Despite protests of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, President George W. Bush recently stated that there will not be a boycott from the United States. According to CNN, Bush believes the Olympics “should be about the athletes and not necessarily about politics.”
Former U.S. Olympian Gerry Lindgren, 62, agrees. He thinks China will benefit from hosting the Games.
“I think they need to leave politics out of it,” he said. “China has made some great strides forward in the last few years.”
Lindgren recalls backlash of the 1980 U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics. He did not plan to compete in Moscow, but he knew how disappointed the U.S. team was to miss out on the Olympic experience. Lindgren said he was upset with former President Jimmy Carter’s decision and said the Olympics should have been “the only avenue in the world that wasn’t political.”
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Ultrarunning legend, 1952 Olympian, New York Road Runners Founding President and pioneer in the field of course measurement and certification Ted Corbitt died Wednesday of cancer in Houston, Texas. He was 87.
Corbitt began his running career as a sprinter in Cincinnati and didn’t run his first marathon until he was 32 years old, placing 15th at the 1951 Boston Marathon. At age 54 he ran his 175th marathon, in Boston, in 2 hours 49 minutes 16 seconds, less than one minute slower than his first marathon 23 years earlier. His fastest marathon time was 2:26:44 in 1958. He ran a total of 199 marathons and ultra races during his career and formerly held American Records at 50 miles, 100 miles and 24 hours.
Shortly after the founding of the Road Runners Club of America in February 1958, Corbitt founded the first RRCA chapter in April of that year, the New York Road Runners Club (now the New York Road Runners). Corbitt was elected as the second president of the RRCA at the organization’s 1960 Annual Meeting.
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The Final Sprint Podcast, the most listened to running podcast in North America, continues to capture audiences and receive praise from athletes, coaches, journalists, industry leaders and running fans from around the world.
Most recently, Running Times Magazine chose to highlight The Final Sprint Podcast along with Flocasts/Flotrack and the World Championship Sports Network (WCSN) in their October 2007 issue.
The Final Sprint Podcast, launched in January 2007, features three to five audio interviews each week and is hosted by TheFinalSprint.com Editor-in-Chief Adam Jacobs.
Jacobs has proudly welcomed a dynamic and eclectic list of guests, including track & field superstars (Sanya Richards, Ryan Hall, Alan Webb), Olympic marathon medalists (Deena Kastor, Meb Keflezighi), ultra-elite champions (Dean Karnazes, Scott Jurek), coaching icons (Dr. Jack Daniels, Jeff Galloway), courageous heroes (Jim MacLaren, Kathrine Switzer, Billy Mills) and running legends from years past (Gail Devers, Jim Ryun, Grete Waitz).
To listen in, subscribe to the podcast feed, or even download recent episodes right to your mp3 player, please visit: TheFinalSprint.com.
The podcast is also available at no charge in iTunes.
Episode sponsored by: Bill Rodgers Sportswear
After 21 years BR Sportswear is closing out their line of high -quality running apparel. Visit shopfest.com to take advantage of an unprecedented 50% discount on all in-stock items!
Episode 92 of The Final Sprint Podcast features my in-depth interview with legendary running coach JOE VIGIL.
Recognized as one of America’s greatest distance running educators, Vigil led Adams State to 14 national championships, guided a plethora of top runners, such as Olympic marathon bronze medalist Deena Kastor, to extraordinary success, and has been inducted to eleven different Hall of Fames. In addition to mentoring a number of coaches and athletic organizations, Vigil continues to coach Team Running USA alongside fellow icon Bob Larsen and will lead American distance runners at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
In the interview Vigil explains why Deena Kastor has had such a significant and special impact on him as both a coach and as a person, he shares his thoughts on the Marion Jones debacle, talks about Pat Porter’s passion for the sport, “improv[ing] achievement motivation”, and the role that Arthur Lydiard and other coaching greats played in his own development.
Download the podcast to hear Coach Vigil discuss these topics, as well as, preparing the American distance running squad for the pollution and warm conditions in Beijing, the upcoming U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, the greatest moments of his career, his opinion on pacesetters and why their absence helps athletes to learn what their “capable of internally”, and much more!
Listen In
[PLAY] (To Download: Right click and select “save as”)[RSS] Add The Final Sprint Podcast RSS feed to your RSS reader to have the show delivered to you
Host: Adam Jacobs | Guest: Joe Vigil
Producers: Greg Cherniet, Adam Jacobs
Musicians: Ryan Ahlwardt, Darnell Perkins
File Size: 16.3 MB | Length: 23:46 MIN
Episode sponsored by: Bill Rodgers Sportswear
After 21 years Bill Rodgers Sportswear is closing out their line of high-quality running apparel. Visit shopfest.com to take advantage of an unprecedented 50% discount on all in-stock items!
The man and woman who reached the finish line first at last November’s ING New York City Marathon, Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil and Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia, will defend their titles on November 4, race organizers announced today.
Gomes dos Santos, who is gearing up now to compete in the Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro, scored a big upset at last year’s contest when he broke away from defending champion Paul Tergat late in the race and was never caught. He became the first South American ever to win the world’s largest and most famous marathon.
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Today’s podcast features my interview with the legendary Jim Ryun.
At only 19 years old, Jim became a hero to millions by setting the H.S. world record and becoming the first high school student to ever run a mile in under 4 minutes. Jim was also a three time Olympian, held five world records and served as an elected member of the U.S. House of representatives from 1997 – 2006.
Download the podcast to hear Jim discuss the Dream Mile, when Alan Webb broke his American record, the thought of running for President, his role models, winning back his Congressional seat and much more!
Listen In
[MP3] Direct Download (Right click, select “save as”).
[RSS] Add The Final Sprint Podcast RSS feed to your RSS reader to have the show delivered to youHost: Adam Jacobs
Guest: Jim Ryun
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Music: Ryan Ahlwardt & Darnell Perkins
File size: 14.3MB
Length: 00:20:56
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