I recalled a theory stating that due to physiological gender differences (VO₂ max, body fat %, efficiency of stride, etc.) there is approximately a 10% difference between men's and women's world records. I also recall hearing that the longer an event, the less difference there are between the two genders; either that, or the advantages women have (smaller mass means less heat required to be expended, fat is burned more efficiently) in the longer events cancel out the disadvantages they may have (see above). I wondered if that was true for the 5000m based on this new record so I did a little analysis.

Meseret's record of 14:16.63 is indeed only 11.6% slower than the men's world record of 12:37.35. Looking at the 5000m, the statistic seem to bear out the theory. How do women compare in other events?

100, 6.9%
200, 9.5%
400, 9.3%
800, 10.7%
1000, 11.4%
1500, 10.6%
Mile, 11.7%
2000, 12.5%
Steeplechase, 12.5%
3000, 9.3%
5000, 11.6%
10,000, 11.0%
20,000, 13.0%
Hour, 15.1%
25,000, 15.1%
30,000, 15.6%
100/110 Hurdles, -5.5%
400 Hurdles, 10.6%
High Jump, 17.2%
Pole Vault, 22.4%
Long Jump, 19.0%
Triple Jump, 18.0%
Shot, 2.2%
Discus, -3.5%
Hammer, 11.5%
Javelin, 37.4%

The statistics highlighted in red are for those events in which there is an advantage of some kind in the woman's event (4kg for the women's shot put compared to 7.26kg for the men's shot put, for instance, or shorter distance and shorter implements in the women's 100m hurdles vs. the men's 110m high hurdles). The women's record is actually faster than the men's mark in some of those events (100m/110m hurdles and Discus) and there is virtually no difference in another (shot put). In one event (the javelin throw) the weight of the women's implement is 0.75% of the men's implement, yet there is a significant disparity of 37.4% between the women's and men's records.
In many of the events without a weight/distance advantage there is indeed a close to 10% difference, especially in the track events.

The statistics for the field events are a big surprise. The disparities are much larger than I thought they would be. At the other end of the spectrum, the % difference of only 6.9% in the 100m was a big surprise to me, too. Was Flo-jo pumped up? There was some controversy about the validity of her performances, even after her death.

The statistics for the longer events are also a surprise. The statistics don't seem to bear out a woman's endurance advantage. Perhaps we need to go beyond the marathon to begin to see the gap closed between men's and women's performances? I also wonder if less experience for women on the international stage accounts for the larger gaps in performance, especially in the pole vault and the triple jump.

Are any these statistics a surprise to you, too? Either way, please comment on this post and let us know!

Incredible New World Record by Defar!

2007-06-15T14:55:00.000-05:00

(photo courtesy of www.bislettgames.com)
At the ExxonMobil Bislett Games in Oslo, Norway, Meseret Defar of Ethiopia smashed her own world record of 14:24.53 in the women's 5000m run by 7.90 seconds with an incredible 14:16.63. Kenya's Vivian Cheruiyot also dipped under the record with a time of 14:22.51. In a post-race interview Defar said she expects to run a 14:10 in the future.

Osafa Powell of Jamaica won the men's 100m in a time of 9.94, the 2nd fastest 100m in the world this year, Powell's time is only 1/100th of a second behind Walter Dix' 2007 world-best time of 9.93. For complete results and news, visit the Bislett Games website here.

Mottram Takes Rare Crack At Mile Run

2007-06-14T21:10:00.000-05:00

Oslo, Norway's historic ExxonMobil Bislett Games, the first meet of the 2007 IAAF Golden League Series throughout Europe, begins in just under 15 hours from now. The featured event will be the famous Dream Mile. Craig Mottram will take on Kenyans Daniel Kipchirchir Komen and Alex Kipchirchir in a bid to try and restore the event to its old luster.

Both Mottram and Komen are fresh off of victories in the Prefontaine Classic - Mottram with an American all-comer's record of 8:03.50 in the 2 Mile and Komen with an American all-comer's record of 3:48.28 in the Mile. Kipchirchir finished 3rd in that race in a time of 3:52.10. He also ran the fastest Mile of 2006 in a time of 3:50.32.

Osafa Powell, the world's fastest human, will also run in Oslo. He hopes to dip under his 2007 best of 9.97 seconds.

The interview with 22 year veteran meet director Svein Arne Hansen can be read here

Click here to access the live radio stream from 7:30 pm until 10:00pm local time (Greenwich Mean Time + 2 hrs).

Racing With Rabbits is No Drag

2007-06-14T08:59:00.000-05:00

Jesse Squire over at The Track & Field Superblog proposed some ideas for streamlining and improving the USATF VISA Tour points system. His main thrust was "a new method based mostly on competition" that would "give athletes points based on place." His argument is that "running for time instead of competition destroys competition in favor of time trialing."

I can appreciate his argument. It's one made often by track and field purists. I just can't hang my hat on the phrase "destroys competition." I commented on his post:

Good ideas. You've got to admit, though, that organized "time trials" do have their place — especially in the middle-distance races — and are what produce most world records. There's nothing quite like watching a race that has a couple of world-class runners being paced by a couple of knowledgeable rabbits. Those type of "time trial" conditions are what allow us to be treated to a world record like the exquisitely paced Mile world record by Hicham El Guerrouj. In fact, Roger Bannister's historic first sub 4 would not have been possible under competitive conditions. Only by being paced by Chris Brasher and Chris Chataway was Bannister able to pull off his historic feat.

Squire replied to my comment:

In my opinion, organized time trials have destroyed the sport. The GP circuit almost never has a competitive finish in races of 1500m or further. Unless someone is on WR pace, they are so boring as to be unwatchable.

In 1954 there was some debate as to whether or not Bannister's record should have been approved, and in ensuing years Bannister himself began to wish it hadn't happened the way it did. In the early 60s he predicted rabbitting and time-trialing and thought it would ruin the competition that makes the sport interesting. I think he was right.

This is precisely why NASCAR and the PGA have changed their formats--to keep their championships up for grabs right until the very end.

Squire is arguing from the point-of-view of track and field purists, who want to keep track and field uncomplicated and honest. Track and field, they say, should be about running faster, leaping higher, throwing and jumping farther. It's an admirable point-of-view, and one that has my full respect, but it seems to me that a purist attitude tends to constrain innovation, creativity and potential. I just don't think there's a "right" or "wrong" answer to the question of whether or not "running for time instead of competition destroys competition in favor of time trialing." There's room in track events for both types of races. Here's why:

The main argument purists make against organized time trials (OTT's) is that they are somehow not an "honest competition" because they change the nature of a race from a pure competitive effort (the first man to the finish line wins, on your mark, get set, go!) to more of a staged (and supposedly artificial) event. An argument could also be made that a pure, competitive race lends itself more to tactics than to an honest effort and ensures that the fastest kicker, not the fastest racer over the entire distance, will win most of the time.

A runner who lacks a kick knows that the only way he can win is to employ a front-runner tactic, that is, to run as sort of a rabbit who has no intention of quitting the race thus forcing the kickers in the race to run a faster pace than they would like to run. The strategy is to "blunt the kick" of the speedster in the last lap. In a competition among athletes of equal talent, that kind of tactic works only in the rarest of occasions. Why? Pure and simple: front-running requires that a runner encounter the full force of drag at the front end of a slipstream. In other words, the front runner is, in effect, cutting a path through the air and using 6% more energy over a given distance than the runners who are drafting behind him.

Let's say two runners of equal ability (same PR, same "kicking" speed, same level of fitness, same level of psychological preparation, same VO₂ max, same pre-race diet, rest, everything) run in a 1500m race, but one of the runners drafts while the other runs from the front. Who would win? The runner who drafts would win just about every time because she has used 6% less energy than the front-runner. The only time the front runner would win is if something out-of-the-ordinary happens during the race, say the other runner's shoelace comes untied so she trips and falls, something like that.

Now let's take the exact race scenario but introduce a couple of rabbits into the equation. Both of the aforementioned runners of equal ability are now safely tucked in behind the rabbit, so they are not only of equal ability, but now they are expending the same amount of energy. When those two evenly-matched runners reach the final lap, that last lap is going to be so tightly contested that it's going to cause a swell of excitement in the grandstands. Can you see how this would be a much more exciting 1500m race than the first one?

Now let's take the same 1500m race, but change the scenario around just a bit. Let's make it an Olympic final this time, so there can be no rabbits. Let's introduce one kicker and one front-runner who has no kick whatsoever. Other than the difference in speed, everything else is the same as it was for the two runners in the previous scenario. The front-runner's only chance in this race is to try and determine the right time to muster up the courage to run from the front.

He is presented with a dilemma. He is using 6% more energy than the kicker so he can't go to the front immediately or else he will lose his head of steam and lose the race in the end. On the other hand, he can't wait too long to move to the front because he won't have blunted his opponent's leg speed so he would get outkicked. Let's say he chooses the exact right time and he moves out neither too or early nor too late. He opens a gap between himself and the kicker and maintains that gap until 200m from the finish line. At that point the kicker begins his drive for the tape and begins closing the gap. But who will win? It may be a photo finish!

I've just set up an extremely exciting race that is the track purist's dream scenario. But it is certainly no more exciting than the previous scenario. As you can see, there is room for races with rabbits and races without rabbits. That's what I love about the sport.

