Be sure to check out my new home in the blogosphere:400meteroval.comYou can expect to read the same high-quality commentary and analysis there that you did here on FinishLinePundit....
Well, folks, writing about the sport of track & field is no longer just a hobby for me, but a career. I am now a writer over at The Final Sprint, The Internet's Premier Running, Fitness, and Nutrition Publication. Thank you to everyone who has supported me by frequenting my blog. To get your daily dose of the Finish Line Pundit and my track and field musings, you can now click here....
Alan Webb is scheduled to race again on Saturday, July 28th, 2007 at the KBC Night of Athletics meet in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. He will race in the 800m this time, taking on Gary Reed of Canada, Dutch European champs Bram Som (outdoors) and Arnout Okken (indoors) as well as Nick Symmonds of the USA. Since the 800m is not his specialty, Webb is in for a hot race. Will he be able to hold his own?Johnny Gray's American record of 1:42.60, set way back on August 28th, 1985, shouldn't be in jeopardy, but – with Webb in the shape of his life – you never know. He will certainly set a new PB. Reed and Som seem to be the class of the field, both boasting sub 1:44 personal bests, but Symmonds can claim a faster time than Som in 2007. Look for this ...
Bad news seems to come in bunches. Yesterday the IAAF announced that it has provisionally suspended Jolanda Ceplak for a doping violation. Both her "A" and "B" samples failed in an out-of-competition test, showing positive for the blood-doping agent EPO. The Slovakian middle-distance runner is the 2004 Olympic bronze medalist and the indoor world record holder for the 800m Run. For what it's worth, Ceplak proclaims her innocence.Today Walter Dix announced that he will not be competing at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka. Here's the pertinent section of the article in case the link gets removed:FSU's Dix decides to 'call it a season'By Steve Ellis DEMOCRAT SENIOR WRITERWalter Dix won't be adding to his impressive 2007 resume in
I received a comment this morning from Anonymous:I feel bad I have to give traffic to this website.. I wont [sic] be coming back. It sucks that the internet has the power to give complete idiots a voice. You are clueless if you are talking about the nation as a whole.How about this? If one of our American boys, including Webb, (he is a MD athlete), medal at worlds you shut your website down and never return. P.S. Look at how many HS boys broke 9 min in the 2 mile this past year. AndrewIt's ironic that "Andrew" is complaining about "the internet [having] the power to give complete idiots a voice" since he is the spokesman and poster child for their group. "Andrew" likes to disagree – and I certainly don't mind disagreements on this website – b...
Yesterday I wrote that there is no resurgence in American middle-distance running. Today I received a challenge from Christina and Ash Huzenlaub to back up my words. They wrote:Would you be prepared to shave your head should you be proven wrong (that with the exception of Webb, the US grabs a middle distance medal in Osaka) and post the picture on your blog? I immediately accepted their challenge in an e-mail reply. Let's define terms: I consider middle-distance running to be events that are between 800m and 3000m long. Other than Alan Webb, whom I expect to be crowned world champion in the men's 1500m run, if any American – man or woman – wins a gold, silver or bronze medal in either the 800m Run, 1500m Run or 3000m Steeplechase, I will shave my head and post a photo on my website. I ...
The most overused word in marketing is "revolutionary." Similarly, the word "resurgence" is bandied about so often in American track circles lately, one would think that the Kenyans have decided to boycott the World Championships next month. But other than Alan Webb's season in the sun, who do we have in United States Middle-Distance Running? Let's take a peek at the IAAF top lists. In the women's mile, American Donna MacFarlane's time of 4:33.52 is some 18 (17.89, to be exact) seconds behind Russian Yelena Soboleva's world-leading time of 4:15.63. In the 800m, Alice Schmidt has posted a respectable 1:58.75 for 3rd place in 2007, just 0.42 seconds behind Maria Mutola's 1:58.75. But a quick look at the 2006 top list reveals that, at season's end, the American women weren't even within ...
