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Lead Stories: Saturday, November 22, 2008

2008 Beijing Olympic Preview: Men’s 110 Meter Hurdles

Posted August 13th, 2008 at 5:30 PM by Jesse Squire

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics

110 Meter Hurdles

The Schedule: heats, Monday Aug 18; quarterfinals, Tuesday Aug 19; semifinals, Wed Aug 20; finals, Thursday Aug 21
The Americans: #1 David Oliver, #3 Terrence Trammell, #9 David Payne
The Contenders: #2 Dayron Robles (CUB), #13 Xiang Liu (CHN)
The Stats: Records, 2008 List, 2007 Worlds, 2004 Olympics
The Medal Picks: T&FN - Robles, Xiang, Oliver;
SI - Robles, Xiang, Trammell
The Story: This event is stacked. In 2008 Dayron Robles set the World Record, ran three of the seven fastest times ever, lost just once (by .01 seconds), and is only a sidelight in a feature-length Sports Illustrated article on his rival. That rival, Liu Xiang, has the weight of 1.3 billion Chinese squarely on his wide shoulders. And American American Oliver has been running so well that he’s challenging for the overall World Points Standings lead when all events are combined. Forget the 100, 1500, decathlon or marathon: this is the race of the 2008 Olympics, and if Xiang wins the country will erupt (and scare its totalitarian government to death).
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adidas Launches Olympic Website RoadsToBeijing.com

Posted June 21st, 2008 at 10:00 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics

adidas has launched a new website focused on adidas-sponsored athletes who are likely to compete in the Olympic Games across the full spectrum of sports. The site, roadstobeijing.com, includes athlete profiles, videos, photos, blogs (still in development) and polls.

“Most of us only get to see the athletes in the competitive arena and, understandably, rarely fully appreciate what it takes to get to the top of their sport,” said Jocelyn Robiot, adidas’s head of global sports marketing through a media release. “RoadstoBeijing.com breaks new ground and offers a unique insight into that journey.”
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The Week in the Rear View: Racing News June 9 - June 15

Posted June 16th, 2008 at 4:11 PM by Jay Hicks

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Columns, College, Week in Rear View

The Week In the Rear View is a weekly column wrapping up the week’s events in running and track & field. I am normally found at PreraceJitters.com, writing about the fast life of track and field.

The week in track and field was a wild and exciting one. The NCAA Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa provided a sneak peek of the next set of runners who just forged their name into the history books of this sport and hope to achieve the same kind of success at the next level.

Is LSU ready to be crowned the new collegiate sprint capital? Both the women’s and men’s 100-meter champions hail from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Richard Thompson (10.04) and Kelly-Ann Baptiste (11.20) scored major points for the Tigers this past weekend.

Things certainly did not go as planned for Florida State University’s Walter Dix, but he still found a moment to shine. After a disappointing fourth place finish in the 100-meters, Dix looked like he was shot out of a cannon as he won (20.04) the men’s 200 over Richard Thompson. The Seminole now has his eyes laid squarely on the monumental task of the making the Olympic Team.

Leonel Manzano (Pictured) of the University of Texas showed that Bernard Lagat is not the only 1500 meter runner with a vicious kick. Manzano led wire to wire in wearing out the field in his NCAA championship run while showing incredible heart.

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TFS News Briefs: 3/08/08

Posted March 8th, 2008 at 11:25 AM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Drugs In Sports, TFS News Briefs

Robles Fails To Advance Past 1st Round
Cuban hurdler Dayron Robles, who owns 8 out of the 10 fastest times in the world this year, failed to advance past the first round of the 2008 World Indoor Championships in Valencia, Spain. Robles had thought Liu Xiang had false-started.
Read more at: [IAAF]

Marion Jones Reports To Prison
Federal Inmate Number 84868-054, aka Marion Jones, has begun serving her six-month sentence at the Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, TX. Jones is serving time for perjury relating to her use of steroids and for a check-fraud scam.
Read more at: [Bleacher Report, CA]

Defar Wins 3000m At Worlds
Ethiopia’s incomparable Meseret Defar handily won the women’s 3000m event at the World Indoor Championships with a time of 8:38.79, well off her world indoor record of 8:27.93. Fellow Ethiopian Meselech Melkamu placed 2nd in 8:41.50, just ahead of Moroccan Mariem Alaoui Selsouli, who won the bronze medal with a time of 8:41.66.
Read more at: [IAAF]
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TFS News Briefs: 1/30/08

Posted January 30th, 2008 at 1:17 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Drugs In Sports, TFS News Briefs

IAAF Overrides British Governing Body Ruling
British sprinter Dwain Chambers got support from the IAAF when UK Athletics ruled him ineligible for a “comeback” because of a 2003 positive test for steroids. In a messy dispute that could end up in court, UKA is sticking to a ruling stating that retired athletes must undergo a year of negative tests. The IAAF, however, is stating that they never received an official retirement letter, so the rule does not apply to him unless UKA can produce such a letter.
Read more at: [Times Online, UK][Athletics Weekly][More]