Early-Warning Signals for Overtraining Syndrome

2007-06-13T14:42:00.000-05:00

Fred has left a new comment on " Suggest a Topic! ":

Do competitive runners absolutely live on Advil or what? I've somehow injured myself (again), and might end up taking a few days off, which professional athletes surely cannot afford.

And let's not even get started talking about the feet. A five-mile run is what? 10,000 steps? Which is what? 450 pounds of force absorbed into each shoe 5,000 times per workout? It's impressive how they can work through what must be virtually chronic pain.

You'll want to ask how old I am. Resist the urge. OK, fine. Let's just say that I'm almost 39 (in metric).

Sounds like you're suffering from overtraining syndrome. One of the sad facts of life is that most athletes, as they age, are not only slower but they need more rest and recovery than they did when they were younger. If you're training with the same intensity as you were when you were 10 years younger, you're probably overtraining. As for professional athletes, I would imagine that they can't afford not to take several days off when they're in pain. Otherwise, they risk serious injury and perhaps throwing an entire season away. For them (and us) cross-training is a good alternative to pounding out the miles on sore legs or feet (or hips or knees or ankles or...) and may in fact help reduce or prevent that soreness and pain in the first place!

If I am in pain, my body is issuing an emergency broadcast warning to me: DANGER, DANGER, TAKE THE DAY OFF! Unfortunately, pain is not a good early-warning signal. By the time I feel pain, I'm already well past the point of sensible training and I may be even on my way to injury. Of course, I'm speaking here as a layman and not as a physician, so I can only speak from my own experiences. Please do not take my experiences as medical advice.

The best early-warning indicator I know to determine whether on not I'm overtraining is to do an Orthostatic Heart Rate Test (don't worry - it's easier than it sounds) every morning without fail. If my heart rate is roughly the same for several days in a row and then suddenly it goes up by too many points one morning, say more than 15 to 20 beats per minute (bpm), that's a warning sign. It means that my body hasn't fully recovered and I should either do a gentle recovery workout or take the day off entirely. The best part about this technique is that it's easy (I take my pulse for 10 seconds before I get up, multiply by 6 to determine my bpm, then stand up and take my pulse again after 15 seconds, again multiply by 6 to determine my bpm, then subtract the first measurement from the second), it's completely reliable and – since most people already own a clock or watch with a second hand – requires no financial investment. What if you don't have a timepiece with a second hand? Simple. Take your pulse for a full minute. That's a well-invested minute that could literally save your legs and feet from injury.

Try that for the next few days and see if the pain you feel starts going away right about the time your heart rate goes back down to normal. But of course, don't listen to my layman advice. See a doctor instead.

New Logo for 2012 Olympics?

2007-06-13T12:49:00.000-05:00

Now that Lord Sebastian Coe "has announced an official inquiry into the handling of the 2012 Olympic branding and has threatened to withdraw funding for the work," it appears all but certain that a new logo will be designed to replace the disastrous current one. Hopefully the new one will not cause epileptic seizures.

I commissioned a crack team of designers to come up with a new logo. The design is now finished and I would be willing to sell it to LOCOG for half the £400,000 price they agreed to pay for the original logo. My price is a bargain, considering that my team's design is guaranteed not to cause seizures and "it will inspire everyone and reach out to young people," as Coe hoped the Olympic emblem would do. Click below to see the new logo.

Interview with Masters Runner/Blogger Jon Waldron

2007-06-13T09:36:00.000-05:00

I recently stumbled across an impressive blog devoted primarily to High School Track and Cross-Country called NNHS Track and Cross-Country. The blogger is "almost 50" year old Jon Waldron, a part-time high school coach at Newton North High School in Newton, MA who also works for a software company. Waldron is an accomplished masters middle-distance runner who is preparing to advance to the national level once he hits the M50 age group. The more I get to know about this remarkable man, the more I'm struck by his unique and admirable approach to life. He seems to be a man who approaches everything he does – blogging, coaching, running – from the perspective that sees life in much the same way as does Colin Powell, who said that, "excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude." Here's what Waldron had to say in our recent interview:

Do you coach full time or do you have another career in addition to coaching?

I work at a small software company that makes speech recognition software for cell phones. My work schedule is flexible, but demanding, and it means I can only coach part-time. I don't coach at all during the winter.

What are your greatest rewards in coaching high school athletes? Challenges?

I enjoy the company of high school kids. I find them to be very eager and curious and open-minded. I'm biased, of course, but I think track and field is the perfect sport for teenagers because every single athlete can experience first-hand the connection between effort and improvement. Everyone can improve! I think the greatest reward is the moment when an athlete suddenly realizes that it is in their power to become better than they ever thought they could be. Tremendous!

The biggest challenge is, without a doubt, the fact that so many kids are over-scheduled. Their lives seem so booked with classes and activities that I wonder if they have any free time at all. I like to think that running can be free time for them, or at least a kind of release, but I worry that it will become just one more activity that has to be slotted into a schedule that would make a CEO weep.

What are your events? PRs? Titles? Competitive goals?

I have always run well at middle distances, especially 1M and 3000m. I had a really good year a few years ago and ran 4:33 for the mile as a 45-year-old. But I still feel like I can train smarter and race better. I'd like to be competitive at the national level in the 50-54 age group when I turn 50 next year.

What led you to blogging?

I've always liked to write. I also wanted a place to post news, results, etc. for the teams I have coached. Keeping up a web site became very time-consuming, but blogging was perfect.

How have you managed to persist in your blogging for nearly two years? That's not easy to do.

Well, I've had dry spells where I couldn't keep it up. I guess I try to have one or two "essay-style" posts a week on topics that really interest me in a deep way. The rest of the time, I just try to pass on news or respond to some event that has just taken place.

How do you get inspiration for the topics you write about?

I think I just find runners and running interesting for some reason. Every single day something happens that makes me think about the sport in a new way. Of course, I'm not always able to translate that feeling into something that would be interesting for others to read. Actually, I have started dozens of essays that I have never posted because I just haven't felt that I've found the right perspective or the right words to express my thoughts.

Do you have any other suggestions for new bloggers?

No. Well...actually Yes. I would suggest trying to write about 75% about other people and 25% about yourself.

What's your take on the state of track and field/running blogging in general?

I love the fact that there is so much information available online. I have always loved numbers as the language of track and field, and it is wonderful to have access to so much data. As for the state of track and field, that's way too big a question for me.

Who is the greatest Track & Field athlete of all time and why?

I think there are too many different sets of criteria in play to come up with a meaningful answer. I will say that I have always been fascinated by those athletes who changed the way other people looked at the sport or a particular event. I like the innovators.

What question did I not ask you that I should have asked?

How has the experience of training and racing changed for you since you were a high school runner yourself?

I would answer by saying that I am surprised and happy to be enjoying running as much now as I did when I was 17. Of course, I'm much slower. But when I was a kid I was always worried about how I FELT -- I mean, whether this or that muscle ached, whether I was over-matched or tired from a previous race. If I didn't feel just right, then I didn't think I could train well or race well. As I have grown older, I've realized that to a large extent we choose how we want to feel. Last night I did a track workout, and before the workout I was feeling pretty tired and I started worrying that I wouldn't be able to complete the workout that I had planned. Then I started laughing because I realized that I've felt that way before probably 90% of the track workouts I've ever done. I relaxed and the workout went fine. I think that kind of perspective is one of the things you learn with age and experience.

The kids at Newton North are lucky to have a coach like Jon Waldron. We're lucky to be able to get a glimpse into his world through his blogging. I highly recommend that you stop by and check it out.

"Running Doctor" Blog is Now Up and... (yes, that's right) Running!

2007-06-12T17:53:00.000-05:00

I just found a brand-spanking new blog from Dr. Lewis G. Maharam, the world’s premier running physician, over at the Runner's World website. The Running Doctor's stated goal for his blog is to "communicate directly with you. Although diagnosing specific problems over the Internet is impossible, we can discuss injuries and conditions and share the most current information on prevention, treatment, and recovery so that when you see your physician, you can be better informed."

This blog is so new, the only post he has made on it so far is the introductory post he made on June 8th. So far, there have been 50 comments left on the good doctor's very first post! At that rate, I can't imagine that there's any possible way he will be able to answer every single runner's question, but I'm sure you'll have as much fun challenging him as you have challenging me!

Lights, Camera, Action!

2007-06-12T11:51:00.000-05:00

Here's a fascinating glimpse into the world of television production as it relates to track and field coverage. This is a sample of the TV Production Outline for the ExxonMobil Bislett Games:

Production and Split of Disciplines:

• Unit 1 – Integration, Track and Presentation for Multilateral World Feed Total of 14 x Cameras.
• Unit 2 – Throws, Javelin (4 cameras, mixed with graphics).
• Unit 3 – Vertical Jump, Pole Vault & High Jump (6 cameras, mixed with graphics).
• Unit 4 – Horizontal Jump, Triple Jump (5 cameras, mixed with
graphics).

Field Cameras shared – Total of 15 Cameras for Field Events.
29 Cameras in total in use for the World Feed.
• Camera Plan accessible at: Camera plan field - Camera plan track
• Feeds of all Cameras or Feeds can be made available if Rights Holders wish to have their own SNG. The Rights Holder can then cut and mix their own coverage.

If you're a budding director, or if you're just interested in learning about how complex the TV production of a track meet really is in the media age, click here to see all of the TV Production Outlines for all of the IAAF Golden League events in 2007. You can also check out some letters from the meet directors, get timetables, start lists, results, athlete bios, and more. You can even get access to free, live streaming radio coverage of all the meets!

