Locked In: Valarie Allman Dominates the Discus

2025 USATF Championships

By Mark Cullen

It was hard to focus on the women’s discus today because when Valarie Allman threw it, it traveled so far that it was hard to see.

Literally.

The two-time Olympic champion unleashed a series in which she averaged over 69 meters (226-4) per throw, a meter farther than when she won the 2024 Olympic Trials last year.

 “My fiancé (Coach Zebulon Sion) talks a lot about our averages,” she said.

The higher the averages, the more confidence she has.

“So we talk about that a lot,” she continued. “Our season’s average, our meet average.”

And once she reaches those averages?

“That’s rock solid through all of your throws,” she said, and indeed, each of her six throws would have won the meet.

“I think it’s really critical to open your series with a good throw,” she said. She opened with one of those six winning throws, a solid 67.25 (220-7).  

 Allman threw her farthest in the 4^th round at 71.45 (234-5), “and I really wanted to throw over 71 meters.”

Another mission accomplished.

                                       Valarie Allman

Lawi Tausaga-Collins had only two fair throws, but her third round 64.86 (212-9) counted most as it earned the 2023 World champion not only a place in the final but, ultimately, a place on the team.

“I’m absolutely ecstatic,” she said. “So be ready for me. I’m coming.”

Veronica Fraley and Jordan Ulrich had been separated by only a centimeter going into the last round, 60.31-60.30 for 3^rd and 4^th places, and it appeared that that’s where the excitement would come.

Instead, Gabi Jacobs vaulted over them both with an unexpected 63.33 (207-9) to nab the third place to Worlds.

Why unexpected?

 Of her previous five throws, two were fouls and none of the remaining three was over 60.00m: 59.42, 56.03, and 58.74. Her life-changing throw was 3.89 m – almost seventeen (!) feet farther than her previous best today.

It should be noted, too, that 4^th placer Shelbi Frank 61.11 (200-6) is a likely 4^th qualifier for the United States by virtue of her place in the World Athletics ranking system.

However, this will not be confirmed until midnight on August 24.

Clue that she very likely will be on the team? USATF made sure she went through the qualified athlete protocol today in Eugene.

“It felt good to put together six really good throws,” said a very determined Allman. “It shows I’m locked in. It shows I’m working on the right stuff. And it has me excited just to keep on doing what we’ve been doing. It’s almost as important as throwing one big one.”

 

Allman’s series:

67.25 – 69.66 – 67.33 -71.45 – 70.28 – 68.12

2025 USATF Championships - Day 3

A Day at the Races

By Mark Cullen

“It’s good when you just have fun,” said former University of Oregon shot put star, Jaida Ross. The NCAA champion and US Olympian had just qualified for Worlds even though she finished 4^th. With Chase Jackson having a bye into Worlds as defending champion, the US has four entries instead of the customary three.

First place was decided in the first round with Jackson’s opening 20.84 (68-4½). Maggie Ewen stepped up in the second round with her 19.94 (65-5), which stood up for 2^nd, while Jessica Ramsey’s third round 19.56 (64-2 ½) earned her the third spot to Tokyo.

Jaida Ross took care of business early, as her 2^nd round 19.33 (63-5) withstood the challenge of Jessica Woodard’s season’s best of 19.10 (62-8).

There was much anticipation and pre-event buzz over the possibility of an American record from Jackson today, but it was not to be. She had four fair throws – the first two and last two – and all her legal throws were over 20 meters. Her opening 20.84 was just shy of her American record, which stands at 20.95.

                                     Chase Jackson

photo courtesy USATF

Some thoughts and observations about the day.

First, while the finals understandably get the attention, the prelims and semis have stories of their own. There is no letting up; each semi is a final. Fail to advance and your trip to Worlds is over before it began.

For example, the top three times in the first round of the men’s 110m hurdles were 13.10, 13.13, and 13.15. Hello? The 12:14pm start time left little recovery time from brunch. These are results found in any World or Olympic final.

Same in the women’s 100m hurdles semis - at 12:40 pm - with the top three at 12.25, 12.34, and 12.39. Not long ago, 12.20 was the world record.

These crazy start times are what happens when we try to do in 4 days at nationals what we did in 9 days during last year’s Olympic Trials.

Second, in ‘announcing collectibles’ we have this unavoidable gem, as it had everything to do with qualifying for Worlds in the women’s steeplechase - and the surprise, on many levels, silver medalist:

“Fortunately, Napoleon has met the championship qualifying standard.”

Does Russia know? Are they good with that?

This refers to surprise second-placer Angelina Napoleon of North Carolia State. She actually has run fractionally faster than she did today, 7:10.72 at the Paris Diamond League Meet last month. We should have seen her coming!

Still, she was 3^rd at the outdoor NCAA championships this June and not on most form charts to make the team.

Finally, I have new technology – that is, a new laptop complete with software intended for use in this century.

It’s off to a shaky start.

Today it auto-corrected Sebastian Coe to Sebastian Cullen.

I accept.

Winkler Wins As a Star Is Born

Men’s Hammer Throw

2025 USATF Championships

By Mark Cullen

Rudy Winkler left no doubt as to who the 2025 USATF Men’s hammer champion is. He led from first throw to last and had a stellar series that included four throws over the benchmark 80m (262-5).

The parallels with DeAnna Price’s historic championship performance are striking. Each had one of the greatest six-throw series in US history, and each had five throws that would have won the competition.

Winkler’s winning 81.47 (267-3) came in the second round, and he was never headed.

Veteran Daniel Haugh threw 77.28 (253-6) in the 4^th round for what appeared to be a secure 2^nd place finish at the time.

Not so fast.

While Trey Knight had hair-raising fouls on his first two attempts, he launched himself into a competition-saving top 8 with his 3^rd round 74.56 (244-7). This allowed him three more throws in the final; he took full advantage of the opportunity.

