Haile Chooses Berlin Over Beijing
Haile Gebrselassie will run in the Berlin Marathon, not the Olympic Marathon in Beijing. The reason? He wants to run a sub 2:04 and “no athlete has ever broken a world record for the marathon at the Olympics.”
Read more at: [Xinhua, China]
The Long Green Line Wins Award
The documentary The Long Green Line was awarded the best feature documentary award at the Lake Forest Film Festival. The film documents a season in the life of the York High School Cross Country team - the most successful cross country team in history. Head Coach Joe Newton is coaching in his 50th season, and his team is going for their 25th state title.
Read more at: [LongGreenLineMovie.com]
Gaffigan Ready To “Re-calibrate Some Gauges”
Ann Gaffigan, in her new blog entry on Steeplechics.com, discusses the effort that gained her entry into the Olympic Trials. After a long, mysterious illness that has wreaked havoc on her confidence, the former American record holder is ready “to do it over again after re-calibrating some gauges” and wants to “take more risks to test my limits without paying so dearly for it.”
Read more at: [Steeplechics.com]
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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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No Guinness World Record For 101 94-Year Old Marathoner
According to several sources, Guinness World Records is refusing to accept Buster Martin’s record of being the world’s oldest marathoner, saying that the French-born Brit “has applied to us but he has not been able to present sufficient evidence for us to verify his age for the record”. For his part, Martin is sticking to his claim that he is indeed 101, not merely 94.
Read more at: [Google News]
Joan Samuelson To End Where She Started
An article on Boston Globe offers an in-depth profile of running legend Joan Samuelson during the build-up to this weekend’s US Olympic Marathon Trials. Samuelson said she wants to “end my career where I started my career.”
Read more at: [Boston Globe]
New Olympic Trials T&F Website
Eugene, OR, the home of American track & field, has a running friendly (and savvy) media, the best of which is The Register Guard. Their Sports Editor, Ron Bellamy, also happens to head up the Track & Field Writers of America. It’s no surprise, then, that they have a new website that is devoted strictly to covering the 2008 US Olympic Track & Field Trials, which (of course) will be held in Eugene, OR. Enjoy!
Read more at: [Road To Eugene ‘08]
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Three-time World Outdoor 100m champion and 2000 Olympic 100m and 4×100m gold medalist Maurice Greene announced his retirement from track and field Monday in Beijing, China.
Recognized as one of the greatest sprinters of all time, Greene won the 100m, 200m and 4×100m relay gold medals at the 1999 World Outdoor Championships in Seville, Spain. In so doing he became the second sprinter ever to defend the 100m world title and the first to ever to accomplish the 100m/200m sprint double at a World Championships. The 1999 World Indoor champion at 60 meters, Greene owns the world record in that event, and his former world 100m record of 9.79 seconds set June 16, 1999 in Athens, Greece, remains the American record.
The 2000 Olympic Trials 100m winner and Olympic gold medalist, Greene also won the 100m at the 2004 Olympic Trials, and later won the 100m bronze medal at the Games in Athens, where he also won a silver medal in the 4×100m relay.
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Wanjiru Wins Spanish Half-Marathon in 59:26,
Sets Sites on London, Beijing
Kenyan Samuel Wanjiru won the 21st Mitja Marató (half-marathon) de Granollers near Barcelona, Spain with a time of 59:26. proving that he is fit and ready for the Flora London Marathon this April. He also has his sites set on the Beijing Olympic Marathon this summer.
Read more at: [IAAF]
Maurice Greene Reaches “Journey’s End”
Former Olympic and world 100m champion Maurice Greene announced his retirement after unsuccessful battles with nagging injuries. Read more about this story at: [IAAF] Read more about Greene at: [Wikipedia]
Field Events Dominate Governor’s Cup Indoor Meet in Samara, Russia
A sellout crowd at the Governor’s Cup Indoor Meet in Samara, Russia was treated to world-class performances in the field events by a top-notch international field of athletes from 17 countries.
Read more at: [European Athletics]
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2000 Olympic gold medalist Maurice Greene is among the celebrity athletes making an appearance in a newly published book by Todd Gallagher, Andy Roddick Beat Me With A Frying Pan.
The book is one man’s mission to settle, once and for all, some fifty different sports debates, no matter how ridiculous. Gallagher gets answers from A-list names in every major sport, from Greene to LeBron James to Jason Giambi to Mike Tyson, and many others.
In the chapter, “What kind of a handicap would it take to beat an Olympic sprinter?” Gallagher’s editor takes on Greene in a footrace. The hitch: the editor gets a more than 30-meter head start and runs more than half the 100-meter race on a moving walkway.
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Back and Batons: Classical Music Festival to Coincide with Olympic Trials
The Oregon Bach Festival, a two week classical music festival of “choral-orchestral concerts centering on the music and wide-ranging influence of J.S. Bach,” will coincide next year with the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials. OBF executive director John Evans said, “I see this as a long-term investment, with the festival reaching out to a broader state-wide audience year on year, while presenting leading Portland-based artists and ensembles here in years to come.” Read more at: [DailyEmerald.com][Oregon Bach Festival]
Journalist asks “What’s a Runner?”
Journalist Natalie Sayewich (right), a staff writer at the Sun Journal in New Bern, NC struggles with the question, “what’s the difference between someone who runs and a runner?” as she prepares to compete in her first 10k race this coming Saturday. Read more at: [New Bern Sun Journal]
Race for the Cure Weekend
The annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure nationwide event was held this weekend to raise money for and awareness of breast cancer. Check out some of the hundreds of articles on Google News. Read more at: [Google News]
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Three-time world champion and 2000 Olympic 100m gold medalist Maurice Greene this week was a late addition to the lineup for the adidas Track Classic, to be held Sunday as part of the Visa Championship Series. Among those he will compete against Sunday is #2 world-ranked Tyson Gay. The adidas Track Classic on Friday hosted a teleconference with Greene in advance of Sunday’s meet.
Q: Why did you decide to enter this meet?
A: I figured I have to start my season at some point in time. I think L.A. is a very good track meet to come out and see where I am right now. The most important thing this year is the World Championships and making it in the Trials. I haven’t run 100 meters in a race in a while, so I think it’s time for me to get out there to get the competitive juices flowing and have some fun.
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