Snafus beset Sydney World Masters Games out of the blocks
It’s still early, but first reports out of Sydney suggest organizers aren’t ready for the monster crowds at the World Masters Games. Endless lines for credential pickup. Lack of foreign speakers to help folks not using English. Bad directions to venues. At least the transportation system is getting high marks. One athlete (and not Bubba Sparks) wrote me today: “Overall assessment thus far: poor. Many athletes here who attended the Games in Edmonton said that Edmonton did not seem to have any of these problems. And (one who) attended the Games in Melbourne does not remember any of these problems.” So hang in there, troops! Hope the track meet goes better! Send me your observations, and I’ll pass them along (I’ll withhold your names upon request.)
Bubba Sparks (and his poles) arrive in Sydney safe & sound
The excitement is palpable in Bubba Spark’s blog from Sydney on the eve of the World Masters Games: “There are SO MANY uniforms from all over the world as the airport was a zoo. On our flight I quit counting T-shirts I saw for the different sports at 12. Everything from water polo, volleyball, weightlifting, track cycling, boxing, gymnastic, rowing, etc.” But the best news was: His poles arrived in one piece! He also writes: “Today was drizzly and in the low to mid 50s, but this afternoon is nice and sunny but breezy. I can see the big bridge and downtown from my hotel window as well as most of the Olympic Park venues. Pretty awesome. . . . BTW — they sit and drive on the right side of their cars and drive on the left side of the road.” So look both ways while vaulting, Bubba! Best of luck!
Bubba Sparks and fellow vaulter Kirk Benz at LAX before long flight.
More awe in Utah: Obera, Neidig add names to record books
The legends came out to play yesterday at the Huntsman World Senior Games. Continuing her comeback, Hall of Famer Irene Obera of Fremont, California, won the 100 in 16.67 seconds to erase one of the oldest sprint records on the books — the W75 American record of 16.87 by Polly Clarke in 1985. (The world record is 15.91.) And Don Neidig of New Mexico ran a lap in 57.07 to inch closer to Guido MГјeller’s M65 400 world record of 56.37 — once thought untouchable. Track director Cindi Blevins graciously shared yesterday’s results from Snow Canyon High School in St. George, Utah. Not to be overlooked was four-time Olympian Jay Silvester, the former world record holder in the discus. He hails from Lindon, Utah. On the meet’s final day, Jay at 72 threw 45.97 (150-10), likely a single-age world record with the 1-kilo disc. (The best I can find is 148-0 3/4 by Wendell Palmer in 2004.) Now it’s on to Sydney for the World Masters Games, where the track meet starts October 11 and lasts eight days (with one rest day).
Irene Obera, shown a few years ago, is in at least four Halls of Fame.
O’Connor and LaBarge improve their own American records
It’s October. The NFL season has started. Baseball playoffs loom. Yet track season continues, thank God, and masters records just keep on coming! At least two to report: Nadine O’Connor ran the 300-meter hurdles for the second time in her life Saturday at the Club West meet in Santa Barbara. Same result as the first — an American record. This time she clocked 56.11 — despite long waits to get the timing system fixed. (She and others had to warm up several times.) That beat her debut W65 mark of 56.71. (Some results posted here.) Then yesterday at the Huntsman World Senior Games in Utah, Pete LaBarge, 70, of Dallas beat his own (pending) American record in the javelin, chucking the stick 45.22 (148-4). His previous PR was 42.70 (140-1). Thanks go to HWSG track director Cindi Blevins for this latest news, who sent me this results file. (Results also are being posted here piecemeal.) I’ve also heard rumors of great throws at the Nevada Senior Games but have seen few results yet.
Don McGrath’s epiphany: Mystery of masters sports solved?
