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Lead Stories: Monday, December 1, 2008

TFS News Briefs: 11/11/07

Posted November 11th, 2007 at 8:00 AM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Cross Country, Track & Field, TFS News Briefs

Rupp, Ducks Win NCAA West Regional X-C Championships
The #1-ranked Oregon Ducks won the 2007 NCAA West Regional Cross-Country Championships on the strength of Galen Rupp’s 1st-place 29:35:45 finish in Eugene, Oregon. The Ducks scored 47 points to 2nd-place Stanford’s 76 points. The Oregon women’s team finished 2nd with 72 points to Stanford’s 1st place 33 points. Stanford’s Teresa McWalters won the 6K race in 19:57:30, eight seconds ahead of Oregon’s Nicole Blood. Read more at: [GoDucks.com]

Michigan Ties 4th-Ranked UW Badgers In Great Lakes Regional X-C Championships
Led by Junior Lex Williams, the #23rd-ranked Michigan Wolverines men’s cross-country team tied the 4th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers in the Great Lakes Regional Cross-Country Championships on Saturday, November 10th, 2007. Both teams scored 68 points. The women’s team finished 2nd to Michigan State, scoring 63 to the Spartans’ 60 points.Read more at: [MGoBlue.com]

Scottish 1st Minister: 2014 Games “Best in History”
Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond pledged to make the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, “the greatest sporting event our country has ever seen… It’s up to us all now to keep building the buzz to make sure we put on an electrifying Games and to make sure that we make the most of this wonderful opportunity.” Read more at: [ic Wales, United Kingdom]
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TFS News Briefs: 11/10/07

Posted November 10th, 2007 at 1:30 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field, Olympics, TFS News Briefs

Michael Johnson On Key To Winning Gold Medals
Five-Time Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson, in an address to Welsh athletes, discussed the key to winning gold medals, saying that, “those who can stand the pressure will have a much better chance of winning a gold medal if they ignore the expectation and concentrate and focus on their own ambitions and aims.” Read more at: [ic Wales, United Kingdom]

Glasgow, Scotland To Get Massive Makeover For 2014
Glasgow, Scotland has won the right to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Now the hard work of making the city ready for the eleven-day sport festival begins. Twelve sporting venues, enough to hold 6,000 athletes in 17 different competitions, will have to be built or remodeled.
Read more at: [Glasgow Daily Record, UK]
Chinese Athletes Deal With Pressure of Competing on Home Turf
The Chinese public is putting heavy pressure on Chinese athletes to win medals at next year’s Olympic Games being held in Beijing, China, so much so that psychologists have been brought in to help the athletes learn how to handle it. Read more at: [Guardian Unlimited, UK]
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TFS News Briefs: 11/09/07

Posted November 9th, 2007 at 12:20 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Cross Country, Track & Field, Olympics, TFS News Briefs

Australian Marathoner Emphasizes Severity of Conditions in Beijing
Australian marathoner Lee Troop, who qualified for his third Olympic Marathon on the strength of his 6th place performance of 2:10:31 at the Berlin Marathon, is contemplating the severity of the conditions he will be facing in Beijing, saying that, “It’s going to be very hard to replicate the exact conditions of Beijing because the conditions over there are going to be so oppressive with the heat, humidity and smog.” Read more at: [Geelong Advertiser, Australia]

Meb Keflezighi Still In Shock Over Death of Friend Ryan Shay
Meb Keflezighi, who was friend and training partner to Ryan Shay for more than 7 years, is still shocked by his friend’s death, saying, “One minute we’re trying to get ready for the Olympic Trials. I’m sitting with him on the bus. We’re talking, then he’s no longer with us. It’s unbelievable, hard to imagine.” Read more at: [San Diego Union Tribune]

China Downplaying Their Possible Beijing Medal Count
Cui Dalin, Vice President of the Chinese Olympic Committee, seeking to relieve some of the pressure on Chinese athletes, said in a recent press briefing, “We have never said that we wanted to take the first position of the gold medal table.”
Read more at: [Xinhua, China]
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Aussie Gives Up Basketball For Track & Field

Posted October 20th, 2007 at 1:30 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics

Australian Dani Samuels won the bronze medal in the Discus Throw at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. The nineteen-year-old is also a promising basketball player. She has decided to give up the latter to concentrate on the former.

Australia’s Daily Telegraph reports that Samuels will not juggle both sports while she prepares for the Beijing Olympic Games, saying that, “I’m taking Beijing very seriously. I’m not going to play [basketball] next year and juggle the two. [The Discus Throw is] just something I absolutely love when I do.”
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Why you won’t see a world record in the upcoming World Championships or Olympics

Posted August 10th, 2007 at 3:53 PM by Jimson Lee

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, SoundOFF, Columns

When was the last time you saw a world record in a World Championship or Olympics Games in a middle distance or long distance event?

Sprinters take advantage of the Championship atmosphere, the multiple rounds, and faster tracks to set their world records.

You have to go back to Alberto Juantorena’s 1.43.50 800 meters at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. If you count Commonwealth Games, then Filbert Bayi’s 3.32.16 1500 meters in 1974 at Christchurch, NZ. (more on that race later)

Unfortunately, we can thank the rabbits for destroying that opportunity.
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