Michael Johnson Backs IAAF’s Pistorius Ban
Michael Johnson, the retired 400m world-record holder, agrees with the IAAF’s decision to ban double-amputee Oscar Pistorius because his prosthetic legs (dubbed “Cheetahs”) offer him an “unfair advantage” over other athletes. “If he was racing at the same time as me,” Johnson said, “I would also think the same thing.”
Read more at: [The Tide]

Wariner and Legendary Coach Hart Ways
Clyde Hart, Baylor’s legendary coach who trained Michael Johnson, has parted ways with current 400m world champion Jeremy Wariner after a contract dispute in which Wariner sought to reduce the coach’s percentage. Sanya Richards will continue to train under Hart.
Read more at: [Waco Tribune]
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TFS News Briefs: 10/24/07

Posted October 24th, 2007 at 11:21 AM by Jimmie R. Markham

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

Profile of Cuban 110m Hurdler Dayron Robles
Cuba News Headlines/Cuban Daily News profiles 100m hurdler Dayron Robles and explains why the Cuban people believe he ought to be the 2007 Track & Field Athlete of the Year. Read more at: [Cuba News Headlines/Cuban Daily News]

Poor Air Quality in Beijing May Force the Move of Some Distance Events to Another VenueInternational Olympic Committee inspectors are in Beijing in continuing efforts to monitor the city’s notorious pollution and to try and determine whether or not some long-distance events will be need to be moved to another city. Read more at: [Washington, PA Observer-Reporter]

NCAA Cross Country: Conference Championships Weekend
The top 5 ranked teams in NCAA Division I Cross Country (1. Oregon, 2. Northern Arizona, 3. UTEP, 4. Iona, 5. Colorado) will all be competing in their conference championship meets this weekend. Read more at: [USTFCCCA]
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TFS News Briefs: 9/28/2007

Posted September 28th, 2007 at 5:50 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Cross Country, Track & Field

Haile’s Goal: 2:03 Marathon
Haile Gebrselassie’s goal for the Berlin Marathon this coming Sunday is 2:03:00, which would be an almost inconceivable 4:41 per mile pace. That would be a minute and 55 seconds faster than Paul Tergat’s world record of 2:04:55. Gebrselassie, the world record holder in the 20000m (56:26.0), the 20K (55:48) and the hour run (21.285K), has a PB of 2:05:56 in the marathon which he set at last year’s Berlin Marathon.Read more at: [IAAF]

Gay, Liu, Bested by Spearmon and Robles
Granted, it is a meaningless end-of-season meet, but nobody expects Tyson Gay or Xiang Liu to be beaten in their respective events (100m, 110m hurdles) especially Liu in front of a hometown crowd. But that’s exactly what Wallace Spearmon and Dayron Robles did today at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix meet. Both Gay and Liu admitted that they hadn’t been training for some time, but they both gave kudos to Spearmon’s and Robles’ outstanding performances. Read more at: [IAAF]
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On the Road & Around the Track: News Briefs 9/24/07

Posted September 24th, 2007 at 3:45 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

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

Huge Names to Run in Shanghai This Friday
Tyson Gay and Veronica Campbell (100m), Asafa Powell (200m), Jeremy Wariner (400m) and Kenenisa Bekele (1500m) are all set to run this Friday in Shanghai, China in the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix at the University Town Stadium. For most of the athletes, it will be the last meet of the season. Read more at: [Shanghai Golden Grand Prix]

James Carney Plans on Being the X-Factor at the Olympic Trials Marathon
James Carney, 2nd place finisher at the USA 20K Championships on 9/04/2007 behind Dan Browne, said in a New York Road Runners interview that, “I think I have a very good chance of doing well, and I’m going into the race thinking that I can make the team.” He heads into the November 3rd race with a 27:43.64 qualifying time in the 10000m at the Stanford Invitational. Read more at: [New York Road Runners]
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Robles’ 12.92 Caps Stellar Day Two in Stuttgart

Posted September 23rd, 2007 at 3:18 PM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

A slew of sensational performances, topped by Dayron Robles’ 12.92 victory in the 110m hurdles, highlighted a thoroughly entertaining second and final day of the 5th IAAF/VTB Bank World Athletics Final in Stuttgart this afternoon.

Continuing his impressive late season campaign, the 20-year-old Cuban slashed the year-old meet record set by Liu Xiang, leaving thoughts of “what might have been” had the Chinese world record been here to defend his title. It was also a personal best and national record for Robles –he ran 13.00 here last year– in this his fifth victory in as many races since his disappointing fourth place showing at the World Championships in Osaka. Robles is now tied as the fourth fastest hurdler in history.

American David Payne, the Osaka bronze medallist, was second in 13.08, ahead of Osaka silver medallist Terrence Trammell (13.15).
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IAAF World Athletics Final: Men’s 110m Hurdles

Posted September 23rd, 2007 at 10:22 AM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Cuban Dayron Robles, 4th place finisher at Osaka, was rounding into peak form coming into the 5th IAAF World Athletics Final. Xiang Liu of China was not in the race, but Terrence Trammell, Osaka silver medalist and David Payne, Osaka bronze medalist, were in Stuttgart.
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