How do you grade the local organizers of Sacramento worlds?
Foreign athletes, used to more convenient public transit, were critical of the Sacramento shuttle system, and some were upset over the absence of showers at the stadia, according to a Sacramento Bee story and my own chats with entrants at worlds. With rare exceptions, athletes found the officiating and meet experience excellent and humane. (A rare exception was M70 Bob Ward, a world champ who asked for a refund after his throws pentathlon at Sacramento City College, which he called a “Three Stooges” movie.) But off the track, the LOC took some hits. So how did you rate the organizers?
Even with a sloppy handoff between Thad Wilson and anchor Ralph Peterson, the American M60 team set a world record of 47.93 seconds in the 4x100 relay at worlds — one of six relay WRs set Sunday. (Photo by Ken Stone)
Antwon Dussett’s stunning debut at worlds: 47.34 in 400 meters
Antwon Dussett has been running marvelous as a submaster for years, but his debut as an M35 in the World Masters Athletics Championships today in Sacramento was still a stunner: 47.34 seconds in the 400 final. (That’s a second off the listed American record of 46.38 by James King way back in 1984.) In the first of many videos I plan to upload, Antwon is shown winning gold. I got help from Linda Carty, who shared her video from the stands. Check my YouTube account for more videos.
Neni Lewis WR in W50 weight throw among many Sac highlights
Ed and 15 gold
Simon Butler-White likes his friend Bateman for top athlete honors, writing:
Keith sets 15 WR
Aussie ace Keith Bateman broke the M55 WR in the 1500m yesterday, his third gold of the meet after also winning the 5000m and 8km XC, and his fifth WR in nine months (1500m, mile, 3000m, 5000m, 10,000m).Only event-scheduling difficulties left him unable to contest the 10,000m (on the same day as his 1500m heat).
Unless he changes his mind, Keith will contest the marathon on Sunday – his first for so many years that he was unable to nominate a PB for it when entering.
Meanwhile, here’s the latest meet writeup by Bob Burns of the Sacramento Sports Commission:
Training in a graveyard keeps Canadian young
Ed laps a Yank at 1500 finish.
Ed Whitlock is 80 years old and runs two to three hours every single day. He trains in a cemetery located near his home in Milton, Ontario.“It’s marginally running,” Whitlock said. “It’s closer to jogging than running.”
There was nothing marginal about the race Whitlock ran Friday at the World Masters Athletics (WMA) Championships at Sacramento State. The smooth-striding Canadian broke his second world age-group record of the 10-day event, winning the men’s 80-to-84 1,500 meters in 5 minutes, 48.93 seconds. The previous record
In three races at the WMA Championships, Whitlock has shattered two world records and run the second-fastest time in another. He won the 10,000 meters by more than four minutes in 42:39.95, more than two minutes below the old mark. His winning 21:32.87 in last week’s 5,000 meters is second on the M80 list behind his unratified mark of 21:15.
In Friday’s 1,500 final, Whitlock took the lead on the opening backstretch and expanded it throughout the race. The native Englishman who moved to Canada nearly 60 years ago was hoping for a time around 5:45.
Marie Kay wins the long jump.
“I went off to fast and died a horrible death,” Whitlock said. “Thankfully, it wasn’t a marathon, where you really end up paying.”In his 10,000 victory earlier in the week, Whitlock actually ran the second half of the race faster than his listed 5,000 record.
“I was very pleased with that race,” Whitlock said.Whitlock would be a strong contender for top athlete at the WMA Championships if such an award were given out. His competition would include a couple of other 1,500-meter champions from Friday’s races at Sac State – Ron Robertson of New Zealand and Keith Batemen of Australia.
Robertson, who earlier in the meet broke Whitlock’s M70 record for the 5,000 by clocking 18:15:53, added a second world record in the 1,500. Robertson ran the metric mile in 4:52.95. Robertson also won the M70 cross country title on July 7.
Bateman won the M55 1,500 in a sizzling 4:12.35, under the listed record of 4:12.5, set by Robertson back in 1997. Bateman also won the M55 cross country title and is entered in Sunday’s marathon.
The WMA Championships is a biennial track and field competition for athletes ages 35 and over. More than 4,800 athletes entered this year’s event in Sacramento, which began July 6 and concludes on Sunday, July 17.
For the WMA schedule and full results, visit www.wma2011.com.
So who’s YOUR pick for Athlete of the Meet so far?
Aaron Sampson reaches across the pit to thank an official after finishing the M45 long jump. More photos will be added to gallery when time avails.
Perth outpoints Poland as host of 2016 outdoor worlds
Poland is 0-for-2 today in major votes. Perth, Western Australia, will host WMA’s first even-numbered outdoor world masters championships in 2016 as a result of a late-afternoon vote in the Sacramento General Assembly. Perth beat B by a vote of 68-53. Delegates decided to vote on the 2016 world masters meet host today rather than put the choice off till 2013. The bid cities from Poland and Australia earlier told WMA President Stan Perkins that they could host the meet in 2016. Vote is taking place at 5:20ish. American delegates worried about lack of voting control, since Stan said either of two cards can be used to vote. Fear is of double voting. But nobody protested the process. The 5-member USA delegation backed the Bydgoszcz bid for the same reasons it voted for Lyon, France, earlier today: time of year and expense.
