Willie Davenport, Rod Milburn, Greg Foster, Roger Kingdom, Edwin Moses, Kevin Young. The US has a long a rich tradition of hurdlers in international competition. Eugene will see some fierce competition among those who want to be next in line to continue that tradition. Along with the sprint events, the hurdle events provide us with a large majority of medals in the Major meets. In Beijing we garnered three medals in the 400H alone as American athletes swept the event. Expect to see medalists emerge from the squad that leaves Eugene at the end of the weekend. Men’s 110 Hurdles The first name that jumped out at me as I…

An area where we once could count on medals internationally, in recent years we’ve come up dry. Bernard Lagat becoming an American citizen provided us with 1500 gold in Osaka in ’07, but prior to that we have to go back to the 1999 World Championships to find a World Champs medalist, or even finalist as Jearl Miles Clark was 4th in the 800 and Regina Jacobs won silver in the 1500. And back to 1997 to find a men’s finalist or medalist – Rich Kenah, bronze in the 800. This from the nation that produced Jim Spivey, Mark Everett, Johnny Gray, Steve Scott, Kim Gallagher, and Jim Ryun. Among…

When looking at the US medal count in the Olympic Games or World Championships one of the most critical areas is the sprints – along with the hurdles. We tend to be out matched in the middle and long distance events, but regularly garner medals in the shorter events. So performances in Eugene in these events will go a long way towards how many potential medals we will pick up in Berlin. The sprints are volatile events. Injuries happen out of nowhere and in the blink of an eye – Xavier Carter blew a knee in ’08, Tyson Gay a hamstring last year. One slip, a mistimed lean, or just…

What happens at Nationals doesn’t stay at Nationals – it has a profound effect on what happens at Worlds. Look no further than last year’s Olympic Games where the first round of last year’s Olympic Trials 200 determined the fate of the men’s sprints in Beijing. This year’s National Championships has the usual high number of stories but there are a half dozen that I think could have profound impact on the global scene. So here are the 6 stories that I will be following very closely: 1. Tyson Gay – The world’s #1 sprinter in 2007 and this years defending World Champion in both sprints from Osaka will be…

Olympic Champion David Robles(CUB) and Bershawn Jackson (US) ran to world leading times of 13.04 and 48.32 in the men’s 110 and 400 meter hurdle events to lead a handful outstanding performances in Ostrava. Robles cruised to an easy victory on the track where he set the WR (12.87) in last year’s meet winning easily over runner up Dexter Faulk’s (US) 13.13 PR. Likewise Jackson won quite easily over former World Champion Felix Sanchez (DOM) who was second in 49.20. Neither was pressed as they handled their respective fields handily. The same can be said for headliner Usain Bolt (JAM) as he attempted to take over the world lead in…

The Diamond League released its inaugural schedule for 2010. The 14 meet series will expand outside of Europe and include meets in Asia, North America and the Middle East. The 2010 Schedule: Doha (QAT) – Fri 14 MayShanghai (CHN) – Sun 23 MayOslo (NOR) – Fri 4 JuneRome (ITA) – Thu 10 June New York (USA) – Sat 19 JuneEugene (USA) – Sat 3 JulyLausanne (SWI) – Thu 8 JulyGateshead (GBR) – Sun 11 JulyParis (FRA) – Fri 16 JulyMonaco (MON) – Thu 22 JulyStockholm (SWE) – Fri 6 AugLondon (GBR) – Fri 13 and Sat 14 AugZürich (SWI) – Thu 19 AugBrussels (BEL) – Fri 27 Aug The good news…

The European season started out with a reminder that even the seemingly unbeatable can be beaten as Ariane Friedrich (GER) defeated Blanka Vlasic (CRO) to win the first leg of the Golden League event. Friendrich’s winning jump of 2.06m was a national record, meet record, and took over the yearly lead from Vlasic. Quite a feat as Vlasic has owned the event for the past couple of seasons. The women were the top stars of the meet as Yelena Isinbayeva (RUS) set a meet record of her own as she upped the world lead with her winning 4.83m vault and Sanya Richards (US) ran a world leading 49.57 in the…

The final day of the NCAA Championships was everything that championship meet should be. Drama with Oregon’s men and women’s teams having done their damage early in the meet, the question is would they be caught by the Texas A&M squads who had lots of potential points on the final day. And then there were the events themselves. There was the men’s 800 meters with Andrew Wheating (1:46.21) fighting to the last step against Texas’ Tevan Everett (1:46.27) to try and secure the final available points for his Oregon squad. Or how about the battle down the straight between Porscha Lucas, 22.81 (Texas A&M), Charonda Williams, 22.84 (Ariz St) and…

Friday and Saturday of the NCAA Championships showcase the majority of finals in the meet. And the Texas A&M women got things going in fine style as they won the opening event on the track – the 4×1 relay – going away in a Collegiate Record 42.36! This shattered a 10 year old record set by LSU in 1989 of 42.50 – and is the current world leader. The squad of Khrystal Carter, Porscha Lucas, Dominique Duncan and Gabby Mayo, was fast and passed the baton flawlessly as they put on a clinic in winning by nearly a full second. On the men’s side, Florida did not set a record,…

The Golden League Circuit begins Sunday with its first stop in Berlin. This year’s “golden” events are: Men – 100, 400, 3000/5000, 110H, JavelinWomen – 100, 400, 100H, High Jump, Pole Vault The individual(s) that can win their event at every stop of the tour will win or share in a $1,000,000 prize. The stops are Berlin (6/14), Oslo (7/3), Rome (7/10), Paris (7/17), Zurich (8/28) and Brussels (9/4). Berlin will not only be the first stop of the Golden League, but will also give individuals an opportunity at something of a dress rehearsal for the World Championships as this year’s Worlds will be held in the same venue. The…