The CHill Zone of T&F

From the moment David Rudisha opened up over 400 with a 45.50 this outdoor season, he has looked capable of great things. A season opener of 1:43.15 simply confirmed that. This afternoon in Belgium Rudisha took the next step towards greatness with a sensational 1:41.52 over two laps that makes him the #2 man in history. Only Wilson Kipketer’s WR runs of 1:41.11 and 1:41.24 are faster in history. And judging from today’s run there is more in this young man. I dare say, that at 21 years old, we could be looking at the man who will be first to run under 1:41.00. Watch for yourself as he demolishes…

Forever and a day sprint fans have asked: who will become the first white sprinter to run sub 10? Other sprint barriers such as 20.00 in the 200 and 44.00 in the 400 have long ago fallen by the wayside, but since Jim Hines first cracked 10.00 with his 9.95 in Mexico City way back in 1968, 10.00 has remained the barrier for white sprinters. Marian Woronin of Poland was on the brink when he ran 10.00 back in 1984. A mark equaled by Japan’s Koji Ito in 1998. But just as African distance runners have dominated the sub 27 minute ranks of the 10,000 meters, so have African and…

Lausanne was the half way mark of this year’s Diamond League. And as we hit the mid point of the season there seemed to be more questions than answers out there on the track. How healthy was Usain Bolt? Had Walter Dix and Debbie Dunn arrived? Would Dayron Robles return to dominating form? Just where is Jeremy Wariner in the grand scheme of the 400? Watching Lausanne’s Athletissima competition, I think we got the answer to these and more as several superb performances were turned in on the Swiss oval. Of course the big question that was on the mind of most was the status of Usain Bolt. Bolt had…

The next stop on the Diamond League series is Lausanne. And for the first time this season I was actually salivating in anticipation of a DL meet as it held the promise of a real sprint showdown among the men. After Walter Dix blazed 19.72 to run toe to toe with Tyson Gay, Lausanne sat waiting with Usain Bolt set to take to the track. And in this league of half meets whereas New York only had the men’s 100 and Eugene only the men’s 200, Lausanne was to have the men’s 200 & 400. To add to my excitement, the gentle curves of Lausanne have spurred several very fast…

The National Championships were recently held in Des Moines Iowa. This year’s NCAA Championships were held in Eugene Oregon. Prompting a bit of back and forth between the media of the two towns as to which played the host role best. It was actually nice to see them “fighting” over which venue was the best host – who had the best fans, attendance, loudest ovations, etc – because the truth of the matter is that both have very strong fan bases. Fan bases that are hungry for track and field, and are eager to host and watch top quality track and field. And they are  not alone. I’ve been to…

The Prefontaine Classic was indeed everything it was built up to be as it easily surpassed the national championships as the best meet on American soil this year. Yes, it had the advantage of being a part of the Diamond League and therefore was able to boast a nice contingent of foreign athletes in attendance. But it was the performance of the “host” Americans that clearly set this meet apart from nationals, as in event after event the level of performances from out athletes outshined those in Des Moines. Which begs the question: why did we have nationals this year? A question that I will address on another day, because…

Time to get back to serious competition, and this year’s Pre meet should be the best meet on US soil this season. This year’s rendition will be held the day before the 4th of July, and ironically has some similarities. I say that because the Prefontaine Classic, like the 4th of July and other holidays, has become a meet that we celebrate each year, but I think that the meaning of the meet itself has been lost. While most US meets are named for the location in which they are held or after a key sponsor, this meet is held in honor of an individual – the late Steve Prefontaine.…

The Visa Championship awards were given out at the conclusion of the National Championships this past weekend. The women’s winner was Chaunte Howard Lowe with her American Record winning high jump. The winner on the men’s side was David Oliver with his sizzling 12.93 hurdle win – the =7th performance in world history. No wait a minute. Retract that. Howard did win with her American Record performance. However, the men’s winner was Bershawn Jackson with his 47.32 win in the 400H – the =16th performance in world history. Yes, that’s right, the =16th best performance ever in the 400 hurdles was deemed to be a better performance than the =7th…

This year’s US Championships has been a nice display of both old and new talent, but Sunday’s closing day definitely belonged to the veterans. As time and time again familiar faces stepped up to bat and hit it out of the park. The best of these was David Oliver who sped to a world leading 12.93 in the 110 hurdles. The mark was Oliver’s second sub13 of the season and moved him to =7th all time with none other than Renaldo Nehemiah. The mark is even more remarkable given that he blasted the very first hurdle before settling into his rhythm. Behind him collegiate champ Ronnie Ash was third in…

The first couple of days was eerily quiet with this year’s National Championships suffering from the “off season” blues. With no Olympic or World Championship berths on the line, many of our top stars have deserted this meet like the plague for various reasons. No Tyson Gay, Darvis Patton, Carmelita Jeter, Muna Lee, or Lauryn Williams in the sprints. The distance events lacked  Dathan Ritzenhein, Chris Solinsky, Ryan Hall, and Matt Tegenkamp. So the early competition was lacking – oomph.  More like a development meet than a US Championships. Now, let me start off by saying that even though there are no spots for the Olympics or World Championships on…