{"id":273,"date":"2010-02-09T11:43:00","date_gmt":"2010-02-09T19:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=273"},"modified":"2010-02-09T11:43:00","modified_gmt":"2010-02-09T19:43:00","slug":"spearmon-signs-with-saucony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=273","title":{"rendered":"Spearmon Signs with Saucony"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"float:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/view.picapp.com\/default.aspx?term=wallace spearmon&#038;iid=7361946\" target=\"_blank\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/e\/b\/9\/2\/Track_and_Field_ba78.JPG?resize=380%2C575\" width=\"380\" height=\"575\"  border=\"0\" alt=\"Track and Field: 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"clear:left;height:0px;overflow: hidden;\"><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.pis.picapp.com\/IamProd\/PicAppPIS\/JavaScript\/PisV4.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Wallace Spearmon, a long time Nike athlete, just announced that he has signed with Saucony.  Yes I said Saucony. Known more for  making distance shoes, they&#8217;ve made a major leap by going with one of the world&#8217;s top sprinters. <\/p>\n<p>This is the second shoe company in a week to make a major signing in track and field following on the heels of New Balance signing Jenny Barringer. This is great for track and field as it gets new money flowing into the sport &#8211; and the sport can always use more money. <\/p>\n<p>I also think it will be a great move for Spearmon. It puts him front and center and the focus for Saucony. As he says in his Flo Track interview (see below) anything he wants they will provide. He gets to design his own line of shoes and clothing. He will be the face of the company when it comes to track and field. In short it takes Spearmon from being one of many at Nike to being &#8220;The Man&#8221; at Saucony.<\/p>\n<p>A position that Spearmon has held often in his career, but has lost of late. Spearmon was &#8220;The Man&#8221; in high school in Arkansas. Then &#8220;The Man&#8221; in college at the University of Arkansas. It wasn&#8217;t that long ago (2005) that Spearmon was the NCAA champion over 200 meters in a race that saw Xavier Carter, Tyson Gay, Walter Dix and Rodney Martin all finishing behind him.  That same season he was the silver medalist at the World Championships in Helsinki &#8211; and his professional career was off and rolling. <\/p>\n<p>Spearmon dropped his PR to 19.65 in &#8217;06 and was a regular conqueror of none other than Usain Bolt over 200 meters. He continued his domination of Bolt in &#8217;07 though Tyson Gay took a major step forward. Then injuries in &#8217;08 &#038; &#8217;09 saw Spearmon &#8220;struggle&#8221; to compete with Gay and Bolt &#8211; though struggling for him still lead to times of 19.8x and bronze medal finishes in Beijing and Berlin (he lost the Beijing medal to a dq). <\/p>\n<p>But Spearmon says that he is healthy again in 2010. So perhaps the change in shoe companies and his emergence to the top of the heap with Saucony, could signal a return to form for Spearmon on the track as well.  In his Flo Track interview Spearmon says that he is working diligently on his start. A huge Achilles heel in his race as he often gives up 3 to 5 meters early in his 200 meter races while finishing like a house afire on his way to sub 20 second clockings. If he can maintain early with the likes of Bolt and Gay he may be back in the game over 200!<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m looking forward to seeing the 2010 version of Wallace Spearmon. As with Barringer and her change of coaching, I think the changes that Spearmon is making this year may help lead him to the promised land. The duo of Tyson Gay and Wallace Spearmon was a hot one for several years. It would be nice to see them both once again leading US sprint fortunes.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flotrack.org\">Track and Field Videos on Flotrack<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wallace Spearmon, a long time Nike athlete, just announced that he has signed with Saucony. Yes I said Saucony. Known more for making distance shoes, they&#8217;ve made a major leap by going with one of the world&#8217;s top sprinters. This is the second shoe company in a week to make a major signing in track and field following on the heels of New Balance signing Jenny Barringer. This is great for track and field as it gets new money flowing into the sport &#8211; and the sport can always use more money. I also think it will be a great move for Spearmon. It puts him front and center and the focus for Saucony. As he says in his Flo Track interview (see below) anything he wants they will provide. He gets to design his own line of shoes and clothing. He will be the face of the company when it comes to track and field. In short it takes Spearmon from being one of many at Nike to being &#8220;The Man&#8221; at Saucony. A position that Spearmon has held often in his career, but has lost of late. Spearmon was &#8220;The Man&#8221; in high school in Arkansas. Then &#8220;The Man&#8221; in college at the University of Arkansas. It wasn&#8217;t that long ago (2005) that Spearmon was the NCAA champion over 200 meters in a race that saw Xavier Carter, Tyson Gay, Walter Dix and Rodney Martin all finishing behind him. That same season he was the silver medalist at the World Championships in Helsinki &#8211; and his professional career was off and rolling. Spearmon dropped his PR to 19.65 in &#8217;06 and was a regular conqueror of none other than Usain Bolt over 200 meters. He continued his domination of Bolt in &#8217;07 though Tyson Gay took a major step forward. Then injuries in &#8217;08 &#038; &#8217;09 saw Spearmon &#8220;struggle&#8221; to compete with Gay and Bolt &#8211; though struggling for him still lead to times of 19.8x and bronze medal finishes in Beijing and Berlin (he lost the Beijing medal to a dq). But Spearmon says that he is healthy again in 2010. So perhaps the change in shoe companies and his emergence to the top of the heap with Saucony, could signal a return