Dix vs Bolt in Lausanne – Apparently Not!

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 200’s – most notably in 2006 when the 200 exploded back into prominence as Xavier Carter (19.63), Tyson Gay (19.70), Usain Bolt (19.88) and Wallace Spearmon (19.90) took the event back into the 19.6/19.7 realm after the sport went 10 years without a time under 19.70. Since then this track has seen nothing but sterling marks with Gay (19.78, ‘07), and Bolt (19.63, ‘08 & 19.59, ‘09) taking advantage of the wide bend. Even as far back as 1996, Ato Boldon had run 19.85 here.

So the thought of WR holder Bolt taking on the up and coming Dix on what has become 200 meter Mecca was like visions of sugar plums dancing in my head. But it would appear that upon Dix’ completion of his race in Eugene, he joined the ranks of the truly elite, and now the Big 3 (Bolt, Gay, Powell) has become a Big 4. At least it looks that way, because the Big 3 don’t race often and Dix now seems to be one to avoid judging by the events of the days since Pre.

As I stated, Lausanne has had the men’s 200 & 400 on it’s schedule since the schedule was released. And up through the Provisional start list of July 3rd (the date of Pre) that’s how it stood with Bolt & Dix slated to go against each other with Carter, Mullings and Martina also in the mix. It was announced on July 6th, however, that although Bolt is fully recovered from his injuries, that he would be running the 100 to avoid further injuries. What? What 100? There is no 100 scheduled in Lausanne! But when I went back to confirm the start lists, lo and behold a 100 was apparently added on July 6th, replete with patsies – I mean competitors.

Now, I can respect injuries and protecting oneself from injury. But once again we rob the fans of a great race – and to do so we’ve had a race created out of thin air, which gives all the wrong signals. it says that the sport will support athletes not running head to head (reminds me of the ‘06 Prefontaine Classic that for the only time ever ran two separate 100 meter races so that Asafa Powell and Justin Gatlin didn’t have to go head to head). It also says that some athletes have control while others are just along for the ride. But mostly it says that this sport is more about money than anything else. A topic I’m going to address after Lausanne.

As for the Lausanne 200, if Bolt is not ready to compete then that’s fine. Then he can sit out a while longer and come back when he’s ready. If at that time he is still rusty as Gay was then a loss is a possibility – it is after all part of the sport. But to create an event for a single athlete is wrong, I don’t care who the athlete is. Especially when it perpetuates this game of “Duck, Duck, Goose” that is played by the world’s elite male sprinters.

The world’s elite sprinters can’t run head to head any more. Heaven forbid that they lose – they may shrivel up and die! Elite sprinters can only show up and run against each other when ALL the conditions are perfect. Powell and Gay raced every week in ‘06 until Gay became elite. After that it was majors only in ‘07 & ‘08 and no races yet this year. Bolt and Gay ran against each other all the time in ‘05, ‘06 & ‘07. Bolt blew up in ‘08 and all we got in ‘09 was Berlin and we’re not scheduled to see them on the track again until August 27th of this year!

There are many things that are impeding the progress of the sport of track and field. One of the big ones is the lack of competition among the world’s top male sprinters. Every era that has thrived has done so on the backs (feet) of the thoroughbreds of the sport going at it with regularity. Jim Hines, Charlie Greene, John Carlos, and Tommie Smith in the ‘60’s. Steve Williams, Don Quarrie, Silvio Leonard, Hasley Crawford and Harvey Glance in the 70’s. James Sanford, Carl Lewis, Calvin Smith, Stanley Floyd, Raymond Stewart, and Ben Johnson in the 80’s. Carl Lewis, Linford Christie, Leroy Burrell, Dennis Mitchell, Donovan Bailey, Bruny Surin, Ato Boldon, Maurice Greene and Frankie Fredericks in the 90’s. It’s no coincidence that attendance at meets was high, and there were a lot more meets during these eras. And the funny thing is that some of the most revered names in the sport reside among that list – competing often and even losing didn’t seem to harm their legacies.

There is an old saying that “pride goeth before a fall”, and in the world of track and field it seems that the pride of simply competing for bragging rights went bye bye and in it’s wake the sport continues to fall! Because for today’s sprinters it seems to be less about pride and bragging rights, than it is about money and rankings. In the process a few have gotten wealthy, most are struggling to survive, and the fans are almost always left out in the cold. As we will be on Thursday when we watch Bolt run a makeshift 100 while Dix attempts to improve his PR in the 200. And WE will be left to wonder what would have happened had they actually raced.

Track Town USA

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 many venues over the years that have had loud enthusiastic crowds when the meets have been on par with what we saw in Eugene recently for the NCAA Championships and Prefontaine Classic.