Webb">Alan Webb Broke Steve Scott's 25-Year-Old American Record in the Mile today at the Atletiek Vlaanderen meet in Brasschaat, Belgium. The video should be available soon on Flotrack.com.Webb's time of 3:46.91 is the 16th fastest Mile ever run. Webb is the 8th fastest miler of all time, only behind the following men:3:43.13, Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR)3:43.40, Noah Ngeny (KEN)3:44.39, Noureddine Morceli (ALG)3:44.60, Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR)3:44.90, Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR)3:44.95, Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR)3:45.19, Noureddine Morceli (ALG)3:45.64, Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR)3:45.96, Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR)3:46.24, Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR)3:46.32, Steve Cram (GBR)3:46.38, Daniel Komen (KEN)3:46.70, ...
The Message Board over at Track & Field News has a discussion about whether or not height gives women an advantage in steeplechasing. I contacted Ann Gaffigan, 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials champion in the steeplechase with a PB of 9:39.35, to ask her for her input into this question. In addition to being a world-class steeplechaser, Gaffigan is also the webmaster at Steeplechics.com and a computer programmer/ web systems developer at Gazelle, Inc. where she has built athletics-related databases. You can read a two-part interview with Gaffigan over on HerActiveLife.com (Part 1 | Part 2).This is her reply to my question:I think the switch from the flat 3K to the steeple depends on the person. And it is hard to predict. A lot of times, my coach (Jay Dirksen of Neb...
MSNBC.com contributor Mike Celizic has weighed in to the Pistorius debate with this cynical attempt at wit:What if, the IAAF is saying, [Pistorius'] prosthetics give him an advantage that able-bodied runners don’t have? What if, in other words, the people with legs and feet are the ones who are disabled? What then? Do athletes start chopping their legs off in order to get the Pistorius pistons and win more races? (And you know that if the prosthetics are declared legal and really do give an advantage, there will be lines around the block waiting for amputations (emphasis mine-FLP). That’s how it is with athletes.)I couldn't imagine purposefully crippling myself for life just to try and gain athletic advantage. Of course, steroids can do the same thing, but many people have no problem t...
NCAA is proposing some amendments to the 2007 Rules Book that would reject the metricsystem in favor of the imperial system of measurement during collegiate track meets. to summarize the proposals, the 1500m Run would revert to the gold ol' Mile Run, and the field events would all have to be measured, displayed and announced as imperial units. Measuring in metric units would still be allowed for ratification of possible NCAA, American and/or world records. Why? Apparently Americans have rejected the metric system. I for one, never tried to embrace it in the first place. (Just give me a good old quarter-mile track to run on so I can run a few 220's!)The rab...
Alan Webb, who already broke a couple of Steve Scott's records this season (his 28-year-old Drake Relays meet record in the Mile Run and his 25-year-old U.S. National Outdoor Championships meet record in the 1500m Run) is going for perhaps Scott's most prestigious record: the American Mile Run record of 3:47.69. He has lined up a couple of rabbits to pace him at the Atletiek Vlaanderen Meeting in Brasschaat, Belgium on July 21st, 2007.According to this article, Webb will need ideal conditions and good pacing. The forecast for Saturday in Antwerp is partly cloudy with highs in the upper 60s and lows in the mid 50s, which is ideal for middle distance running.As he tries for the record, we have t...
Film Critic Kevyn Knox has an ongoing weekly "Top 5 Films" project on his website Cinematheque. Just this past week he and 20 other critics, film students, film historians and film enthusiasts took on the challenge of listing their favorite sports movies. One film boxing-film fanatic listed 5 boxing movies as his favorite sports movies. (How's that for wearing your biases on your sleeve?) Some of the nominations could hardly be considered sports movies. Spelling bees? Chess? Billiards? The Big Lebowski!!!? (Nothing against bowling as a sport, but the movie was hardly a ringing endorsement of athleticism.) How do you suppose films about track & field and/or running fared?Running/Track & Field movies did not make the overall top 5 (Raging Bull, Hoop Dre...