Knight shocked the entire field with his 78.76 (258-5) in the 6^th and final round. This dropped Haugh into third place from second, but he kept a spot on the World Championships team.

In this competition, Knight’s season twice came down to one last throw. 

Twice he succeeded: first to make finals, then to make Worlds.

And with that last throw, to record a personal best.

Nice timing.

Tanner Berg, who ultimately finished 4^th, threw a personal best 76.93 m (252-4) and led the competition at the end of the first round. But that lasted only until Winkler’s winning second-round toss.

In a remarkably deep competition, 7 threw over 76.00 m (249-4) and 14 over 70.00 m (229-8).

Rudy Winkler

2025 USATF Hammer Champion

Photo courtesy USATF

Winkler attributed his success to “being happy in my life. I’m really in the groove with my coach, with my wife (they are recently married), and everything is just really coming together. I feel bold and complete, which is, I think, contributing to me just throwing far and being comfortable in the ring.”

Haugh felt as though he was not in the zone – that he had not had his best day. Nonetheless, he drew on the experience of having made two Olympic teams to get him through the competition successfully.

“You make every (World and Olympic) team since 2019,” he said, “you get older, you get more experienced. You know how to kind of work through it mentally, how to work through the attempts.”

“It was weird at the start (of the season)," Winkler said, "because I went to Drake Relays at the end of April/early May… then I had a trip to Europe for two weeks and then I came back. Normally when I do that, (I have) 2-3 weeks to get ready for nationals.”

Instead, “I got back from Europe and (it was) almost two months until nationals, so it’s been nice in a way... I can extend my mid-season training.”

He thinks that’s part of the reason he’s throwing well.

“I think that the break helped me get into a place where I could do it every day. It’s just been like every day of the same. I can stay in that training mode as long as I can and that’s awesome. So, for me it’s great.”

When noted that it’s possibly an epic moment when he throws over 80m four times while in mid-season training, Winkler said with emphasis, “Yeah, no, I’m in good shape, and I think if you were to see my training and then see how I’m competing, you’d be like, ”Oh, that makes sense.’ ”

“So, training has been great and it’s just between now and Worlds.”

“It’s all about just keeping it consistent.”

It had been a rocky year for Knight, who had an abrupt end to his collegiate season with three fouls in the NCAA Western Regional. He bounced back with a 78.15 (256-4) personal best at the Portland Track Festival in June, a harbinger of greater things to come.

The soft-spoken Ridgefield (WA) High School graduate said, “I think it worked out well. I had time after regionals to take a break, to renew, coach, and have some really good talks about ‘what do we want?’”

“It was a good little stretch of time of us figuring it out… us getting on the same page… figuring out why we are doing this? What’s our mission here?”

“And to do it in a healthy way.”

The 22-year-old Knight wants his success to be measured beyond winning and losing, and to be mindful of the role this entire experience will play for him as he goes through life.

He does not want it all to be about winning, or that a loss is equated with failure. 

“We don’t want that,” he said.

"I’m just trying to be the best thrower I can be.”

***

For the statistically inclined, here is Winkler’s series:

77.15 – 81.47 – 80.85 – 80.41 – 79.24 – 80.78

Two World Hammer Champions Return to Tokyo

Women’s Hammer Throw

2025 USATF Championships 

By Mark Cullen

In one of the finest series in US history, 2019 World Champion DeAnna Price dominated the field to win the USATF title and lead a deep US hammer squad to Tokyo’s World Championships. She averaged over 77 meters (252-7) for each of her throws in a six-throw series.

Price opened at 78.33 (257-0) and was never headed. Five of her six throws would have won the competition. She saved her best for last with the farthest of the day, a magnificently elegant, arcing 78.53 (257-7).

 “It's wonderful,” said Price of her remarkable series. “It’s right up there, right next to the Olympic Trials in 2021,” when she averaged over 78 meters per throw with five fair throws.

DeAnna Price

2025 USATF Champion

Photo credit: Mark Cullen

The excitement of a close competition took place behind her when 2023 World champion Brooke Andersen jumped from 4^th to second in the third round. At that point, the top four places were settled.

But not by much.

Rachel Richeson and Janee Kassanavoid were separated by only two centimeters after the first round in the battle for third, and try as she might, two-time World medalist Kassanavoid could not bridge the crucial gap.

Richeson, 4^th in last year’s Olympic Trials, recorded fair throws only twice, her first and last ones. She was in second place at 74.57(244-8) when Andersen’s 75.14(246-6) bumped her back into third.

But good enough, still, to qualify for her first major meet squad.

Said the twenty-five-year-old of her three-part, multi-year path to Worlds, “I didn’t start throwing hammer until college. My coach was the first one to see talent in me and develop me through my years at Notre Dame.”

The next step came when she graduated from Notre Dame and began working with coach AG Kruger.

“I’ve improved by 10 and a half meters in three seasons,” said Richeson. “It’s just a testament to how great a coach AG is.”

Her third component of success is “lots of people believing in me and seeing things maybe I didn’t see first.”

In spite of her silver medal performance today, Andersen said that she felt sluggish in the ring. “I was trying to throw outside of myself a little bit,” the 2022 World champion said.

She reminded herself to “trust the process, and doing so got me to 75.14 today, but hopefully I’ll get to the 70s, 80s in September.”

 “I feel like 80m was in the tank today,” said Price. Her next opportunity to reveal an 80m throw comes with a trip to Tokyo to take on Olympic champion  Camryn Rogers (Can) - as well as her talented teammates - for the World title in September.  

 We’ll leave the last words to Richeson.

 “Hammer,” she noted with insight and caution, “is a tricky thing to get ahold of and figure out.”

