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Lead Stories: Friday, August 29, 2008

Team USA: Day 4 Track Recap

Posted August 18th, 2008 at 2:42 PM by Stephanie Lowe

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics

Team USA earned five medals Monday in Beijing, two of them gold.

BROWN-TRAFTON WINS FIRST GOLD MEDAL FOR U.S.

Stephanie Brown-Trafton surprised many as she became the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in the discus since 1932. After a rocky first three days, this was the first gold medal for the U.S. at the Beijing Games.

Brown-Trafton’s first throw of 64.74m/212-5 was unmatched by her competitors.

“I told people when you make the final anything can happen. I had a far throw and nobody else stepped up. I won a gold medal!” she said after her victory.

U.S. DOMINATES SWEEPS MEDALS IN 400m HURDLES

In the men’s 400m hurdles, Angelo Taylor won his second Olympic gold medal in 8 years, running a personal-best time of 47.25 seconds.
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Middle Distance Champion, Bernard Lagat, Gunning for Elusive Gold

Posted August 13th, 2008 at 8:00 AM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics

America’s dual world champion Bernard Lagat said Wednesday he was determined to honor the promise he made to his mother four years ago, that he would at last win an Olympic 1500 meters gold medal. The 33-year-old Kenyan-born athlete - who became an American citizen in 2005 - speaks about his goals and switching nationality in a pre-race press conference.

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TFS News Briefs: 4/04/08

Posted April 4th, 2008 at 1:18 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

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

Tyson Gay “Your Season Starts Now”
The Jamaican tourism board’s current slogan is “Your Vacation Starts Now.” Well, Tyson Gay is paying no heed to that sentiment. He’s headed there to do some work. He will begin his 2008 season at the Jamaica International Invitation meeting on May 3rd, 2008 where he will run a 200m dash.
Read more at: [Xinhua, China]

“Glimmer of Hope” For USA Cross-Country
An article in the UK’s Herald discusses the recent 2008 IAAF World Cross-Country Championships and mentions USA cross-country as “show[ing] a glimmer of hope” in being able to compete against the Africans in future championships. The US is also seeking to host the event in 2010 and has asked the Scots for help in conducting a successful event. My advice? Invite a bunch of Africans.
Read more at: [The Herald, UK]

Sanya Richards: “This is what I’ve been training for all my life”
Sanya Richards is ready to claim the Beijing Olympic Gold in 2008 in the 400m, having suffered a setback in 2007 that caused her not to qualify for the Osaka World Championships in that event. Her coach, Clyde Hart said, “I think she’s probably better (now) than she’s been since I’ve had her.”
Read more at: [USA Today]
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Quote of the Day: 1/24/2008

Posted January 24th, 2008 at 9:00 AM by Adam Jacobs

Section: Motivation, Famous Quotes

“For me making some kind of positive impact through my athletics, making the friendships is what really matters … These are the things that matter, these are the things that count - That’s the true gold.”

- Josh Cox, U.S. marathon runner

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TFS Podcast 120:
KARA GOUCHER - Back in Action and Hungry for Gold!

Posted January 23rd, 2008 at 4:00 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Special Features, Interviews, Podcasts

Today I am joined by Kara Goucher, one of America’s most formidable female distance runners and the surprise 10,000m bronze medalist at the 2007 IAAF World Championships in Osaka. Although its been a mere three months since she underwent knee surgery, Kara is already back on track, training hard, and confident that 2008 will be the most successful year of her blossoming running career.

In the interview we discuss her plans and priorities for the 2008 season, her current and upcoming racing schedules, what it has been like in Eugene as a member of Nike’s elite distance-running squad, and the dynamic among her teammates (including her husband and fellow running star Adam Goucher) and Coach Alberto Salazar. Kara also describes what she believes it’ll take to defeat renowned kickers like Meseret Defar and Tirunesh Dibaba in Beijing, how an Olympic medal compares to a World Championship medal, her thoughts on competing in Beijing’s infamous pollution, and much more!

Listen In
[PLAY] (To Download: Right click and select “save as”)

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Host: Jimmie R. Markham | Guest: Kara Goucher
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Musicians: Ryan Ahlwardt, Darnell Perkins
File Size: 16.3 MB | Length: 23:46 MIN

Episode Sponsored By: Nike +

Long Live Running!
Nike Plus will improve the way you run. Get feedback from your iPod on pace, time, distance and calories burned.

Log into Nikeplus.com to track your progress,
set goals and challenge friends.

Interested in featuring The Final Sprint Podcast on your site, blog or My Space page? Click here to learn how!