Heat-Related Deaths and Fishing Metaphors

2007-06-12T10:27:00.000-05:00

Fred has left a new comment on "Suggest a Topic!":

"How about your analysis of global warming using the sport's heat-related deaths and injuries as your only indicator? That is, notwithstanding other evidence (surely a loaded phrase in and of itself, even though it shouldn't be), graph global warming (or global cooling, or neither) based solely on track and field’s increases (or decreases, or neither) in heat-related deaths and injuries."

If I had to answer your question "using the sport's heat-related deaths and injuries as [my] only indicator," I'd have the shortest analysis ever:

There isn't enough evidence to make a claim either way.

If you'll allow me to widen the net just a bit, I could actually get enough statistics in the boat to do a proper analysis and to make a valid claim, one way or another.

"Go ahead, matey," you say? You like fishing metaphors? Thanks. I appreciate that.

The CDC reports that, "from 1979-2003, excessive heat exposure caused 8,015 deaths in the United States." That's an average of 321 deaths a year caused by heat. That includes all deaths, including young children left alone in automobiles, the elderly or homeless who don't have access to air-conditioning during the hottest time of the summer, the homeless, the mentally ill and chronically ill. It does also include healthy individuals don't take common-sense precautions such as exercising during the coolest part of the day and rehydrating properly.

According to the CDC, "in 2001, 300 deaths were caused by excessive heat exposure." Since the 2001 rate is actually lower than the 25-year average, that would seem to indicate that heat-related deaths are not on the rise.

Much more worrisome are the 654,092 deaths that occur every year because of heart disease. The warming of the earth's climate shouldn't be as much of a concern to us as a hot plate of french fries and a double cheeseburger.

Wariner Mystery Solved

2007-06-12T08:27:00.000-05:00

I contacted Jill M. Geer, USATF Director of Communications, and she cleared up the Jeremy Wariner mystery I discussed here. Her reply was that, "defending world champions have a bye to get to worlds. Our rules require, as you know, that they compete at our national meet. Any event is fine. (Note that the rule doesn’t say 'compete in their main event.') Jeremy could throw the shot if he wanted."

So now we understand why Wariner is competing in the 200m instead of in the 400m. World champions have options the rest of us don't have. Wariner is simply using the National Championships as a speed tune up. Look for him to break 20 seconds if the weather is good. If Wariner can break 20 seconds for 200m, the 400m record should be in jeopardy this summer.

Geer also noted that, "Allyson Felix is entered in the 100 and 200. She definitely will do the 100m and will see how it’s going for the 200m." Felix is the defending World Champion in the women's 200m, having run a 22.16 in Helsinki, Finland. She's got options, too. Could we see a 100m, 200m 4x100m relay triple from her in Osaka?

Wariner's Name Conspicuously Absent from National Championships 400m Entrants' List

2007-06-11T23:50:00.000-05:00

I've been keeping an eye on the list/status of entries at the USATF National Championships page because one name has been conspicuously absent from it: Jeremy Wariner. His name did finally show up on the list tonight, but not where you'd expect it to be. He has submitted an entry for the men's 200m, not the men's 400m.

Wariner stated early this season that he plans on defending his 400m World Championship title in Osaka, Japan this August. Since the U.S. National Championships are the gateway to the World Championships for American athletes, wouldn't you expect for Wariner to submit an entry for the 400m, or perhaps for both events? What's going on here? Is Wariner exempt, maybe, because he's the defending World Champion? Well, that's true for the selection processes of some countries, but not for the U.S. team. Here's the pertinent rule from the Selection Procedures page on the USATF website:

"In order to qualify for the World Championships Team, athletes must compete at the 2007 AT&T USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, except for relay team participation."

Maybe Wariner knows something about the selection process that we don't know. In a recent interview he stated that:

"I know I will be able to [break 44 seconds] in Paris which is the next quarter I run," he said. "That was the first time I broke it last year.

By "Paris" he means the Meeting Gaz de France on July 6th. Since he's not running his next "quarter" until July 6th, it sounds as if he's definitely not planning on running the 400m qualifier (first round is on June 21st) at Indy. A check of his schedule reveals that he will only be running the 200m.

Let's hope that indeed Wariner is granted a pass for whatever reason and will automatically qualify for Osaka. It's be a shame for him to miss a shot at defending his title – and possibly breaking Michael Johnson's world record of 43.18 seconds – because of some oversight on his part about the selection process. If you have some insight into this matter, please feel free to post a comment. I'll keep digging to uncover the truth.

Shorter-Rodgers Rivalry Renewed in Middletown

2007-06-11T05:23:00.000-05:00

I love stories like this one. Running legends Frank Shorter and Bill Rodgers are both 59 years old now, yet neither one can stand to lose to the other after all these years! I remember reading about their rivalry at the Middletown, NY Orange Classic 10K in SI when I was a kid in the early 1980s. (Man, those Kenny Moore articles were great, weren't they?) I remember Shorter being hampered by injuries all the time back then while Rodgers was in his prime. Yet Shorter always seemed to muster the courage to run through those injuries and win that race in his hometown. I was stunned to read that they're both still at each other a quarter of a century later! Shorter took it yet again, winning in 47:38 to Rodgers' 49:31.

Perhaps the better story is Ed Whitlock, age 76, who was way ahead of both Shorter and Rodgers in the Classic with a 70th place (out of 783 finishers) in a time of 41:14. Whitlock runs three hours a day when training for marathons. Truly Phenomenal.

Retirement From Track Can Cause Loss of Faith?

2007-06-10T19:45:00.001-05:00

Interesting discussion over on the Track & Field News Message Board (thanks for sharing, EPelle) about an article in the UK's Daily Mail. The article features British Olympian Jonathan Edwards, who – although he has been retired for 4 years– is still the world-record holder in the triple jump. At one point in his career, Edwards – like Eric Liddell from Chariots of Fire fame – refused to compete on Sundays. Now that he has stopped competing, he has entered into a mid-life spiritual crisis:

"I don’t claim to fully understand what I’m feeling, other than to acknowledge that something I never doubted – God – I have huge doubts about now," he revealed.

"This is a hugely complex and deeply personal issue," he said. "I think a basic sense of morality is shared by people of all faiths and none. It would be stupid for me to sit here and say that losing my faith didn’t have anything to do with my retirement. Perhaps I had been shielded from doubt because I had such a highly focused life as an athlete. Then, I asked a few questions that I hadn’t asked before."

I don't envy Edwards' position. The questions he is asking now are the most difficult and important he's ever had to ask, certainly more important than whether or not to compete in a track meet. As difficult as it may be to believe when one is in the middle of a Dark Night of the Soul, sincere questions of doubt are probably much more genuine and conducive to spiritual growth than is a smug certainty that doesn't ask any questions.

Windy, Drizzly 2007 Prefontaine Classic

2007-06-10T17:01:00.001-05:00

Drizzly, windy conditions kept the Prefontaine Classic from being as good a meet as it could have been. Both Alan Webb and Bernard Lagat ran disappointing races, while Matt Tegenkamp and Nick Symmonds both stepped up to the world stage. Let's go over the highlights:

The men's 800m run was taken out with an insane sub 49 second fist lap, leaving Olympic Gold Medalist Yuriy Borzakovskiy of Russia in last place some 15 meters back for most of the lap. With the rest of the entire field, including Khadevis Robinson, suffering from oxygen debt and lactic acidosis during the second lap, Borzakovskiy overtook the entire field. Symmonds stayed on his shoulder, though, and outkicked him for the win in a PB of 1:44.54 to Borzakovskiy's 1:44.71. Robinson finished 3rd in 1:44.99. Symmonds now has to be considered the favorite to win the 800m at the U.S. Championships.

During the men's 2 mile post-race interview, Craig Mottram of Australia colorfully explained that the race came down to the size of certain parts of the male anatomy. His anatomy was apparently the most favorably endowed because he won the race, outkicking Tariku Bekele to win in 8:03.50 to Bekele's 8:04.83. Matt Tegenkamp became America's middle-distance heir apparent, running a 3rd place American record of 8:07.07, smashing Alan Webb's record by nearly 4 1/2 seconds. The three men broke the all-comer's record of 8:07.68, set last year by Eliud Kipchoge at the Pre Classic. Webb had switched to the 2 mile to take advantage of his fitness level and break his record. He looked completely flat, however, and was never a factor in the race. He finished in 9th place with a time of 8:23.97.

Bernard Lagat looked flat, too, being outkicked by Daniel Komen in the Bowerman Mile. Despite not having an answer to Komen's kick, Lagat finished in a fine time of 3:50.56 to Komen's world-leading time of 3:48.28, a U.S. all-comer's record. Lagat has said that the reason he was outkicked by Webb at the Reebok Grand Prix mile was because he had just come down from training at 7,000 foot altitude in Flagstaff, AZ. His 3:50 proved that the altitude training is certainly paying off. Now he just needs to begin his taper to peak in time for Osaka. He is so strong that the National Championships should be his for the taking even without the benefit of a kick right now. Webb can't be discounted, though. After all, he did outkick Lagat a couple of weeks ago. Maybe this was just a bad day for him. It happens.

Other than the top four runners, the Bowerman Mile was just ordinary with 5th through 10th places being run in times ranging from 3:56.21 to 4:00.07. Jim Sorensen might have had an excellent chance at making history in being the first master to break 4 minutes outdoors. Meet director Tom Jordan blew the call by not inviting him to compete.