***                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

For the statistically minded among you – and if you’ve read this far, you are statistically minded! – here is Price’s series:

78.33 – 75.83 - 74.74 - 76.88 - 77.77 - 78.53

Prefontaine Classic 2025

                   Our Sport Needed This Meet

        by Mark Cullen

From Rudy Winkler’s eye-popping American record hammer throw to open the meet to Faith Kipyegon’s world record 1500m to close it, this was more than an epic celebration of track and field.

This was just what the doctor ordered.

For a sport that struggles for clear identity in a crowded world sports marketplace, this meet set the standard for what track and field can accomplish in a single day.

“This was a young crowd,” noted Bruce Mortensen, 1965 NCAA steeplechase champion for Oregon. Indeed, it appeared to be at the very least a substantial step in the direction of having track and field return to its multi-generational roots – a sport in which interest and enthusiasm are passed from one generation to the next.

I observed to my Oregon college roommate and his wife and daughter in a post-meet debrief that during the women’s 5,000m, “It felt like 1972 again.”

“Not that that is the goal,” I hastened to add. Instead, this meet harvested the best of ’72, with three distance stars – two of them already world record holders – hammering lap-by-lap, step-by-step late into the women’s 5,000m, with a sellout crowd of 12,606 cheering every stride. This was the degree of magic that has often been missing in recent years and even in recent meets.

Today, when our sport was firing on all cylinders, even the space fit the event.

No category of competition was immune to the magic.

On a day when talk of possible world records permeated the stadium, Rudy Winkler (US) upset World and Olympic champion Ethan Katzberg (Can) with a thunderous 3^rd round 83.16 (272-10) to record the 2^nd American Record of his stellar hammer career. The mark was impressive and the level of competition fierce; Katzberg was in the thick of it at 81.73 and the issue was in doubt until the final throw.

This is also the farthest throw in the history of the Prefontaine Classic – a Pre Classic and Diamond League record to boot.

But not the best performance of the day! How about those two world records and an oh-so-close third?

The women’s 5,000m produced a sub-four of its own – sub four-teen, that is, as Beatrice Chebet set a barrier breaking distance world record at Hayward Field for the second time. Last year she was the first under 29:00 for 10,000m; this year she was pressed to the last 200m of 5,000m before breaking away to dip under 14:00 in 13:58.06.

Doing the pressing were Agnes Ngetich who was third most of the way and second at the finish in 14:01.29, with former 5k world record holder Gudaf Tsegay 3^rd in 14:04.41.

"Hayward Field is good for me," said Chebet, in quite an understatement. 

Beatrice Chebet crossing the finish line in her barrier-breaking 5,000m run.

Note the fans in the stands behind her. 

Photo credit: 

Beatrice Chebet rights-free-387-MQU06737.jpg

Diamond League AG for Diamond League AG

"When I was coming here to Eugene, I was coming to prepare to run a world record, and I said I have to try. I said if Faith is trying, why not me? And today, I'm so happy because I've achieved being the first woman to run under 14. I'm so happy for myself," said Chebet. 

"Discipline and hard work, my coach and my husband have been there assisting me in everything I'm doing in training and supporting me, and Faith has been a close friend to me." 

In a nod to the prominence that Faith Kipyegon has as an international star of the highest caliber, the men’s Bowerman mile was moved from final to second-to-last event in favor of the women’s 1500m. The table was set for Kipyegon to attempt a 1500m world record, and she ordered in.

Kipyegon, who in a press conference the day before said, “Track is my business,” was all business today as she smashed her own world record with a delirium-inducing 3:48.68.

It’s tough competition when Diribe Welteji finishes second in 3:51.44 and that is ‘only’ her personal best and almost three seconds distant from the win.

What a 1500m World Record looks like.

Faith Kipyegon the moment she realizes she has set the world record.

Photo credit: Faith Kipyegon rights-free 398 Eugene DL/Diamond League for Diamond League AG 

"To be honest, the ladies are pushing me, too," said Kipyegon, "because they are running quick now and I'm happy that when I broke a world record, they are all running very fast, and that is what I want: 

to motivate the younger generation to come and do even better.

"For them to follow me, it feels so great that they are pushing me as well to break records. These ladies are amazing, I love them. I love competing with them and I normally tell them, let's push each other and we can still break barriers." 

In a day of understatements by the world greatest runners, Kipyegon said, "This is the road to Tokyo (World Championships) and I would say I am in the right direction."

Not to be outdone, the women’s steeplechasers put on a show of their own with five under the 9:00 minute barrier for the first time in an event-changing race. Winfred Javi set a meet record of 8:45.25, missing the world record by less than a second. Surely it will be under 8:40 before the season is over.

Chase Jackson missed breaking her week-old American record in the women’s shot put by just one centimeter; remarkably, the top 5 all broke 20.00 meters Notably, Jackson had 6 fair throws – a terrific series of 19.39/19.89/20.94/19.86/20.34/19.39.

Melissa Jefferson-Wooden continued her stellar ’25 season with a 10.75-10.77 100m win over defending Olympic Champion Julien Alfred. With Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith 3^rd in 10.90, this certainly was a preview of September’s World Championship final.

Ever since Tobi Amusan's 100m hurdles world record of 12.12 on the last day of the Eugene World Championships, we have become used to a new normal in women's hurdles times. Amusan was second here today in a swift 12.38, with Ackera Nugent winning in a speedier 12.32. Keni Harrison, the world record holder at 12.20 before Amusan, was 3rd today in 12.50 at the age of 33.

Valarie Allman continued her domination of the discus with a 70.68 Pre Meet record, with the rest of the competition almost 3 meters behind. Also setting a Pre Meet record was Canada’s Camryn Rogers, whose 78.88 is not only the Pre Classic and Diamond League record, but the Canadian national record as well.