People (USOC, USATF, NCAA) seem to forget that prior to 2008, there hadn’t been an Olympic Trials in Eugene since 1980. Yet the Trials were held to large enthusiastic crowds in Los Angeles (1984), Indianapolis (1988), New Orleans (1992), Atlanta (1996), and Sacramento (2000 & 2004). The fans showed up, were knowledgeable, and supported our athletes – just as they did in Eugene in 2008. And I’m sure that all would be more than happy to do so again.

The same claim can be made for all the venues that have been host to our National Championships and the NCAA Championships. Because contrary to popular belief, this country is full of people that love the sport of track and field – and that’s a good thing. You see the question isn’t who has the best fans, and therefore where should Nationals, or the NCAA Championships or any other “big” meet be located. The real question is why are there only a couple of big meets to share among ALL the great fans we have in this country?

You see “Track Town USA” was Sacramento in 2000 & 2004. It was Atlanta in 1996 and New Orleans in 1992. It was Indianapolis in 1988 and Los Angeles in 1984. It’s anywhere that we can gather a stunning field of athletes to compete. Unfortunately, pulling the athletes together, not the fans, is the real problem. As Des Moines found out this year hosting a meet with lots of defections takes away from the crowd. And no offense to Eugene, because it is indeed a great place to watch a meet, but everyone isn’t home to Nike and have access to deep pockets. So it makes it hard for the rest of us to host a meet the level of the Prefontaine Classic – because pulling top level fields together in today’s track and field requires a lot of money.

And at the end of the day, THAT is what makes Track Town USA – deep quality fields. That is the challenge of the sport today, and of USATF, to get the athletes to the stadiums. It’s what made the sport great in this country in the past, and it’s what will make the sport great in this country again – meets full of great competition. If this year’s Prefontaine Classic had been held in Des Moines, Sacramento, Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles, Phoenix or Atlanta it would have been sold out with loud, screaming fans in awe of David Oliver’s 12.90 and wondering what took so long to get a sub13 5000 on US soil! Track Town USA is anywhere we can run a Prefontaine or Olympic Trials level meet. We just need more high level meets to fill the appetites of the Track Towns we have all over this country. The fans are out here waiting.

American Athletes Step Up at Pre

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 today it’s about looking at what appears to be an improving core of US athletes that I think is going to lead us forward into the next round of majors.

The man that seems to be leading that charge this year is hurdler David Oliver. Oliver is the reincarnation of Renaldo Nehemiah, and this year’s version of Usain Bolt in the 110 hurdles, as he is head and shoulders above the rest of the competition, running exceedingly fast every time out, and having perhaps the best season ever by a high hurdler! Last week’s win in Iowa brought him even with Nehemiah on the clock and made him the =7th hurdler ever, yesterday in Eugene he became the fastest American ever and #3 all time with his 12.90 flight of hurdles. Oliver had a decent start and simply ran away from his competition, looking every bit the best hurdler in the world finishing only .03 off of the current WR. It was his third race under 13 seconds this year and second consecutive. Only WR runs by Liu Xiang and Dayron Robles are faster – and we’re only at the half way point of the season.

As Oliver confirmed his dominance in his event yesterday, javelin thrower Kara Patterson proved that she is indeed among the best in her event. Fresh off of her AR at nationals, Kara took on WR holder and Olympic champion Barboa Spotakova (CZE) and won, throwing the spear a meet record 216’ 2”. A great result for Patterson as it gave her a win over Spotakova but also showed consistency over 215 feet as her last two meets have been well over the old American Record! Patterson is looking very good and has clearly become one of the world’s best and a podium threat.

Another demonstrating a high level of consistency was 400 hurdler Lashinda Demus as her winning time of 53.03 was just off of her world leading 52.82. Four of the top ten times in the world this year have been run by Demus and she handled this year’s #2 Kaliese Spencer (JAM) with ease, beating her by a huge .75 sec. Demus is another hurdler that is having what looks to be her best season ever, and after coming back last year from maternity leave seems to be hitting her stride and emerging as the top hrudler in the world.

