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Musings on This Week in Track and Field
I was preparing to comment on the weekend that just passed, when tragedy struck at the Boston Marathon. As most people did, I took pause to reflect on the fact that once again sport, politics, and the real world intersected in a rather heinous manner. The Hitler lead Games of 1936. Olympic boycotts in 1980 & 1984. The hostage crisis in 1972. The bombing in Atlanta in 1996. All examples of the negativity and tragedy that can occur when politics rears it’s ugly head into the world of sport. I’m not going to dwell on Boston and the obvious. Clearly the act of violence was senseless. These were not soldiers…
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Florida Relays Leads Weekend
Another nice weekend of track and field in the books with the Florida Relays serving as the center piece. Florida didn’t disappoint with a Tyson Gay sighting, David Oliver debut and some hot running in the speed events. If early returns are any indication, this could be the Year of the Youth, as several young people stepped up into potentially starring roles. Take a look. Florida Relays Octavious Freeman (UCF) 11.02 (+1.2) – Freeman nearly became the year’s first sub 11. A hot PR so early in the season, says sub11 could be just around the bend. It looks like having a training partner at her level is passing…
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March Closes Out in Style
Now that’s the way to end a month of track and field – with some stellar competition! The Texas Relays officially signals the start of the relay season and went off in fine style. As is often the case, the it was the hot meet of the weekend – and as usual speed was on display. Take a look at the following results and comments. On the other side of the country, the Stanford Invitational saw tons of very good high school action with a smattering of high level elite competition thrown in. Scanning the results sheets I also noted some interesting/outstanding performances from several other meets this weekend. Following…
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What to Watch as the Season Gets Underway
We’ve had quite a few meets since the close of the indoor season. In the grand scheme of things however, they amount to little more than "ads" – like the scrolling ads on the theatre screen before the previews that lead up to the featured movie. In the world of track and field, now that the ads have run while we settled in, the first set of previews are about to begin – the spring relay/invitational meets including the first half of the Diamond League. The second preview will be the National Championships/Trials. Third preview the European Circuit, including the second half of the Diamond League. Then the feature presentation,…
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Who’s Windows are Threatening to Close?
A common phrase in the world of sports refers to an athletes "window" closing – to his or her window of opportunity expiring. In most cases we’re talking about the opportunity to win a title, but the term can also refer to obtaining records or other significant performances. Every couple of Olympic cycles or so, as the sport’s population begins to age at the top end, we get a group of individuals who’s windows begin to close. For these athletes, they start to compete against “Father Time” as much as their real world opponents. In that regard this year could be huge in the careers of several athletes – more…
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Out on a Limb Predictions for 2013
We’re finally headed to the great outdoors. No, not Yosemite or Yellowstone, I’m talking about the 400 meter ovals we call tracks – and what I’m anticipating is going to be one of the greatest seasons ever. Last year’s Games were outstanding, and with the World Championships on tap I would expect many top athletes to still be in form as they’ve been able to add to last year’s base. The year after the Games saw Michael Johnson run 43.18 (‘01), Bolt speed 9.58 “09), Steve Cram run 3:29.67 "(‘85), Bubka go 6.00m (‘85), and Wilson Kipketer set his 1:41.11 (‘97). So exciting things can happen in the year after…
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Collegiate Champs Send Us Outdoors in Style
This weekend saw us "spring forward" into Daylight Savings Time, which means more hours to train as athletes transition from the indoor season to the outdoor season. For several college athletes their final competition of the winter was this weekend’s NCAA Championships which featured several outstanding athletes and performances. Below are my highlights from the meet, but before I get to that I have to comment on the 200 meters. This race is one of my favorite events outdoors, but it loses much in the transition from outdoors to indoors – and this meet demonstrated why. For starters, on the one lap banked tracks lane draw is EVERYTHING in the…
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Indoors Closing With a Bang
This past weekend saw a rash of big time indoor performances as the European and US Championships were held. Below are my top half dozen performers/performances from the weekend. Initially I was going to do a top five as that’s a more common number, but that Mary Cain just had to be thrown in there! Another rash of times should be expected this weekend with the NCAA Championships on tap. Then it’s outdoors we go! Jimmy Vicaut (FRA) 6.48 to win Euro indoor title. Huge PR and win for Vicaut who looks like he’s maturing physically and ready to drop into the sub 10 zone this year. A standout for…
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HOT Weekend to End February
Just as I’ve been anticipating, this weekend saw track and field rise to its highest level of the season! The college ranks entered their biggest time of the year with conference meets galore add the athletes prepare for the NCAA Championships. Professional athletes laid down some marks of note, especially at the DN Galen in Sweden. Even the high schoolers got into the act with a new 300 record and some swift sprinting at the Brooks PR meet in Seattle. If the closing weeks of the indoor season are any indication this could be one HOT outdoor season on the horizon! There were far too many great marks to try…
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Big Weekend – Birmingham & Millrose
The indoor season is just about ready to come to an end. It’s short and sweet and usually ends with a bang as the athletes that are competing indoors like to really test their fitness before hitting the track outside. These “season ending” meets usually a test of early fitness and sharpness. The best of this weekend were the meetings in Birmingham England and New York (Millrose). Both had great fields and therefore great competition – and fortunately I was able to actually watch the action in both meets . Thanks to the internet I watched the Birmingham competition live online – most meets in Europe are streamed live if …