Scanning through some meets there are more very good results from this weekend. At the Georgia Invitational, long jumper Dwight Phillips set a new PR in the 100 meters with an excellent 10.06 (+2.0). Should bode very well for his long jumping this year. Later in the meet, 100 meter man Derrick Atkins (BAH), World Silver medalist in ’07, moved up to the 200 and set a PR of 20.35 (+1.5). Atkins has been running a steady diet of 200’s this spring, which should help his 100 – though he already had a strong finish. At the Oxy Invitational in Southern California, long hurdler Felix Sanchez ran the open 400…

High Schoolers really kicked into gear this weekend as State Meets were run in some states and qualifying began in others. In Georgia, Stephen Hill (Miller Grove) jumped a nation leading 25′ 8.75″ in the long jump. Seven jumpers in all went over 24′ in various divisions. Jumping was good in in the high jump too as David Smith (Love Joy) cleared 7′ 2″ In the high jump. In Florida Dentarius Locke screamed a sprint double of 10.32/20.70w and had a legal 200 of 20.58 (National Leader) in the prelims. His time broke state meet records of Jeff Demps (100) and Walter Dix (200). Colorado pole vaulter Chase Cooper (Smoky…

Tough to follow yesterday’s Doha meet, but that was the position the Osaka Grand Prix was in this morning (at least this morning my time). Osaka had decent performances but only two one lap races stood out – Jeremy Wariner’s 44.69 win in the open 400 and Kerron Clement’s 48.60 win over the hurdles. Both efforts put them in the #2 position on the yearly list for the season, and Wariner’s mark made him only the second person under the 45 sec barrier this season. Update from Doha: The times I reported yesterday from the men’s 100 were from the heats. A final was run later in the day and…

Today’s meet in Doha got the weekend rolling like few meets do during the course of a season as 13 seasons bests were set in various events all over the stadium! Where to begin? Well Kerron Stewart (JAM) demolished the women’s 100 field in 10.93 (+1.3) but was just short of her own yearly leading mark (10.92). Second place was a far back Stephanie Durst (US) in 11.15. Similar story in the men’s 100 where Travis Padgett (US) blitzed a nice 10.04 (+1.4) with second place well back in 11.14 (Michael Frater, JAM). Padgett was just off the 10.00 yearly leader of Walter Dix (US). Those races aside, almost everything…

I know it’s early in the season. There is lots of time for athletes to rise, fall, and even rise again. Already we have seen injuries, accidents, slow starts to training and other issues that could affect the final outcome to the season – which this year is the World Championships in Berlin. But somebody has to stick their neck out at some point and start looking ahead. I figure now is as good a time as any. So, following are the 5 matchups in the sprints that I think will shape the Berlin finals. #5 – Walter Dix v Asafa Powell I’m sure that sprint fans are immediately laughing…

A press release issued today outlines a new deal between NBC and the IAAF to broadcast the World Championships in 2011, 2013 and 2015. It is an extension of the deal that NBC has to broadcast this year’s World Championships in Berlin. The agreement also includes some future telecasts of Golden League events during the same time period. On the surface this is exciting news. Just a few years ago (2003) we only had one day of Major network coverage (ABC) of the Paris World Championships – a definite travesty. By the same token, however, last year’s telecast of the Olympics by NBC was also a travesty. Promising more hours…

The weather wasn’t always cooperative this weekend, but that didn’t stop an onslaught of athletes turning up the heat on the season this weekend. The meet I was most looking forward to was the Texas Twilight. Put together at the last minute it still put together some solid fields and had Tyson Gay once again taking on the 400 meters as he prepares to defend his sprint titles in Berlin – and neither Texas nor Tyson disappointed! A lot of races benefitted from the favorable breezes one usually finds in Texas and there were some great times albeit windy. The best being barely windy times by Alonzo Edward in the…

Usain Bolt was in a car accident in Jamaica this week. No broken bones, but word from his manager yesterday is that he will be out the month of May, which means he will not be competing in Kingston this weekend. While Bolt said he was fine this is a smart move on the part of his people. Auto accidents can often result in spinal and back injuries even when no such injuries are apparent. I am taken back to the early part of this decade when Ato Boldon was in an auto accident that basically lead to the end of his career, as his performances were never quite the…

The buzz today is that three track and field athletes have been identified as having tested positive for the blood boosting drug CERA as a result of the IOC’s retest of samples submitted by athletes in Beijing. On the one hand this is good news. WADA was so excited that it gave the following statement,  “WADA commends the IOC, once again, for its approach.” “Retesting of samples as science advances is a powerful weapon in the fight against doping in sport, as shown in a number of cases at the 2008 Tour de France.”    “We suggest that athletes who may be tempted to cheat keep this reality in mind,” said…

Speaking with a friend earlier today, I was informed that current world sprint leader Carmelita Jeter, will be running a sprint double in Guadaloupe this weekend. Jeter currently leads the world in both short sprints with marks of 10.96 and 22.59. While not a “major” competition, Guadaloupe has often been a site for sprinters to go and get a good start to their seasons. Just last year, Lashawn Merritt ran 44.34 there on his way to a #1 ranking in the 400 meters. Jeter has looked very good so far this season, including her electrifying anchor this past weekend at the Penn Relays. I expect something fast from her this…