20k Race Walk Festival in Salem

Ticket to Rio

Men’s and Women’s 20k Race Walks

“This is my ticket to Rio!” exclaimed Maria Michta-Coffey while holding her Olympic Trials 20k race walk gold medal. Michta-Coffey won Thursday’s Olympic Trials race in Salem, OR, in 1:33:40.8, under the Olympic qualifying standard of 1:36:00. She is joined on the US team by Miranda Melville who was 2^nd in 1:34:11.1. Bronze medal winner Katie Burnett finished in a non-qualifying 1:41:12.2.

While winner John Nunn (1:25:36.1) finished outside the 1:24:00 standard, he earlier had qualified in the men’s 50k walk, so his ticket to Rio is already stamped. He was followed by the resurgent Trevor Barron (1:27:27.1) and Nick Christie (1:27:43.3). Nunn noted that today’s time qualifies him for next year’s London World Championships, “… so there’s that silver lining.”

Miles and Meters Olympic Trials Podcast with Steve Sievert

Was delighted to be invited by Steve Sievert of the Miles and Meters website to discuss our predictions of the top 10 storylines coming out of the Olympic Trials.

Click here for the link: Miles and Meters Olympic Trials Podcast.

I had a terrific time and am grateful to Steve for the invitation to join him. We both hope you will enjoy the podcast. Let's see how we did with our predictions - the next 10 days will tell!

Running Shoe Collection Noted in Oregonian Story

Many thanks to Andrew Greif of the Portland Oregonian and the OregonLive.com network for highlighting my vintage running shoe collection in his terrific story about Jordan Geller's successful attempt to outbid Nike for the first Nike "moon shoes" worn in competition.

The article is available at: Moon Shoes Acquisition.

You'll need to scroll deep into Greif's definitive article to read his reference to my collection and my coincidental meeting with Nike co-founder Phil Knight at the World Indoor Track and Field Championships in Portland in March. I had just been interviewed by 1996 Olympic decathlon gold medalist Dan O'Brien for USATF's Cool Down program. I had a bag with 5 of the rarest shoes in one hand and the inventory lists in the other!