Perhaps the most anticipated event of the meet was the men’s 200 meters as it marked the return to competition of top American sprinter Tyson Gay. As it turned out this race was both one of the best of the meet, and set a trend where Americans showed improvement in defeat as well as victory. In the case of the 200 we got a double shot in the arm as I believe we finally found the men’s sprint duo that has eluded us for the past few seasons. Gay hasn’t competed since his 19.41 race in Manchester in mid May, and was clearly a bit rusty as his turn lacked his usual blaze and he seemed to tire a bit in the straight. Still he turned in an outstanding performance as he ran a superb 19.76 – equal to his World Championship winning time in Osaka. That was great news for Tyson. Better news for the US was that he was edged at the finish by Walter Dix as Dix matched Gay around the turn and down the straight  and held form a bit better to the line finishing in 19.72 – his second best time ever behind his PR 19.69. Coming off his dominating win over 100 at nationals, it looks like Dix is ready to do exactly what he said he wants to do – challenge the top sprinters. And in so doing is giving the US what we have lacked recently – a strong one, two punch. Dix is sharp and getting better, Tyson was rusty and we know will get better. Together they should give us a fine duo as we take on an improving world in the sprints.

As I said there was much to look forward to even in defeat. In the women’s 800 Mariya Savinova ran her second consecutive world leader as she measured the field and won up the final straight in 1:57.56. Behind her in 4th was a hard charging Phoebe Wright, the collegiate champion, who blew her old PR out of the water with a 1:58.22. Wright has been showing a serious competitive nature this year and is emerging as another middle distance athlete to keep an eye on. Behind her Alysia Johnson also ran under 1:59 with her 1:58.84 PR and Anna Pierce (who got a late start this spring) ran 1:59.42, as our female half milers continue to show that they may yet be a factor.

Another middle distance runner showing tremendous improvement is Andrew Wheating. Better known for his 800 meter running, Wheating saw his 1500 meters improve this year as he did all he could to help the University of Oregon in their pursuit of a national championship. He ran the mile at Pre and was the top American finisher, running 3:51.74 in 5th place for a huge personal best – previous best of 3:58.16. His improved endurance over the mile, combined with his natural kick in the 800 could mean improvement in the 800 where he already holds a best of 1:45.03. He could possibly be the next American to get in that 1:43 range where we need to be to truly be competitive. And speaking of competitive, I would be remiss if I didn’t give Shalane Flanagan her due, as she held her own in a fast 5000 running 14:49.08 for 2nd behind Tirunesh Dibaba’s meet record 14:34.07 – with Amy Yoder Begley in 5th at 14:56.72.

The meet was full of outstanding marks. We got the first sub13 minute 5000 meters on US soil as Ethiopia’s Tariku Bekele (brother of Keninisa) ran 12:58,93 for the win. 800 meter star Abubaker Kaki ran the 1000 in Eugene and turned in a 2:13.62 – the 7th best performance ever. And Christian Cantwell confirmed that he is indeed THE MAN in the shot put as he heaved the ball a world leading 73’ 6.25”! But my favorite event of the meet was the women’s 100 meters – because it embodied everything that is good about this sport.

The women’s 100 was stacked. World and Olympic champion Shelly Ann Fraser (JAM). The second fastest woman ever in Carmelita Jeter (US). Collegiate champion Blessing Okagbare (NIG). Super vet Veronica Campbell Brown, holder of several World and Olympic medals. And recently improving Lashauntea Moore (US). All coming together to COMPETE head to head and the race lived up to its billing. With everyone running their typical race – Fraser starting fast, Jeter and Campbell Brown surging mid race – it was veteran Campbell Brown that got a better than average start surging to the win in a world leading PR of 10.78. Behind her Fraser (10.83), and Jeter (10.84) got season’s bests in 2nd and 3rd. Moore ran 10.99 to confirm her new status as a sub11 sprinter. And Okagbare got a new PR in 11.03.

THAT is what track and field is all about – getting the best together to compete. That’s what made this race so great. And it’s what made the Prefontaine Classic so great – outstanding competition. If there had been more events, but with the same level of competitors and competition the fans would have been doubly excited! WE don’t need fewer events or worry about how long the meet is running. We just need to bring this level of competition to the track. Pre was indeed the best meet on US soil this year. We need more meets like this in the US.

 

 

 

Prefontaine Classic Preview

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. But as with the celebration of Independence Day on the 4th, I think most competing in and watching the Prefontaine Classic on the 3rd have lost touch with the man and why we celebrate his life through this meet. That point was driven home to me while watching our National Championships last week.

You see the only thing that would have kept “Pre” away from a national championships was injury – severe injury. Not the lure of big money elsewhere, or the need to train for another race. Pre would have been in Des Moines to stake his claim to being the best distance runner in America – whether or not a ticket to the Games or Worlds was on the line. And once there Pre would have given nothing less than his best effort. No dawdling pace for Pre, because each race was an attempt to see just how fast he could make his body run. He was always pushing the limits of his ability – always striving to get better. Pre viewed every race as a test of speed AND will. He wasn’t just going to out run you, he was going to break you down or fail in the attempt. He was going to give his very best effort and see where it took him. If he lost, that meant he had to go back to the drawing board – the track – and work harder! Pre LOVED to compete. And it’s that LOVE of competition. The pride that he took in training and competing to be the very best he could be, that I hope is remembered as we all watch the Prefontaine Classic. Because my lasting memory of Steve Prefontaine is of a young man flying around the track on the very edge of his ability.

