Carmellia ran for her sons — and many other kin cheering in Lyon. Rob Jerome photo
American Carmellia Shivers-Cole

 was seventh of 17 in the W45 heptathlon at Lyon worlds. But her story, as much as the medalists, is worth telling for what she overcame to finish — lupus and leg injury. She also is a success story from national chair Gary Snyder’s 2014 pay-for-a-newbie plan. In reply to a Q&A request, she wrote: “My focus is always my family because they are the ones who keep me going.” She and her husband Randy, a retired Navy officer, have two sons named for Texas cities — Houston (12) and Austin (10). She writes: “I know my boys are going to be big important men and they needed the biggest state to hold them. Houston was diagnosed with autism around 28 months and Austin was diagnosed at 4 years old. It was very challenging as a military family as children with autism because they are used to schedules and do not like change. We moved every 18 months to two years and there were a lot of changes. By the second grade, Houston had attended six different schools. Houston was 16 months delayed and was nonverbal so it was like having twins because they were reaching milestones at the same time.”
Rob Jerome captured the intensity of the M55 high jump Sunday in Lyon with these shots. And he’s a great reporter, too: “It was a real nail-biter for Bruce McBarnette this afternoon. He missed his opening attempt at 1.60 (5-3) and later missed his first two attempts at 1.70 (5-7). But only a true competitor like Bruce can pull it together and walk away with another world championship. He cleared both 1.73 (5-8) and 1.76 (5-9 1/4) on his first attempts and 1.76 won it for him. Peter Hlavin finished second with 1.73. When Bruce missed his first two attempts at 1.70, there were still four competitors in the competition and it looked like Bruce might not medal at all. The only other event going on in the Balmont Stadium was the prelims for the 200, so all eyes were on Bruce when he made his third attempt at 1.70. Bruce seems to thrive on drama and when he cleared his third attempt, a big roar went up from the crowd in the stands.” Congrats to both!
Bruce pulls latest WMA gold out of the hat with his 1.76. Rob Jerome photos
Lyon-goers got a well-deserved rest day Saturday. But that isn’t the only game in Earth Town. Saturday at Howard Community College in Columbia, Maryland, about 140 athletes took part in that state’s Senior Olympics, a USATF-sanctioned meet, says Jerry Bookin-Weiner, who shared this news: “We had an American record set in the W90 hammer throw by Wally Dashiell. Her throw of 11.92m (39-1 1/4) with a 2 kg hammer exceeds the mark of 10.82 (35-6) set with a 3kg hammer by the legendary Betty Jarvis in 2006. (Wally — a nickname for Waltrud — also holds ARs in the W85 weight throw and triple jump.) Wally’s results are here. The listed WR is 16.71 (54-10) by Olga Kotelko.
Reggie pipped Britain’s Jason Carty in M45. Rob Jerome photo
Rob Jerome shot me some quick 100-meter results from Lyon, and amid Friday’s frying heat (124 on the track) were sizzling times. Gold medalists included these Yanks: M45 Reggie Pendland (11.24 into a 2.1 mps wind), W45 Emmanuelle McGowan (12.85 into a 1.9 wind), M55 Allan Tissenbaum (12.05), W75 Kathy Bergen (16.31 into a 3.1 wind) and W80 Irene Obera (17.57). Americans winning silver were M35 Babatunde Ridley (10.87), M70 Kenton Brown (13.20) and M80 Dick Richards (15.02). Bronzes went to W35 Brandi Bernert (12.66) and W65 Brenda Matthews (15.29).
Official results are here. Dick Richards wrote about his heartbreaking .04 loss to Hans Bloechlinger: “I ran my best race of this season. I should have dived at the finish. Winner was a very pleasant Swiss man who appreciated my Swiss heritage. Looking forward to the 200 Meter Monday and Long Jump on the 12th.” That’s the spirit, Dick! Keep looking ahead.
Irene won her gazillionth world title — by 1.82 seconds! Rob Jerome photo
Rob Jerome’s photo of Pengxue Su of China, at 85 the oldest decathlete in Lyon.
As a high school senior, I once was leadoff for a 4-by-200 at a night invitational. Somehow, the stadium lost its lights. Car headlamps were turned on. But I didn’t hear the starter commands, and the starter didn’t notice I wasn’t even in the blocks. The gun went off, and I said, “Whoops!” I ran my butt off, and my Omaha Burke team still won. Later, I never thought: “Geeze, what half-ass meet organizers.” What a difference four decades make. Every screw-up gets blown up now at worlds — as they should. Kids don’t complain, but adults do. They paid good money to enter the meet. They spent good money for travel and lodging. They deserve their money’s worth. So recent gripes, many shared on Facebook and this blog, indicate that athletes as consumers deserve to be heard. And if WMA and LOCs don’t do a better job, they’ll see market share go to world and regional masters games.
Seth Brower writes from Texas: “We have learned that 5-time Olympian Amy Acuff will be jumping this Saturday night at the Lions meet at St Michaels, Austin. She is in great form and is trying to get a qualifying mark [1.94 meters or 6-4 1/4] to make the World Championships in Beijing later this month. She is also working to get her standard to qualify for the Rio Olympic Trials next year [in Eugene, Oregon]. If she makes the Olympics, it would be her sixth. As far as we know, she would be the only person to do so in track and field. Anyway, she needs four other 18+ women to jump with her to have the mark count. So if you are that age and a USATF member, come and support Amy in her goal. You don’t even have to be a high jumper! Just 18 and a USATF member.”
Amy Acuff wills share some 2012 Olympic gear with fellow jumpers Saturday.
From a masters mole in Lyon: “The Athletes Manual (see French version here) provides maps of the stadia themselves, but not the surrounding areas. The instructions just say after you get off your tram you should walk, for example, ’11 minutes.’ But which way?” At least one American heptathlete mistook the time it takes to get to a venue — and missed her first event. Another took a dry run to Bron Stadium the day before her heptathlon and it took her 2.5 hours. Let us know how transit is treating you. The resuls page atLyon2015.com is still a mess, but results are being posted to Facebook.
Here’s a rough map from official manual on where the stadia are in Lyon.
Results from Lyon are hard to find, but I spotted the secret. Go to the main page and look for results. Find the date (such as Mardi 4 Août / Tuesday, August 4 – 2015) and scroll down to see each stadium venue. In red, at the right, is “Complets.” Click on that. It opens a Web page, which you can save to your computer as a PDF (by various right-click or dropdown means). Here’s what I found for Day 1, August 4:
This means “Error connecting to the database” — the server is slammed — too many people looking for results. Or too little server capacity.
Toronto is a no-show. Ditto for Cardiff, Wales. The only bidders for 2018 WMA outdoor worlds are the Italian Province of Venice (Carole-Jesolo-Eraclea) and Málaga, Spain — on the southern coast. That’s the word from WMA Secretary Winston Thomas. A year ago, I reported interest from Toronto, Cardiff and others. San Sebastian hosted 2005 worlds and Riccione had 2007, so one of those nations will repeat. (Perth, Australia, will host 2016 outdoor worlds.) So here we go again — left with Tweedledum and Tweedledee — both fine for Eurovets but again a hardship for the rest of the world. Since 2006, as my friend David Ortman notes, indoor or outdoor worlds have been held in Europe seven out of 10 times. The verdict on Spain vs. Italy will come at the Lyon General Assembly on Aug. 13. Who do you want to win?
Ken has followed track as an athlete, writer and web-master since the late 1960s, and saw most sessions of track and field at the 1984 Los Angeles and 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He also attended the 1988, 1992, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Trials, the last three as a blogger and Patch correspondent. [More...]
