As I’m checking through results this morning, I see that USATF President Stephenie HIghtower is debating whether or not to “waive” the rule that defending World Champions must compete at our National Championships in order to defend at Worlds. The issue in her mind being that “rules are rules”, and wondering if they would be “setting a precedent” by allowing him to run without competing at Nationals Read More...

With the indoor season now beginning to heat up, it’s time to wrap up previews on athletes to watch this year. So last but not least is my list of Americans to watch this year. A tough list since I have so many favorites and see so much potential for this season. Trying to narrow down the list to only ten was much harder than I thought it would be  – so I extended the field to what I’m calling my “Track and Field Dozen” Read More...

What has been a relatively quiet indoor season began to pick up the pace this past weekend as we begin to see more of the elite athletes taking the stage. This past weekend we saw several in action. Multi eventers Ashton Eaton (US) and Jessica Ennis (GBR) showed very good early season form. Ennis taking over the world lead in the 60H (8 Read More...

One of the nice things about this sport is watching the development of youth. While it is harder these days to make an impact internationally as a young person, the opportunity is still there for many. Following are ten young people that I think will have that opportunity in 2011.    Kirani James – Granada – 400 meters This young man was just a breath away from running under 45 seconds last year in the quarter (45 Read More...

There is a  discussion on the table as to what will happen to London’s new Olympic track once the games are over. Apparently a soccer league wants to take over the facility, tear it down and rebuild it without the track – and that is drawing criticism from some corners. As well it should in my opinion Read More...

PicappThumbs.loadSettings({search_term : "lashawn%20merritt",cols : 1,rows : 1,size : 140,showTitles : true,textColor : "#111",topTitle : "lashawn merritt",id: "PicappThumbs1294952047"});Doping is proving to be the biggest problem facing track and field – because it’s an issue that it just can’t seem to get right Read More...

PicappThumbs.loadSettings({search_term : "wallace%20spearmon",cols : 1,rows : 1,size : 140,showTitles : false,textColor : "#111",topTitle : "wallace spearmon",id: "PicappThumbs1294769625"});Being a World Championship season, 2011 will no doubt have it’s share of “hot” events. I’ve already taken a look at some of the stars that I think bear watching this year – and by association so should their events Read More...

PicappThumbs.loadSettings({search_term : "renaud%20lavillenie",cols : 1,rows : 1,size : 140,showTitles : false,textColor : "#111",topTitle : "renaud lavillenie",id: "PicappThumbs1294504620"});Originally I thought about putting together a list of 10 athletes to watch this year. But as I surveyed the track and field landscape I decided that there are so many more athletes that deserve to be mentioned Read More...

I was quite excited to read that Italian long jumper Andrew Howe has plans to start sprinting again. Howe has long exhibited a talent for the 200 meters. He ran 20.99 as a 16 year old a decade ago, and followed up with 20.28 as a 19 year old, He still sits at #12 all time as a Junior in spite of running the event only “part time”! The names of those who performed better as a junior include Francis Obikwelu (20 Read More...

Goodbye 2010. Welcome 2011. Last year was fun, but there is something special about having a Major championship to look forward to. It makes the season seem more “official”.The athletes seem to feel that way anyway. Last year saw many athletes take time off, and end season’s early. We may see more athletes begin their seasons a bit later this year – as they extend their preparation for Daegu Read More...