In the men's shot put, Christian Cantwell continued his domination of the event, posting the world's 3rd furthest throw of the year in 71 feet 7 1/2 inches. Reese Hoffa also threw well with a 71' 0 1/2", the world's 5th furthest throw of the year.

In the women's 800m, Maria Mutola continued her reign as the Hayward Field 800m queen with her 15th straight win at the Pre Classic in a time of 1:58.33. Behind her, Alice Schmidt ran the fastest time by an American this year to finish in 3rd place with a solid time of 1:58.75. Kenia Sinclair of Jamaica finished second in 1:58.61.

Paul Koech of Kenya won the men's 3000m Steeplechase by nearly half a lap. Considering he ran by himself almost the entire way, his winning time of 8:08.10 was outstanding.

The windy, wet conditions were not favorable to sprinters, so there were no notable performances in those events, other than Sanya Richards' comeback with a victory in the 400m dash. She finished her first race of 2007 with a decent time of 50.74. Complete results of the Prefontaine Classic can be found here.

Golden League Series Begins This Friday

2007-06-10T08:05:00.000-05:00

The IAAF Golden League, a series of 6 meets throughout Europe this summer, begins this coming Friday, June 15th in Oslo, Norway at the ExxonMobil Bislett Games. These events are the "A" league of track and field, with a $1 million purse at the end of the series. The top finishers of the first three meets will have to be considered among the favorites at the World Championships in Osaka, which begins on August 25th. The last three meets are scheduled after the World Championships.

Osafa Powell, the world record holder in the men's 100m dash (9.77 seconds) and therefore the owner of the title "the fastest man in the world," has signed up for all 6 meets:

'“Since running 9.97 for 100m in Belgrade on 29 May my training has gone extremely well and I am very confident that I can combine the twin goals of a successful Golden League campaign with gold medal winning performances at the World Championships in Osaka,” said Powell from his base in Kingston, Jamaica.'

Stay tuned to Finish Line Pundit for complete coverage and commentary on the Golden League series.

Event Previews/News

Hurdles
Men's 1500m
Men's Javelin Throw
Jumps and Vault
Complete Golden League News

Golden League Schedule 2007
[click on logo to view meet website]

1. Friday, June 15th ExxonMobil Bislett Games, Oslo (NOR)

2. Friday, July 06th Meeting Gaz de France, Paris Saint-Denis Paris Saint-Denis (FRA)

3. Friday, July 13th Golden Gala, Roma (ITA)

4. Friday, September 07th Weltklasse Zürich, Zürich (SUI)

5. Friday, September 14th Memorial Van Damme, Bruxelles (BEL)

6. Sunday, September 16th ISTAF, Berlin (GER)

BENGAY® Can Kill You?!?

2007-06-09T18:12:00.000-05:00

A 17 year old high school cross-country runner from New York died of an apparent overdose of Methyl salicylate, the active ingredient found in many pain-relieving sports balms such as BENGAY® and ICY HOT®. These balms are routinely used by millions of athletes to treat sore muscles and joints. According to the NY Times, "methyl salicylate poisoning is unusual, and deaths from high levels of the chemical are rare." The NY Times article also mentioned that:

'Johnson & Johnson, the makers of BENGAY®, expressed sympathy for the family in a statement.
The company reminded consumers about “the importance of reading the label on this and all over-the-counter medicines to ensure safe and proper use.”'

It appears that this tragedy could have been avoided. Be sure and read those warning labels, folks. Your life could depend on it.

Tom Jordan Blows a Big Chance at History

2007-06-09T16:19:00.000-05:00

I should have dug a little deeper before I posted a few minutes ago. Dave Clingan posted a comment over on Masterstrack.com blog revealing that Tom Jordan has made his decision to NOT invite Jim Sorensen to race in the Prefontaine Classic Bowerman Mile. He's reasoning is that inviting Sorensen:

"...doesn't fit in with the Bowerman Mile. We've assembled a full field of sub-3:50 milers, and there really isn't anyone else in the 4-minute category. No HS athletes trying to break 4, for example. Jim would be by himself, running 50-60 meters behind the pack. Not only would that make it very tough to break 4, but it wouldn't be a good show. In my opinion, Jim needs to organize a mile race in the next few weeks that is specifically aimed at his breaking 4-minutes. That will be his best shot."

I don't buy Jordan's reasoning. The ExxonMobil Bislett Games Dream Mile on June 15th will have a field of 18 runners, five more than the start list at Pre. Jordan hasn't "assembled a full field" as he claims.

I put together a chart showing all of the times (in seconds) of the past 10 Bowerman Miles. A 3:59.9 finish (in bold), which is what Sorensen hopes to accomplish, would have finished as high as 8th place and never would have finished last in comparison to actual historical times. Not only that, but there have been as many as 17 contestants in the past. None of Jordan's reasons for declining to invite Sorensen seem to hold any water:

Let's hope that the entire field can rise to the occasion and not prove Jordan wrong. If the history of the Bowerman mile is any indication, quite a few runners will run in the 3:58 to 4:10 range. If that's the case, as it probably will be, then he'll need to explain why he doesn't seem to support the masters track and field community, which – I might add – is a HUGE part of the track and field fan base in the United States. Jordan just might be shooting himself – and U.S. track and field – in the foot.

Pre's Tom Jordan May Miss a Chance at History in the Bowerman Mile

2007-06-09T16:02:00.001-05:00

I took a peek just now at the start list for the Prefontaine Classic Bowerman Mile and I still didn't see Jim Sorensen's name listed among the entrants, which – as of today – include the following runners:

BOWERMAN MILE
Bernard Lagat
Alex Kipchirchir (Kenya)
Daniel K. Komen (Kenya)
Shedrack Korir (Kenya)
Chris Lukezic
Kevin Sullivan (Canada)
Said Ahmed
Nicholas Kemboi (Kenya)
Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya)
Rob Myers
Ryan McKenzie (Canada)
Geoffrey Rono (Kenya)—pace
Ross Krempley—pace

Start time for the Bowerman Mile is 2:52PM Pacific Time tomorrow, just over 24 hours from now. Let's hope meet director Tom Jordan is still considering extending an invitation to Sorensen, who – if given an opportunity to race tomorrow's elite field – could set the world M40 record and be the first master to go under 4 minutes outdoors.

2007 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Highlights

2007-06-09T14:32:00.000-05:00

Walter Dix of Florida State lead his team to a second straight team title winning the 100m dash, the 200m dash and helping the FSU win the 4x100m Relay in 38.60. Dix' time of 9.93 in the 100m was the fastest time in the world this year and just 1/100th off of Ato Bolden's NCAA record of 9.92. Dix is looking ahead to the U.S. Championships or Osaka to try and beat the record. His winning time in the 200m was a slowish 20.31 compared to his phenomenal 19.69 from a couple of weeks ago. Arizona State took the women's team title.

Other highlights included a tightly-contested men's 1500m final, a tactical women's 1500m race and Baylor's ubiquitous 4x400m Relay team, who competed in their 4,307,683rd straight NCAA final.

Seriously, this was "only" Baylor's 27th straight NCAA Final in the men's 4x400m Relay. Their victory today in 3:00.04 gave the Baylor relay team (Reggie Witherspoon, LeJerald Betters, Kevin Mutai, Quentin Summers) their 14th NCAA Championship title and tied them with the United States "Blue" team of David Neville David, Wallace Spearmon, Kerron Clement and Bershawn Jackson for the world's fastest time in 2007. Betters ran a blazing 44.1 second leg to put the race away early for Baylor.

Stephen Pifer of Colorado acted as the sacrificial lamb in the men's 1500m run. He did all of the hard work in taking the field through 1100m in 2:43, but his noble effort to steal the race from the kickers left him exhausted. The kickers prevailed anyway, running the last lap in under 55 seconds. Leonel Manzano of Texas began his kick with just over 300m to go, but Lopez Lomong of Northern Arizona drafted him the entire way then outkicked him to win in 3:37.07 to Manzano's 3:37.48. Russell Brown of Stanford drove hard for home, nearly nipping Manzano at the tape. Brown finished 3rd in 3:37.56. Vincent Rono of South Alabama also finished in under 3:38, putting all four top finishers among the world's 18 fastest metric milers of the world in 2007.

The women's 1500m race featured some nice racing tactics by the three-woman Stanford contingent of Arianna Lambie, Alicia Follmar and Lauren Centrowitz. Follmar and Centrowitz surged to the lead and formed a wall, trying to box Brie Felnagle of North Carolina while Lambie took over the lead and opened a gap. Felnagle quickly closed the gap and went to Lambie's shoulder. With just under a lap to go, Felnagle tried to pass Lambie, but Lambie boldly moved out to the second lane to counter Felnagle's move. Felnagle was just too strong, however, and she eventually overtook Lambie and stayed in the lead, winning in a solid 4:09.93. Susan Kuijken of Florida State outkicked Lambie to take second in 4:11.34. Lambie finished 3rd in 4:12.29.

Complete Results

Treadmills vs. Road Work

2007-06-08T15:29:00.000-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on "Suggest a Topic!":

How much treadmill time factors into formal training for competitive athletes? And how much road work?

Treadmills are discouraged for competitive track and field training, except for bad-weather training, or situations that prevent an athlete from otherwise being able to train (mothers of small children who can't get a babysitter, for instance). Pete Pfitzinger, a former world-class runner and now exercise physiologist and coach, explains that treadmills, "are a necessary evil. Running on a treadmill is not quite the same as running on the road, but it’s a hell of a lot more specific to running than any other form of cross-training. Unless you are a treadmill veteran, you should limit your treadmill runs to general aerobic runs and recovery runs of up to 40 minutes."

As for roadwork, that all depends on a variety of factors (too many to discuss here in detail), including the specific event for which one is training, the experience and age of the runner, the conditions, the time of the year, whether or not the athlete is tapering for a big event. For a detailed training program for middle and long-distance competitive runners, I highly recommend Bob Glover's The Competitive Runner's Handbook: The Bestselling Guide to Running 5Ks through Marathons.

For sprint training, you might read Explosive Running : Using the Science of Kinesiology to Improve Your Performance, by Michael Yessis Ph.D., or Sports Speed by George B. Dintiman, Robert D. Ward and Tom Tellez.

For field events, I recommend Complete Book of Jumps by Ed Jacoby and Bob Fraley, and Complete Book of Throws by Jay Silvester.

Rupp Gets Outkicked in NCAA Championships 10,000m

2007-06-08T11:59:00.000-05:00

Shadrack Songok outkicked Galen Rupp on Thursday to take the 2007 NCAA men's 10,000m title at Sacramento, CA in 28:55.83. Rupp was 0.36 seconds back. His plan had been to sit on Songok until there were 3 laps to go. That was a recipe for certain defeat.

A while back I commented on this very thing, but Rupp must not be reading my blog, or he chose (perish the thought!) to ignore my advice, which was to begin his press for home from further out – 4 laps. But with the slow pace (4:45 per mile) for the first 5000m (14:45), I'm not sure even that extra lap would have made much of a difference. You see, Rupp's not a kicker, contrary to what Tom Feuer, the FSN announcer, proclaimed (effused?) during the PAC 10 broadcast.

What happened to Rupp was exactly the same thing that happened to Steve Prefontaine at the 1972 Munich Olympic 5000m final. The pace for the first half of that race was so slow that it didn't kill the kicks of the speedsters in the race. In the end, 3 men outlicked Pre.

Rupp had entered the NCAA race boasting a 2007 best 10000m time (27:33.48) that was 42.99 seconds faster than Songok's 2007 best of 28:16.47. There is no way he should have gotten beat. But he got overconfident in his kick, which was a big mistake. At the U.S. Championships, he'll need to do two things: run more-even splits and run them at a much faster pace (64 to 65 seconds per lap). If that's his game plan in Indianapolis, he should have a chance against Abdi Abdirahman, whose PBs are 27:22.81 (10,000m) and 13:19.81 (5000m). Unfortunately, he may not do that. His plan right now is to, "maybe do a little more speedwork." That's never going to work. He needs to put himself in a position where he doesn't have to rely on a kick.

Complete Results in Near-Real Time

Track & Field News Feeds

2007-06-08T10:29:00.000-05:00

If you haven't had a chance to check out the news feeds on this site (the links are all at the top-left of this page in the Menu section) then let me tell you what they're all about. Thanks to that wonderful technological innovation – RSS feeds – and a nifty little javascript I found over on RSS-to-Javascript.com I am able to offer you continuously-updated news feeds from a variety of track and field sources from around the interweb, 24/7. I've played around with feeds from various sources, including Google, Yahoo!, AOL, ESPN, etc., but the best ones I've found are the ones from IAAF, USATF, European Athletics and BBC News websites. All the news that can be found on those websites can now be conveniently found on a single website, that's right, Finish Line Pundit:

IAAF News | USATF News | BBC News | European Athletics News

Enjoy! And don't forget to bookmark FLP (press Ctrl+D on your keyboard) so you can come back often. These news feeds are updated automatically and continuously, so there's always fresh news content to be found. Oh, and to all of you new readers, thanks for visiting my site! I'm glad you decided to stop by.

Track & Field Favorites

2007-06-07T12:05:00.000-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on "Suggest a Topic!":

What is your favorite track & field movie? Novel? Documentary? Sculpture? Song? ("Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" by Rush does not count. No one listens to those guys anymore.)

I love your suggestion. I was ready for an easy, yet enjoyable, topic on which to write. Unfortunately, this topic is not turning out to be as easy as I thought it would be! Here goes nothing:

Favorite T&F Movie: Yes, I'm quite aware that it's a cliché to list Chariots of Fire as one's favorite movie about track and field. But how can I deny that it is so, when I still literally get goosebumps every time I watch it?

Favorite T&F Novel: In order to maintain membership in the track and field geeks club, it is mandatory to list John L. Parker's Once a Runner as one's favorite novel. Unfortunately, I've never actually read (or even seen a real copy of!) it, so I can't list it as my favorite novel. I have read a sample of it and several other novels about running in Garth Battista's fine The Runner's Literary Companion: Great Stories and Poems About Running. The sample I read was outstanding and I can't wait to get my hands on the real thing. For now, though, I'd have to say that Battista's anthology is my favorite work of fiction about track and field.

Favorite T&F Documentary: To be honest, I don't think I've seen a documentary about track and field in recent memory. I checked out this list and the only one on it that I can recall ever seeing was 16 Days of Glory many moons ago. By default, it would have to be my favorite. There are quite a few on the list that I would like to watch, especially the one about the Tarahumara people.

Favorite T&F Sculpture: Paavo Nurmi sculpture by Wäinö Aaltonen in Helsinki, Finland. The tower of the Helsinki Olympic Stadium can be seen in the background.

Favorite T&F Song: Then I'm glad it was Iron Maiden, not Rush, who did The Loneliness of a Long-Distance Runner (Yar!):

Still doesn't count? Then how about Belle & Sebastian's The Loneliness of a Middle-Distance Runner?

Alan Webb's Bold Switch to the 2 Mile at the Pre Classic

2007-06-07T11:17:00.000-05:00

If nothing else, you have to admire Alan Webb's pluck. He was originally scheduled to take on Bernard Lagat, Alex Kipchirchir, Daniel K. Komen, et al, in the Bowerman Mile. He has since decided to switch over to the 2 Mile race so he can take on the Fabulous Bekele Brothers and take a shot at his American record of 8:11.48. Is his decision courageous or foolish? We'll find out on Sunday. His winning kick at Reebok certainly helps make the case that he's ready for the challenge.

The 33rd Prefontaine Classic will be televised live on NBC for two hours beginning at 1 p.m. PT on June 10th.

TENTATIVE TIME SCHEDULE (as of 6/5/07)
12:30 National Anthem
12:35 Javelin Throw (W)
12:40 Introduction of Bob Schul
12:44 Introduction of Don Bowden
12:48 Introduction of Bill Dellinger
1:03 400 Meter Hurdles (W) [Live TV]
1:06 Long Jump (M) [West]
1:08 Pole Vault (M)
1:11 100 Meters (M)
1:16 Steeplechase (M)
1:30 800 Meters (M)
1:35 Shot Put (M)
1:40 100 Hurdles (W)
1:44 Triple Jump (W) [East]
1:48 110 Hurdles (M)
1:52 High Jump (M)
1:56 100 Meters (W)
2:04 400 Meters (M)
2:10 1500 Meters (W)
2:20 400 Meters (W)
2:26 Two Miles (M)
2:40 800 Meters (W)
2:47 200 Meters (M)
2:52 Bowerman Mile (M)

Jet Lag in Oregon?

2007-06-07T10:43:00.000-05:00

Last week, during a post-race interview seconds after winning the 110m Hurdles at the Reebok Grand Prix in NYC, Chinese superstar Xiang Liu admitted to having jet lag. His winning time of 12.92 was only four one-hundredths off his world record of 12.88. Obviously, the jet lag didn't affect him too much, or else he found a way to handle it.

Jet lag is a real physiological symptom that affects 90% of us. Most world-class athletes are used to dealing with its effects. Some of the international athletes competing at this weekend's Prefontaine Classic will have to cross at least 10 time zones in order to get there. They'll be dealing with it for sure. Let's hope that are as successful at doing so as Xiang Liu was last week. Speaking of Xiang Liu, how fast will he run now that he's had a week to recover from his jet lag?

American 1500m Record in Jeopardy?

2007-06-06T11:40:00.000-05:00

Is Mary Decker's nearly 24 year old American 1500m record of 3:57.12 in jeopardy at the Pre Classic this Saturday? If it were up to Treniere Clement and Shayne Culpepper, it would be. Right now, though, both are more worried about how they're going to beat Yuliya Chizhenko-Fomenko of Russia and Gelete Burka of Ethiopia. Chizhenko-Fomenko's PB of 3:55.68 is going to be tough to top in this early-season race, but she's certainly capable of running sub 4 and is expected to do so.

Culpepper got outkicked by Kenia Sinclair at the adidas Track Classic on May 21st while setting a PB of 4:05.98. She looked like she was straining a little in last week's 3rd place run at the Reebok Grand Prix, running a 4:08.07. Could it be that she had been training hard that week and just didn't have anything left in the tank? She'll certainly need to fill her tank by this Saturday.

As for Clement, she ran a strong 800m at Reebok with a time 1:59.07. Her PB in the metric mile is 4:03.32 which she ran in Rieti, Italy in 2006. She should do well and could certainly best her PB.