With that said, there are some great fields lined up to compete in this year’s meet. Looking at the most recent start lists there are headliners everywhere, so the competition should be the best we’ve seen all year. So good that as I tried to narrow the events down to a select few to highlight, I found it difficult to eliminate any of them! So I’m going to try and focus on the events I’m REALLY looking forward to the most.

 

Women’s 100

WL: 10.94, Carmelita Jeter – USA

Best Entry: 10.94, Carmelita Jeter – USA

While we haven’t seen any head to heads among the top male sprinters this year, the women will have a summit of sorts in Eugene. The current World and Olympic Champion, Shelly Ann Fraser (JAM) will take the track against Carmelita Jeter, this year’s world leader, who last year became the second fastest woman in history with her 10.64 dash. Both should be challenged by Nigerian newcomer Blessing Okagbare (this year’s NCAA champion) and up and coming Lashauntea Moore (US), newly minted member of the sub11 club. Fraser wins races with a blazing start, while Jeter and Okagbare are known for blazing finishes – setting up a classic race. This one should get real interesting in the final 30 meters. But if all are healthy, look for Jeter to pull this one out.

 

 

Men’s 110H

WL: 12.93, David Oliver – USA

Best Entry: 12.93, David Oliver – USA

Oliver has been looking like Renaldo Nehemiah this season – dominating and getting faster as the season progresses. He’s fresh off of his 12.93 in Des Moines and looks capable of attacking both the AR (12.90) and WR (12.87). He will be challenged in Eugene by two of our most consistent hurdlers in recent majors – David Payne and Terrence Trammell – as well as reigning world champion Ryan Brathwaite (BAH). Throw in collegiate champion Ronnie Ash and USATF runner up Ryan Wilson and this race has the potential to be something special. The key will be Terrence Trammell. He’s the best sprinter in the field and has the potential to get out and put pressure on everyone early. If he does he could force both Oliver and himself to run something very fast!

 

 

Women’s 800

WL: 1:58.11, Mariya Savinova – RUS

Best Entry: 1:58.11, Mariya Savinova – RUS

Savinova comes to town fresh off of her world leading performance at the Znamensky meet. Osaka champion Janeth Jepkoskei (KEN), and Beijing champion Pamela Chelimo (KEN) are also in town along with Kenyan Nancy Lagat, Jamaican Kenia Sinclair, and Americans Maggie Vessey, Anna Pierce and Alysia Johnson. This field is LOADED. If the Kenyans are healthy we can expect a fast early pace – and a new world leader. I have no idea who is going to win this race – and that is part of what makes it so exciting! I am looking forward to seeing how the Americans handle the blistering pace that is almost sure to be set. If they stay close and hold on we could see some new personal bests.

 

 

Men’s 5000

WL: 12:51.21, Eliud Kipchoge – KEN

Best Entry: 12:51.21, Eliud Kipchoge – KEN

World leader Kipchoge, takes on Ethiopians Imane Merga & Tariku Bekele, and sub13 Americans Matt Tegenkamp and Chris Solinsky in a race that is loaded with high level distance runners. This is an event where I would LOVE to see the spirit of Pre emerge, as I know that Tegenkamp and Solinsky CAN run with this group if they will just go out and run. One of the world’s top rivalries is between the Kenyan and Ethiopian distance runners, so I know the race will be fast. I want to see Chris and Matt just go for it and see where it leads them. If we have any shot at improving our distance prospects in majors that’s how it’s going to have to be done. And this meet would be the perfect place to start that process.

 

 

Women’s PV

WL: 16’ 0.5”, Jenn Suhr – USA

Best Entry: 16’ 0.5”, Jenn Suhr – USA

Jenn Suhr is back and looked good with her world leading vault in Des Moines. It’s nice to see her challenging the higher heights once again. She’ll get her stiffest test of the season in Eugene against Olympic champion Anna Rogowska (POL) and Brazilian  record holder Fabiana Murer - #s 2 & 3 on this year’s world list. This competition should have double meaning as it will give us an indication of Suhr’s fitness if she can come right back and vault high again on the heels of Nationals. And it should also give us an indication of who just might take over the mantle of queen of the event with Isinbayeva away from the sport. With decent weather we could see all three of the top women taking shots at the bar in excess of 16 feet.