If you've ever wanted to explore the history of the master's track and field movement, you can read an online preview of Masters Track and Field: A History by Leonard T. Olson (Preface: 3 pages; Ch. 1, 3 pages; Ch. 2, 3 pages, Ch. 3, 2 pages, Ch. 4, 1 page) in order to determine whether or not the hefty ($65.00) price of the hardback is worth it.From Amazon.com:Book DescriptionIt all began in 1968, when prominent civil lawyer David Pain introduced and implemented the idea of age-group competition for track and field. What began as a special mile run soon expanded into North American, then world, meets. This is the first book-length account of how the Masters Track and Field program (for men ...
Here's the video from the rainy 400m at the IAAF British Grand Prix in which Jeremy Wariner lost his footing coming out of the blocks and Oscar Pistorius finished last then got disqualified for stepping out of his lane:Legendary miler Steve Cram offers his opinion about that race as well as Kenenisa Bekele's commanding performance in the men's 3000m in which he destroyed the field, including Australia's Craig Mottram....
I like to explore the depths of track and field websites. Geeky, huh? The IAAF website, for instance, has some 62,200 pages (62,400 pages, just 4 hours later) over which I can obsess. While exploring the web pages of our sport's international governing body, I ran across a section titled New Studies in Athletics that I had previously overlooked for some reason.While exploring it I found some easily-digestible summaries of some fascinating track and field research studies. These summaries are so short that even the complex scientific information they contain can be absorbed within a minute or two. Here's one that is so short, I'll just quote it in its entirety:The effects of warm-up and pre-cooling on endurance performance i...
If you missed the original live video coverage of the ExxonMobil Bislett Games back on June 15th, 2007, here it is in its entirety. The "official coverage" doesn't begin until 5:05 into the video, but the announcer – not realizing that he's broadcasting live – begins testing his microphone 3:56 into the coverage. By the way: before you begin watching, be sure the stove is turned off. The video is 3 1/2 hours long. ...
Click here for highlights of the pre-race press conference. Click here for some (awkward Italian/American-translated) video coverage of the press-conference.Links to the complete results can be found below. RESULTSMEN100 metres 400 metres 800 METRES 1500 metres 5000 METRES 110 METRES HURDLES 400 metres hurdles long jump triple jumpjavelin throw WOMEN100 metres 400 metres 800 METRES 5000 metres 100 METRES HURDLES 400 metres hurdleshigh jump pole vault ...
Click here to read an interview with meet director Luigi D'Onofrio, who complains about the depletion of his long-distance events, "some of the best distance races of the year." The entire Ethiopian contingent has withdrawn from the Golden Gala meet. They were "diverted by their national federation because of the African Championships." Here's a lengthy preview of the meet. It is an IAAF Golden League event with a million bucks at stake. Perhaps the premier event of the meet will be the Pole Vault showdown between Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia, who is still vying for the jackpot along with three other athletes, and Jenn Stuczynski of the USA. Click here to read an article specific to that Pole Vault showdown.Also featured will be a Caribbean 100m duel between 2nd cousins – Jamaican Asafa P...
I recently corresponded with Jill Geer, USATF Director of Communications, regarding the USATF's current selection process. Here is the exchange:Hi, Jill. I hope all is well. Sanya Richards should trounce TEAM USA in the women's 400m dash at the Golden Gala in Rome. Once she does, questions will arise again about the seemingly imperfect selection process that the USATF currently has. If she wins, it could be easily argued that we aren't sending our best women's 400m team to Osaka. It could also be argued just as easily that she should have made the team when she was required to do so. Care to comment on this dilemma?Regards,Jimmie R. MarkhamFinish Line PunditHere is her reply:Jimmie:Any selection system is imperfect, but our system is strongly favored by the
Reigning 3000m Steeplechase World Champion Dorcus Inzikuru is bowing out of this year's World Championships in Osaka, claiming that "she has encountered health and fitness problems." She hasn't competed since her DNF at the World Cross Country Championships this past March in Mombasa, Kenya. Is she really finished for the year, or is she simply employing a classic pre-race psychological tactic to take the pressure off of her?This article from Uganda's Daily Monitor details her health problems (sinus trouble) and claims that she "won't be defending her gold medal at the World Athletics Championships due August 25 -September 2 in Osaka, Japan." Even so, Dr. Flavio Pasquato, part of her Italian management team, "believes it is too early for Inzikuru to pull out of Osaka and that she can ret...
