We get a fantastic world record in the 100 meters, and one of the first questions is about drugs. From the New York Times:
When Usain Bolt of Jamaica set a world record of 9.72 seconds at 100 meters Saturday night, two questions became urgent:
Was the supporting tailwind legal?
Was Bolt himself legal?
Track and field has become so compromised by doping that any startling performance brings immediate suspicion. Even before the race at the Reebok Grand Prix meet on Randall’s Island, Bolt and his top challenger, the 2007 world champion Tyson Gay, faced inevitable questions from reporters about performance-enhancing drugs. The pre-race inquiries have become as routine as the postrace drug screens.
The purists and the pollyannas alike bemoan this state of affairs. And while the comedians and cartoonists have (rightly) turned their doping jokes towards baseball instead of track, they still don’t get the same treatment. Manny Ramirez smacked his 500th career home run this week and did not have to answer these kind of questions.
Will track ever be rid of this suspicion? I say not any time soon, and maybe never.
Read the rest of this entry »
With the 2008 outdoor track & field season upon us, and all of the recent hoopla about the resurgence of American distance running, it’s time to analyze the current middle and long-distance American records, some of which are in jeopardy of falling this Olympic season. Some of them, on the other hand, are almost assuredly safe.
I calculated the variances between the American and World records in all of the “official” middle and long-distance events: 800m, 1000m, 1500m, Mile, 2000m, 3000m, 3000m Steeplechase, 5000m and 10000m runs. So which American record is the “best” according to this calculation?
Rick Wohlhuter’s American record of 2:13.90 in the 1000m, a mark he set way back on 07/20/74, is the “best” American record when compared to its % variance to the world record. The current world record in the 1000m was set by Kenya’s Noah Ngeny back on 9/05/1999. His time was 2:11.96. Wohlhuter’s mark is just 1.470% off Ngeny’s mark.
Read the rest of this entry »
With the main track and field season completed, the definitive Top 50 per event World Lists for 2007 are now posted on the IAAF website.
These lists are for those disciplines covered by Rule 261 – ‘Events for which World Records are Recognized’.
To access each event’s Top 50 list, please visit:
http://www.iaaf.org/statistics/toplists/index.html
The full set of statistics is also available to download and print in both txt and pdf formats.
Read the rest of this entry »
“World records are only borrowed.”
- Sebastian Coe
Asafa Powell broke the world record for 100 meters today, clocking 9.74 seconds in Rieti, Italy.
Powell, 24, eclipsed the 9.77 mark he produced on three occasions, and a record he shared with Olympic champion Justin Gatlin.
Powell set the record in his first solo race since his disappointing third place finish at the World Championships in Osaka late last month. There, he finished behind American Tyson Gay and Bahamian Derrick Atkins, a distant cousin of Powell’s. Gay went on to capture gold in the 200 and as a member of the U.S. 4×100m relay squad.
Although he faltered in the 100 meter final in Osaka, admitting that he panicked as Gay closed in on him, Powell’s speed was evident later in the week in the 400m relay, where he brought the Jamaican quartet from fourth to second during his sizzling anchor leg.
Read the rest of this entry »
I like to go back into history and determine what advancements or other factors led to new world records. For example, did athletes employ a new technique or strategy? Were there advancements in technology, running surface or venue? Consider the following observations:
The Triple Jump vs. Shot Put
If you go back nearly 100 years to 1911, the world record for Triple Jump and Shot Put was 15.52 and 15.54 meters (50′ 11″ & 50′ 11.75″) respectively. Today, they stand at 18.29 & 23.12 meters (60′ 0′ & 75′ 10″) respectively.
How can the comparable world records differ by nearly 16 feet over the last 100 years?
Easy, the shot put technique has undergone 2 major changes in the technical throws, with nearly everyone doing the spin technique similar to a discus thrower. You still have to hop, skip, and jump in the Triple Jump.
The same phenomenon can be seen with the High Jump. In 1978, the last straddler to set the world record was Vladimir Jashtshenko with a jump of 2.34m (7′ 8″) before floppers dominated the event.
Read the rest of this entry »
The IAAF announced today that they had ratified the following world records:
MEN -
20,000m:
56:26.0, Haile Gebrselassie (ETH), Ostrava, CZE, 27-Jun-2007
Previous: 56:55.6 Arturo Barrios (MEX), La Flèche, FRA, 30-Mar-1991
One Hour:
21,285m, Haile Gebrselassie (ETH), Ostrava, CZE, 27-Jun-2007
Previous: 21,101m, Arturo Barrios (MEX), La Flèche, FRA, 30-Mar-1991
WOMEN -
5000m:
14:16.63, Meseret Defar (ETH), Oslo, NOR, 15-Jun-2007
Previous: 14:24.53 Defar, New York, USA, 03-Jun-2006
The Final Sprint and I have the utmost respect and admiration for handicapped athletes and are proud to be official sponsors of the Challenged Athletes Foundation. These gifted individuals demonstrate incredible resolve and the power of the human spirit by successfully participating, competing and excelling in athletics despite their physical disabilities.
Today’s podcast features an interview with one such hero and TFS’s February 2007 Success Story honoree. His name is Oscar Pistorius and he is a 20-year old South African Paralympic runner known as “The Fastest Thing on No Legs”.
After having both of his legs amputated below the knee when he was only 11-months old, Oscar has exemplified the astounding spirit of these challenged athletes. Oscar is sponsored by Ossur and with the aid of their Cheetah Flex-Foot prosthetics, Oscar has ran his his way to multiple Paralympic gold medals and set world records in the 100, 200 and 400m events. He has also gone on to break his own world records 19 times in a single year and has successfully competed against able-bodied runners.
Having already attained unparalleled success, Oscar is now on the verge of making history once again – but this time by becoming the first amputee to ever compete in the able-bodied Olympics.
However, even if Oscar is able to run a qualifying time, he could still sadly be denied the opportunity to compete in the Olympics because he has attracted a number of critics who believe his prosthetics provide him with an unfair advantage. No able-bodied sports federation, including the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has ever been forced to consider rules for athletes with prosthetics. As the IOC struggles to make decision, Oscar has kept his head-up and pushed forward despite the uncertainty that surrounds his future.
Download the podcast to hear my exclusive interview with Oscar where we discuss his life, historic achievements, the controversy, how he deals with the critics and the very real possibility of him redefining society’s concept of human potential.
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: Oscar Pistorius
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Music: Ryan Ahlwardt & Darnell Perkins
File size: 29.4MB
Length: 00:42:55
Interested in featuring The Final Sprint Podcast on your site, blog or My Space page? Click here to learn how!
© 2006-2008 The Final Sprint, LLC | Privacy Policy | Design by The Blog Studio
The Final Sprint, LLC is owned and operated by Adam Jacobs
The Final Sprint