The CHill Zone of T&F

I’ve not written anything on the Semenya case as of yet for several reasons. Mostly because it is really a fairly complicated matter. Especially as it deals with issues of privacy. I will start off by saying that the IAAF among other organizations involved in the sport including the South African federation have sorely mishandled this matter from the very beginning. She was known to be “special” early on and her case should have been treated as such knowing both the short and long term ramifications of any decisions made regarding her. As such, some sort of final dispensation regarding her “eligibility” to compete with other women should have been…

While the details on Rudisha’s WR run are still filtering in, I’ve found video of the race (below) and taken my own rough splits. This run saw Rudisha pass through 400 in 48.9, 600 in 1:14.5, and of course the 800 mark in 1:41.09. I’ve gone through my archives and found the splits for Rudisha’s 1:41.51 as well as Wilson Kipketer’s three WR runs in 1997 and Seb Coe’s 1:41.73. 1:41.73 Coe 24.4 / 49.7 1:15.0 1:41.73           1:41.73 Kipketer 24.0 / 49.6 1:16.3 1:41.73 1:41.24 Kipketer 23.0 / 48.3 1:14.5 1:41.24 1:41.11 Kipketer 23.8 / 49.3 1:14.6 1:41.11           1:41.51 Rudisha…

It’s finally happened. Today in Berlin David Rudisha took down one of the most hallowed World Records in the sport as he turned two laps of the track in 1:41.09! I have yet to see the race or find any details other than the actual race results, but with second place a full three seconds behind it was clearly a solo effort on his part. Results state the rabbit took the field through in 48.65 for the first lap, which should have set Rudisha up for something around 49.0. Kipketer’s record 1:41.11 had stood since August 24, 1997 – Rudisha  taking it down just two days short of it’s 13th…

Zurich’s Weltklasse invitational lived up to it’s storied tradition with some outstanding races on the track. In a meet with several standout events, the men’s 400 was especially sweet because, for me, it marked the true return to form of Jeremy Wariner. Now THAT is how Jeremy Wariner is supposed to look. Fluid, flowing in rhythm and running away from his competitors looking effortless. That’s the race that Wariner ran in Zurich as Jermaine Gonzales (44.51) did everything right in the first 300 meters, but just couldn’t hold off the final stretch charge of Wariner. The race was reminiscent of gold medal runs in Athens, Helsinki, and Osaka and with…

The Weltklasse has been one of the world’s most elite competitions as far back as I can remember – and that’s a long time! Often called, “The Olympics in a Day”, the Weltklasse (Zurich) is known for some of the best field’s every year even before the Diamond League, or Golden League, came along. This year’s version will be no exception. Especially given that those in competition to become Diamond League champions in their events must compete in order to be eligible. With that being the case every event will be loaded and the competition fierce. However there are a few events that should stand out a bit from the…

With this season heading into the final month or so of competition, it’s time to start looking forward to next season. After all the World Championships are literally just about one year away. US forces have had some nice surprises this year. Andrew Wheating, Leonel Manzano, Morgan Uceny, Phoebe Wright, and Alysia Johnson have emerged to bolster a growing middle distance corps. Jeremy Wariner is regaining form and Tyson Gay has found good health in the later stages of the season. Marshavet Myers seems ready to join Caarmelita Jeter in the sprint wars, and Allyson Felix is showing that she is a threat over 400 as well as the deuce.…

While wet damp conditions in London hampered many of the events at this weekend’s Diamond League meet, Tyson Gay blazed his way to a world leading 9.78 in the first day’s highlight event. Looking very confident following his previous week’s defeat of Usain Bolt, Tyson once again started well, which meant that the race was effectively over by 30 meters. Only Walter Dix was with him at that point, but some 20 meters later Dix’ body gave out under the pressure as Tyson shifted gears and went on to his world leading mark – well clear of the field. In second Yohan Blake (JAM), set a new personal best of…

Well, we’re rounding the final turn on this season, with three meets left in the inaugural Diamond League season. On tap will be the biggest of the DL meets as London will contest all of the events on the slate over the course of two days – the only DL meet to do so. While it won’t be held in the upcoming Olympic stadium, it will take place in the city that will play host to the Games, giving those competing an idea of what the weather could be like come 2012. As I check the weather reports, the prediction for the upcoming two days is temperatures in the mid…

The word this week on just about every media outlet available – track and field web sites, major newspapers, even USA Today and ESPN – is that Usain Bolt is calling it a season. Within days of his loss to Tyson Gay in Stockholm, Bolt announced that due to lower back pain he will be calling it a season. With Asafa Powell also complaining of lower back pain following his losses to Gay and Bolt, this ensures that 2010 will have had only 1 showdown each among the world’s top three sprinters. Leaving the sport with almost as much publicity over Bolt’s end of the season as we’ve had regarding…

Early yesterday morning I got a text message telling me that Antonio Pettigrew had been found dead. As the day progressed details began to fill in. He was in his car. Involved an overdose of sleeping pills. As I read the various articles that came out over the course of the day, I almost came to believe that Pettigrew had a short athletic career that began and ended with the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Because almost everything that was written detailed his admission of doping between that season, and how he and his teammates were stripped of their relay medals from the Sydney Olympics as a result. But I remember…