Americans have been losing big international-relations points in South America lately. First there was the story of a simpering Cameron Diaz wearing a Maoist messenger bag while visiting Peru's historic Machu Picchu, oblivious to the fact that tens of thousands of Peruvians had died at the hands of the wicked Maoist Sendero Luminoso ("Shining Path") guerillas. Now we find out that members of the United States Olympic Committee have been perpetuating the "Ugly American" stereotype yet again while visiting Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the Pan-American Games.One of the USOC workers wrote "Welcome to the Congo!" on a dry-erase board in the Pan-American Games media Center. USOC media employee Kevin Neuendorf claimed that the words were written because "it’s reall...
The internet is still buzzing about Alan's Webb's superb victory (and 2007 world-leading time of 3:30.54) in the men's 1500m Run at the Meeting Gaz de France (Paris Saint-Denis) last week. There's even chatter by Track and Field journalists about a World Championships victory by Webb in Osaka later this season. Here's the video of the race. Watch how Mehdi Baala gives up toward the end of the race when he realizes that he's beaten. (Could this race be a preview of the Osaka 1500m final?) Notice, too, (take notice, ESPN, CBS and NBC) how much better the British commentators are at covering a track event than their American counterparts:Click To Play...
Yep, it's that time again, time for "El Encierro" (literally, "the enclosing") or, as it's more-commonly known, "The Running of the Bulls" at the Fiesta of San Fermin in Pamplona, Spain. This tradition dates back to the end of the 16th century. You might know that hundreds of young (and sometimes not-so-young men) try to outrun six bulls as they make their way from the corrals on the outskirts of town to the Plaza de Toros. What you might not know is how far and how fast these bulls run.The course is 850 meters long. Today's encierro was covered by the bulls in a time of 2 minutes and 46 seconds, the equivalent of a 2:36 800m run, or a 5:14 mile. That's right, folks. These are 1,422 lb. bulls running at a pace that's faster than many well-trained high school middle-distance runners! It's ...
An article in The Oregonian indicates that Alberto Salazar is coaching from his bed. Salazar had a heart attack a week ago at the Nike World Campus and was rushed to St. Vincent. A stent was inserted to open an artery.The article states:He remains in the St. Vincent Cardiac Care Unit, listed in fair condition. He was unavailable Friday for interviews but apparently was monitoring his athletes' training.Galen Rupp, coached by Salazaer, said, "from what I can tell, he's doing pretty well. He's anxious to get back to doing what he loves to do. We just have to make sure it's not too much too soon."I wish him well, but can you say "Type A Personality?"...
With his 3:30.54 win in the men's 1500m run at the Meeting Gaz de France, Webb">Alan Webb became the third fastest American of all time and the fastest American-born 1500m runner of all time. Only Sydney Maree and Bernard Lagat, both naturalized American citizens, have run faster times as Americans. Maree has run a time of 3:29.77. Lagat holds the American-record with a time of 3:29.30 and has also posted a time of 3:29.68 as an American. He has run faster several times, running as fast as 3:26.34 (2nd fastest of all time), but he ran those times as a Kenyan citizen.Webb's time in Paris surpasses his previous PB of 3:32.52 by 1.98 seconds. His PB for the Mile is 3:48.92. The 1500m time he ran today is the equivalent of a 3:4...
