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Grant Holloway – How Many Subs?
There are a LOT of exciting young track and field stars today. Sydney McLaughlin, Noah Lyles, Mondo Duplantis, Gabby Thomas, and Michael Norman to start a list. After watching this past weekends activities however, it hit me that perhaps the most talented athlete out there may be sliding under the radar! I remember when Carl Lewis first emerged. Sprinter AND jumper at the elite level. He evoked images of Jesse Owns for many, which meant, legend in the making. Well, what if Carl had learned to hurdle? And run a better quarter. You know, kicked it up a notch. If he had, he would’ve been Grant Holloway, because that’s exactly…
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How About a Real World Championships?
It’s funny that one of the first things written about the sport in 2019 is about the addition of mixed relays to the World Relays event and to the World Championships. Funny, ha ha, in that they are being added ostensibly to make the events more interesting for “fans”. How about we make the World Championships really interesting by having it be about THE BEST track and field athletes in the world? My point being that it’s time to have a true world event and not the knock off of the Olympics that we’ve been running since 1983. The Olympics were created as a “feel good” global competition. As such,…
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CAS Needs to Get This Right
Perhaps the most important decision for the sport this year, will be made in March when the Court for Arbitration in Sport (CAS) makes a ruling on the Caster Semenya case. This matter has been ongoing for the better part of the 20-teens, with the IAAF ruling Semenya ineligible to compete because of testosterone levels much higher than those of women. Then CAS ruled, because of a suit brought by an Indian sprinter, that that decision was arbitrary and that proof need be shown that competing with higher testosterone levels is detrimental to others. The IAAF then coming back with more specific rules based on a study of the affect…
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Ten Predictions for 2019
I’m going to start the new year right. One, I’ll be posting more. Not as much as I used to because I’m coaching. But a lot more than I have since my illnesses/surgeries. That said, I’m going to start with my predictions for 2019 – the first being that it’s going to be a fun year for track and field. We’ve got a whole lot of new talent all over the track (& field) and many will be competing in their first World Championships. My second prediction is that Doha will be a blast! The performances are going to be crazy good; and the competition is going to be off…
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Six Matchups I’m Looking Forward To in 2019
Ok. The 2018 track season is well behind us now as cross country and marathons dominate the landscape. As a matter of fact, the indoor season is right around the corner, which means that many athletes are already back grinding in preparation for the first of the upcoming three Championships ahead in this next major cycle. While there wasn’t a major championship in 2018, the performances of the athletes – particularly the youngsters, left me salivating for the action that 2019 promises. There were many performances that would’ve garnered gold medals in most Olympics and World Championships! As a matter of fact, there was a lot of altering of all…
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Bring Back the 100
Two of the sports most exciting events are the “mile” and the 100. I put the mile in quotation marks because there are two versions of the mile. In addition to the actual mile, there is the 1500 meters, often called the metric mile. That’s actually kinda cool, because it provides some flexibility when meets are being put together. It keeps the event fresh, because it enables promoters to run it on back to back meets without running the exact same event. It also enables promoters to run both events in the same meet and double up on middle distance runners. Taking maximum advantage of the available talent pool. As…
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Pulling Up the Last Leg of 2018
This has been a very interesting season. We knew that it would be, given that it’s an off year and off seasons are usually marked by change – and 2018 has seen lots. As a matter of fact, we’re looking at a nearly wholesale revamping on the men’s side. I can’t remember this great a reboot since BALCO laid waste to the landscape back just after the turn of the century. This time however, it’s not so much about people leaving the sport as we’re looking at a serious youth movement taking place. Possibly the largest of the professional era of the sport. Sprints, hurdles, jumps, distances, everywhere you look…
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The Sprints New World Order
The “Old Guard” is officially gone. It took a long time as athletes have longer careers than in the past, but it still happens. The athletes that have dominated the world stage since 2004 have finally given way to the new generation of sprinters and hurdlers. When the next championship cycle begins in 2019, there will be a slew of new young athletes taking the podium. Predicting who is always difficult as injuries and the emergence of new talent makes things tenuous at best. Many of this year’s youngsters have an outstanding chance to be on the podium. Following are some athletes to watch in 2019. Men’s 100 Always…
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Future NOW
The US sprint corp has been aging for some time now. The world has been mourning the retirement of Usain Bolt, but the truth is that America’s best for more than a decade are right behind him. Consider that our top sprinter last year, World Champion Justin Gatlin, was 25 years old. Remarkably his title came 13 years after his Olympic title in Athens! Our global medal hopes have been in the hands of Gatlin, Allyson Felix, Tyson Gay, LaShawn Merritt, Sanya Richards Ross, Wallace Spearmon, and a few others for well over a decade. Begging the question, what happens when they retire? Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had athletes…
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Is Coleman the Heir Apparent?
Christian Coleman has had a blazing indoor season. He opened with a WR 60 meters of 6.37 that had no chance of rectification because electronic blocks weren’t used. He then proceeded to cruise 6.4s, on his way to the US Championships. There he shut down on 6.47 and 6.43 heat and semi before crushing the WR with a 6.34! He finished up with a 6.37 to win the World Indoor Championships! No one came close all season. Coleman’s biggest opponent all season was the clock. Of course the internet has gone nuts, immediately drawing comparison to newly retired 100 WR holder Usain Bolt with the question, "Can Coleman break 9.58?"…