 

 

Men’s 200

WL: 19.56, Usain Bolt – JAM

Best Entry: 19.86, Walter Dix – USA

Very quietly this is shaping up as the best of the men’s sprint events this year. We have yet to see much of Bolt or Gay in the 100 and only Asafa Powell is running truly elite times in that event. In the 400 no one seems remotely close to anything approaching 44.00 or better. In the 200, however, we’ve seen Walter Dix, Wallace Spearmon and Asafa Powell all run under 20 seconds. We’ve had Tyson Gay blaze 19.41 on the straight, Usain Bolt 19.56 around the bend, with Spearmon running a windy 19.77 to win our National title. In Eugene we get current world #2 Dix against Tyson Gay. Dix has been sharp in most of his races this year and ran a very solid race in his season’s best in Rome. He will have to run a complete race against Gay who is guaranteed to run a blazing turn. Gay has run 44.89 this year in the 400 and 19.41 on the straight. His debut last year over this distance was 19.58. I assume that if he competes that he is healthy, and if he is healthy we should see a race on par with his straight away run!

 

And there’s still more. Another shot put summit with our top 5 & Pole Tomasz Majewski thrown in to spice things up. Andrew Wheating and Bernard Lagat in a deep mile that includes world leader Asbel Kiprop. Nick Symmonds v Abubaker Kaki over 1000 meters. Gerd Kanter in town for the discus, Barbora Spotakava in the Javelin against new AR setter Kara Patterson and Anita Wlodarczyk in the Hammer. Oh, did I mention Lashinda Demus in the 400 hurdles? This meet is going to be HOT from start to finish. Don’t miss it!

Only Track & Field Can Complicate the Obvious

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 best ever performance in the 110 hurdles. This after it was announced during the telecast that Oliver needed a 12.97 performance to win the Visa title – a mark he exceeded by .04 seconds! Confused yet?

Well, according to Track and Field News, the fine print of the Visa Championship rules state that even perfectly legal performances can be devalued. What! That’s right. So the interpretation on Oliver’s performance by USATF was that even though the wind read a perfectly “legal” +1.7mps, it was deemed to be “helpful” and therefore “devalued”. Only in track and field can an “official” result become subject to “interpretation”. It’s one of the things about this sport that makes it hard for the new fan to become engaged. We make it difficult for people to understand what it is that they’re seeing even after they’ve seen it with their own eyes.

For example, we have determined that any race run on a straight is considered to be legal if it is run with an aiding wind of 2.0mps or less. Pretty simple right? A nice round number metrically – 4.47 miles per hour English.  And if you’ve ever competed, or been down on the track when races are run, it is a very light wind. So a race is run, the wind reading is given, and we have the time and the race and results are done, right? Wrong. Because someone, for some reason, decided that for sprint races we should evaluate just how much assistance was given.

It started back in the 1970’s. In 1968, at the Olympic Games in Mexico City, athletes ran off the charts in the sprints. The all time lists were severely altered. World records and multiple personal bests were set in every event under 800 meters. Now that’s somewhat expected at the Olympics – especially before the World Championships came along – because athletes spent four years preparing for that one moment in time. But these results were “different” because four years later in Munich, no one had come remotely close to the Mexico City performances. And by the time Montreal started coming into view another four years later the marks still stood out as near anomalies. By then it was decided that those marks were “different” because they had been run at altitude, and that the altitude had “assisted” the times because the air was thinner.

So, Track and Field News started putting an asterisk on their lists by any marks set above 1000 meters altitude – the “official” cut off point, just like 2.0mps is the “official” cut off point for legal sprint marks. However. There was no official ruling making these marks “illegal”. So altitude assisted marks still qualified for all official lists, including world records (and still do). As a matter of fact athletes began to start taking advantage of this by going to altitude to set new records. The first such “attempt” being made by Pietro Mennea who targeted the World  University Games in Mexico City in 1979 to take a shot at the 200 meter record – which he successfully achieved. Carl Lewis took a trip to Sestriere in ‘94 after coming close to the long jump record in ‘91. These and other locations like El Paso Tx, Johannesburg, and Colorado Springs have seen records and huge personal bests being set in the sprints legally – even though we have decided that they’ve had “assistance”. (Of course since then all of those marks have been bettered greatly without altitude.)

But it gets even better, because charts have been developed to “adjust” 100 meter times based on wind and altitude. Not for any other events, just the 100 meters – even though altitude affects ALL events, and we know that wind affects all standard events below 400 meters. As a matter of fact Track and Field News now carries and updates an “All Time List of Adjusted 100 Meter Times”! And its used all the time during telecasts of meets to inform the viewing public that in spite of the modern equipment that was just used to determine the precise time of the race you just watched – down to .001 sec in many cases -  that what the athlete “really” ran was “worth” a different time. We have the most sophisticated timing equipment ever, but now I need someone to “interpret” the data!

