Charmaine and her Lahti medals. W40 sprinter Charmaine Roberts starred at Lahti for Team USA (and I have the photos to prove it eventually). Her local paper featured Charmaine today with this nice write-up. “We put in a lot of hard
The World Masters Games in Sydney in mid-October are attracting some top-notch USA masters besides Bill Collins. One is Doug “Bubba” Sparks, the M55 Texas vaulter. Web-savvy for years (he started a Web site not long after I did), Bubba
I guess we’ve arrived. Check out this story in today’s New York Times. You’re not a serious sport anymore until big-time papers investigate doping in your ranks. Of course, there’s little new in this report. But any attention is good,
Complete results are in from Shoreline, Washington, and the USATF National Masters Combined Events Championships. And if Nadine O’Connor’s otherworldly score of 10,234 points doesn’t impress you, maybe her marks will. Keep in mind she’s 67. She ran the 100 in
I first met Reinhardt Engert when he was long jumping in the M55 decathlon on Day 1 at Lahti. After he landed, he grabbed a video camera and started shooting jumpers himself. I gave him my card. Uh oh. Instant
The IAAF often dictates WMA rules and policies, but not this time. Newly elected Vice President-Stadia Serge Beckers of Belgium has replied to my query on whether World Masters Athletics (and USATF masters by extension) will use the no-false-start rule
Suzi MacLeod of Bend, Oregon, has been having fun as a new W75 runner. This month, she ran the mile in 8:16.3, bettering the listed world record of 8:17.4 by Canada’s Hazel Cameron in 1999. It’s also apparently (and strangely)
Besides our respect, athletes over 90 also deserve masters awe. And all the attention we can muster. So check out this gallery, the latest in a series I’m rolling out. Alfred Proksch, a 1936 Olympian and 101-year-old thrower, attracted the
In 2007, Europeans set 17 world age-group records at Riccione worlds — with an attendance of about 9,000 athletes. At the 2009 Lahti world masters meet, with about 5,000 entrants, Europeans set 20 world records, according to a report from
Usain Bolt, meet your master. The same day Bolt ran 9.58 in Berlin, Nadine O’Connor finished an equally incredible decathlon, totaling 10,234 points, according to early reports out of Shoreline, Washington. Of course, it helps that Nadine holds W65 age-group
Contrary to my earlier speculations, Sandy Pashkin of Oregon has been retained as Records Committee chairwoman of World Masters Athletics, according to a WMA source who wished to remain anonymous. This means she’ll continue to oversee the WMA records page
Danny McFarlane is in his own universe. Competing in the semifinals at the IAAF world championships today in Berlin, the Jamaican legend lowered his own listed M35 world record in the 400-meter hurdles to 48.49, beating his 2008 mark of