Don't count out Shalane Flanagan, either. Although her PB is only 4:09.27, she's been setting American Records all over the place this year in the longer events. Beating her PB by over 9 seconds is a tall order, but not out of the realm of possibility. Should be an exciting race.

Do Women Really Weaken Legs? Answers to That Question and Much, Much More!

2007-06-05T10:13:00.000-05:00

Fred has left a new comment on "Suggest a Topic!":

I'd be interesting in hearing what an athlete's typical work week looks like. Do they work out 5, 6 or 7 days? How many workouts per day? How many hours per workout? What does their diet look like, and how many calories in the average week would they burn off? Do women really weaken legs? How much time do they spend on the massage table? What do they do for lactic acid? How much sleep do they take in? How much alcohol?

What is absolutely forbidden? It's a reasonable assumption that recreational drugs, late nights, tequila shots, and trips to malaria-infested regions are all verboten, but sports training has become so scientific, it's not a stretch to imagine that horror movies, yard work and high heels might also be off-limits.

I've posed too many questions to answer, but any insight you may have into the everyday daily life of an athlete would be fascinating.

Entire books have been written about many of the questions you have asked and many of them are much better written than anything I could write, even in a 100 posts. I can, however, point you in the direction of the best of those books.

James F. Fixx's The Complete Book of Running, although now a bit outdated, started the running craze in 1977 when it was released. Some people say Frank Shorter's marathon victory at the 1972 Olympics in Munich started the running boom, but his victory only inspired us fanatics. The average civilian was inspired by Jim Fixx's book 5 years later. It's currently out of print but it's well-worth the trouble of hunting down. I still read it every so often whenever I need some inspiration.

For the more serious runner who is looking to advance to the intermediate competitive level, I recommend Bob Glover's The Competitive Runner's Handbook: The Bestselling Guide to Running 5Ks through Marathons.

I recommend Daniels' Running Formula for those scientists among us. Jim Ryun, one of the greatest middle-distance runners of all time, said, "this book is a fine example of the perfection that the running world has come to expect from Jack Daniels. Well thought out, concise, and purposeful, it embodies the training programs of time-proven principles that enhanced my own running performances. Simply put, Daniels’ formula works. This book is a must read for every runner and coach interested in achieving peak performance."

For the masters runner, I recommend Hal Higdon's Masters Running: A Guide to Running and Staying Fit After 40. Higdon is one of the greatest masters of all time so he can write from a position of experience and authority.

For beginning coaches, and for a general overview of the sport of track and field, I recommend Fundamentals of Track and Field by Gerald A. Carr.

For field events, I recommend Complete Book of Jumps by Ed Jacoby and Bob Fraley, and Complete Book of Throws by Jay Silvester.

For the nutritional aspects of athletics, I recommend Nutrition for Serious Athletes by Dr. Dan Benardot.

If you're looking for that extra advantage that will get you to the finish line first, I recommend a book about visualization techniques by Kay Porter called The Mental Athlete.

For the ultimate insight into the mind of a middle-distance runner, I recommend a work of fiction. Once a Runner: A Novel by John L. Parker, has a rabid cult following among runners. Also out of print, it is also well-worth tracking down. It's pricey, though, going for as high as $100+ in rare book stores and websites. A long-awaited sequel, called Again to Carthage, is supposedly due out late this summer.

I realize now that I have just asked you to buy 10 books. If you're really just after a little bit of insight into the world of track and field, perhaps the best single book I could recommend would be Pre: The Story of America's Greatest Running Legend, Steve Prefontaine by Tom Jordan. It offers a glimpse into the athletic life of one of the most intense and charismatic track athletes the world has ever known. Highly recommended.

As for your question about whether or not women really weaken legs, New York Yankees manager Casey Stengel put it best: "It's not the sex that wrecks these guys, it's staying up all night looking for it."

Spearmon Has Extra Gear, Dix' Dance Card is Full

2007-06-04T19:37:00.000-05:00

Check out this Youtube video of Wallace Spearmon in the Reebok Grand Prix Men's 200m Dash. Bolt tied up just a bit, while Spearmon found an awe-inspiring finishing gear in that last 60 meters that gave him a time of 19.82, second in 2007 only to Walter Dix' NCAA record of 19.69. Folks, this is what the beginning of a peak looks like:

Now let's check out Walter Dix' phenomenal 19.69 200m, which was the beginning of his peak last week's NCAA East Region Championships:

It'll be interesting to compare what Dix does at the NCAA Finals on June 9th to what Spearmon does on June 10th in Eugene. Dix is obligated to contribute to the FSU team effort in the Seminoles' bid to repeat as NCAA national champions. To do that he'll need to run in three events (100m, 200m, 4x100m Relay) this coming weekend. Can he do that, sustain that peak through June 23rd at the U.S. Outdoor Championships in Indianapolis and then tear down and rebuild to another peak in Osaka on August 30th? That's a tall order for any sprinter, much less a young collegian. Does Dix have a decision to make? I don't think there is much of one to make. He should stay with the one that brought him to the dance, FSU.

FLP Polls: First Female Sub 4 Mile?

2007-06-04T16:27:00.001-05:00

When Will the First Sub 4:00 Mile Be Run by a Female? Take the FLP poll!

Prefontaine Classic Preview

2007-06-04T13:21:00.000-05:00

In looking at the list of confirmed athletes for the Pre Classic I noticed a few things:

1. Jeremy Wariner could get beat by 5 meters (that's not something you see every day) in the 200m, or he could rise to the occasion and join the sub 20 second club. Asafa Powell (PB 19.90), Xavier Carter (PB 19.63), Wallace Spearmon (PB 19.65), Shawn Crawford (19.79), and Chris Williams (PB 20.02) are all confirmed, and all are faster than Wariner, whose PB is 20.19. If Wariner does crack the 20 second mark in Eugene then Michael's 400m world record of 43.18 is history at the National Championships in 3 weeks. If Wariner gets a new PB in the 20.00-20.18 range, then look for the first sub 44 of the season in Indianapolis. (note: I wonder why Wariner is not listed yet as an entrant for either the 200m or the 400m in the National Championships?). This should be a good speed tune-up for Wariner, but the real magic will be up front. Look for Spearmon to nip the X-Man and Powell at the tape with a sub 19.70. Wariner will provide his own magic three weeks from now.

2. Jim Sorensen, who just broke the masters M40 world record in the 1500m with a 3:44.06 (equivalent to a 4 minute mile) is still not invited to compete in the Bowerman Mile. Will meet director Tom Jordan extend an invitation to Sorensen? Let's hope so. This is the finest field of milers ever assembled in the United States. A masters miler has never broken the 4 minute barrier outdoors (Eamonn Coghlan has done it indoors). Why not invite the fastest masters miler in the world and create an opportunity for history?

3. Will Khadevis Robinson, Jonathan Johnson, Nick Symmonds, Jebreh Harris and David Krummenacker join the 2007 sub 1:45 club? Except for Robinson, American men's 800m running has not been very exciting for a few years. Russia's Yuriy Borzakovskiy is confirmed and his PB of 1:42.47 is most likely safe. He should win with a 1:44 point something. Let's hope he can pull a couple of Americans down close to that time, too.

ESPN and CBS Serve Up a Banquet of Baloney

2007-06-03T23:56:00.000-05:00

I wish ESPN would just let Larry Rawson and Dwight Stones do their thing. They've forgotten more than I'll ever know about track and field and they would be fully capable of announcing a world-class meet in a world-class way if they were ever allowed to do so.

Instead, the producers at ESPN insist on showing those stupid human-interest clips even when the subject (Anthony Famiglietti) of the feature story then proceeds to lose the race by over 50 (!) seconds, they keep cutting to commericials during the middle of longer races, they keep an Americacentric focus during post-race interviews even when the Americans lose (did you catch the way Lewis Johnson shoved Canada's Tyler Christopher aside after asking him a quick question or two about his fine 44.93 victory in the men's 400m dash so that he could focus on Lashawn Merritt?), and – worst of all – they insist on showing major meets like the Reebok Grand Prix on tape delay. Reebok, as it is every year, was a fine meet (5 world bests this year and one could-have-been world record in the men's 100m dash), but that laundry list I just provided prevented the broadcast yesterday from being enjoyable and made the coverage (certainly not the meet) irrelevant.

The pathetic, measly hour of tape-delay coverage provided today by CBS is hardly even worth mentioning except to say that they had two commericial breaks without showing even a single race during those two segments! Utterly worthless.

I purposefully stayed away from the Reebok website (okay I peeked at the men's 200m results. Came you blame me?) because I knew the results were being posted near-real time and I didn't want to spoil the "enjoyment" of the tape delay. Can you imagine ever having to watch an NFL game on tape-delay? That's never going to happen in a million years.

Yet I'm told by too many track fans that I just have to accept the reality that track is a second-rate sport in the U.S. and I just have to "be grateful for the plateful." Well, my friends, that plate is full of baloney and it is being served by ESPN and CBS who, yet again, failed to deliver decent coverage of a major track and field meet in the United States. I can hardly wait to see what kind of fare NBC offers with the Prefontaine Classic next weekend. It couldn't be more putrid than the rotten coverage ESPN and CBS served up this weekend.

Where Have All the Field-Event Greats Gone?

