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Early Trials Thoughts
It’s about that time. We’re about three weeks until the Olympic Trials. Here in the US that’s what we call our Olympic team selection meet. Other countries call it something else. While still others use a completely different selection process. No matter what it’s called, or how it’s done, by the end of June we will know who will be competing in Paris! As the season has progressed, there has been much talk about the competitions to date and how athletes have looked. All of which is really preparation for the Trials and the subsequent Olympics. So, how do things look as we approach the Trials? It’s been a very…
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World Relays Review
Let me begin by saying that World Athletics needs to find a spot on the schedule for this meet every year. It’s always a fun exciting meet. Because relays are fun and exciting. It’s also an opportunity for to athletes to run without worrying about their times, won loss records, or anything related to their individual events. In short, I would call it a safe space to compete for the sports stars. So they show up and fans get a treat. One of the few things during the season that seems to be a win win for everyone! Something that doesn’t happen very often. Now, because it’s used to allow…
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It’s All About Timing
This past weekend track fans had events from Thursday thru Sunday! An entire weekend of track and field to enjoy. Literally nearly every corner of the globe was hosting a meet of some type. It was great to see so much action, especially with several meets being televised and streamed. I noticed a lot of criticism aimed at athletes who are not performing up to the expectations of some fans. In sport, timing is everything. It doesn’t matter the sport the most important thing is to be ready when it’s “winning time”. In the NFL and NBA that means playoff time. In track and field that means championship time. Which…
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Can The Men’s 100m Record Be Broken
Track and field is in high gear now, as just about everyone expected to be in contention for medals has begun competing. This weekend we get the second Diamond League meeting in Shanghai/Suhoux China. Watching the press conference for the meet, the first question that was asked was to Christian Coleman regarding the current WR in the men’s 100m. Simple question, can it be broken. A fair question given the length of time the record has been on the books. Christian did his best to answer, but I think this record is a little more “complicated” than saying, we’ve got some guys that can run that fast. Especially when we’ve…
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Here We Go
That’s what went through my mind as this past weekend’s results started pouring in! I got started at 4:00 in the morning with the Diamond League meet from China. Another exciting race in the 100H from the women. Ending in a 12.45 for Jasmin Camacho Quinn. Another WR for Mondo at 6.24m. A sizzling 3:50.30 1500m by Gudaf Tsegay. Who looked like she decided halfway thru that the race just wasn’t fast enough, so she changed gears! It was actually fun to watch. That was the third fastest 1500m by the way. The match race of the day was the closing men’s 100m. Christian Coleman was first out and first…
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Fast Feet in Florida
Among the many meets that were held this past weekend, the Tom Jones Invitational stood out. As usual there was a large field of both top college programs as well as elite athletes looking for high level competition. If you’re a fan of speed, go check out this meet on ESPN where it was streamed and is currently archived, because the result was two days of great track and field. This time of year athletes are looking to begin their competitive build up to June’s Olympic qualifying meets. Based on the results of this meet, the Trials and Games are going to be very very fast. This meet of highlights…
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Tom Jones On Deck
One of my favorite early season relay meets every year is the Tom Jones Invitational at the University of.Florida. That’s because the week of the Texas and Florida Relays end up having a good dozen of so very good meets. Which means that the talent ends up at several different locations. Not a bad thing mind you, because that means lots of athletes getting the opportunity to compete! However it’s nice that after they all get the chance to get started, they get to come back shortly after and really So, while the Florida Relays is the older meet, Tom Jones has grown in stature to become a meet that…
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Relay Season in Full Effect
This past weekend ended the month of March with several outstanding relay meets. Athletes tend to love early season relays, because it gives you a chance to kick things off and see where you are, without actually running your “regular” event. You can run a relay leg of any distance you choose to gauge where you are. In that vein there were a lot of Olympic and Worlds caliber athletes on the track in Austin Texas (Texas Relays) and Gainesville Florida (Florida Relays). Leading to many truly outstanding performances! In Texas the star of the show was Gabby Thomas who is clearly in fine form. She ran on the winning…
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The Key to an Exciting Track Meet
It seems that World Athletics is concerned about how exciting athletics contests are, or aren’t. At least they say that that’s why they want to change how the long jump is run. It’s also the reason that was given when they wanted to get rid of several events – 200m, TJ and others. Supposedly it’s why the false start rule was changed – to keep the meet moving. Though that’s backfired so they need to change it back. Since this seems to be a preoccupation of World Athletics and Lord Coe, I have two things that I believe will make meets more exciting. Both are very simple in scope. Though…
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Story Lines Heading to Paris
We’re finally ready to go play outside! As exciting as this year’s indoor season was, outdoors is always better. If that’s the case, this is going to be a season for the ages. Especially the ending with Noah Lyles running the 4×4 and others saying, yo I wanted to do that! That is what Olympic seasons are about. The Ultimate in competition, combined with stories of all types. Success, failure, close finishes, rising stars. In many ways it’s the stories that make the Olympics. So today I’m going to throw some potential story lines out into the ether. Something to follow on the road to and during the Paris Games.…