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Budapest Was As Good As Advertised
Prior to the start of Budapest 2023, I foresaw this as potentially one of the greatest championships ever. The losses of several top athletes didn’t deter me from this thought. Now that the meet has been run and the results are in, I would say that my original assessment was correct. The depth of talent in this sport is greater than it’s ever been. From late 30 year old veterans to young 19 and 20 year olds, I don’t think the sport has ever been better talent wise from top to bottom. Things started quite excitedly as the finals of the mixed relay and women’s 10,000 provided both tragedy and…
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Hot Relay Weekend – Post Meet Thoughts
The stars came out this past weekend and track and field shined brightly as a result. That’s the verdict of fans everywhere that watched either of the Texas or Florida Relays. Two of the hottest relay meets of the spring, and annually the coming out party of many of the sport’s domestic stars. Results are readily available. As a matter of fact, http://www.ustfccca.org/meets-result, is my weekly go to for meet information in general – including results. So, I’m not going to pretend to try to give you all of the awesome results here. What I am going to do however, is give you my impression of several races and performances…
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Track & Field’s Most Exciting Event
Track and field is blessed to have some of the greatest athletes ever competing today. Nearly every event has individuals that are either in the top 3-5 all time in their event or are a world record threat! And that’s not counting the events where the present works record holder is competing! As a matter of fact, there are events where all of the aforementioned are currently competing! It’s a great time to be a fan of this sport from a purely competitive perspective. Ironically, the most exciting event is often treated as a “step child” by the sport. But then, many of the sports’ events are treated that way…
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Six Matchups I’m Looking Forward To in 2019
Ok. The 2018 track season is well behind us now as cross country and marathons dominate the landscape. As a matter of fact, the indoor season is right around the corner, which means that many athletes are already back grinding in preparation for the first of the upcoming three Championships ahead in this next major cycle. While there wasn’t a major championship in 2018, the performances of the athletes – particularly the youngsters, left me salivating for the action that 2019 promises. There were many performances that would’ve garnered gold medals in most Olympics and World Championships! As a matter of fact, there was a lot of altering of all…
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Surprise – 2017 World Championships
If you thought you knew what was going to happen in London – you were wrong. The one thing that everyone had right, is that this is the last we will see of Usain Bolt and Mo Farah on the World Championships track. How those stories would end proved to be a community event, as opposed to solo writing, as some other athletes had their say. The same went for the athletes previously anointed as receiving the inheritance of Bolt’s titles of Worlds Top Sprinter, and Face of the Sport. As again athletes stepped up to have their say in the matter. This was the tone of these championships. Just…
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The World Championships Hottest Matchup
What makes the World Championships THE hottest competition of the year is the matchups. The best of the best, gathered in one place to determine the best in the world in each event. In a meet of matchups, one should stand head and shoulders above the rest – the men’s 400 meters. It was the hottest matchup in Rio and fittingly produced the hottest result of the Games – three men under 44.00 and a world record 43.03! Incredibly, in spite of losing one of last year’s medalists to injury, the 400 is once again shaping up as the hottest matchup of the meet. In Rio we were looking at…
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What Can van Niekerk Do?
I recently saw the question posed on the internet, "Can van Niekerk break the world record in the 200 meters?" To wit the response from most was a loud, "NO". That tends to be the response when talk of a long standing record arises. Longevity tends to breed the notion that a mark is invincible. I’ve seen enough records however, to know that eventually they all fall. Bob Beamon’s legendary 29′ 2.5" long jump elicited the phrase "Beamonesque" it was deemed so awesome and unbeatable – and it did last from 1968 until 1991. Then out of nowhere, in one meet, we had Carl Lewis (expected to break there record)…
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Track at the Half
There has been SO much negative happening within the sport this winter and spring. It’s been akin to the rain here in California. In track we typically wish for more to be written – just as we here in Cali have wanted more rain. Yet here in California we were deluged with rain this spring to the point of near floods in some areas. Similarly in track, the news about drugs, suspensions, conspiracies, and leadership being involved negatively at the highest levels have given me pause to contemplate. So I’ve resisted the urge to speak my mind, as week after week negative news has abounded. Instead focusing on coaching, as…
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Does Track and Field Need to Change?
Recently I saw an article asking whether or not we need to delete events from track and field – and if so which ones. The author said that we have to do this to increase the popularity of the sport. Among the reasons given was the attention span of the general public, and that meets are too long. An example that was given was the fact that track and field during the Olympics takes a little over a week to run! It’s not the first article I’ve seen on the subject – all with similar reasons given. They’re also the reason why some meets, like those in the Diamond League,…
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Rio Opening Weekend – 43.03 WR!
Finally, we got Olympic track and field! And despite all the negatives coming in, the athletes didn’t disappoint. Proving my constant point – there’s NOTHING that needs to be changed about track and field other than getting the best athletes on the track (and field). THAT is the challenge of the sport’s leaders – not trying to reinvent meets! With only three days in the books we’ve already seen two World Records and a plethora of national records. It started in the first final of the opening morning of competition in the women’s 10000 as Almaz Ayana blew away the field and the WR in a stunning 29:17.45! The next…