Check out this clip of The Long Green Line, a feature-length documentary about Joe Newton and the York Community High School (Elmhurst, Illinois) Cross-Country team. Newton has coached the Dukes for over 50 years and they have won 26 state championships and 1 national championship. Imagine being on a cross-country team with over 220 runners! Here's a discussion about the movie on Track and Field News Message Board.From the website:Newton encourages his athletes to remember that it is, “Nice to be great, but far greater to be nice.” Being a respectful gentleman is given priority over being a star athlete. By leading a respectful life as individuals, the entire team becomes that much greater. As the York team grew in number, the green uniforms began to dominate the cross-country course...
Live internet radio coverage for the Meeting Gaz De France is available from 12:30 PM to 3:00 PM (Central Time). Click here to access the live feed. You can read an interview with the meet director here.Start lists can be found by clicking on the links below. Results will be available by clicking on the links as the events conclude:Men100 metres400 metres1500 metres3000 metres3000 metres steeplechase110 metres hurdles400 metres hurdlestriple jumpjavelin throwWomen100 metres400 metres1500 metres5000 metres100 metres hurdles400 metres hurdleshigh jumppole vault...
While many of the favorites to win the men's 1500m run at the World Championships in Osaka this September are off racing in Europe this summer, New Zealander Nick Willis is taking a page from fellow Kiwi Peter Snell's training book. Willis is skipping the European circuit this season to prepare for Osaka:"I've gone to Europe the past couple of years and run some fast times. But I haven't been able to match that same fitness a month later at the Olympics or world championships," Willis said. "So this season I want to make sure I have my best fitness at the world champs rather than waste it in races early on. "Getting fit is not really my problem. Holding my fitness seems to be the issue, so that is the idea behind this." Willis' strategy is in marked contrast...
The bio's of the 2006 inductees to the U.S. NationalTrack & Field Hall of Fame have finally been published on the USATF website.Here are the links to the bio's:Ollan CassellRex CawleyBen EastmanLynn JenningsMatt McGrathBill NiederDan O'BrienKevin YoungHere are some interviews with the inductees....
Who is the man in this photo?Hints:His nicknames were "White Lightning" then "El Caballo (The Horse)."He was born December 3, 1950 in Santiago, Cuba.He is now an IAAF Council Member.He was a basketball player until he as 21, at which time he was discovered by Polish track coach Zygmunt Zabierzowski.He was eliminated in the semi-finals at the 1972 Munch Olympics.Give up?He is none other than Alberto Juantorena, the first only athlete to win gold medals in both the 400m and 800m at the same Olympics, the 1976 Montreal Olympics. In the photo above he was doing some early shopping for 2007 Osaka souvenirs. In the photo to the right he can be seen outpacing Rick Wohlhuter of the USA and Ivo Van Damme of Belgium in the 1976 Olympic men's 800m final and setting ...
This coming Friday's Meeting Gaz de France in Paris Saint-Denis may be too hot for Webb">Alan Webb to handle. He is scheduled to compete in the men's 1500m against 7 of the 8 highest-ranked 1500m runners in the world, according to the IAAF rankings. Webb is not even ranked in the top 100. Even so, Webb has the 8th fastest 1500m time in the world this year with a 3:34.82. Since he also boasts the 5th fastest mile time in the world in 2007 with a 3:51.71, he certainly belongs in the race. But how will he do?Ten men in the race have faster 1500m PR's than Webb's PR of 3:32.52. Webb would have to beat his PR by 1.47 seconds just to match Mehdi Baala's 2007 world-leading 3:31.05. Webb's kick at the...
Alberto Salazar has been hospitalized after collapsing at the Nike World Campus with heart trouble. He did not have a heart attack but a stent has been inserted to open an artery. He is listed in serious condition at the Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, OR.You can follow this evolving story by watching the articles from the RSS feed that FLP has added below. It will continuously update you with breaking news on Salazar's condition. Let's pray that his condition improves: ...