Tara Davis-Woodhall and husband Hunter Woodhall, the Paris Olympics’ golden couple, were 1^st and 2^nd in their respective events here. Woodhall was second in the men’s wheelchair T62/T64 event, while Davis-Woodhall put on an electrifying performance in the long jump with a come-from-behind final jump to win by six centimeters over Germany’s two-time Olympic champion, Malaika Mihambo, 7.07-7.01.

Not all gold glittered as much as hoped, as Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s attempt oto break the 400m American record fell short. Her 49.43 left her chase of Sanya Richard-Ross’ AR 48.70 in the ‘ongoing’ category, but kudos to her for putting herself on the line in what is her second-best event.

Alison dos Santos and Rai Benjamin fought another memorable battle over the 400m hurdles with times of 46.65 and 46.71, the 4^th and 5^th fastest in history.

The top 5 men’s shot putters all threw over 22 meters with Joe Kovacs notching the win at 22.48 in a close and exciting competition; 2^nd-5^th were separated by only 7 centimeters. Shades of the 2019 Doha Worlds, when the top 3 finished within 1 cm of each other.

19 year old Biniam Mehary won the men's Kenyan Olympic Trials 10,000m in 26:43.82, 2/100ths ahead of Berihu Aregawi. 

By comparison, Diamond League 800m leader Tsige Duguma’s .06 win over Prudence Sekgodisco is positively cavernous. Her 1:57.10 got the job done, by 6/100ths, while stat nuts will revel in the fact that, with Halimah Nakaayi third, the top 3 finishers in Eugene match their current 1-2-3 standings in the Diamond League.

Jamaica's Olympic silver medalist Kishane Thompson won the men's 100m with apparent ease in 9.85 over Zharnel Hughes, who was second in 9.85. In spite of his ungainly side-to-side movement, Thompson remains a legitimate threat to Noah Lyles as the world's best 100m sprinter.

If only Botswana’s 200m Olympic champion, Letsile Tebogo, hadn’t eased up so much at the line, his 19.76 winner might well have approached his African record of 19.46. Meanwhile, Matthew Hudson-Smith led another hit parade of deep finishes with his 44.10 400m win, with the top 7 44.80 or faster.

Perhaps Armand Duplantis has put himself in the position of disappointing fans when he does not set a world record, but his 6.0m pole vault clearance left him comfortably ahead of Sam Kendricks and Austin Miller, both at 5.80 with Kendricks ahead of Miller on the countback.

Newly minted world record holder and new Oregon Duck, Mykolas Alekna, a transfer from Cal, won the men’s discus with a throw of 70.97m. The only item deserving of a standing ovation that didn’t get one was the NCAA transfer portal.

If you’re unfamiliar with the difference between the Pre Classics’ International mile and the Bowerman Mile, think of the International as the junior varsity race and the Bowerman as varsity.

Nathan Strand won the first mile in 3:48.86, with the top 3 under 3:50.

Yared Nuguse was well on his way to becoming the first American to win the Bowerman Mile, except that no one had handed 20-year-old Dutch prodigy Niels Laros that script.

Laros led for exactly one step of the race – if that. He surged down the final straightaway to nip Nuguse at the line and win by 1/100^th of a second, 3:45.94 – 3:45.95. The stats of this race make the miling I once knew a dim and distant memory, as Ollie Hoare finished 15^th and last in 3:51.60. Hello?

While the time standards have changed irrevocably, the competition hasn’t. As long as two of the best milers in the world are separated by a step at the finish, it doesn’t matter if it’s 1972 or 2025. It’s the competitions, the competitors, and their fierce, disciplined commitment to winning that drives them here every year – and 12,606 acolytes as well.

The question that is begged by the success of this year’s Pre Classic is: where do we go from here? How do we consolidate these gains and incorporate them not only into next year’s Pre Classic, but into national and international track and field as well?

How can we fill the stadium each and every time?

Special thanks to the Diamond League for permission to use both the photos of and quotes by Ruth Chebet and Faith Kipyegon.

Steve

My memorable encounter with Steve Prefontaine 

the day he won the 1972 Olympic Trials 5,000m

by Mark Cullen

Steve Prefontaine Murals
Coos Bay, Oregon
United States

It’s the last day of the 1972 US Men’s Olympic Track and Field Trials. 

The organizers at Eugene’s legendary Hayward Field were no fools. They scheduled the men’s 5,000m race as the last event of the 8-day program.

It featured Steve Prefontaine, the young man whom Sports Illustrated named  “America’s Distance Prodigy,” and George Young, the venerable veteran, the three-time Olympian trying to make his 4^th Olympic team.

In an epic race that would see both men break the American Record, Prefontaine and Young went at it, lap by excruciating lap, and the issue was in doubt until the 9^th circuit, when Prefontaine edged ahead, inexorably, and led Young to the finish.

Prefontaine (13:22.8) and Young (13:29.4) both broke Pre's American record of 13:29.6.

It would be a cliché to say that the crowd went wild.

But it did.

The sound of that last lap lives with me still. 

The roar was deafening as Prefontaine approached the finish stripe, but the sound when he crossed it is unlike any I have heard before or since.

If there’s one word I associate with that day, it’s “spectacle.”

The spectacle of Gerry Lindgren bounding from the stands wearing one of the  memorable “Stop Pre” t-shirts, a lasting symbol of the Sparrow’s - and designer John Gillespie's - impish sense of humor.

The spectacle of the race itself, of seeing this prodigy realize the next stage of his potential.

The spectacle of what followed.

A lengthy victory lap, an ovation sustained, an achievement shared. What was so appealing about this young man was his generosity - his willingness to share his joy and, indeed, his triumph.

The celebration continued well into the evening, though it became more personal in nature. It shifted to an area on the east side of Hayward Field, where temporary bleachers had been erected to accommodate the overflow crowds. There a media platform had been built.

