-
Aviva Grand Prix Preview
With several National Championships on tap next weekend, this weekend looks to be fairly quiet. There will be some major action taking place in Britain however, as the Aviva Grand Prix has some loaded races and outstanding individuals scheduled to compete. Here are a few events and individuals that I’m looking forward to in Britain. Men’s Two Mile Mo Farah (GBR) has been having a great indoor season, setting a new PR in the mile and winning a 1500 over some solid competition. He moves up closer to his normal racing range here in the two mile. The race won’t be easy with Tariku Bekele (ETH) and Eliud Kipchoge…
-
Adam Kszczot – A New 800 Challenger
Last week Adam Kszczot (POL) took the indoor world lead in the 800 with a 1:45.44 run in Dusseldorf – fast enough to prompt me to suggest that we get used to spelling his name. Yesterday he dropped his PR, and the world lead, down to 1:44.57 – in the process becoming the 3rd fastest indoor half miler in history! Only Yuriy Borzakovskiy (RUS, 1:44.15) and former outdoor WR holder Wilson Kipketer (DEN, 1:42.67) have run faster indoors. Combine that with his outdoor best of 1:43.30 from last year, and at 22 years old, the question I now ask is: can he provide WR holder David Rudisha with a challenge…
-
What Role Will Injury Play in the London Sprints?
I ask that question because with approximately six months until London, we are already talking about injuries and/or potential injuries to top level athletes – most notably Usain Bolt’s visit to a German doctor. Coming on the heels of Bolt ending his 2011 season on an injury note, this could become a significant story line as we get closer to the Games. I say “could” become significant because there is still a lot of time on the calendar before we get into the June “qualifying” period of Olympic Trials across the globe. The injury story, however, almost always plays a role on the medal stand at the Olympics. Beijing lost…
-
The Players Begin to Emerge
WOW! Talk about a series of outstanding meets/marks. This weekend has been HOT! New York, Fayetteville, Dusseldorf, Albuquerque, Donetsk – great results have been pouring in from all over the globe. Initially I thought that the World Indoor Championships would be “down” with this year with most athletes preparing for the Games in August. But judging from the last couple of weeks, it’s looking like it will be the first of several peaks this year. There are plenty of articles all over the ‘net, and the results of the top events can be found here. Let’s take a look at a few meets, because I think we are already starting…
-
Two Big Meets This Weekend
It’s not often that I can make that statement about U.S. meets, but this is one of those rare occasions as both the Millrose Games AND the USATF Classic are on tap. Ironically both meets are getting “makeovers” this year. The Millrose Games will be taking up shop in the Armory for the first time moving from Madison Square Garden. Meanwhile, the USATF Classic is basically what used to be the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville Arkansas. The name of the meet may have changed in Arkansas, but the facility in Fayetteville is one of the fastest in the country, if not the world. That bodes well for all events but…
-
Memories of the Games – Hart & Robinson
Between now and the start of the Games there will be quiet periods between the action. One of the things I’d like to do during the down times is share some of my memories of the Olympics. In most cases I will look at individuals or individual races, so today I’m going to start with my first major memory of the Games – Eddie Hart & Rey Robinson in Munich (’72). I started out as a sprint fan, in large part because my dad was a sprint fan, and I watched the ’68 Games with him, and there were sizzling sprints! But I remember them mostly as highlights as I…
-
Video Review – New Balance Boston Indoor
It’s often interesting to review results online, then later have an opportunity to watch video of a race – or in this case two hours of a meet on television. While times and distances certainly have meaning, sometimes it’s how those results are derived that tell a completely different story. Such is the case with this weekend’s New Balance meet in Boston. Because after watching the meet on television yesterday, I have some observations regarding several individuals that I didn’t have after just reading the results and a few articles online. It’s early in the year, but in an Olympic season everything ends up having meaning at the end of…
-
Weekend Action, Feb 4/5
It’s Super Bowl weekend and football and food are on most people’s minds. The track world seems to have had that in mind when scheduling meets, because the slate was rather sparse. Even so there were still some outstanding performances on the small ovals this weekend. It’s only the first weekend in February, but the field events are already on fire this year, and the event that is leading the way is the women’s pole vault. A couple of weeks ago we had Holly Bleasdale (GBR) emerge and become the #2 all-time indoor vaulter. Today she is only #2 on the season as Jenn Suhr (USA) screamed over 4.88m (16’…
-
New Balance Indoor GP Preview
The indoor season really got rocking last weekend, and looks to pick up stream with the World Indoor Championships just a tad over a month away (Mar 9-11). One of the next steps towards Istanbul is this weekend’s New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston. This year’s meet is focusing on the middle and long distance events, and there is no shortage of solid matchups. As a matter of fact, having odd distances sometimes leads to matchups that you wouldn’t normally get in an outdoor meet as athletes move up and down in distance and sometimes meet in the middle of their specialties. Keeping that in mind following are five…
-
Has the U.S. Lost Its Sprint Mojo?
Talking with a neighbor who is a fan, but not an “uber” fan, of the sport after this weekend’s U.S. Open, I was asked “what’s wrong with the U.S. sprinters?” When I asked what he meant, he basically said that we didn’t win either sprint (won by Asafa Powell & Veronica Campbell). I responded that many of our best weren’t at the meet, and his follow up was that we didn’t win the World Championships, or the one before that, or the Olympic Games either. We had a nice chat after that, and while I won’t bore you with the blow by blow conversation, it did make me realize a…