2007-06-03T18:43:00.000-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Limits of Human Potential, Part 2":

How about addressing some world records that have not been broken in a greater length of time, such as:
Discus - 7,668 days
Hammer - 7,583 days
Shot Put - 6,224 days
Pole Vault - 4,690 days
High Jump - 5,059 days
Long Jump - 5,756 days
Javelin - 4,027 days
All of these were set between 1986 & 1994. Where have all the greats gone?

Two words: Cold War. The Cold War prompted not only an arms race and a space race but an athletics-prowess race between the Soviet Union, the U.S. and their respective allies. East Germany was the front line in the war of athletics-superiority. With a huge government-subsidized athletics program that accelerated steroid research, East German athletes did remarkably well on the world athletics stage, especially at the 1976 and 1980 Olympics. Government officials, physicians, researchers, coaches, trainers – along with virtually every East German elite athlete – all conspired to create the world's most advanced steroids program, and did so in the name of Communism. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, East Germany – along with its steroid program – ceased to exist. With the end of the Cold War came the end of the need for all those monstrous athletes on both sides of the Iron Curtain, along with all those monstrous jumps and throws. Drug use continued, and continues to this day, but certainly not for the ideological reasons which prompted the huge increases in doping during the Cold War. Beginning in the 90s, better drug-testing methods put a stop to virtually all of the records in events that require power.

But time marches on, and so does the progression of humans in athletic performance. If we could somehow wipe out the late 60s through the early 90s from the annals of track and field history, we'd find that the progressions for the field events are now continuing at roughly the same rate they did before that 25-year period began. Unfortunately, the record books are still radioactive due to all of the fallout from the Cold War. Even more tragically, the former Soviet-Block athletes are the ones who are now suffering the most.

Should Oscar Pistorius Run in the Olympics? Let Science Decide.

2007-06-03T00:38:00.000-05:00

Fred has left a new comment on my post "A Challenge To My Readers and Myself": As long as you're bringing it up, what are your thoughts of a legless man competing in the Olympics?

The IAAF's argument is that Oscar Pistorius' carbon-fiber prosthetic legs give him an unnaturally long stride that gives him an unfair advantage over other athletes. Nick Davies, Communications Director for the IAAF says, "we've had feedback which has said... that the guy has a 3 or 4 meter stride."

Robert Gailey, an associate professor of physical therapy at the University of Miami Medical School who has studied amputee runners, insists that, "a prosthetic leg returns only about 80 percent of the energy absorbed in each stride, while a natural leg returns up to 240 percent, providing much more spring."

Pistorius' racing prosthetics have a much different appearance than ordinary prosthetics, even his own non-racing ones (watch video below). Does a different appearance necessarily mean that Pistorius' "Cheetahs" (as the prosthetic legs are called) provide an unfair advantage?

In the video, Davies says that, "in the end, the rule just has to be fair." I have a simple but effective solution that will determine whether or not allowing Pistorius to run with his Cheetah prosthetics is fair.

Let's test a group of Pistorius' likely competitors and determine the range of their heart rates immediately after a race. Then let's have them run again wearing some kind of special shoes with springs that offer a higher energy return than do their own legs. My theory is that the range of their heart rates will be lower with the springs than without.

Then let's test Pistorius. If his heart rate immediately after a race is within the same range as the other athletes' in races run without the shoe springs, that means he is working just as hard as they are. That would prove he doesn't have an unnatural advantage over other runners; therefore, fairness would dictate that he should be allowed to run. If his heart rate is closer to the range of the other athletes' in races run with springs, that means he does have an unfair advantage. If that's the case, don't let him run.

The Limits of Human Potential, Part 3

2007-06-01T13:29:00.001-05:00

In The Limits of Human Potential, Part 2, I wrote that technological improvements, including that of track uniforms, would help make further reductions of the mile world record possible. Well, minutes later, some of those improvements are already here:

"VivoMetrics Inc. today announced the launch of VivoChampionTrainer™ with LifeShirt® technology, a revolutionary lightweight, compact, and non-invasive physiologic monitoring system. Specifically designed to monitor athletic performance during training and competition, the VivoChampionTrainer™ provides trainers and athletes with a competitive edge to increase training effectiveness, avoid overtraining and obtain an optimal state of physical competitiveness.
"Built upon VivoMetrics' original LifeShirt System, the VivoChampionTrainer™ has been modified for athletic training and provides real-time measurement of respiration, heart rate, activity, posture and skin temperature during and after activity -- whether a practice session or an actual competitive event. Trainers, coaches and managers are able to view laboratory-quality data as the athletes perform in "real-world" environments. This allows factors such as stress of competition or environmental factors such as heat on a playing field to be duplicated and evaluated for their effect on player performance.

"The original LifeShirt System, a full shirt garment with embedded sensors, was developed initially for use in pharmaceutical research. VivoMetrics modified the system by developing a lightweight chest strap for athletes, providing a greater range of motion and increased comfort. The VivoChampionTrainer™ sends physiologic data to a nearby computer and intuitive, easy-to-understand displays allow coaches, trainers and team physicians to quickly assess the health status of up to 25 athletes at the same time.

"Athletic trainers and coaches can use the VivoChampionTrainer™ with their athletes to establish the upward limits of an athlete's capacity, determine when to push an athlete and when to reduce intensity, decide whether or not to change the training plan in the short term, maximize an athlete's ability and performance over the course of a season, and prevent injuries and over-training syndrome by maintaining the athlete in an appropriate training range. Professional and elite athletes and their coaches and trainers across many sports are already incorporating the VivoChampionTrainer™ into their training programs to evaluate, monitor, improve and maintain performance levels."

So there it is. Within minute of my post, the future arrives. I'll keep exploring the web for evidence of the other tools that I listed that will allow for improvements in athletic performance, including training techniques, technology, the nutritional aspects of running, sports psychology and genetic "pockets." What's next, a super banana that will eliminate the need for immunizations?

The Limits of Human Potential, Part 2

2007-06-01T11:37:00.000-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on my post "The Limits of Human Potential?":

Come now, sir. The point of the exercise is the challenge. I challenge you to prognosticate.

How about this? Surely the future world mile record will be hard pressed to beat even the current world 40 yard dash record times a factor of 44 (40 yards x 44 = 1,760 yards = 5,280 feet). So what is the current world 40 yard dash record?

And when will we get there? 2010? 2090?

Technically, I'm not required to respond to this challenge, since it wasn't posted in the comments to the original challenge post. Being an accommodating pundit, however, I will entertain the question:

The 40 yard dash is not a track and field event, but a tool used by collegiate and NFL scouts for recruiting purposes. A football player who has a time in the "40" that is over 4.6 seconds (hand-timed) is usually not considered for any of the "skill" positions: quarterback, running back, wide-receiver, and defensive back. Therefore, official records are not kept, since it is not an event. Still, the fastest time ever recorded electronically (hand-timed races, due to human reaction times, are usually 0.2 seconds lower than electronically-timed races) is a 4.21 that was run by Maurice Greene en route to a 100m time of 9.81 seconds. Let's use that time for our purposes here.

If we multiply 4.21 by 44, we come up with a time of 185.4, or 3:05.4. Can a human being ever run a time of 3:05.4 in the mile run? I'd say the chances of that are less than of the Pundit running a 4.4 "40" or a sub 4:00 mile, and neither one of those are ever gonna happen! Could it be done with genetic engineering? Possibly.

Okay, I don't like doing this because it's for posterity (and posterity usually makes dunces of critics and prognosticators) but I'm going to say a sub 4:00 mile is possible for women by 2057. Using that standard as a meter stick (women improving by at least another 12.56 seconds) men also should be able to improve by 12.56. That would put the world record for the mile at 3:30.57. I think a time like that would be possible by 2057. What will allow for these improvements? Better training techniques will be discovered (the Lydiard Method is 47 years old as of this writing), better technology (shoes, physiological monitors, uniforms, track surfaces) will be developed, the nutritional aspects of running will be further explored, psychology could be used to increase our threshold of pain, genetic "pockets" (such as those good folks in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya) will be discovered that are ideal for mile running.

After that? Genetic engineering would have to be explored to further improve times and I don't think the IAAF is prepared to deal with the thought of Übermensch. Right now, they can't even deal with the thought of a legless man competing in the Olympics.

Tragic Loss in Texas

2007-05-31T23:20:00.000-05:00

I just read the following post and I felt obliged to post it on FLP just in case there happen to be any readers here who don't also frequent Masters Track's blog. Tragic loss:

M70 thrower dies in Texas after being hit by discus

My heart goes out to Chaunce Cook's family, meet director Seth Brower and the young man who made the unfortunate throw.

The Limits of Human Potential?

2007-05-31T14:57:00.000-05:00

Anonymous asks, "What do you believe is our fastest potential mile run, and when do you predict that we reach that potential?

I could give you an answer, but that would be pure speculation. Since the IAAF era began in 1912, the mile record has dropped by over 31 seconds. That's an average of about one second every three years. As of today, the record stands at 3:43.13 and has not been broken in 2885 days. This would seem to be a long time unless you realize that in the 95 years since the IAAF era began, there have been 4 even longer periods than this current one without a change in the mile world record: periods of 2960, 2962, 2964 and 3215 days. The longest stale period was the nearly 9 years between Gunder Hagg's 4:01.3 and Roger Bannister's inconceivable 3:59.4. Can the record drop another 31.27 records over the next century like it did this past century? That seems as impossible as Bannister's sub 4, doesn't it?

"Second question: are records often unofficially (or unknowingly) broken during training? Or do athletes save their best performances for sanctioned events?"