And it’s only in the 100 meters, because the races run on the turn are deemed to be too complicated to adjust. After all the wind is not consistent on the turns – there could be cross winds, winds at varying angles, swirling, and affecting each lane differently. Wait a minute. Aren’t there cross winds blowing up the straightaway? Because in reality the “adjustments” that are made in the 100 meters “assume” that the wind is a direct trailing wind that is consistent from start to finish. Otherwise to truly be accurate one would have to know the exact direction that the wind is traveling up the track as well as the speed of the wind per segments of the race. And that’s just for angled winds. Cross winds would require a different calculation, as would swirling winds. So given that the calculations pretend that the races occur in a vacuum just how accurate can they be?

Which begs the question: why do we adjust 100 meter times at all? I mean aside from creating an “All Time Adjusted List” do the adjustments serve any purpose? For example, championship meets run rounds all the time in which “the fastest non winners” are moved on to the next round. One would think that if we are going to “adjust” times at all, that that sort of setting would be the perfect reason to do so. Look at the men’s 100 at the recent NCAA Championships. Luther Ambrose (Louisiana Monroe) made the final with a 10.30w (+2.2). Just missing out on the final was Terrell Wilks (Florida) 10.33 – trailing wind of only +0.2. Now based on both the “adjusted lists” and the logic employed by USATF in the Visa Championships Wilks should have been the one to make the final (between them in another heat was Maurice Mitchell of FlSt with a 10.32w aided by a +2.9 wind). But we don’t use “adjusted” marks to seed athletes. We just use them to create new lists and confuse people.

Ironically, IMHO, if we are going to adjust times for the purpose of speculation – which is about what I think such lists would be useful for – we’re leaving out data that clearly aids the athletes that could indeed be measured. For example, altitude is considered because it has an effect on air density. Yet heat and humidity affect air density and neither is used in these calculations and measurements are readily available. Another factor that may be even more important in the sprints is the track surface itself – because we know that the harder the surface the faster the track. Surface composition, latex bound, polyurethane, Rekortan, Mondo, not to mention what type of cushion lies under the surface, all lead to different types of tracks – hard, soft, distance, sprinting, slow, fast, faster! And if we really wanted to do it right, we would have to take a look at the turn radiuses of the tracks because the “wider” the turns the easier it is for the races run around a turn and the faster the results!

Which means that if we REALLY want to adjust times to determine either just how fast someone “really” ran or to compare one race to another that we are missing a lot of key elements – and I haven’t even gotten into the “human” factors of each individual race! Actually what it really means is that life and competition is much too complicated to use a two factored formula to determine how fast someone ran a race. After all, isn’t that why we have photo finish equipment with sensors in the starting blocks and an electronic pistol hooked up directly to the timer and an electric eye set to stop the clock the moment that it’s touched – to tell us how fast they just ran? I mean if we really want to determine exactly how fast each athlete ran why don’t we subtract the reaction times from the final time to determine the time it took each individual to run the event from first movement to the finish line? Now THAT would be confusing at a meet, as we announce that the athlete that finished in third place actually covered the distance in less running time than the two athletes that finished in front of him!

You know, I have a better idea. Let’s dispense with the extra lists, and charts, and speculation. Let’s stick with the 2.0mps wind rule to determine legality of the race – or determine a new mark if necessary – and let the expensive, new fangled electronic timing systems that we have tell us how fast the athletes run! It’s simple, it’s easy, and it’s understandable for everyone. And if we REALLY want to know who’s the fastest man or woman, let’s get them together on the track and let them go head to head and have it out. After all, times don’t race, people do. And USATF should pay David Oliver his money. He earned it on the track. He ran fast enough. He shouldn’t have had it taken away by a calculator or speculation!

This is track and field. Athletes run, jump and throw things. We measure. We record. We move on to the next competition. If we want to appeal to the masses that’s what we should do. We don’t need all the additional complications. Let’s just focus on the obvious – the competition.

Oliver & Spearmon End Nationals with a Bang

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 a PR 13.19 as he continues to improve and is looking like the future of the event here in the US. But Oliver has been on fire all season and is having the best season as he once again improved his season’s best, this time with a new PR. Right now he is arguably the best hurdler in the world. And while it is Dayron Robles that is the WR holder, Oliver has set himself up as the man to beat as the injury bug seems to be behind him.

