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Ultimate Championship, or Ultimate Invitational?
As we get closer to the end of the track season, everyone is talking about the “Ultimate Championship.” I’d commented on X that it isn’t really a championship simply because it has the word “championship” in the name. The response I got was: if World Athletics calls it a championship, it’s a championship. Fair enough — that’s . not an argument you settle in 280 characters. So here’s the longer version. My Position The World Athletics Ultimate Championship may be an outstanding event, but I don’t view it as a championship in the traditional sense. It’s a highly selective, limited-field global invitational: a made-for-television season finale built around elite athletes,…
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USATF Picks Eugene Again. But Did Track & Field Lose?
On Monday August 17 2026, USATF announced that once again the Olympic Trials will be held in Eugene Oregon. Yes, they know how to host the Trials. They should since no other venue has hosted the Trials since Sacramento in 2004. Eugene has hosted the last five U.S. Olympic Trials — 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024 – and will now host 2028. That’s two straight decades of practice. I hope you know what you’re doing by now. Eugene also has an outstanding facility. Arguably the best in the country. As Europe continues to demonstrate however, there are other vital requirements for hosting major global meets, of which our Olympic…
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Is Marcell Jacobs Injury-Prone? Yes. However That’s the Wrong Question
The Olympic champion’s recurring injuries aren’t evidence that he’s fragile. They illustrate the razor-thin margin between elite sprint performance and the body’s ability to tolerate it. At the ’26 European Championships, the headliner in the men’s 100m was defending champion Marcell Jacobs of Italy, holder of the 9.80 European record set during his 2021 Tokyo Olympic triumph. After an effortless semifinal win, securing another title seemed like a formality. Then, roughly 40 meters into the race, Jacobs pulled up with an injury – reigniting debate over whether he is simply too fragile to sustain elite sprinting. The Injury Prone Label When Jacobs first appeared in the Tokyo Olympics, I was…
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World U20 – The Future Is Bright
The just concluded World U20 Championships was easily one of my favorite meets of the year. This is what the sport looks like whenever we get our best together to compete. A reminder that this should constantly be our goal, looking for ways to get our best athletes on the track. Both track AND field, because once again the field athletes showed that the best story opportunities are in the field. Multiple chances to perform leads to a give and take that is often electric in high level competition. Highlights in the Field Easily one of the best competitions of the meet was the men’s triple jump, where the top…
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The Truth About US Nationals
The US Track & Field Championships have come and gone, and that phrase alone pretty much describes them. They happened. There were a handful of exciting races. Noah Lyles stepping on the gas and blitzing to a 9.79 win. Melissa Jefferson Wooden doing the same in the 200m in 21.69. A photo in the 110H finding Cordell Tinch 13.00 an eyelash ahead of Bradley Franklin’s 13.00. Unfortunately, the meet was more notable for who wasn’t at the meet. As a majority of defending champions, record holders, and elite competitors elected to bypass the meet with no global championship berths on the line. Resulting in a rather bland overall championships. Reflecting…