On it, young Mr. Prefontaine held court.

The television lights were blinding, the camera bulbs kept flashing, and person after person, kid after kid, asked something of him.

Long after the friends I had watched the race with decided their evening was over, I knew mine wasn’t finished.

For the previous nine months I had embarked upon a running career, such as it was, of my own. I had started running in Bill Bowerman’s beginning jogging class in the fall of 1971, a week after Bowerman had been named head coach of the US Olympic track and field team.

Bowerman’s “Hamburgers” shared the track with Gary Barger, Todd Lathers, Pat Tyson, Arne and Knut Kvalheim, future Olympic discus champion “Multiple” Mac Wilkins, US Olympic decathlete Craig Brigham, and Steve Prefontaine himself.

I was captivated and missed but one meet in five years.

When you run on the track inhabited by the likes of these memorable Ducks, no matter how slowly in comparison, you do get to know them. One of them, Coach Pat Tyson of the Mead and now Gonzaga University cross country programs, remains a friend to this day.

When it came to young Mr. Prefontaine, we saw each other 4 or 5 times a week during the first year I ran. I was from the wilds of Western Massachusetts and knew little of him when I began running. He seemed to like the fact that I never got caught up in the myth of Pre, and that we used each other’s first names was a bond of its own.

That I saw him as a new compatriot, special in terms of his ability but otherwise in many ways like everyone else, created the framework of our passing relationship, and formed the basis of what we Yankees call a 'nodding acquaintance.'

Indeed, the one time, the only time, I asked him for an autograph - not for me but for the 8-year-old son of a friend I had in tow - he grew quite impatient with me. It took me awhile to realize I had violated the boundary. It was the only time in his presence I had bought into the mythic “Pre.”

Fortunately, he forgave me.

So, as he sat surrounded by worshipping kids and an adoring, and yes, fawning press, I wanted to watch the rest of the spectacle.

I made my way up the temporary bleachers, sat in the corner closest to him, and watched. Watched for over an hour as Steve sat there with the patience of a saint, even though he wasn’t one, and did not claim to be.

Every now and then he’d cock his head, look up at me and wonder what on earth I was doing there.

Come to think of it, for someone known for his strong opinions and sometimes colorful language, “what on earth” were probably not the words he was thinking.

Yet he was curious, inquisitive, clearly wondering.

It got dark.

Fortunately, the scoreboard operator had a sense of the moment and didn’t turn off the lights. The darker it got, the more clearly etched into the evening sky was Prefontaine’s new American Record.

I can see it today, just as clearly, more than half a lifetime later.

Finally, there were only a couple of families left, little kids waiting for their moment of magic. I scurried up the rickety bleachers, down to the track, and waited while he completed his hero’s duties.

He smiled in recognition, still with that quizzical look.

*   *   *   

The kids are gone now, and it’s just the two of us with his drug tester in attendance. We exchange greetings and I offer my congratulations. I’m delighted to sense his receptivity, in spite of how long his day has been.

He actually has a few moments left, for me.

Well, I say, I’ve watched this spectacle unfold this afternoon, and now this evening.

He nods.

I’ve seen many people approach you and ask for many things.

He nods, as if to say this is not news.

An autograph, a photograph, an interview, a moment, even, with you.

Yes.

But Steve, I say, for all these people have asked, and all you’ve given in return - one thing has not been said today.

One thing is missing.

What’s that?

Thank you.

He clutches my forearm with both hands.

He will not let go.

Tears come to his eyes.

We both just stand there, at ease in the moment.

When he can speak, I wish him success in the Olympics, and he wishes me good luck in the summer all-comers meets.

Off he scampers across the track and onto the infield. Before he vanishes into the enveloping darkness, he turns and gives me a huge, full-body wave.

I wave back.

Off he jogs into the underbelly of the now gloomy West Grandstand and to his appointment with destiny in Munich.

My favorite photo of Steve Prefontaine.
With Coach Bill Bowerman the day Pre first broke 4:00 in the mile.
Multiple sources listed, including milesplit.

copyright 2016 Mark Cullen. All rights reserved.

Oregon's Groundbreaking Women's Discus Star

Lynne Winbigler Anderson

A Career in the Earliest Days of Title IX

by Mark Cullen

Lynne Anderson

at the University of Oregon's Knight Library

(First published on 6/30/2024, the final day of the US Olympic Trials.)

It’s the spring of 1976. I was in my first year in the job market and, a year after graduating from the University of Oregon, did not yet have a job my parents could tell their friends about.

I made contact with the publisher of the ‘76 US Olympic Trials Program and got a job writing features and event previews. I also covered these same events in the daily supplement to the Program throughout the Trials.

My interest was piqued by a recent University of Oregon graduate who was making a name for herself in the discus.

I went to South Eugene High School one evening early that June to watch Lynne Winbigler - now Anderson - being coached by “Multiple Mac” Wilkins, also a recent graduate.

Looking back on it now, each was on the cusp of a dramatically new and different life. For Wilkins, it was winning gold in the men’s discus in Montreal, and for Anderson, it was winning the only women’s discus spot available on the ’76 US Olympic team.

For each, before and after began at Eugene’s second Olympic Trials.

Sixty's Seventy-first: Parry O'Brien

by Mark Cullen

Seventy-one years ago - May 8, 1954 - Parry O’Brien, one of the greatest male shot putters in history, broke the 60’ barrier. If ever he made a mistake, it was shattering 60’ two days after Roger Bannister ran the first sub-4:00 minute mile. While the world was understandably focused on Bannister, O’Brien did little to call attention to his own momentous achievement.

Parry O'Brien
photo credit: USC Trojans.com

Christmas in London

     by Mark Cullen

How I found Christmas in London on the top of a double-decker bus early one morning in August 2017.

