Sanya Richards Ross just brought up an age old issue when it comes to the U.S. Trials system – that it should be changed to ensure we send our best to major competitions. In some ways the sport has already been in agreement. After all, the IAAF went to the bye for World champions because of Michael Johnson’s injury status in 1997. Johnson was injured and unable to compete in our selection meet for the World Championships, and to ensure his competition the IAAF created the bye for World champions that allowed Johnson to compete in Athens. Since then all World champions have been assured a place in the subsequent…

I know I said I was going to recap the field events from Nationals, but I think I will do that in a Preview to Worlds. Mostly because I’m hoping we get a few more athletes in better position, as right now we have a lot of “B” qualifiers and athletes without qualifying marks. And today we are getting back on track, so to speak, with the next stage of the Diamond League – Lausanne. Before that starts, however, I did want to touch on something that I’ve written about before. I’ve gotten a lot of questions about Tyson Gay and his injury, as I’ve mentioned before. And I’m still…

The pickings have been very slim in our medal hunt in events above 400 meters. While the relative drought goes back even further, since the start of the New Millennium we’ve only had four individuals pick up hardware in a Major – Goucher (‘07, 10,000), Flanagan (‘08, 10,000), Rowbury (‘09, 1500), and Lagat (‘09, 1500/5000).  It’s been a rough ride when we’ve had to go more than one lap around the track. On the bright side, two of those individuals picked up medals in the last Major – Berlin – and I do believe that that may have been the start of some serious improvement in our middle and long…

Before I start my recap of the hurdle events, let me say that the U.S. sprint hopes got a potential boost with the announcement yesterday that Lashawn Merritt will be allowed to use his bye to the World Championships. This move was sorely needed in my opinion, both to show that USATF is actually trying to work towards accomplishing something in Daegu, as much as to simply indicate that it is capable of doing the right thing for our athletes. The key here is that Merritt will only have about a month to get race sharp as he will not be eligible to begin competing until July 27th – exactly…

The National Championships ended a couple of days ago now and I’ve been running it back over in my mind, and the DVR, a few times.  Upon further review it was one of the most interesting meets we’ve had in a while. So much so that I’m going to recap it in parts – because there was a lot that went on. At the conclusion, I will put out my first “Medal Watch List” of the year – a list that I will adjust during the summer lead up to the World Championships. I’m going to start with a recap/analysis of the sprints. Partly because they have traditionally been our…

Only about an hours worth of action on the track on the final day, but a pretty exciting hour! And a few surprises.   Anderson In a Photo I knew that the men’s 400 hurdles was going to be close – and was it ever. Jeshua Anderson showed just how strong he was as he got his first sub48 to go with the win – BARELY. There was only .009 separating him from Bershawn Jackson, with not much more to Angelo Taylor. Great, great stretch run. And a terrific squad headed to Daegu.   Dix Doubles No Tyson – injury. Gatlin DNS. Wallace Spearmon out in the first round! Xavier…

A great day of finals. A couple of favorites did their thing. A couple of youngsters turned the tables. And one of the gutsiest races I’ve seen in the last twenty three years!   McQuay Comes of Age They say that things happen for a reason. Tony McQuay was injured at the NCAA Indoor Championships. He didn’t really get going until conference time. He was clearly fresher than the other collegians entered in this meet. He also seemed fresher than Jeremy Wariner, who even though he was running in lane 2 made a strong move coming off the final turn and looked ready to win. Then McQuay answered – saw…

Not a good day. Not on the track. Not on the ‘net. Not on the TV. Just not a good day overall for US track and field. I’ll start with the good but there was a lot of bad. It was like someone pulled the plug on my meet! Black Friday.   Jeter v Myers = Excitement This was indeed what it was supposed to be – sort of. The two best made it to the starting line and both ran up to their abilities. Unfortunately for Myers Jeter actually got a very solid start and the race was never in doubt. Jeter blew the field away, and looks to…

Usually the first day of Nationals is fairly quiet. But I found yesterday actually somewhat exciting. Lots of action for a first day, and I actually learned something new!   Who is Kibwe Johnson? I try to be up on as many events as possible, but I have to admit that I knew absolutely nothing about Kibwe before yesterday! I know who he is now. Hammer Thrower. A VERY good Hammer Thrower. So good in fact that his winning toss of 263’ 6” (80.31m) makes him #2 in the event on the season! He’s #3 American all time behind Lance Deal and Jud Logan – and I know that they…

The real action in a meet like the National Championships is supposed to occur in the finals. The preliminary rounds are supposed to separate the contenders from the pretenders. Sometimes, however, the early rounds aren’t as “balanced” as they perhaps should be. The result is that you get some very interesting combinations early on. Combinations that don’t always make it to the finals as someone gets eliminated too early in a “first 2 plus fastest 4” kind of scenario – especially in straight away races where favorable/unfavorable winds can play an unwanted role. Scanning through the heat sheets for the opening rounds I found some early heats that could be…