Russian Olympian claims M45 world records in 8, 15 and 3000
Russian record-setter VS.
Legend overload! SoCal track luncheon draws dozens of greats
I attended Saturday’s “Golden Age of Track & Field” luncheon in Seal Beach and barely scratched the surface of stories and stars. But here’s an account I posted on Times of San Diego. I sat at a table with former UCLA coach Jim Bush, local track official Stan King, Speed City author Jim Adkins and four early 1960s Kansas stars — Bill Dotson, Bob Covey, Ernie Shelby and a guy named Mills. Billy Mills. With 114 present, I could have generated 113 astounding articles. One example: I took a picture of Billy chatting with a 1964 San Jose State grad named Gene Gurule. No idea who he was. So I Googled him and checked my History of the Olympic Trials and learned that Gene was a DNF in the Olympic Trials 10,000 where Gerry Lindgren beat Billy. Amazing. For more than 80 shots of the event, see my photo gallery. Organizers plan another luncheon in 2016. See below for history of the lunch.
From left at the KU table are sub-4 miler in 1962 Bill Dotson, me, Billy Mills and Ernie Shelby — two-time NCAA long jump champion and world No. 1.
Lagat warms up for Millrose mile by demolishing M40 WR in 3000
And so it begins. Who knows how many world records Bernard Lagat will set? Saturday in Boston, Bernard couldn’t hold off a 25-year-old Ethiopian, but he massively lowered the M40 WR at 3000 meters, clocking 7:48.33. Based on posted splits, he ran the last mile in 4:07 — or 11 seconds better than Olympian John Trautmann’s masters mile victory in a meet record 4:18.72. (See John’s splits in the New Balance meet’s first event.) Mere muggles! Having turned 40 in mid-December, Bernard now begins an assault on pretty much every masters middle-distance record — and could run 10,000 this year as well. After competing in the IAAF permit meet (meaning his mark is legit), Bernard told USATF.TV that he’s aiming to break Eamonn Coghlan’s historic M40 indoor mile WR of 3:58.15 next week at Millrose. He even hinted he’ll be timed at 1500 as well, which means he’ll be shooting for 3:44.12 by Brit Anthony Whiteman in 2012.
Bernard stays on heels of 3,000-meter winner in Boston. Click for interview.
Brits bounce Americans’ world indoor records in W50, W65 miles
Ros and sponsor.
Clare is No. 49 in this London indoor mile, where she creamed W50 mile WR.
Still defying WMA, India says it will ‘select’ entrants to Lyon worlds
According to the WMA Constitution, “All masters/veterans shall be eligible to compete in any masters athletics competition.” Except in India. The website of Masters Athletics Federation of India (MAFI) says: “On the basis of their performance at national meet, national teams [are] selected and [sent] to take part in international tournaments.” At least they’re consistent. An earlier site listed one goal as “To select and feed masters athletes … for all International masters athletic meets all over the World.” Feeding is nice. But “select” is clearly a violation of WMA rules. What if a “nonselected” athlete wants to enter Lyon? MAFI’s defiance is echoed in a news story on India’s masters nationals, set for April. Manmohan Singh, general secretary of the Masters Athletics Association of Himachal, is quoted as saying an Indian contingent for Lyon worlds “will also be selected here after the event.” I’ve documented accusations of MAFI’s pay-to-play tactics. Stop this nonsense, WMA! I’ve written MAFI, WMA and the Asian WMA rep. Stay tuned.
Anselm LeBourne wins USATF Athlete of the Week; you can too!
Anselm LeBourne was peeved earlier this week. After setting three M55 world records in a month — including an 800 all-time best outdoors or indoors — he asked publicly: What does it take to be named USATF Athlete of the Week? The answer came today: Just ask. USATF showcases Anselm on its homepage. On Saturday, after learning of his incredible 2:01.60 in Boston, I shot a note to USATF public affairs chief Jill Geer nominating Anselm for AOW. She was happy to get the details (since nobody else had informed her, apparently). And via email, I suggested to Jill that USATF give people a way of nominating themselves or others for AOW. She delivered! At the bottom of the news release is this: “To nominate an athlete for Athlete of the Week, please send a detailed email about their performance to Communications@usatf.org.”
Here’s Anselm’s Facebook photo (not mine, BTW) on USATF homepage.
Alisa Harvey healing up, runs 5:14 mile at 49 after sinus surgery
Middle-distance great Alisa Harvey has been sidelined in recent seasons after setting records and winning titles for many years. But now she writes: “I am happy and running healthy at 49, after a break from competitive track. I just raced a mile Saturday at George Mason University’s Patriot Games.” Her mark was 5:14.88 — which would have been the top time indoors in 2014. “It’s good to still be doing what I love and having the opportunity to line up at the races.” I asked her what kept her off the track, and she described having sinus surgery (balloon sinuplasty) on Dec. 24, 2013, after suffering recurrent sinus infections for decades. “The doctors were concerned that I would run out of antibiotic options,” she said. “I was literally on antibiotics every 3 to 4 weeks by 2013.” Despite her reluctance on surgery, she got it and “am pleased to report that I have been sinus-infection free since last December! I ran an 800 on [Jan. 10] at Mason’s Father Diamond Invitational (2:22.36).” She hopes to return to Hartshorne in 2016. Welcome back, Alisa!
Alisa, shown at Mt. SAC in 2009, is gearing up for W50 debut in late 2015.
Seagren, Mills, Watson among legends attending SoCal luncheon
Bob Seagren is coming!
New York USATF to out-of-state indoor meet athletes: Drop dead
The 2015 USATF New York Open & Masters Indoor Championships are March 8 at the Armory in Manhattan. But according to posted meet info, if you’re an entrant from another association, fuhgeddabout making the finals. Here’s the actual quirky wording: “Guest from USATF Associations other than New York may compete in this year’s championships. Please note guest athletes are not eligible for awards nor will they advance to finals.” Also: “Only registered USATF New York athletes and teams are eligible for prize money.” We saw similar exclusions at the Eurovets meet. But this is America, the land of the free, right?” Thankfully, most masters events go straight to finals. But why stick a thumb in the eye of non-Noo Yawkahs? Their entry fees ain’t as good?
Just in case you have any doubts, the exclusion is highlighted in boldface.
Wolfgang Ritte claims 40th world age-group record in pole vault
Wolfie did it again — raised his own M60 indoor WR in the vault. According to a German post Monday, Wolfgang Ritte jumped 4.16 meters (13-7 3/4) on his first try Sunday at a “senior indoor sports festival in Ludwigshafen.” Two weeks ago, he went 4.15. According to Leichtathletik, this is Wolfie’s 40th raising of an age-group WR. That’s better than Bubka’s 35. Here’s video of the latest WR:
