-
What to Watch in 2016
Olympic years are always exciting for sports fans because that global showcase will take place this summer. That means we will see the best that track and field (among other sports) has to offer – the best athletes competing head to head. Sad that I can’t say that in any other year, but unfortunately we don’t get this type of competition in any other year with any regularity. One would have hoped that the World Championships would have become THAT meet by now – having been around since 1983. But alas, though we get some scattered excellence around Worlds, it’s still "The Games" that the world aims for and "EVERYONE"…
-
Beijing Review
The Beijing World Championships are over and if you’re a fan of the sport you were pleased with the competition. When Worlds first began back in 1983 it was all about a handful of nations – Britain, Germany, Soviet Union, and United States, with everyone else as filler. Now we see gold medal performances from Kenya, Ethiopia, China, Jamaica, Netherlands, South Africa, and Eritrea among others winning medals all over the globe! That’s great for the global brand of track and field. If you’re a fan of the sport here in the United States, there’s little to be happy about. Only 18 medals. Only one individual gold from the men.…
-
Prefontaine was HOT!
Once again Pre was as good a meet as any on the planet. Which begs the question, why can’t we do this more often? It’s a rhetorical question of course, because the simple answer is MONEY! It takes a boat load of money to put on a quality meet these days, and who has that kind of money laying around? Yes, Eugene touts itself as "Track Town USA", but let’s be real – it’s in Nike’s back yard! Nuff said. I’ve said for years that the answer to track and field’s "issues" with attendance is not tied to street races, concerts, or pole vaulting in the parking lot. The answer…
-
Mary Cain to Go Pro
It had to happen sooner or later, a high school phenomenon turning pro. After all, we’ve seen world class high schoolers in the past. Certainly several WAY back during the early days of track and field when youngsters like Bob Mathias were dominant internationally. Even during what I consider the modern era of the sport – The 1960’s forward, athletes like, Houston McTear, Mary Decker, Dwayne Evans, and Gerry Lindgren among others were among the top world class level athletes. There was simply no professional track for them to transition into. More recently, however, we’ve seen Allyson Felix emerge as an international threat while in high school. She made the…
-
Upsets in Rome While Collegians Sizzle
If you’re a true fan of the sport then you are in Heaven like me, because we have wall to wall track and field –highlighted by the NCAA Division I Championships and today’s Golden Gala in Rome. So far both have been full of surprises, for different reasons. I’ll start with Rome, the fourth entry in the Diamond League. The Diamond League is supposed to be the "Circuit" where the elite meet to complete (if you use that tag line I want my royalties) and today we got to see Usain Bolt line up against Justin Gatlin – a match up of the last three Olympic Champions! The result was…
-
Reese 7.25m/23’9” in Highlight Filled Doha
With the Diamond League starting in Doha yesterday it was expected, at least from me, that the yearly lists would get some revision. After all, this would be the first real gathering of the elites outdoors in 2013 – and indeed the yearly lists took a beating. What wasn’t quite expected however, was the extremely high level of performances that were turned in, as several events had results that looked like they were made in August, not early May. Perhaps the best of these was Brittney Reese’s 7.25m/23’9” leap in the long jump. Reese’s mark was a WL, PR, and moved her ever to within .07m of 24 feet –…
-
Doha DL, Let’s Get Ready to Rumble
OK, now that we’ve had our first sub10 of the year, it finally feels like track season. And right on time we get the first of the Diamond League meets in Doha on Friday, which means a lot more elite athletes should be competing. While I have many issues with the way the DL has been set up – chief among them the lack of promised head to heads with the upper tier elite sprinters – this series of meets does run through some of the sport’s best venues. Which combined with the elite athletes that do show up at each meet is enough to ensure that we get some…
-
2012 200 Meter Rankings–men/women
The 200 meters belongs to the United States and Jamaica. That’s the conclusion one must come to when looking at this year’s results on both the men’s and women’s sides. Yes, others are on the track, and even occasionally make an appearance in the 3rd or 4th position, but reality is that in spite of the lack of focus on the event outside of major championships, this event is undergoing major change and only two nations are keeping pace. On the men’s side, gone are the days when 20.0/20.1 made you a major contender. Sub 20 is required to even think about finishing in the upper half of a major…
-
2012 100m Rankings for 2012 – Men/Women
I’m going to try something different this year, in that I’m going to go five deep for events as I rank them and present both the men & women simultaneously. Five Deep because in general that’s really where the top athletes are in any given event. After that things usually get rather fuzzy. And since the lists will only be five deep, it should make for more interesting reading to include both genders at the same time – essentially presenting a top ten athletes for each event. The first event, the 100 meters, actually was fairly easy to rank, as the Olympic Games proved to be the best indicator of…
-
What are the Sport’s Best Rivalries (pt2)
The last time around I took a look at some rivalries on the men’s side of things that l think would be a good sell to build the sport from a marketing perspective. Today I want to broaden that to include the women (and a hybrid) – who actually tend to compete against reach other on a more regular basis than the men. The first rivalry I want to look at really hasn’t become one yet but I think could be a doozy – Allyson Felix v Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce over 200 meters. Both women have experienced rivalries in other events – Felix v Veronica Campbell Brown over 200,…