One of the things that makes track and field exciting is great head to head competition. Nowhere are the head to head battles any bigger than at the World Championships and Berlin will have its fair share. With four weeks to go before the Opening ceremony, I will be taking a look at several of these match ups, starting with the men’s 400 and Jeremy Wariner and Lashawn Merritt. Wariner owned the 400 in the middle of this decade winning the Olympics in 2004 and the World Championships in ’05 & ’07. Wariner rarely lost, and then only in meets that were off the radar and really didn’t matter –…

    With this year’s World Championship only one month away, I thought it was time to start focusing on it. And my first thought was to round up my top ten moments from Worlds Championships past. But as I began to do so something strange started happening, the name of Stuttgart became VERY prominent! As a sprint fan Tokyo ’91 and the men’s 100 immediately came to mind as did Rome ’87 and Osaka ’07. But then suddenly four Stuttgart performances in a row appeared on my screen and I began to realize that I was actually getting ready to pay homage to one meet instead of several.  So that is…

  The one thing that World Championships and Olympic Games have that is missing from most other meets is the relays – the 4×1 and the 4×4. These events are quite possibly the most exciting on any track docket when they are contested, as they are fast, involve several athletes, and have a lot of action and movement among the teams.  With only a few weeks left until the start of the World Championships in Berlin, most countries will be looking to solidify their squads for Worlds. Putting together teams for the 4×4 is pretty straight forward – put your four best quarter milers on the track and let them have…

Tyson Gay and Kerron Stewart made strong cases for why they could both be atop the podium as the Road to Berlin passed through Rome today. Gay blazed a world leading 9.77 in just his second 100 of the season as he handily defeated former world record holder Asafa Powell and a very strong field. Gay used a decent start and tremendous mid race surge to run by Powell and the rest of the field on his way to victory. Kerron Stewart (JAM) used a similar surge midrace to overtake the blitz start of countrywoman and Olympic champion Shelly Ann Fraser. With her win she replace Fraser as world leader…

With the season hitting high gear on the way to the World Championships next month, Rome sits in the position of coming off an exciting Lausanne meet. With the weather playing a factor for many in Switzerland, I had to take a look at the weather report for Rome tomorrow. The forecast: Partly cloudy skies. High 83F, humidity 40%. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. 5% chance of precipitation. Translation – it should be a good day for competition. Start lists are up and it looks like there will be lots of stars stopping in Rome. We got to see Usain Bolt do his thing in Lausanne on Tuesday,…

 In the mid 70’s the hottest matchup in the sprints was that of American Steve Williams vs Jamaican Don Quarrie. Two of my favorite sprinters of all time, they dominated the clock, the rankings, and the competition. They were the dominant sprinters on the planet between 1973 and 1976 in both the 100 and 200. They raced each other often, and had some legendary duals – none more so than their dual setting of the 200 meter record (19.8) at Eugene in 1975 – a true classic.  Williams was tall and lean with a graceful stride at top speed that ate up ground in huge chunks. Quarrie was shorter, with…

Lausanne is always one of the top spots on the European Circuit, and in spite of cool, rainy weather today was no exception. Though the weather put a damper on many events, two things were clear today – it was Jamaica’s day to shine, and the match up that the world is now waiting for is Usain Bolt v Tyson Gay. First Jamaica Day. Several of Jamaica’s top sprinters have taken their share of lumps from American sprinters this year. Today revenge was served on a wet, cool platter. Starting with Olympic champion Shelly Ann Fraser in the women’s 100. Fraser had already tasted defeat to Carmelilta Jeter (US) at…

With the World Championships just a little over a month away, the competitions are beginning to heat up. Many of the sports top athletes have competed sparingly up to this point, but this week we start to get some races and match ups that will bring some focus on the Berlin medal hunt. Lausanne will get that going in a big way tomorrow, as several high profile athletes take to the track AND the field. Some events to keep your eyes on! Men’s 100 – US champion Michael Rodgers will have his third meeting of the year with Jamaican champs runner up Asafa Powell. A critical meeting for both as…

Now that the National Championships are done, and the teams for the World Championships are set, the European season gets under way in earnest today in Oslo. The second stop on the Golden League Oslo has a rich history of fine distance running, and should live up to that today. Potential highlights: Men’s 800 – Abubaker Kaki (SUD) v Yuri Borzakovski (RUS). Borzakovski is a fine kicker but Kaki has been the dominant 800 man the past couple of seasons. Could be an early picture of the final in Berlin. Women’s 5000 – Merseret Defar (ETH) takes to the track once again in search of a World Record. Defar has…

Many individuals have had their investment portfolios hit hard during the recent economic downturn. So much so that it has become common for people to avoid opening their financial statements to so as not to see the latest bad news. Given the performances of some of the sports biggest names in the past couple of seasons, one can only imagine how those that write the checks to some of the sports highest paid stars are feeling these days about their investments in the sport. Consider. Jeremy Wariner – Olympic Champion in ’04 and World Champion in ’05 & ’07 saw his fortunes take a negative turn last year. Beaten several…