Featuring US 800m runner Drew Windle and his remarkable family, this was first published on 2/11/18.

Drew Windle and Family
London Olympic Stadium
August 6, 2017

Windle went on to win the 800m silver medal at the 2018 World Indoor Championships in Birmingham. 

A revised version of this article, which focuses on the story of World Indoors, was published by World Athletics in June 2018: 

https://www.iaaf.org/news/feature/drew-windle-usa-800m

Here is the original from 2017.

Christmas came early last year.

August 7^th at 1:10 am.

On the top level of a double-decker bus in London.

Apparently I had not read far enough in the World Championships media guide to learn that London shuts down its subway system before midnight on weeknights.

More likely, I passed over that section as it never crossed my mind that one of the world’s great cities would close its subway system overnight, most especially not during a track and field world championships that set a record in selling over 700,000 tickets.

Possibly people needed a way to get home when events finished after 11:00 pm and the subway station was a mile away?

Further proof that I’m not in charge.

Paris Day 10

 Two Relays and Two Marathons

Close Epic Olympics in Grand Style 

by Mark Cullen 

writing from Seattle

The string ran out for the US women’s 1500m team. After a stellar year in which you had to break 3:56.00 to make the US Olympic team, Trials champion Nikki Hiltz and Elle St. Pierre finished 7^th and 8^th. Faith Kipyegon won in an Olympic record 3:51.29, while Australia’s Jessica Hull  won silver in 3:52.56.

Great Britain’s Georgia Bell - the revelation of the year - was 3^rd in a national record 3:52.61, while Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji found out what it’s like to run 3:52.75 and not medal.

Faith Kipyegon made some history of her own, and this time it was winning her third consecutive Olympic 1500m title. Former Oregon Duck Jessica Hull finished very well over the last 100m, and especially the last 50 when she moved into silver medal position and was not to be denied.

Good thing Hull had established herself so well. Bell had a finish reminiscent of Yared Nuguse’s in the men’s 1500, and Hull hung on for silver while Bell’s fast last 400 netted her bronze and almost silver. It’s what I’d call an outstanding bell lap.

*It’s not often that I’d call a men’s 5,000m championship race at this level a jog in the park, but if not that, it was certainly a stroll that played directly into Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s hands.

A dawdling pace with a closely bunched pack for much of the race, when it came time to kick, no one could match him.

With 2 laps to go, Ethiopia led 1-2-3. With one, it was Ethiopia’s Hagos Gebrhiwet in the lead. Ingebrigtsen surged past him, and when Ingebrigtsen had 80 meters to go, Grant Fisher (US) had 110m left. In fact, at that point, Fisher was 7^th passing into 6^th, and Kenya’s patient Ronald Kwemoi joined the race for the medals at last.

Down the homestretch, Ingebrigtsen’s lead and speed were unassailable, and he won in 13:13.66. Kwemoi held on for silver in 13:15.04, and Fisher sped by three runners in the last 35m to win his second bronze of the meet, only .09 behind Kwemoi.

Mysteriously, the Ethiopians who had seemed so strong with 2 laps to go finished 5-6-14, though Biniam Mihary in 6^th place gets a pass as he’s only 17 years old.

 *Japan’s Haruka Kitaguchi won the women’s javelin by a comfortable margin of almost two meters over South Africa’s Jo-Ane Van Dyk, 65.80 (215-10) to 63.93 (209-9), with Nikola Ogrodnikova (CZE) third in 63.68 (208-11).

Kitaguchi threw her golden winner in the first round and that let most of the competitive air out of the room. After World bronze in ’22 and gold in ’23, this had the feeling of a well-earned coronation.

In what we hope is not a changing of the guard, Kelsey-Lee Barber (Aus), two-time World and Olympic bronze medalist, and European Champion Christin Hussong (Ger), did not advance to the final. Props to surprise 2016 Olympic Champion Sara Kolak (CRO), who finished 4^th today. It’s no longer a surprise when she throws this well.

*There would be no tie this time. The men’s high jump seemed destined for a repeat of 2021, when Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi and Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim (QAT) famously agreed to tie for Olympic gold.

This competition had the makings of a repeat of that instant classic. With New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr and US’s Shelby McEwen tied for first and the competition concluded for everyone else (and with Barshim the bronze medal winner at (2.34/7-8)), the time came at 2.36 (7-8¾) for Kerr and McEwen to decide what to do. Share the gold or jump off for first and second?

Jump off it was, and after going up and then down when neither cleared the initial tie-breaking height of 2.38 (7-9¾), in the end it was a clearance by Hamish at 2.34 that finally broke the tie. Gold was his. Hamish, the 2024 World Indoor champion, tied an area record for Oceania, while McEwen in second set a personal best of 2.36 (he cleared 2.36 on the way up and missed during the tiebreaker on the way down).

Tamberi, who had been quite ill and had been in the hospital that week (and, it’s widely reported, the morning of the competition), was out early at a modest for him 2.22 (7 3¼) in 11^th place.

*The men’s 800m had a familiar ring to it. The 2012 Olympic race is widely regarded as one of the greatest ever run, led by David Rudisha’s world record 1:40.91. The top 5 broke 1:43 and all 8 finalists broke 1:44.

In Paris, Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya just missed Rudisha’s world record while winning in a PB 1:41.19 today. Canada’s Marco Arop missed winning by 1/100^th of a second in 1:41.20. Wanyonyi and Arop used opposite strategies as Wanyonyi was first to the bell while Arop was last.

Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati won bronze in 1:41.50, and US’s Bryce Hoppel set an American Record of 1:41.67 in 4^th. It’s remarkable to consider that Hoppel ran 1:41.67 and did not medal.

But for Rudisha’s world record in 2012, today places 2-8 were faster than their counterparts in Rudisha’s epic race.

