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Can The Men’s 100m Record Be Broken
Track and field is in high gear now, as just about everyone expected to be in contention for medals has begun competing. This weekend we get the second Diamond League meeting in Shanghai/Suhoux China. Watching the press conference for the meet, the first question that was asked was to Christian Coleman regarding the current WR in the men’s 100m. Simple question, can it be broken. A fair question given the length of time the record has been on the books. Christian did his best to answer, but I think this record is a little more “complicated” than saying, we’ve got some guys that can run that fast. Especially when we’ve…
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Here We Go
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…
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Fast Feet in Florida
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. This time of year athletes are looking to begin their competitive build up to June’s Olympic qualifying meets. Based on the results of this meet, the Trials and Games are going to be very very fast. This meet of highlights…
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Tom Jones On Deck
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…
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Relay Season in Full Effect
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. In that vein there were a lot of Olympic and Worlds caliber athletes on the track in Austin Texas (Texas Relays) and Gainesville Florida (Florida Relays). Leading to many truly outstanding performances! In Texas the star of the show was Gabby Thomas who is clearly in fine form. She ran on the winning…
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The Key to an Exciting Track Meet
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. Though that’s backfired so they need to change it back. Since this seems to be a preoccupation of World Athletics and Lord Coe, I have two things that I believe will make meets more exciting. Both are very simple in scope. Though…
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Story Lines Heading to Paris
We’re finally ready to go play outside! As exciting as this year’s indoor season was, outdoors is always better. If that’s the case, this is going to be a season for the ages. Especially the ending with Noah Lyles running the 4×4 and others saying, yo I wanted to do that! That is what Olympic seasons are about. The Ultimate in competition, combined with stories of all types. Success, failure, close finishes, rising stars. In many ways it’s the stories that make the Olympics. So today I’m going to throw some potential story lines out into the ether. Something to follow on the road to and during the Paris Games.…
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Noah and the 4×4
Of all the competitions in track and field, the World Indoor Championships tends to be one of the least popular championship meets in the sport. That’s typically because most athletes are still in their base training mode. As a result, the fields in most events aren’t nearly as deep as they will be come Olympic Trials time. The one caveat is that athletes that do compete indoors, do so with a purpose. To sharpen elements of their events. Trying new techniques. Rehabbing injuries. Running odd distances to strengthen their normal events. This year was no different, though those athletes that did show up, definitely brought their “A” game to the…
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World Indoor Champs, Nine Events to Watch
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. As a result, we have a lot of star level talent on display in Glasgow. Every event has individuals with Olympic podium potential. Here are nine events that are guaranteed to excite everyone! Men’s 60m – The sprints are always exciting. This year could be exceptional. It features the reigning World 100m…
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How to Improve Track and Field
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. My guess is that most people keep looking at the length of time that a meet takes. A reaction that I consider bogus given the length of time that many popular sports take. If your assumption is that people don’t have the attention span,…