It’s going to be a busy week and there will be lots to talk about. We’ve got the Boston Marathon going off a week from yesterday, and I want to take a look at the field and that course – I mean how many WINDY distance races can you find? The Mt SAC Relays are in a week and it looks like they are going to have some outstanding athletes in attendance. There’re Several relay meets this week including Sea Ray, the Big West Challenge, Seminole Invitational, Spec Towns, the Jesse Owens Classic and the Rafer Johnson/JJK Invitational. And after the latest false start fiasco with young Marvin Bracy at the Florida Relays, it may be time to talk about the one and done false start rule again – what does it accomplish.
But first I promised my early favorites for the US Olympic Trials. VERY early favorites, because as we know a lot is going to happen between now and then – and we haven’t even seen most of the top athletes yet. Of course that’s sort of the fun in trying to pick favorites this early – to see how well they perform in the lead up to the Trials and to watch new names enter the picture. Besides, as long as I make a few alterations here and there, I’m not stuck with them until the last list before the gun goes off! So why not put it out there?
I figure after Penn it might need a little tweaking. Then probably after the New York leg of the Diamond League nail it down and make it a full on three slot prediction! So I’m just going to put some names out there with a little bit of commentary.
It’s early in the season, and few of the top athletes have made it to the track yet, but the 110 hurdlers are doing what they do – compete! I love the hurdlers. For starters it’s one of the most exciting events on the track. There’s speed. The technique of the hurdles. The ebb and flow of the race Read More...
Day one of the Florida Relays was a hard act to follow, but the rest of the weekend managed to hold it’s own starting with Day Two in Florida. Focused on relay events the men’s 4x1 and the women’s 4x4 produced some outstanding times. In the 4x1 a Pure Athletics team of Mookie Salaam, Keston Bledman, Travis Padgett, and Nickel Ashmead went 38 Read More...
Usually I wait through the weekend to talk about the highlights, but they were running so fast in Florida that Day One was just a repeat highlight reel. Tiffany Porter (GBR) started the afternoon off with a nice 12.96 (-0.5) – fastest time this side of last week’s blazer in Tuscon, and of course Sally Pearson (AUS) Read More...
Now that we're outdoors expect this year to go whizzing by. June will be Championships month - NCAA, High Schools and assorted National Olympic Trials. July will be European Circuit month replete with the heart of the Diamond League. Then finally August will be Olympics month, dominated of course by the London Games Read More...
It’s rare that high school athletes are able to compete in the Olympic Trials, let alone the Olympic Games. While the Games in it’s infancy was able to produce a Bob Mathias – high school decathlon gold medalist in London (1948). Today’s Olympics are a “professional” affair dominated by athletes that train year round and get paid to do so Read More...
Speed was on display this past weekend and nowhere was it more prominent than the speedy state of Texas and the annual Texas Relays. The first sign that things were going to be fast came in the qualifying rounds of the University 4x1 when Auburn scorched the track for a 38.95 in their heat. That’s the kind of time one expects to see collegiate teams run in the semis or final of the NCAA Championships, not an opening round of the Texas Relays – one of the first runs for college teams of the season Read More...
That’s the word from Tyson in an interview with ESPN. In the interview Gay states that he’s had a few nagging injuries that have slowed his preparation for the Olympic season. He said that the injury that forced him to have surgery last year is fully healed, but some muscle strains and inflammation have twice halted his training Read More...
If you like speed and competition then you must like the hurdles. Unlike the pure sprinters, who seem to avoid each other as much as possible until forced to toe the line for championships, the hurdlers compete often and face each other with regularity.
The sprinters tend to get more publicity but of the four hurdle events three of them have legitimate shots at having WR’s broken – two by more than one individual Read More...
Before I take a look at the hurdles events for 2012, I want to go back to the middle distances for a moment. Because as I was looking at this year’s women’s 1500, visions of one of the most gutsy performances in Olympic history were running through my mind. I’m actually a big fan of the mile/1500 meters, I grew up during the era of Jim Ryun, Kip Keino, Ben Jipcho, John Walker, and Filbert Bayi – milers that ran fast and competed strongly Read More...
It’s going to be a busy week and there will be lots to talk about. We’ve got the Boston Marathon going off a week from yesterday, and I want to take a look at the field and that course – I mean how many WINDY distance races can you find? The Mt SAC Relays are in a week and it looks like they are going to have some outstanding athletes in attendance. There’re Several relay meets this week including Sea Ray, the Big West Challenge, Seminole Invitational, Spec Towns, the Jesse Owens Classic and the Rafer Johnson/JJK Invitational. And after the latest false start fiasco with young Marvin Bracy at the Florida Relays, it may be time to talk about the one and done false start rule again – what does it accomplish.