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A Month From the Trials
We’re about a month away from the Trials and the crystal ball is still pretty murky! Usually I have a pretty good idea how the Trials are going to go by now, but so many elites have been quiet – especially the distance crowd. This may be one of the most surprising Trials in awhile. The colleges have yet to have their Regionals and Nationals – those will take place in the next two weeks. Though I’m not seeing a lot of collegiate athletes making this team. Mainly because a lot of top talent has already gone pro. We’ve had three Diamond League meetings with this weekends competition in Rabat,…
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Conference Weekend 2016
Conference weekend is always busy as every major collegiate conference decides it’s champions. Add to the mix the Diamond League’s Shanghai stop, and the Cayman Invitational with the seasonal debut of Usain Bolt, and you had one exciting weekend of track and field! With the NCAA Championships, Olympic Trials, and multiple national Trials around the corner, did we learn anything of significance? I think so. For starters, the known top elite men’s sprinters are starting more slowly this year. Justin Gatlin won Shanghai handily at 9.94. Fast, but significantly slower than the 9.7’s he was running at this time last year. Word is he’s been nursing an ankle injury. But,…
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Doha and Kingston Heat Up the Season
Penn was the unofficial start to the outdoor season. The "USA v The World" is sort of the kick off to things. That was last weekend. This weekend sh*t got real, as the Diamond League got under way with the first stop in Doha on Friday. And to make sure that things were underway, the Jamaican International Invitational in Kingston made sure that there was plenty of hot action. We’re now officially on our way to Rio! As usual, the sprinters are in mid-season form – especially the women. Not that the men weren’t impressive. LaShawn Merritt is proving to be in fine form. After running 19.78/44.22 the past few…
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Penn – And Another Relay Debacle
We’re within 100 days of the Olympics, which means that the Trials are around the corner. Penn, with its "USA v the World" format, and Drake with its invitational fields, tend to give us a solid preview of where our elite sprinters are in their development. The weather at Drake was horrible – it often is which is why I personally don’t like it for National meets – but we did get an awesome men’s 400 with Kirani James (44.08) and LaShawn Merritt (44.22) running the world’s two fastest times! Nothing surprising there given they’re already two of the world’s best. For me, although James won the race, I’d say…
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The 400 WILL Be THE Event of 2016
We’re only a few weeks into the 2016 outdoor season, and in spite of what’s been crazy weather, it’s clear that the men’s "quarter" is going to be THE premier event of the year! Why do I say this? Look at what we’ve already seen. At the high school level, the recent Arcadia Invitational saw a 45.51 to 45.94 battle among Michael Norman and Josephus Lyles – last year’s high school leaders at 45.19 & 45.46. Neither was nearly this fast last April. Josephus honed his speed during the indoor season, leading the high school 60 at 6.65! Since the outdoor season has begun, Norman has set a 100 PR…
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Wow, I Agree with Carl Lewis
It’s been the rare occasion that I’ve been in agreement with Carl Lewis. He’s been "controversial" during much of his association with the sport of track and field going back to the 1980s. But as I read this article I found myself nodding my head in agreement. While I’ve been trying my best to just enjoy the competition this indoor season, DOPING continues to dominate the headlines. Stories about the various finalists from the women’s 1500 final in London, discovered to have doped. Continuing issues with Russia and it’s "anti"doping program. Doping revelations in Ethiopia. Not a week goes by without discussions of doping in track and field in the…
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How to Win the 4×1 in Rio!
It’s one thing to be dominated in the sprints by an athlete like Usain Bolt, but during the same time span we’ve seen a comedy of horrors take place in what was also an American staple – the 4×1 relay. The American men haven’t won a 4×1 in a major since 2007 – approaching nearly a decade! This is tragic, and the first step to righting this ship in my opinion, is to admit FAILURE and move on. I don’t want to hear about Bolt, because the races have been lost before Bolt has gotten the baton – he’s not had to catch anyone from behind. And the one time…
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Can Felix Win the Double?
The big news recently is that the Rio schedule has been altered to allow for a 200/400 double for the women. The 1st rounds of the 200 & 400H were flip flopped – the hurdles moving to the evening, the 200 to the morning. Now, instead of the 200 opening rounds being just over an hour before the 400 final, Allyson Felix (or anyone else) will have all day to recover from the 200 before running that 400 final – making this a very doable double now. Great news for fans of the sport who have too often been denied watching great sprinters perform both events in major championships. That’s…
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World Records and the State of the Sport
British Track and Field has released a manifesto on the status of the sport – changes it feels are necessary to "clean up" the sport of track and field. Among these is the matter of the sports records and what it sees as a full scale revision of track and field’s world records. Lord Coe – a Brit and the current head of the IAAF – has stated that he favors the removal of selected world records. This is not the first time the issue of "record revision" has been brought up. Most recently it was a topic of discussion at the turn of the century. The thought of those…
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What to Watch in 2016
Olympic years are always exciting for sports fans because that global showcase will take place this summer. That means we will see the best that track and field (among other sports) has to offer – the best athletes competing head to head. Sad that I can’t say that in any other year, but unfortunately we don’t get this type of competition in any other year with any regularity. One would have hoped that the World Championships would have become THAT meet by now – having been around since 1983. But alas, though we get some scattered excellence around Worlds, it’s still "The Games" that the world aims for and "EVERYONE"…