That’s what went through my mind as this past weekend’s results started pouring in! I got started at 4:00 in the morning with the Diamond League meet from China. Another exciting race in the 100H from the women. Ending in a 12.45 for Jasmin Camacho Quinn. Another WR for Mondo at 6.24m. A sizzling 3:50.30 1500m by Gudaf Tsegay. Who looked like she decided halfway thru that the race just wasn’t fast enough, so she changed gears! It was actually fun to watch. That was the third fastest 1500m by the way. The match race of the day was the closing men’s 100m. Christian Coleman was first out and first across the line. It wasn’t his usual explosive start, but no one was able to go past him as he won 10.13 to 10.17 over Fred Kerley. Who just didn’t have that extra passing gear. Not the fastest race, but the way Coleman held off Kerley was impressive. That was the word for this weekend, impressive. As there were a lot of races that fit that word.

The men’s 400m at MtSAC in southern California for example. As Rai Benjamin opened his season running the 400m without hurdles. A race where he literally cruised to 44.42. Second place in the mid 45’s! And Benjamin didn’t look like he was exerting much energy. Also impressive was Brianna Lyston’s 100m victory in Louisiana. As she blitzed to a 10.83 (2.2). Slightly windy, but she demolished the field. Finding a supervisor gear midway, and putting space between her and the rest. While everyone was looking forward to Coleman v Kerley, two youngsters put on a show in Kenya. Courtney Lindsey blazing around the turn in the 200m then being run down by Letsile Tebogo. Both crossing the line in 19.71, the best in the world so far! Tebogo’s teammate Bayapo Ndouri ran a world leading 44.10 in the 400m. The meet in Nairobi also had world leading marks in the 800m, Emmanuel Wanyonyi 1:43.57 and the 1500m, Raynold Kipkorir 3:31.96. While Nairobi is at altitude, the performances were all impressive! After all that, the most impressive mark might be the world leading 100m of high schooler Christian Miller of Florida. Running at a meet in Clermont Florida, the 17 year old, ran 9.93. Making him the American U-20 record holder. Breaking the 9.97 of Trayvon Bromell. Not bad footsteps tho be following in.

So, things have hit high gear, and the race for tickets to Paris has begun. Excellent marks all over in spite of how early it is. Things are only going to get hotter. This coming weekend has several more meets that should have outstanding competition. The Drake and Penn Relays begin near the end of the week and go into the weekend. Both have outstanding histories. The LSU Invitational on Saturday is sure to have several outstanding teams in attendance. And for us track nuts, there’s also the Bermuda Invitational on Sunday. Competitors will include Noah Lyles, Gabby Thomas and Rai Benjamin. This will lead us into May. Where we’ll start with the World Relays in the Bahamas on the 4th and 5 th.

So here we go. Championship season is just around the corner. Time to settle in and enjoy the ride.

Among the many meets that were held this past weekend, the Tom Jones Invitational stood out. As usual there was a large field of both top college programs as well as elite athletes looking for high level competition. If you're a fan of speed, go check out this meet on ESPN where it was streamed and is currently archived, because the result was two days of great track and field Read More...

One of my favorite early season relay meets every year is the Tom Jones Invitational at the University of.Florida. That's because the week of the Texas and Florida Relays end up having a good dozen of so very good meets. Which means that the talent ends up at several different locations. Not a bad thing mind you, because that means lots of athletes getting the opportunity to compete! However it's nice that after they all get the chance to get started, they get to come back shortly after and really So, while the Florida Relays is the older meet, Tom Jones has grown in stature to become a meet that produces outstanding results Read More...

This past weekend ended the month of March with several outstanding relay meets. Athletes tend to love early season relays, because it gives you a chance to kick things off and see where you are, without actually running your "regular" event. You can run a relay leg of any distance you choose to gauge where you are Read More...

It seems that World Athletics is concerned about how exciting athletics contests are, or aren't. At least they say that that's why they want to change how the long jump is run. It's also the reason that was given when they wanted to get rid of several events - 200m, TJ and others. Supposedly it's why the false start rule was changed - to keep the meet moving Read More...

Here we are in the year 2024. An Olympic year, which means a lot of Championships. The first of these being the World Indoor Championships, being held in Glasgow Ireland. In most years, the indoor championships are somewhat of an afterthought. In an Olympic season however, it becomes an important tool in most athletes preparation for the Games Read More...

People are beginning to talk about track and field in light of World Athletics proposal to alter the long jump. What I find interesting is that so many people suggest eliminating events as key to the answer. No one ever says why, just that "There are too many events". If you can't tell me why, then it's simply a reaction and not a thought or plan Read More...

I've been observing the conversations this week regarding how World Athletics keeps attempting to change track and field. And two things have hit me. First thing is that WA really doesn't understand the issues facing the sport and the athletes. Leadership is completely out of touch with its own sport Read More...