Jeremy Wariner's summer schedule is posted on his website. He plans on running 5 races in Europe between July 10th and 8/07/07 leading up to the IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan, which will be held between August 25th and September 2nd. Wariner hasn't listed, like he usually does, which events he'll be running. We can assume that he will be running mostly 400m races with maybe a 200m or two thrown in for speed-tuning purposes. A check of the meet websites doesn't reveal much about which events he will be running, although we do know that he will be racing Oscar Pistorius in the 400m in Sheffield. No 400m Dash is scheduled for the Vardinoyiannia in Greece, so we can assume Wariner will run the 200m there. Wariner...
The IAAF has decided to let double-amputee Oscar "Blade Runner" Pistorius compete in the 400m Dash at IAAF Grand Prix events this summer. You might recall the story about Pistorius that FLP covered here.In that article I suggested that Pistorius be tested against other athletes in his event to determine whether or not he has any advantage from using his carbon-fiber prosthetics. Apparently the IAAF agrees, because they have cleared Pistorius to race. What's more, he will immediately get to test himself against none other than 400m World Champion Jeremy Wariner at the Norwich Union Sheffield Grand Prix on July 15th, 2007. Should be a fascinating race. I wonder what will happen if Pistorius beats Wariner. Will the IAAF immediately ban him if he does win? I have a bad feeling they will....
The latest IAAF newsletter is out and, guess what? No Americans are on the "Athletes Sanctioned for Doping Offenses" list on page 7!Here is a list of countries cited, in descending order of number of athletes sanctioned:Iran, 8France, 2Turkey, 2Great Britain, 1Jamaica, 1China, 1Brazil, 1Slovenia, 1Belgium, 1Nepal, 1Russia, 1South Africa, 1What, you might ask, is Nepal doing on the doping sanctions list? Apparently, steroids are handed out like chocolates in Nepali sport. In fact, they are chocolates! Here's an article in which the Nepalese athlete who got sanctioned, Rajendra Bhandari, states that his victory in the men's 5000m at the 10th South Asian Games, "is due to my hard work and effort from the coaches." Now that...
Dan Daly of the Washington Times offers a scathing indictment of the sport of Track & Field in his latest article, one that focuses on Tyson Gay's recent achievements. Titled On a Fast Track to a Life of Doubt, Daly's contention is that, "Track has never really recovered from 1988. Every year, it seems, it loses a little more of its credibility, a little more of its relevance — and Gay is a prime example of that."What? "Gay is a prime example?" What does Daly know that we don't know? Apparently nothing except for unsubstantiated claims and rumor-mongering. Daly goes on to say that, "with track these days, there's always an "except." We may want to believe Gay's times are genuine, ...
I love scanning through the "Today's Headlines" section of the Track & Field News home page. It's so low-tech that it's quaint. Still, it is Track & Field News, so it's guaranteed to contain only the most relevant news on the internet. While scanning the headlines just now, I noticed a particularly interesting headline: Jonathan Johnson Still Hoping For Osaka 800 Berth.Since Johnson finished 4th at the Nationals (only the top 3 in each event go to the world championships), I was curious to find out how he planned on pulling off such a feat.Of course! The issue of the A/B standard rears its ugly head again. Duane Solomon, who finished third in the race, hasn't met the "A" standard of 1:45.40 required in the men's 800m run by the IAAF for an athlete to qualify for Osaka. If Solomon does...
Let's see, Roger Bannister of Great Britain did it first on May 6th, 1954 with a time of 3:59.4, then John Landy of Australia quickly followed on June 21st, 1954 with a time of 3:57.9, then...Wes Santee? No, he came close, but – unfortunately – the "Ashland Antelope" never did better than a 4:00.5, thanks to the myopia exhibited by the oligarchical power mongers of the AAU prior to the Steve Prefontaine-inspired Amateur Sports Act of 1978, an act that stripped the AAU of its vice-like grip on Track & Field in the United States. For all of the moaning and groaning we hear about the USATF and the way it governs the sport, it's certainly much better than the AAU ever was.Ron Delaney? No, he was 7th.Jim Bailey? No. Although he was the first man to break the four-minute barrier on American ...