*Women’s 100m hurdles With Masai Russell’s US Olympic Trials win, you could just see her coming.

Masai Russell wins the 100m hurdles

Photo by Dan Vernon for World Athletics

And when two-time World champion Danielle Williams and World record holder Tobi Amusan (NGR) failed to make the final, the door was open wider than many expected it to be.

Nonetheless, the women’s 100m hurdles final was, as always, one of the deepest to make. While two of the heavy favorites were out, the defending champion was in. Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn was now a favorite to repeat.

In an exceedingly close race – close competitions were a hallmark of these Games – the top 3 finished within 3/100 of a second of each other in 12.33, 12.34, and 12.36.

Russell had the perfect lean on the single day she needed it most, and she emerged as Olympic champion.

France’s Cyrena Samba-Mayela has won both gold and silver indoors at 60m, but had not yet proved herself over the longer (100m) outdoor distance. Today she all but mastered the extra 40m, as she fell 1/100 of a second short of an Olympic title. Still, she was a very unexpected wearer of silver at the end of the day. Camacho-Quinn was savvy enough to put herself on the podium once again, this time in third.

Nadine Visser (NED, 12.43) and Grace Stark (US, 12.43) rounded out the top 5, all five of whom finished within 1/10 of a second of each other. Shuffle that deck of cards 10 times and see how often it comes out the same.

*Women’s 4x400m relay The world records that concern me the most are the leftovers from the second half of the twentieth century – the ones that reek of taint and suspicion. Whether for a faulty wind gauge (women’s 100m) or overt doping, one that has stuck in my craw is the women’s 4x400m relay. The record setting USSR team ran 3:15.17 in 1988.

I had hoped that the US all-star team of Shamier Little, Sydney McLaughlin-Verone, Gabby Thomas, and Alexis Holmes might wipe the 1988 mark off the books.

Well, almost. The US team won by a Secretariat-like margin of over 4 seconds in 3:15.27, just a tenth of a second off the world record.

The US national record was 3:15.51, and that one did fall on Sunday. Rare that first, second, and third places should all run national records. Not to mention 4^th and 5^th!

The Netherlands and Great Britain were 2^nd and 3^rd in 3:19.50 and 3:19.72, while Ireland and France were 4^th and 5^th in 3:19.90 and 3:21.41, respectively.

An epic, historic race of almost inconceivable depth, and even with that depth, a dominating win. Perhaps the US All-Stars will gather at the World Championships in Tokyo next year and take care of unfinished business.

*Men’s 4x400m relay Perhaps they’ll be joined there by the US men on a parallel quest. They won in Paris in 2:54.53, #2 all-time behind the US 1993 WR of 2:54.29 (a race that closed out the Stuttgart World Championships, a race I was privileged to see). As that was Worlds, this is an Olympic Record.

Botswana was 2^nd in 2:54.53, just a tenth behind the US, while Great Britain took bronze in 2:55.83. The next three places also scored national records, with Japan snagging an Area record as well.

4^th was Belgium (with only two Borlee brothers on the team - how many could there possibly be?!) with South Africa 5^th and Japan 6^th, in 2:57.75, 2:58.12, and  2:58.83, respectively.

16-year-old Quincy Wilson’s epic season went a race too far. He opened the 4x400m semi-final by running 47.27, far off his PB of 44.20. Too much was asked of this engaging kid, and he had a protector in veteran Vernon Norwood who deflected any criticism of the decision to run Wilson in the Olympics.

Gotta give the kid credit. He has gold medal social skills, and brought us all back to earth with a social media post that went viral.

It’s a selfie with Wilson holding his gold medal and the caption, “Dang, I really got school in 2 and a half weeks.”

Two 4x400m relays.

Two gold medals.

Two #2 times ever.

Imagine if the meet had ended with two world records.

*Men’s Marathon Much was made of the course, and with good reason. The much-discussed steepness of the major hill proved to be the break point for Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola – a late replacement for injured teammate Sisey Lemma.

And when I say late… Tola had only two weeks to make the mental adjustments necessary to prepare for running the Olympic marathon. The 2016 10,000m bronze medalist had made a change to road running because of his disappointment at not winning gold at 10k.

I think he’s over his disappointment now. He broke one of the greatest Olympic records, the late Sammy Wanjiru’s epic 2:06:32 run in the heat and humidity of Beijing in 2008, by six seconds.

Second was Tokyo bronze medalist Bashir Abdi (BEL) 2:06:47, who gained international attention in 2021 when he was in 3^rd place in the final stretch of the marathon but in serious trouble and fading fast. His teammate, Abdi Ngeeye, slowed to encourage him to make it to the finish line, and he won a hard-fought bronze.

Today, Abdi added silver to his Tokyo bronze and crossed the line more comfortably. With his 2021 World Championship bronze from 2021, he has one of the best competitive records - 3 medals - in World/Olympic competition in the last three years.

Benson Kipruto (KEN) 2:07:00, who was only 13 seconds behind Abdi, added bronze to his three World Marathon Majors titles - at Tokyo, Chicago, and Boston – in the last three years.

The cream of the crop rose to the top in this race, and it leaves one wondering why Tola wasn’t an initial selection on the Ethiopian team.

Sad to say, Kenya’s 39-year-old Eliud Kipchoge did not finish. One of the two greatest male marathoners in history, it looks like his Olympic flame is flickering at  long last.

*Women’s Marathon The International Olympic Committee gets props for scheduling the women’s marathon as the last event – the first time in Olympic history that a women’s event closed the Games.  In addition, the IOC achieved its goal of having equal numbers of men and women’s competitors in these Olympic Games – for the very first time.

No one better one to receive her gold medal during Closing Ceremonies than the Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan, who hung just off the main pack for much of the race and sped – yes, sped! – to a glorious win in an Olympic Record of 2:22:55.