Another vet whose injuries seem to be in the rear view mirror is Wallace Spearmon. Many forget that just a few years ago, Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay were chasing after Spearmon as he was the best of the young  trio in mid decade. Since then immense improvement by Bolt and Gay and injuries to Spearmon put him on the outside looking in at the sprint party that has become the Bolt and Gay show. But Wallace looked like he might be ready to get back into the fray with his performance in Des Moines – a sizzling 19.77 that was aided by an over the allowable 2.9 mps wind. Regardless of the wind what was impressive was the manner in which he ran the race. A notoriously slow starter and poor turn runner, he was actually with the field coming off the turn – a field that including Walter Dix fresh off his 100 meter win. Spearmon then went into his patented overdrive and the race was essentially over as he surged ahead and won going away. While he still has work to do on the turn – Bolt and Gay run the turn as if it were a 100 meter final – if Spearmon can stay close he can be dangerous. This race was a sign that he just may be ready to get back into the 200 meter wars in a big way.

Jenn Suhr also appears to be healthy once more. Her early season looked a tad shaky, but she looked back in form Sunday scaling the bar at 16’ .5” and taking a shot at the 5 meter barrier (16’ 4.75”). A healthy Suhr gives us a strong shot in the pole vault and strengthens our women in the field, where suddenly we are looking quite strong – at least on the top end.

Also coming up with big performances were Christian Cantwell and Dwight Phillips. Cantwell winning the shot at 71’ .5” – repelling new threats Ryan Whiting and Cory Martin as well as dispensing with old rivals Reese Hoffa and Adam Nelson. Cantwell has been super consistent this year and seems to finally have his groove. Phillips won the long jump at 27’ 5” – demonstrating his consistency over 27 feet and that he has no challengers domestically.

Add these to the performances of Patterson, Fountain, Jackson, Dutch, Howard-Lowe and a few others, and we ended the weekend with a pretty solid showing. Very good when its taken into account how many of our top athletes were missing. Kudos to those that competed and gave us their best. We look to be putting together a nice base of talent as we look forward to the next championship cycle.

Patterson Leads Charge as Nationals Finally Heats Up

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 the line this year, there is MUCH work to be done by American athletes – and the National Championships should be used for that purpose. With other countries emerging in the sprints, bringing our best together to slug it out is the next best forum to competing in a major. There’s no better practice for maneuvering through sprint and hurdle rounds than the US Championships – IF we have all of athletes at the table.

And our distance runners could stand to hone their skills racing at high speed against one another in a championship type setting. Somehow I think that Steve Prefontaine would have relished the thought of coming to nationals to take on Solinsky, Ritzenhein and Tegenkamp for a National title – even without the lure of the Olympics or World Championships. And I know that the 5K & 10K events would have gone far below the winning times of 13:54.08 and 28:59.29 posted in theses finals had Pre been around to compete! Because Pre was always out to improve and get better – and if he left any legacy for future distance runners I would hope that his fire would be it!

Having said that, there are always those that show up feeling that they have something to prove – to themselves and the rest of the world. And it’s those athletes that truly embody the spirit of the National Championships. And it’s that spirit that began to show late Friday as some young stars began to shine and some vets began to reemerge.

It started with Kara Patterson in the javelin as she obliterated the America record. Patterson threw the spear 218’ 9”, a full eight feet further than Kim Kreiner’s old mark of 210’ 7” – with four of her throws over 200 ft! More importantly, only four women in the world threw further than Patterson’s mark last year – making Patterson truly world class in this event, and my new hero. We desperately need field event athletes to step up and compete and Patterson did just that! She improved significantly on her PR of 209’ 9” set last year after throwing 201’ 11” in ‘08. She’s been improving steadily and appears to be on her way to being one of the world’s best. It’s nice to see her make her mark in this meet and confirm herself as someone to watch.

Chaunte Howard-Lowe is another in the field that has been staking her claim to elite status this year. She came into this meet having already taking over the AR in the high jump earlier this season, and with some very close competitions against Croatia’s Blanka Vlasic under her belt. Chaunte upped the ante one more time with another AR as she soared over 6’ 8.75” in Des Moines! She’s become nothing if not consistent this year, and has become a solid medal threat for Daegu and London.

Another field eventer moving into elite status was Heptathlete Hyleaas Fountain who won the multi event with a score of 6735 points. Her score moved her into #3 all time American status. What’s really exciting, however, is that it’s 4 points better than Jessica Ennis’ (GBR) winning score from last year’s World Championships and 2 points better than Natalia Dobrynska’s (RUS) winning score from the Beijing Games! Once again it appears that we may have someone that can medal in the Heptathlon – potentially even win it. So it’s very exciting to see our women stepping up in the field!

