-
Worlds Preview – Sprints & Hurdles
The preliminaries are done and now it’s time for the main event! The World Championships are about ready to begin and it’s crystal ball time. Although I’m not sure how well a crystal ball is going to work for this meet with so few sure things heading into Moscow. But this is the fun part, so I have to give it a try. I’ll start with the sprints, hurdles and relays – the speed events. Of all the events these are generally the least predictable as the margin for error is small and this time around we’re dealing with a lot of unknown entities as a lot of top talent…
-
Out on a Limb Predictions for 2013
We’re finally headed to the great outdoors. No, not Yosemite or Yellowstone, I’m talking about the 400 meter ovals we call tracks – and what I’m anticipating is going to be one of the greatest seasons ever. Last year’s Games were outstanding, and with the World Championships on tap I would expect many top athletes to still be in form as they’ve been able to add to last year’s base. The year after the Games saw Michael Johnson run 43.18 (‘01), Bolt speed 9.58 “09), Steve Cram run 3:29.67 "(‘85), Bubka go 6.00m (‘85), and Wilson Kipketer set his 1:41.11 (‘97). So exciting things can happen in the year after…
-
Pre Games Thoughts – The Sprints
My predictions are out there, and I knew that there would be some disagreement. But then a wise man once said, "if everyone is thinking alike, someone isn’t thinking". So for those not understanding why we’re not thinking the same thing, I thought I would give a little insight into how I came to my conclusions. Between now and the start of track and field in London, I’ll try to cover the sprints, middle distances/distances, hurdles, and field. Before I get started let me say again that IMHO this is going to be an upset fest before all is said and done. We have a large number of top level…
-
Olympic Predictions – London 2012
OK, it’s time to do this. I’ve procrastinated long enough. I kept hoping that the “next meet” would clear things up, but even Monaco yesterday just made things harder. As a matter of fact you will see some changes even from my US medal hopes of a couple of days ago – things are that fluid in my opinion. Clearly this is going to be a meet with a lot of potential “upsets”, and I would expect that we will see a few new stars emerge. Frankly that’s a good thing, because the sport can never have enough stars – if only we would learn to maximize the marketing potential…
-
American Medal Hopes
Ok, it’s time to climb out on that limb and stick my neck out. I’m sure by the time I’m done there will be several whacks taken at it. So I’m going out gingerly by starting with my list of American athletes that I think have medal potential. I’m sure the first comment will be that we will never win thirty eight medals! And I agree, all of those names will not translate into medals. Let’s be real, no one is going to the Games to roll over and hand over medals – to us or anyone else. At the end of the day they must be won. So in…
-
Pre Games Prediction Thoughts
The Games are almost here, and I’m still shaky on most of the events with literally days left in the count down. I’m going to be watching every little meet that comes along for clues, but then along comes a meet like Luzern today that makes me pause yet again. The only thing that I’m certain of today is that these Games are going to be rather unpredictable. That said, here are a few thoughts ahead of London as I talk to myself before I put my prediction list together. The sprints are wide open – men and women – 100, 200, and 400. Yeah I said it. The closest…
-
Olympic Trials Predictions
Here we go. We’re a week away from the “Almost” Big Dance – the US Olympic Trials. And to be honest I’m not sure I have any more clarity today than I did a month ago! There have been some outstanding performances followed by so so performances. Some athletes haven’t seemed to get untracked while some seem to be in near Olympic form. And of course there is always that spectre of injury hanging out there, but even in this age of the internet athletes/camps are keeping a tight lid on the fitness of many athletes. But here we are and it’s time to make some predictions. Based on what…
-
My EARLY Trials Favorites
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…
-
Projected U.S. Indoor Champions
We’re getting ready to wind this indoor season down. Several countries will now put together their teams for the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, which will be the culmination of the season. Here in the U.S. that process will be a Trials meet this coming weekend in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This won’t be the “knock down drag out fight” of a meet that we will see come June when the Olympic Trials take place in Eugene – as many athletes forego the indoor season and focus their preparation on outdoors. It will be an outstanding competition, however, as several individuals have performed well enough to lead the world in…