to form for Spearmon on the track as well. In his Flo Track interview Spearmon says that he is working diligently on his start. A huge Achilles heel in his race as he often gives up 3 to 5 meters early in his 200 meter races while finishing like a house afire on his way to sub 20 second clockings. If he can maintain early with the likes of Bolt and Gay he may be back in the game over 200! I&#8217;m looking forward to seeing the 2010 version of Wallace Spearmon. As with Barringer and her change of coaching, I think the changes that Spearmon is making this year may help lead him to the promised land. The duo of Tyson Gay and Wallace Spearmon was a hot one for several years. It would be nice to see them both once again leading US sprint fortunes. Track and Field Videos on Flotrack<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa3DCY-4p","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":275,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=275","url_meta":{"origin":273,"position":0},"title":"Torrin Lawrence Again","author":"CHill","date":"February 15, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Another busy indoor weekend - with a bit of outdoor action thrown in. The big mark was once again laid down by Torrin Lawrence. Previously Lawrence set a collegiate record in the 300, this time around he ran a sensational 45.03 in the 400. Not quite a record, but the\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Track and Field: Tyson Invitational","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/1\/1\/0\/d\/PicImg_Track_and_Field_de11.JPG?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":242,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=242","url_meta":{"origin":273,"position":1},"title":"How Are They Selecting Coaches These Days?","author":"CHill","date":"October 18, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently I talked about the elite level of the sport and the effect that money has had as the sport has attempted to grow from an amateur sport into a professional one. The \"growing pains\" that have stressed the sport on the money front has seemingly spilled over to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Day in the Life of Allyson Felix - Day 3","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/8\/3\/f\/4\/Day_in_the_d935.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":139,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=139","url_meta":{"origin":273,"position":2},"title":"Fat Cats and Revolutions","author":"CHill","date":"April 22, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"As I've scanned the news on the sport this week a couple of \"economy\" related discussions have caught my eye. The first was USATF CEO Doug Logan's most recent entry to his blog, he stated that he believes that the current economic downturn will benefit the sport of track and\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":350,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=350","url_meta":{"origin":273,"position":3},"title":"Oliver &amp; Spearmon End Nationals with a Bang","author":"CHill","date":"June 28, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"This year\u2019s US Championships has been a nice display of both old and new talent, but Sunday\u2019s 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\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Jun 26, 2010; Des Moines, IA, USA; David Oliver runs 13.58 for the top qualifying time in the 110m hurdles in the USA Track & Field Championships at Drake Stadium. Photo by Image of Sport Photo via Newscom","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/view3.picapp.com\/pictures.photo\/image\/9235264\/track-and-field-usa-track\/track-and-field-usa-track.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":395,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=395","url_meta":{"origin":273,"position":4},"title":"My Version of the US 4&#215;1","author":"CHill","date":"September 8, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes I know that the 2010 season isn\u2019t quite done yet. But for my money it\u2019s never too early to put a relay team together. Because one of the most important aspects of relay running is continuity and team togetherness \u2013 and that\u2019s difficult to achieve when team members are\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 19 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 19 comments","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=395#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"OSAKA, JAPAN - SEPTEMBER 01:  Leroy Dixon celebrates after he runs the anchor lane and takes the United States of America to victory during the Men's 4 x 100m Relay on day eight of the 11th IAAF World Athletics Championships on September 1, 2007 at the Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan. The United States of America won in a time of 37.78 seconds.  (Photo by Mark Dadswell\/Getty Images)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/view3.picapp.com\/pictures.photo\/image\/1933806\/11th-iaaf-world-athletics\/11th-iaaf-world-athletics.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":385,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=385","url_meta":{"origin":273,"position":5},"title":"He\u2019s Baaack \u2013 Wariner 44.13 in Zurich","author":"CHill","date":"August 19, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Zurich\u2019s Weltklasse invitational lived up to it\u2019s storied tradition with some outstanding races on the track. In a meet with several standout events, the men\u2019s 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\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Jeremy Wariner of the U.S. celebrates after winning the men's 400 metres event at the IAAF Diamond League athletics meeting at the Letzigrund stadium in Zurich August 19, 2010.       REUTERS\/Ruben Sprich (SWITZERLAND - Tags: SPORT SPORT ATHLETICS)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/view4.picapp.com\/pictures.photo\/image\/9568322\/wariner-celebrates-after\/wariner-celebrates-after.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}