Hassan and Ethiopia’s marathon world record holder, Tigst Assefa, tangled briefly close to the finish as each was attempting to run the same tangent. But Hassan’s momentum was too much for Assefa, who finished second, three seconds behind Hassan, in 2:22:58.

Kenya’s Hellen Obiri (2:23:10) and Sharon Lokedi (2:23:14 PB) finished 3^rd and 4^th as only 22 seconds separated the top four.

Hassan achieved a rare place in Olympic history as she won three distance running medals: bronze at 5,000m, bronze at 10,000m, and gold in the marathon – a truly stupendous achievement.

The Dutch have a cheer for their national teams and athletes: Hup, Holland! I can only imagine my Dutch mother reveling in the achievements of Sifan Hassan. 

In case you were wondering what the Olympic Marathon hill was like!

Photo by Mattia Ozbot for World Athletics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paris Day 7

Kenneth Rooks Rocks the Steeplechase

by Mark Cullen

Sophomore Kenneth Rooks winning the 

2015 Washington State small schools XC title

Photo copyright by and courtesy of Northwest Sports Photography

(Note the white finish line at the bottom of the photo.)

We should have known about this Rooks kid.

We should have seen it coming.

After all, a prescient fall tells all.

Kenneth Rooks took quite a tumble early in the 2023 USATF steeplechase championships. Memorably, he got up, worked his way back from a 40-50 meter deficit and unleashed a withering kick to win.

While he was at it, he set a personal record of 8:16.78, in spite of his brief close up visit with the surface of Eugene's track.

That kick should have foretold all.

Last Wednesday, Rooks unleashed it on the global stage and won steeple silver at the Olympic Games.

Following Cole Hocker’s 1500m win, this was the second day in a row the US gave a shocking distance performance at the Paris Games. 

It was a transformative two days.

At the very least, the final sprint was expected to be between Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco, defending Olympic and two-time World steeple champion, and Lachema Girma (Eth), 4x World and Olympic silver medalist.

Kenya’s Abraham Kibiwot, bronze medalist at the 2023 Worlds, was certainly expected to be in the mix as well.

Rooks’ finish was final drive as much as sprint. He jumped the field and stormed to the front with one lap left. An audacious move, one which caught the entire field completely off guard.

Rooks led the Olympic final by almost ten meters with 250m left, and was in a clear position for a medal with 150m to go.

At that point El Bakkali, Rooks, and Kibiwott had separated themselves from the pack, and winning an Olympic medal was a matter of clearing the last hurdle.

El Bakkali caught up to Rooks and took the lead, even as Rooks stormed down the homestretch with Kibiwott in close pursuit.

El Bakkali passed Rooks and won in 8:06.05, while Rooks’ 8:06.41 for silver is a personal best by over 8 seconds. Kibiwot’s 8:06.47 earned him major meet bronze for the second consecutive year.

El Bakkali deserves credit for coming back from so far off the pace. He was 7^th with more than 250m, two hurdles, and a water jump to go.

But this was uncharted territory for Rooks – over a second per lap faster than he had ever run before. El Bakkali knows this territory well, as his PB is 7:56.68.

Rooks knows territory of a different kind. 

He won the 2015 Washington State small schools (1B/2B) cross country title as a high school sophomore. His winning time was 15:46.6 on the rolling 5k course at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco. 

As a junior, his College Place High School had moved up to the 1A classification and he finished 4^th in 15:59.6.

It was his 1A XC title in 2017, his senior year, that foretold how he would employ the gritty, fearless running style he now is known for.

Rooks blasted from the starting line and up the 100m hill that defines the challenging Sun Willows course.

He passed the mile mark in 4:50.4, with second place already six seconds behind.

It was not much different at two miles: a 9:59 split with second place now 8 seconds in arrears.

Rooks continued to apply relentless pressure in the third mile and won by almost 17 seconds in 15:18.80.

Sound familiar?

At the Olympic Games, he turned the screws on everyone but the defending Olympic Champion. He stuck with the pack and never let go. In a sometimes crowded field - and with the whole world watching - he maintained both composure and place.

As an official at the State cross country championships for 35 years - and stationed 40m from the finish - I’ve seen every Washington State cross country champion cross the finish line since 1988.

Including Rooks, twice.

As a coach, I’ve coached in both of the classifications of which Rooks was a part.

Which gave us the basis for a conversation in the mixed zone in 2023, the day he got up off the track and won.

First, we established that he is from College Place High School and not Walla Walla High School, which is up the road a piece in Eastern Washington, and several times the size of College Place. 

In that neck of the woods, it’s very important not to conflate the two.

We spoke of coaches we knew in common, and of Washington State high school athletes who were succeeding on the national stage.

We spoke about his NCAA title that year, and of his USATF national title that day - the one which said that the NCAA win was no fluke and that he was here to stay.

“I just reminded myself of Henry Marsh who ran from the back of the race,” he said in the mixed zone. “I wanted to run competitively today, whether I was able to be in the top three or not.”

On Wednesday, Rooks ran competitively alright. 

Imagine the post-race conversations in the Kenyan, Ethiopian, and Moroccan camps. They now have someone new to contend with, not to mention a fresh approach to the event.

A fearless one.

A courageous one.

Kick with 400m to go – why not?

Epilogue: August 7, 2024

They’ve gotta begin somewhere, and it’s most gratifying of all when you’ve seen them from the start.

Sometimes that start is the Washington State small schools cross country meet. Remarkably, that race was created by sports equity legislation I wrote in 1996, 28 years ago.

Sometimes the reward for a life in track and field is a day like this.

Special thanks to Cindy Adsit of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) for arranging use of the photo of Kenneth Rooks, and to Northwest Sports Photography for allowing its use. I am grateful to you both.