In spite of the fact that I tend to talk more about the running events than I do the field events, I’m actually a huge fan of the field events. It just seems that lately some of the excitement is missing in the field. I remember when the long jump featured great battles like the U.S. Championships in 1987 (San Jose) with Carl Lewis (8 Read More...
The CHill Zone of T&F: Conway's View From the Finish Line
2011 in Review – Men’s 1500 Meters
Nov 26th, 2011
6:17 pm PST
6:17 pm PST
Like the women’s version of the metric mile, the men’s 1500 final in Daegu was a far cry from the way the season itself played out. Not to mention the difficulty in sorting things out due to the constant change in leadership on the track. Things got crackin in earnest in Doha as young Nixon Chepseba (KEN) torched the track for a WL 3:31 Read More...
2011 in Review – Women’s 1500 Meters
Nov 23rd, 2011
3:30 pm PST
3:30 pm PST
Typically when in doubt, the result of the year’s Major championship does wonders to help sort out the top athletes on the season. When it comes to ranking this year’s women’s 1500 however, Daegu rendered itself fairly useless in the matter. The season got going in earnest as Anna Mishchenko (UKR) won the first stop on the Diamond League in Doha with a WL 4:03 Read More...
Is There a Benefit to the U.S. being in the Diamond League?…
Nov 21st, 2011
4:18 pm PST
4:18 pm PST
I ask this question because last week the Diamond League schedule was released and once again it looks like the New York and Eugene meets received less than preferential treatment. First let’s look at the scheduling aspect. The Prefontaine Classic (Eugene) is scheduled for June 2nd – two days after the Rome meet on May 31st Read More...
2011 in Review – Women’s 400 Meter Hurdles
Nov 19th, 2011
5:49 pm PST
5:49 pm PST
The women had a much better season relative to their male counterparts. Whereas the men seemed to have difficulty coming up with quality times, the women had no such troubles. Right off the bat, the women started asserting themselves as Lashinda Demus (USA) turned 54.85 to set a solid world lead on May 7th Read More...
Should Distance Runners Be Given a “Pass” in Evaluations?…
Nov 17th, 2011
4:46 pm PST
4:46 pm PST
I know I said I was getting back to rankings, but there is still a lot of time left before the calendar year is done, and there’s an interesting debate on the floor. The debate revolves around the selection of the Female Athlete of the Year by the IAAF, as the Kenyans are upset that Vivian Cheruiyot lost to Australian Sally Pearson Read More...
Is London 2017 a Game Changer?
Nov 15th, 2011
4:48 pm PST
4:48 pm PST
This week the IAAF announcedthat London will be host to the 2017 edition of the World Track and Field Championships. Interestingly enough, they will follow Beijing who will host in 2015, just as they follow Beijing as host of the Olympic Games (2008). So the question I’m asking myself today is: does this change the dynamics of bidding to host the World Championships? Or phrased another way, will we see more pairings of the Games’ host following up by playing host to the World Championships – a “legacy” to further the use of stadia built in the construction of the Olympic facilities? I actually rather like the idea, if that indeed is a “trend” going forward Read More...
Bolt Wants Four London Golds – But are Any Certain?…
Nov 14th, 2011
10:17 am PST
10:17 am PST
Usain Bolt stated recentlythat he now wants to add the 4x4 relay to his repertoire in an attempt to go for four gold medals at the London Olympic Games. The last time we saw a four medal haul at the Olympic Games was by Carl Lewis in 1984 – before that it was Jesse Owens in 1936. So it is indeed a very rare occurrence – one that requires both dominance over one’s opponents as well as a bit of luck and good fortune Read More...
2011 in Review – Men’s 400 Meter Hurdles
Nov 11th, 2011
6:15 pm PST
6:15 pm PST
This was a very interesting event. On the one hand it had the potential to be great with athletes like Angelo Taylor, Bershawn Jackson, Johnny Dutch, and Javier Culson returning from a hot 2010 season. And with L.J. Van Zyl blazing from the late winter, it looked like this might be THE hottest event of the year Read More...
2011 in Review – Women’s 100 Meter Hurdles
Nov 9th, 2011
5:55 pm PST
5:55 pm PST
If there is an event that I would hold up as a model for how I’d like to see a season go it would be the women’s 100 meter hurdles! These women did it all. The top women competed from early season through the World Championships – most competing in over 10 meets, and some over 15. They competed against each other often, and did so at a fairly high level for most of the season Read More...