Don McGrath has achieved his goal of interviewing 50 athletes over 50, preparing a book on the project. I introduced him last May. Thanks in part to this blog, Don found plenty of masters trackfolk willing to spill the beans about their athletics lives. His list includes about 20 tracksters, fieldsters and runners, including world-classers such as Sid Howard, James Morton, Jim Broun, Weia Reinboud, Jerry Smartt and Kim Williams. But he’s not just taking notes; he’s diving deep into their psyches — trying to figure out why they do what they do. And in a recent blog post, he suggests the answer is in our genes. Sounds plausible. But then why does only a small fraction of humanity over 50 engage in sports? That’s the tougher question.
Turin lands 2013 World Masters Games; is Porto Alegre toast?
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In a 45-minute press conference last week, officials in Turin, Italy, bragged about bagging the 2013 World Masters Games — the next one after Sydney. Turin apparently beat out Berlin for the gig. I missed the Sept. 28 announcement, sorry. Napping, I guess. The Sydney site reports the basics. Another good report is at Around the Rings, where organizers claim 50,000 athletes and fans will attend, and “the www.torino2013.org website will be going live during the Sydney World Masters Games.” For video of the press conference, click on “Guarda la conferenza stampa” at the bottom of this page. Now we’re faced with yet another masters muddle: Save your shekels for the 2013 WMA world meet in Porto Alegre, Brazil, or sip Vino da Tavola later the same month (August) in northern Italy. If Europeans favor Turin, the Brazil meet will be rendered meaningless. Oh well, they’ll always have Rio.
Italians land another biggie — six years after 2007 Riccione worlds.
The other World Games starts tomorrow, in southern Utah
Although many eyes this month’s are on Sydney World Masters Games, the annual poor-man’s world games begin tomorrow in St. George, Utah: the Huntsman World Senior Games. The track meet runs through Wednesday. Results from this year and previous years are posted here. Some elite masters tracksters go there, and some may opt for this meet as a way of saving money over Australia. Olympian Jay Silvester tends to show at HSWG, for example. He set an M70 discus record there in 2007. Complete HWSG records are here. (And it’s a USATF-sanctioned event!) Best of luck to all.
Kamloops lodging booker goes bust; letters worry entrants
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Ah, the good old days — when the biggest worry of Kamloops entrants was how to navigate an unbanked 200-meter track in March 2010. Now athletes headed for the first WMA world indoor championships in North America have another thing to fret about: Are their hotel reservations still good? According to two notes shared with me (and an Oct. 2 press release), the outfit that booked lodging on behalf of the meet organizers went belly up two weeks ago. Not good. But the news isn’t all bad. Cheaper rates might be snatched up if athletes act fast, say Kamloops officials. Of course, that leads to the question: How come cheaper rates weren’t available from the get-go? But the crapshoot nature of all this has some Kamloops-goers worried. Come March, this might all be hahahaha, no biggie. At least one hopes so.
Michael Waller, profiled on TV, aims to go faster Down Under
M50 sprinter Michael Waller, perhaps the breakout star of Oshkosh nationals last July, is heading Down Under soon for the Sydney World Masters Games. His local TV station gave him a nice (although error-filled) sendoff. Not his fault. See this 2-minute clip. Born July 22, 1958, Michael says his all-time sprint bests are 10.57, 21.6 and 49.07 — all from 1985. I also shot him some questions for a quickie Q&A. He graciously replied.
Mike recounts his injury-plagued early years. He’s full-speed now.
Sticky wicket in India: Masters caught in overseers’ civil war
India’s masters track scene is more dysfunctional than I thought. It appears that Jerry D’Souza’s Veterans Athletics Federation of India is vying for power with the Masters Athletics Federation of India, known as MAFI. Power to do what? To send athletes to WMA world championships. In a second interview with Jerry, also conducted by email, I learned that athletes belonging to VAFI “are not accepted by AMA and WMA.” So no matter how good they are, he says, they can’t represent India at worlds. His counterpart in MAFI is David Premnath, who is active in disabled sports and other events. But David has a checkered past in masters, according to this newspaper report from August 2001. (Scroll down to “Athlete’s tough ‘run’ to Brisbane”)