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IOC, IAAF move forward on Marion Jones doping case

Posted November 6th, 2007 at 2:19 PM by Martha Jones

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics, Drugs In Sports

International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge has confirmed that former Olympic champion, famous sprinter Marion Jones, would face further action by the IOC after IAAF’s treatment upon her.

After years of denying she had ever used performance-enhancing drugs, Jones admitted in court that she’d taken the designer steroid known as “the clear” from September 2000 to July 2001.

After her confession, the U.S. Olympic Committee stripped her of the five medals she earned at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000.

President Rogge said these medals were delivered to the IOC on Tuesday and that the IOC would move on further measures based on the IAAF decision. Read the rest of this entry »

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TFS News Briefs: 10/08/07

Posted October 8th, 2007 at 2:20 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field, Drugs In Sports, Trail / Ultra

Novelist Credits Track & Field for Changing His Life
Nicholas Sparks, whose 12th novel “The Choice” has just been published, credits track and field for changing his life. Sparks said that that track, “taught me more about discipline and perseverance and character than any class I’ve ever taken, because to be good, you need to show up every day, rain or shine. And for me, I was talented, but I was not supremely talented. To get where I was, I had to outwork people, and it taught me to do that.” Read more at: [San Jose Mercury News]

Sunday: 26.2 Miles. Monday: 26.2 miles. Tuesday…
Another day, another marathon for Tim Borland, the California runner who is running 63 of them in 63 straight days in order to to raise awareness of ataxia-telangiectasia, a degenerative disease that leads to a lack of muscle control. Today Borland runs in Detroit on his way to the 63rd marathon on November 4th in New York City. Read more at: [Detroit Free Press][A-T Children’s Project]

Chicago Marathon Official Has “Never Seen a Finish Like That”
Pat Savage, DePaul’s track and field and cross-country coach who was head referee at yesterday’s Chicago Marathon, said that, “it was really close. Yet at the same time, you could see that one man was ahead of the other man.” Savage believes that the marathon will eventually have to go to some kind of photo-finish electronic system. Read more at: [Chicago Tribune]
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Olympic great Al Oerter dies

Posted October 1st, 2007 at 3:05 PM by Jamal Walker

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics

Four-time Olympic gold medalist, former world record holder and National Track & Field Hall of Famer Al Oerter died Monday of heart failure in Fort Myers Beach, Fla. He was 71.

The greatest athlete ever to compete in the discus, Oerter participated in four Olympics, always as the underdog, and always came out the winner. With each win he set an Olympic record in the event.

A native of Astoria, N.Y., Oerter won his first gold medal in 1956 while he was a student at the University of Kansas, upsetting fellow National Track & Field Hall of Famer Fortune Gordien in throwing an Olympic record 56.37 meters/184 feet 11 inches.
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Raschker named USATF Athlete of the Week

Posted September 12th, 2007 at 11:32 AM by Jeanie Rebb

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Phil Raschker has been named USA Track & Field’s Athlete of the Week after winning the women’s 60-64 100 meters, 200m, 300m hurdles, high jump, triple jump, pole vault and heptathlon at the 2007 World Masters Athletics Championships in Riccione, Italy.

A 13-time Masters Female Athlete of the Year, Raschker has won every event that she has contested so far at the World Masters Athletics Championships. She won the 100m (14.00), 200m (28.61), 300m hurdles (52.27), high jump (1.33 meters/4 feet 4.25 inches), triple jump (9.46m/31-0.5), pole vault (2.65m/8-8.25) and heptathlon (6,742 points). In the final days of competition, Raschker also will compete in the long jump.

Now in its sixth year, USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week and features the athlete on the USATF website. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.
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Felix and Lagat named Athletes of the Week

Posted September 5th, 2007 at 6:30 PM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Allyson Felix and Bernard Lagat have been named USA Track & Field’s Athletes of the Week after Felix brought home gold medals in the women’s 200 meters, 4×100m amd 4×400m and Lagat won the men’s 1,500 and 5,000m at the 2007 IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Osaka, Japan.

The 2005 World 200m champion, Felix defended her title with the largest margin of victory in World Championships history, striding to the gold medal and a huge personal best of 21.81 seconds, the fastest time run by a woman this century. She then took part in the women’s 4×100m relay that brought home the gold in 41.98 seconds. Felix closed out an amazing championships with another gold medal and perhaps the fastest 4×400m relay leg ever by an American woman at a major championship. Felix’s leg was unofficially clocked by multiple observers as 48.0 . For her efforts, Allyson Felix became the second woman in history to win three gold medals at a single World Championships.

The American record holder over 1,500m, Lagat became the first man to win the 1,500/5,000m double at Worlds, and the first American ever to medal in the 5,000.
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