Meet records fell across all event groups, none bigger than Brad Walker’s American record in the pole vault, and Maria Mutola had a historic exit Sunday at the Nike Prefontaine Classic.
The fourth event of USATF’s Visa Championship Series, the Nike Prefontaine Classic drew a meet-record 14,221 fans to Hayward Field, site of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Track & Field June 27-July 6. They were treated to a formidable show, including no fewer than eight meet records and Walker’s AR.
The 2007 world champion, Walker looked magnificent throughout the competition. He had just one miss, at his opening height of 5.70m/18-8.25, then passed to 5.90m/19-4.25, which he cleared on his first attempt and which won the competition for him. Walker then elevated the bar to 6.04m/19-9.75. On his very first attempt, he cleared, brushing the bar just a bit, but leaving it up.
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Those fortunate enough to secure a ticket to this afternoon’s 26th edition of the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games in Hengelo witnessed a pair of stellar performances that will not be quickly forgotten: a legend of the sport who stubbornly and thankfully refuses to step aside, and the possible birth of another.
14 years after setting his first world record on the Hengelo track, Haile Gebrselassie (Pictured) returned to the venue carrying the role of sentimental favorite in the 10,000m, but in reality was an underdog in his quest to achieve a qualifying performance for a fourth consecutive Olympic team berth.
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He’s already owns the two fastest 10,000m times in history, but reigning world and Olympic 10,000m champion Kenenisa Bekele hopes he can go even faster at next month’s Prefontaine Classic meeting in Eugene, Ore. It would be his first outdoor appearance in the United States.
“The record (26:17.53) is not easy,” said Bekele’s Dutch manager, Jos Hermens, through a media release. “But this is an absolutely serious attempt. His training is going well, and he is 100% ‘go’ for the record.”
The 10,000m race will be held in the morning at 9:30 on June 8, well before the regular meet begins at 12:30. Organizers feel the weather will be good at that time for a record attempt.
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Greene May Have Landed Himself In Hot Water
The IAAF is seeking a written explanation from Maurice Greene after some comments he made in reaction to recent accusations by Mexican discus thrower Angel Guillermo Heredia who claims he supplied steroids to Greene. What were the suspicious words? “Our group was very close and things always came up. I would pay for stuff and not care what it was. I’ve paid for things for other people.”
Read more at: [NY Times]
Historic Finnish Track Meet Back In Action
The Helsinki Games, dormant last year for the third time in 2 decades, is now retooled and ready to go again in 2008 as part of a four-meet circuit in Finland dubbed “4Athletics GP.” Thanks to a string of legendary athletes like Paavo Nurmi, Ville Ritola, Volmari Iso-Hollo and Lasse Viren as well as champion javelin throwers like Tina Lillak, Finns are some of the most enthusiastic and knowledgeable track fans in the world.
Read more at: [IAAF]
Bekele, Dibaba To Run In Nairobi, Kenya Meet
Along with 45 other international athletes, World Cross-Country champions Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba are expected to compete at the Tusker Athletics International in Nairobi, Kenya on May 11th, 2008. The meet will also be loaded with Kenyan athletes, including Janeth Jepkosgei, Lukas Kibet and Wilfred Bunge.
Read more at: [Afrik.com]
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Who is the greatest male runner of all time? If you ask ten different track aficionados, you’ll probably get ten different answers, but I thought I’d take a look at some statistics to try and arrive at my own conclusion. I based my analysis on the fastest 50 performances of all time in every Olympic running event from 100 meters all the way up to the marathon. I tallied the number of times each name appeared in any of the events (100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 5000m, 10000m, Marathon, 110mH, 400mH, 3000mSC) and then added the totals if any athlete had top 50 performances in more than one event. Most of the athletes who had 10 or more top-50-alltime performances have done so in more than one event.
Of all the runners who had 10 or more top-50 performances, which nations were most represented? Not surprisingly, the United States was represented by the most with 6 athletes, followed by Ethiopia with 2 and then 6 countries with 1 athlete each: Denmark, Jamaica, Kenya, Morocco, Qatar, and Trinidad. Based on that information alone, you can probably guess some of the names on the list.
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Seated at the post-race press conference with a pair of medals around his neck, Kenenisa Bekele looked more like a king who had restored order to his kingdom than a man who had just won a muddy and bone chilling cross country race. But the five-time double IAAF World Cross Country Champion had indeed put down a rebellion to clinch his sixth individual 12-K title, foiling a conspiracy which began last Friday at London’s Heathrow Airport.
First, his Ethiopian Airways flight from Addis Ababa arrived far enough behind schedule that he missed his connecting flight to Edinburgh. Tired, he decided to spend the night at the airport, missing yesterday’s pre-race press conference. His Saturday breakfast didn’t agree with him, and his stomach problems only grew as the day wore on.
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Five-time double IAAF World Cross Country champion Kenenisa Bekele has yet to arrive here, but his presence is already felt. His flight from Addis Ababa arrived late, allowing him only 30 minutes at London’s Heathrow Airport to connect for his flight to Edinburgh this morning. (Anyone who has been to Heathrow knows that even one hour there is barely enough time to change planes).
But no matter, because the mighty Ethiopian can skip the course tour. He’s already won three invitational races on the Holyrood Park circuit, the last coming less than three months ago.
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Ethiopian distance running star Haile Gebrselassie says he may compete over the marathon at the 29th Beijing Olympics if the International Olympic Committee (IOC) makes changes to the event’s venue and starting time.
On Monday, the world marathon record holder and former double Olympic 10000m champion announced that he will not take part in this year’s Olympic marathon citing Beijing’s pollution and fearing the aggravation of his own exercise-induced asthma.
