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Early Season Thoughts
Hear ye, hear ye. The 2022 season has begun! A slew of indoor invitationals have got things finally going. And while we’re a couple of weeks away from the “elite” invites. We’ve away gotten some pretty outstanding results coming in. Enough for me to say that 2022 could be an even better year statistically than last year! Some thoughts from this weekend. Matt Boling – I’m going to start with this young man because it seems he always ends up under a microscope. His opener was exciting for me, because of his long jump win. Exciting because he lept 8.25m (27′ 0.75″). As good a sprinter that he is, that…
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Pre Trials, Trials, Next the Games
This has been one of the most exciting years ever for track and field. Thank you Covid-19. After all, the Covid virus has had an affect on everything that has happened on this planet for the better part of a year and a half – and continues to do so! It basically shut down the 2020 season of track and field. In effect forcing everyone to have a much longer “pre-season” to 2021 than normal. While the initial feelings by all were of sadness and despair, the unintended consequences seem to be the creation of stronger and better bases for training. The ultimate result being a season so far that…
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It’s Prediction Time – US Trials Relays
This season has been moving along so quickly, that it’s been too fast to keep up with – pun intended. Literally every few days something extraordinary has occurred. Athing Mu, Trayvon Bromell, Allyson Felix, Kenny Bednarek, Gabby Thomas, Terrance Laird, and this is just the tip of the iceberg! It’s now mere weeks from the NCAA Championships and the Olympic Trials – and time to start to spec out who’s going to be taking that trip to Tokyo. So that’s what I’m going to start doing – give my predictions of who I think us young to represent the US at the Games. I’m going to begin a bit differently…
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The Sprints New World Order
The “Old Guard” is officially gone. It took a long time as athletes have longer careers than in the past, but it still happens. The athletes that have dominated the world stage since 2004 have finally given way to the new generation of sprinters and hurdlers. When the next championship cycle begins in 2019, there will be a slew of new young athletes taking the podium. Predicting who is always difficult as injuries and the emergence of new talent makes things tenuous at best. Many of this year’s youngsters have an outstanding chance to be on the podium. Following are some athletes to watch in 2019. Men’s 100 Always…
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Future NOW
The US sprint corp has been aging for some time now. The world has been mourning the retirement of Usain Bolt, but the truth is that America’s best for more than a decade are right behind him. Consider that our top sprinter last year, World Champion Justin Gatlin, was 25 years old. Remarkably his title came 13 years after his Olympic title in Athens! Our global medal hopes have been in the hands of Gatlin, Allyson Felix, Tyson Gay, LaShawn Merritt, Sanya Richards Ross, Wallace Spearmon, and a few others for well over a decade. Begging the question, what happens when they retire? Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had athletes…
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Big Weekend – Birmingham & Millrose
The indoor season is just about ready to come to an end. It’s short and sweet and usually ends with a bang as the athletes that are competing indoors like to really test their fitness before hitting the track outside. These “season ending” meets usually a test of early fitness and sharpness. The best of this weekend were the meetings in Birmingham England and New York (Millrose). Both had great fields and therefore great competition – and fortunately I was able to actually watch the action in both meets . Thanks to the internet I watched the Birmingham competition live online – most meets in Europe are streamed live if …
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U.S. Open Preview
The U.S. Open Indoor meet will be held this weekend, and there are several events worth keeping an eye on, as there will be many top level athletes competing. So let’s take a look at what I think will be the top competitions. Men’s 50 Meters Easily one of the deepest fields of the meet, the men’s 50 has former Olympic & World 100 champion Justin Gatlin (USA); former 100 Meter WR holder Asafa Powell (JAM); and #4 all time in the 100 Nesta Carter (JAM) among the entrants. Powell and Carter are both known as super-fast starters, which should give them an edge in the shortest event on the…