Despite the hot temperatures in Des Moines the track had been ice cold the first few days of qualifying and distance finals. The distance times had been pedestrian as everything became “tactical”. and the sprinters and hurdlers faced headwinds throughout the meet (might I suggest that you simply run the sprints the other way when the wind is negative). The past couple of days, however, there were some athletes that were looking to prove themselves, and they did that in dramatic fashion.  One was Walter Dix, who seems determined to break into the top three of Bolt/Gay/Powell in the 100 meters. Dix, a notoriously slow starter, was with the pack early in the 100 final, and ran away in mid race to win the event in 10.04. Now in this time crazy world that doesn’t seem all that exciting when we see 9.8’s being run with regularity but when you consider that it was into a headwind of –1.5 mps AND he obliterated the field by .23 sec, the race becomes very impressive. Dix looked very sharp and I’m looking forward to see what he puts down in the 200 meters.

Both the men and women’s 400 meters had big ups and big downs. On the down side, Sanya Richards-Ross withdrew from the women’s event after feeling her quad tighten up during her warm ups. Richard’s did not appear very sharp during the rounds and doesn’t seem to be back from her injury earlier in the season. Jeremy Wariner did not finish the men’s race as he pulled up on the backstretch. He said during the interview after the race that he felt something in his hip but thought he would be ok in a couple of weeks, but Jeremy hasn’t been himself all season so we will see how that progresses. Somewhat of a downer for both, as they have been our best for several years now.

In their absence others stepped up and moved into contention on the world stage. Debbie Dunn lead the women with a world leading 49.64 – dropping her best from last year’s 49.96. Dunn won this year’s World indoor title and this race confirms that she can indeed bring it when the pressure is on. She ran a very strong race, looked good in all phases, and buried the field with second place a far back 50.52 (NCAA champ Francena McCorory). If we can get Richards-Ross back to good health we should have a very solid 1-2 punch in the 400.

On the men’s side, I’ve been looking for someone to emerge all season long. With defending World and Olympic champion Lashawn Merritt out of the sport and previous World and Olympic champion Wariner not up to standard, the question has been: who will step up and lead this event! Wariner looked like he might be ready to retake the throne until the backstretch of yesterday’s race. But as he went down the race continued with the first FIVE finishers all improving on their personal bests. None more so than winner Greg Nixon who won in a world leading 44.61! Nixon has been a journeyman sprinter for several seasons now running around 20.4x and mid 45 (45.20 best) in the 200 and 400 meters. Yesterday’s race was huge for Nixon, as it may have been his breakthrough race. If not the finish behind him may contain the future of the event here in the US as Lajerald Betters (44.71), Jamal Torrence (44.80) and Tavaris Tate (44.84) all set PR’s and looked good in the process. And the man I think many need to keep an eye on is St Augustine’s Josh Scott. Yes he finished 5th in 45.01, but he seems to be improving steadily and seems to have a lot of potential.

Speaking of potential, the men’s 400 hurdles was about potential, old and new. Veteran Bershawn Jackson has had some down seasons for him over the past two or three years. After running extremely well in ‘05 & ‘06 he had been struggling to find that same form. Getting healthy this year and going back to his old step pattern Bershawn came into the meet looking to prove he could get better. On the youth front, young Johnny Dutch was fresh off of his NCAA upset victory and looking to prove it was no fluke, and that he was as good as the 48.12 he had run earlier in the season. Both made their point in the 400 hurdle final as they waged a serious battle over one lap and ten hurdles with Jackson holing off the challenge of the youngster with a 47.32 world leading win. The time was just .02 off of his all time best 47.30 set back in 2005 and signaled that Bershawn may be able to go faster still. Dutch had much to be excited about in second place. His time of 47.63 was the second fastest time in the world – and over the past five seasons only Jackson and Kerron Clement have run faster! Dutch showed himself to be the future of the event here in the US!

One final bit of excitement for me was the women’s 1500 meters. The time wasn’t the best as once again the race became tactical. But it was nice to see our top women show up to compete as Anna Pierce, Shannon Rowbury, and Kristin Wurth Thomas were all in the field. And though the time was slow watching Anna Pierce come from WAY back on the final lap to run the field down and get the win, reminds me why she is one of my favorite middle distance runners. She’s got great endurance, has honed her speed, and is just one gritty, competitive athlete. If Patterson is my hero on the field Pierce is my new hero on the track.

So what started off as a rather ho hum meet, really stepped it up for me! It’s nice to see athletes taking pride in their performances and looking to make a move against the rest of the world. I hope we see more of that during today’s action.