I've heard of it happening in cycling, but I'd have to imagine that the vast majority of athletes, including cyclists, would want to test themselves in competition against others, rather than languish in obscurity. Once before the 1972 Olympics Games in Munich, Oregon coach Bill Dellinger had the legendary Steve Prefontaine run a 3:59 mile all by himself in training, just "for sharpening." Pre, of course, was the exception to just about every rule and was incapable of languishing in obscurity. Most athletes would heed the advice of Thomas Gray, who said that, "full many a flower is born to blush unseen, and waste its sweetness on the desert air."

Constructive Criticism About Televised Track Meets, Part 2

2007-05-31T10:13:00.000-05:00

[Click here for Part 1]

You might recall that my first challenge was from a reader who suggested that FLP readers, "provide constructive criticism to USATF's televisied series of track meets, including the USA Indoor and Outdoor Championships and the Visa Championship Series."

In that post I promised that I would obtain some feedback for you from USATF and that I would compile a list of contact names from networks of televised USATF events so that you could call or write them to offer some constructive criticism about the sorry state of track and field coverage on television. (Note to self: don't start an FLP challenge on the Saturday of a national holiday unless you want to wait several days to get the first replies).

Jill M. Geer, USATF Director of Communications, was most gracious in her reply and offered FLP some insightful suggestions. The best thing that track and field fans can do to promote broadcasts and how the sport is covered, Ms. Geer offered, "would be to write to ESPN to convince them the sport needs to be on SportsCenter, and that they should promote broadcasts of the sport before they happen. Those are two simple things that would make a big difference. The same goes for newspaper coverage of the sport – writing to their sports editors to let them know they should cover the sport is more effective than any lobbying on our part."

I can't help you with the contact names of the sports editors at your hometown newspapers (there are 1,400+ in the U.S. alone), but I can certainly help you to reach their website, if they have one. Newspapers all over the U.S. are extremely sensitive about declining circulations. Your letters to the sports editors will be noticed. Here are some suggested points to make:

The sports coverage your newspaper provides is unbalanced and tipped in favor of NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL. The sport of Track and Field is poorly covered. There aren't enough stories, headlines, athlete profiles statistics, or advance promotion of track and field meets. Please offer more track and field coverage or I will have to consider not buying your newspaper anymore.

As for the network contacts, here they are:

Networks

ESPN/ABC
NBC
CBS

(Note: the CBS contact page attempts to redirect you to Sportsline.com for feedback about CBS Sports. I provided you with this page because Sportsline not only requires you to register but seems to be more oriented toward promoting their website and their Fantasy Sports League than to receiving feedback about the CBS TV Sports Division.)

Some suggested points of criticism for TV Networks:

Extend the broadcast length of track and field meets. Current coverage is too compressed. One or two hours is not enough time to cover an entire meet.
Many of the middle-distance events are not shown in their entirety. Why must networks insist on cutting to commercials right in the middle of an event? Show more events in their entirety.
Too many events (especially field events) are extremely short capsule summaries that only show the winner's - and maybe the challenger's - winning effort. If broadcast time is an issue, at least extend the summaries of pre-broadcast events to include more field-event performances.
If broadcast time is of the essence, show less human-interest stories and athlete profiles and more of the events during your broadcasts. Track fans are not as interested in watching melodrama as they are in watching the actual events unfold.
Some of the best-quality meets are over in Europe. Track and field fans in America are missing most of the European meets. Broadcast more European meets.
Track and Field is not routinely covered during sports news shows on your network. Offer more news coverage of track and field events other than the Olympic Games. Track and Field has a season every year, not just every 4 years.
Promote broadcasts of meets before they happen like you do with other sports.

My goal is to recruit 1,000 track and field fans to write each of the networks and one hometown newspaper to offer them constructive criticism. As they say, 1 letter is worth 50 signatures. If 1,000 of you would take action, the networks definitely would take note as if 50,000 people had acted. Please come back to this post and comment once you've taken action. It'd be interesting to tally how many people actually act. The only way we can change the status quo of second-rate track and field coverage on TV and in newspapers is to act.

So there it is, hopefully, the beginnings of a grassroots campaign to improve the quality of track and field's television/newspaper coverage in the United States. I hope you will take a few minutes to contact the TV networks and the sports editor of your local newspaper to offer them some constructive criticism about the sorry state of track and field media coverage.

An African Advantage in Athletics?

2007-05-30T01:23:00.000-05:00

Ken Stone from Masters Track writes with a challenge: "OK, here's a subject that should generate interest: Are sprinters descended from West Africa naturally superior to all others? Are distance runners with roots in East Africa naturally superior to all others?"

Thanks for the question Ken. This is a sensitive and controversial topic. Author Jon Entine, in his book Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We're Afraid to Talk About It (PublicAffairs, 2001), writes that, "anyone who attempts to breach this taboo to study or even discuss what might be behind the growing performance gap between black and white athletes must be prepared to run a gauntlet of public scorn, survival not guaranteed."

Even so, the proof would seem to be overwhelmingly in the affirmative. This article from 2002, discussing the positive impact of black athletes in the sport of bobsledding states that "athletes of West African ancestry... hold 494 of the 500 top, all-time, 100-meter times." A quick look at the top list on Peter Larsson's fabulous statistics database shows that this fact still holds true in 2007.

Jon Entine states in this article that "every men's world record at every commonly-run track distance belongs to a runner of African descent." Take a look at the chart (in the section titled The Rise of the African Athlete) to see for yourself. All but a handful of world records are held by athletes of West or East African descent. (Note: the article was written in the late 1990s. Six of the records on the chart have since been broken, 4 by East Africans, 1 by a West African, and 1 by an Chinese Asian.) Proof like that, again, would seem to be incontrovertible.

Not everyone agrees, including sociologist Harry Edwards of University of California/Berkeley:

"What really is being said in a kind of underhanded way... is that blacks are closer to beasts and animals in terms of their genetic and physical and anatomical make up than they are to the rest of humanity. And that's where the indignity comes in."

Indignity, or incontrovertible proof? I've presented both sides. I'll leave it to you to make your own decision. If you want to dig a little deeper into this subject, including taking a look into the science, here's a good place to start.

High Jumpers to Converge in Oslo

2007-05-29T14:48:00.000-05:00

Eight athletes who have cleared the 2.00m mark and one special heptathlete who is sure to give them a jump for their money are scheduled to compete in the women's high jump at the ExxonMobil Bislett Games in Oslo, Norway on June 15th.

Carolina Kluft (1.98m PR), the reigning Olympic and World Champion in the heptathlon, will try to step up her high-jump game when she joins some of the world's heavy hitters in a prelude to Osaka. Russia's Yelena Slesarenko (2004 Olympic Champ, PR of 2.06m), Sweden’s Kajsa Bergqvist (2005 World Champ, PR of 2.06m) and Croatia's Blanka Vlasic (2007 world's best, PR of 2.04m) will be on hand. Could Stefka Kostadinova's nearly 20 year old world record of 2.09m fall in Oslo?

Asafa Opens Season with Sub 10 in Belgrade

2007-05-29T14:24:00.000-05:00

Jamaican Asafa Powell proved that his knee tendonitis is healed by winning the men's 100m dash at the Artur Takac Memorial meet in Belgrade, Serbia. Powell's season-opening mark of 9.97 overtakes Bahamanian Derrick Atkins' world-best of 9.98 and nudges him to the top of the list.

Kenya's Moses Masai won the men's 5000m run at the same meet, running a world-leading 13:08.80. Masai's time surpasses Mexican Juan Luis Barrios' time of 13:11.37. Countryman Hosea Macharynyang also dipped under Barrios' world-leading time with a 13:09.83.

Jolanda Ceplak of Slovenia won the women's 800m as expected, clocking a 2:00.92, a meet record. Wilfred Bungei of Kenya handily won the men's 800m by 1.04 seconds, winning in 1:45.50.

Complete Results for the meet can be found here.

Troubling Aspect of the Internet Affects Teen Track Star

2007-05-28T23:26:00.000-05:00

I've been purposefully avoiding writing a post about the Allison Stokke story, hoping it would die down and go away. But, since the story has snowballed into frontpage news, I feel compelled – as a gentleman and a father – to defend her honor.

Yes, the internet is called the New Wild West for good reason. Society is less polite in general in 2007, and even less so under the guise of anonymity that can be so easily obtained on the internet. If you've ever been the victim of a chat-room, newsgroup or message board Troll, then you know exactly what I'm talking about. Blog Trolls are a particularly depraved sub-species. But trolls aren't the only nasty creatures online. Internet predators are all-too-common. The popularity of the NBC show To Catch a Predator can attest to that.

Allison Stokke is getting a taste of this disturbing aspect of virtual freedom. What can be done about it? Apparently not much, although I'd like for us to try and do our parts. I can't help wonder how this sudden glaring spotlight is going to affect her pole-vaulting career at the University of California-Berkeley and how it's affecting her well-being in general.

I urge all readers of Finish Line Pundit to help stop the cruel, thoughtless, mean-spirited internet campaign that seeks to objectify a fine young athlete who doesn't deserve the kind of attention she is getting. Don't surf for her picture, don't frequent the blogs who are capitalizing on her misery, and – if you receive e-mails from people who want to propagate this sick, demeaning behavior toward her – tell them to cease and desist immediately. Allison Stokke deserves much better than this kind of sorry, sick attention. So does the sport of track and field. Let's just leave her be.