Vote reader at WMA General Assembly reads ballots for 2016 worlds.
Masters outdoor world meets shifting to even-number years
A year after Lyon hosts 2015 worlds, the outdoor world meet will again be held — at a site that may be determined later in today’s General Assembly in Sacramento. Delegates voted by show of hands (with green cards) to move the outdoor meets to even-numbered years and the indoor meets to odd-numbered years starting in 2016. WMA President Stan Perkins put the reasoning bluntly: The IOC supports the World Masters Games, and the IAAF follows the IOC lead. Much money is at stake, since track and field is a marquee event at the Olympics. And with the World Masters Games “bumping up” against WMA meets every four years, someone had to blink.
American delegates voted as a bloc on dozens of issues at General Assembly.
Lyon, France, wins 2015 worlds, beating Perth in runoff vote
By a vote of 72-59, Lyon, France, beat Perth, Western Australia, as the host of the 2015 World Masters Athletics Championships. The vote was a personal loss for WMA President Stan Perkins, who is from Australia. A little after noon, delegates eliminated Poland as a bidder for 2015 worlds. Lyon and Perth had 48 and 47 votes, respectively on the first ballot. Runoff followed. Delegates at 10:15 were voting on whether to discuss change of year of WMA stadia championships before the bid presentations. Apparently Australia thinks its bid would be affected if meet is held in 2014 instead of 2015. The other bidders are Bydgoszcz, Poland, and Lyon, France. Perth on the west coast is the Aussie bid city. Delay is defeated, so Poland goes first. (Meanwhile, left screen for PowerPoints goes dead, so delegates are asked to shift seats to view righthand screen.)
WMA Secretary Winston Thomas laughs at tie midway through 2015 vote.
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Budapest beats Valencia to host 2014 world indoor meet
WMA delegates voted 72-59 to hold the 2014 world masters indoor championships in Budapest, Hungary, which beat a rival bid by Valencia, Spain. Certification of the vote was delayed because the number of votes cast didn’t match the number of delegates. David Pain, founder of masters track, arrived with his wife, Linda, and former National Masters News publisher and editor Al Sheahen just before the vote tally was shown on a whiteboard, with WMA Secretary Winston Thomas marking down each vote with paper ballots being read.
WMA Council watches the vote on one of three meet sites awarded this year.
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Wine, chat flow at Sacto athletes party, but servings disappoint
An athletes party for the ages was promised. It didn’t quite deliver, especially at $50 a head. Despite the presence of dozens of food and wine booths (and some beer), 1,000 guests of Sacramento worlds were left to create their own festive atmosphere Wednesday night. They succeeded, as old friends reunited and new ones connected at an outdoor party on a dirt lot adjacent to the California State Railroad Museum. But lobster at Maine nationals and the Lahti buffet were far superior. Fearing summer heat, organizers set up tents over tables. But a delta breeze cooled off the itsy-bitsy entrees in high 60s temps. (See my photo gallery for a taste of the event.)
Toasting friends, 1,000 athletes had a wide variety of wines to sample.
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Willie Gault down, Darren Scott and Bob Lida up in 200 finals
Willie Gault’s first taste of world masters was sweet: gold in the 100-meter dash. His latest was sour: a cramp while leading the 200-meter final Tuesday. On an otherwise perfect night (crosswind with temps in low 70s), Willie’s right lower hamstring cramped about 20 meters from the finish. With Britain’s Pat Logan on his right and teammate Mike Waller on his left, Willie went down. But he got up and jogged to the finish before being helped off the track by a medic. (His time of 27.46 still beat my all-out effort the night before by 1.5 seconds!) See a sequence of his 200 fall here. Michael Sullivan of Arizona took the gold in 23.36 and is the favorite in his prime event, the 400. On the upside, Britain’s Darren Scott and America’s Bob Lida came back from cramps in their 100 finals to win the M70 and M40 deuce, respectively, in 27.78 and 22.20.
4 world records set as Sacramento worlds resume after rest day
Bob Burns reports in his daily news release from worlds: “Age-group world records were set Monday by Canada’s Ed Whitlock in the men’s 80-84 10,000 meters (42:39.95, beating his own incredible 42:59.16 from late June), Neni Lewis of the United States in the women’s 50-54 weight throw, Vladimir Porokhin of Russia in the men’s 75-79 javelin, and Marge Allison of Australia in the women’s 65-69 300-meter hurdles.” I witnessed none of this, since I was resting for my 200 heat tonight. (Took third in my race, battling a 3.3 mps headwind and clocking a respectable 28.93 in M55.) But I also had time to upload photos from previous days. Started a gallery of faces, and galleries of jumps and throws. Will augment as time allows.
Jim Barrineau is featured in photo gallery after M55 win over Willie Banks.