But speaking on Wednesday, the 34-year old said, “I do not want to rule anything out at this point. This decision is not about Haile. It is about all athletes who will be competing. Our safety has to be protected.”
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IAAF’s Preview Of Melbourne Grand Prix
At the Melbourne Grand Prix, a highly fit Craig Mottram will take on teen Ethiopian sensation Abreham Cherkos Feleke in the 5000m in front of a home crowd. Jeremy Wariner will run his first 400m of the 2008 season. Asafa Powell is still questionable for the 100m.
Read more at: [IAAF]
New Bookshop at Runner’s World
The Runner’s World website has a new feature: the Runner’s World Bookshop. Included among the offering is Runner’s World Guide To Road Racing, which offers “advice from the pros on training for and competing in the four most popular road races–5K, 10K, half-marathon, and marathon.”
Read more at: [Runner’s World]
No Indoor Championshipss For Bekele
Kenenisa Bekele will miss the IAAF World Indoor Athletic Championships. Instead, he will focus on the World Cross-Country Championships where he hopes to redeem himself after a disastrous 2007 race in Mombasa, Kenya. In that race he succumbed to the heat and the humidity and was forced to drop out.
Read more at: [Guardian Unlimited, UK]
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Asafa: 80% Chance He’s Race Thursday
Asafa Powell, still healing after cutting his knee, says he is “70 to 80″ percent sure he start in Thursday’s Melbourne Grand Prix. He also wants a lifetime ban for drug cheats, against whom he says he’s certain to run in Beijing.
Read more at: [Melbourne Herald Sun][Jamaica Gleaner]
Central Florida: New Hotbed of Track
With new residents Tyson Gay and Veronica Campbell leading the way, Central Florida’s Clermont is the newest hotbed of elite track and field. Gay and Campbell, along with several other adidas-sponsored athletes are training there for the Beijing Olympics.
Read more at: [Orlando Sentinel]
Tariku Bekele - Craig Mottram Showdown Will Have To Wait
Tariku Bekele has pulled out of Thursday’s Melbourne Grand Prix, leaving Craig Mottram disappointed. Mottram had wanted to race the Ethiopian at the 5000m distance in front of a home crowd.
Read more at: [The Age, Australia]
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Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele, although he missed his goal of setting a new world record, still ran the fastest 10000m of the 2007 season at the Memorial Van Damme meet in Brussels, Belgium. His time of 26:46.19 is the 21st fastest time ever run. Kenya’s Moses Masai, nearly sneaking up on Bekele at the […]
Live Video Broadcast of IAAF Golden League Memorial Van Damme
Sportnet will host a live video broadcast the IAAF Golden League Memorial Van Damme meet. Live coverage runs from 2:00 PM to 5:30 PM (ET). For more information and to view the broadcast: [Sportnet]
Event-By-Event Breakdown of Brussels Meet
Runnersweb.com has a detailed breakdown of every event […]
The IAAF Golden League series continues tonight in the Belgian capital. Kenenisa Bekele’s assault on his own 10,000m world record is set to take center stage, while American Sanya Richards and Russian Pole Vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva continue in their chase for the $1 million Golden League Jackpot. A crowd of 47,000 will be on hand […]
Kenenisa Bekele’s assault on his own 10,000m world record is set to take center stage when the Golden League series resumes at the 31st edition of the Memorial Van Damme in the Belgian capital on Friday night.
At this competition two years ago, Bekele lowered his own record in the event to 26:17.53. Then, he was […]
U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon Just Got “Officially” Interesting
The leading contenders in the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon on November 3rd, 2007 have officially entered the race. Dan Browne (unattached / Nike), Ryan Hall (unattached), Abdi Abdirahman (unattached / Nike), Meb Keflezighi (unattached / Nike) and Alan Culpepper (unattached / Nike) are among the entrants. You […]
There’s an interesting discussion over at the Track & Field News Message Boards about “dream” track events, that is, events that are not currently held but which would be interesting to see. Some, such as the straight-course 200m (world record: 19.4 by Tommie Smith [Pictured], back in 1966), are obsolete events; while others, such as […]
When the IAAF Golden Series resumes on Friday night, Zurich’s rebuilt state-of-the-art Letzigrund Stadium won’t be the only new development at one of the world’s richest single-day meetings. For the first time in the sport’s professional era, the annual Weltklasse competition will not employ the services of pacemakers.
And that suits Bernard Lagat, the recently minted […]
The below video includes a collection of key moments from the 2007 IAAF Track & Field World Championships from Osaka, Japan. Featuring winning performances by: Luke Kibet, Reese Hoffa, Tirunesh Dibaba, Jefferson Perez, Valerie Vili, Tyson Gay, Ivan Tsikhan, Yekaterina Volkova, Nelson Evora, Kenenisa Bekele, Team USA, Meseret Defar, Veronica Campbell, Bernard Lagat, Jeremy Wariner, […]
The prince saw an opportunity to take the throne, but in the end the king’s reign would continue, at least for another two years.
That was the basic scenario which played out in tonight’s much-anticipated men’s 10,000m final which capped an exciting evening of middle and long distance running at the 11th IAAF World Championships in […]
The Men’s 10,000m Run consisted of 4 Ethiopians; 3 Kenyans; 3 Americans; 2 runners each from Japan, Mexico, Qatar and Uganda; and one runner each from Morocco, Bahrain, Canada, Eritrea, New Zealand and Tanzania. World record holder (26:17.53) Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) was the heavy favorite going into the race. The weather conditions were […]
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