Golden Disc

Valarie Allman won the gold medal in the discus on Tuesday. The Stanford graduate nailed her first throw at 68.98/226-4 and was never headed in the diffcult conditions, which featured a Helsinki-esque downpour during which the event was suspended.

Germany's Kristin Pudenz picked a mighty fine time to record a personal best and won silver with her 219-4/66.86. Cuba's Jaime Perez was the defending world champion, and her 215-7/65.72 won her first Olympic medal.

In early 2020, Allman's coach Zeb Zion, the assistant at the University of Texas (and someone who should really renegotiate his contract now that he has coached an Olympic gold medalist) posted a video on Twitter of Allman's first throw of the year. This was over 17 months ago.

Here is the link to that video:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1232348391390240769

And here is my response:

Mark Cullen

@trackerati

·

Feb 25, 2020

Did you notice? That discus landed on the podium.

@vallman123

@CoachSion

@oiselle

@oiselle_sally

#Tokyo2020 #TokyoOlympics

@nationalthrows

@McthrowsDotcom #ThrowsBySion

@MTCthrowers

@GreyhoundPrezX

@SOJCtrack

Quote Tweet

Zebulon R. Sion

@CoachSion

· Feb 25, 2020

First full throw of 2020 for @vallman123 • #ThrowsBySion #Discus #Athletics Tokyo

Meanwhile, a note about the next several days... I was about to post this when a certain 400m hurdle race took place. There's another one tonight and I urge you all to watch. With the current and former world record holders going head-to-head in a matchup that is every bit as good as Warholm/Benjamin, Dalilah Muhammad and Sydney McGloughlin - and Holland's Femke Bol - are sure to light up Olympic Stadium once again.

I now move into a two-day period of writing for Track and Field News, and I'll post links to my hammer throw articles for them once they're posted. See you all on Thursday - and keep watching!

The Signature Moment of These Games

Every year Sports Illustrated chooses their Sportspeople of the Year. 

The 2021 competition is now over.

With their historic decision to share gold in the men's high jump, Mutazz Essa Barshim (Qatar) and Gianmarco Tamberi (Italy) made SI's job much easier. 

Nothing will top this this year, though it's not a reason to stop trying. 

Consider the worldwide reaction to the decision of these two close friends. 

Consider that Gamberi used his cast as his place marker for determining his steps, as if to thumb his nose at the injury.

Such profound admiration they have for each other.

Such deep and abiding respect.

Such caring during their respective devastating injuries, ones which for others might well have been career-ending.

The signature moment of these Games.

Finally - Finals!

After an extra year's wait and much anticipation, the first multiple-finals day of Olympic competition did not disappoint. 

Elaine Thompson-Herah sped to a 10.61 win in the 100m, a time so fast it knocked even Florence Griffith-Joyner's name off the masthead as Olympic record holder. Legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was second in 10.74, with Jamaican teammate Shericka Jackson third in 10.76. The depth of these times is remarkable, as is the Jamaican sweep - though a Jamaican sweep in the sprints is no longer a surprise. 

Their times rank #2, 8, and 11 on the world all-time list, and many are saying that this is the greatest women's 100m ever run. Tough to disagree, with the usual caveats for time (era), place (dirt track or Mondo), and shoe company. 

Meanwhile, the 4x100m world record is just as nervous as the other 7 teams in the sprint relay final.

Each of the medalists in the shot put has a story. China's Gong Lijiao won her third medal but got to stand on the podium for the first time. The other two times she advanced to the podium only after drug cheats ahead of her were DQed, long after the competition was over. Dame Valerie Adams (NZ) won bronze, her 4th Olympic medal, two of which are gold. Did I mention her 4 World Championship titles?

Raven Saunders (US) won silver. The courageous 3-time NCAA champ at the University of Mississippi, Saunders experienced a rough transition from collegiate to international competition. She was one of the first to come out publicly about the need for mental health awareness among elite athletes. Her path was cause for much concern; online, she was open and brutally honest about her struggle. 

With a newfound sense of her purpose - as well as her place - in the sport, she displayed in Tokyo a return to the confidence she exhibited early in her career.

Saunders made the most of her Olympic experience: not only did she win silver, she wore a "Joker" mask that got international attention as it went wild on Twitter. More seriously, she is direct in taking on anti-gay venom online. However, her online sweep is broad; she lamented her looming return to US toilet seats, the ones in Japan apparently having spoiled her for life. 

Highly recommended is her Twitter feed @ravenHULKSaunders. Do yourself a favor and follow her. She misses nothing.

(Update: no sooner had I posted this than I was made aware of Saunders' podium protest. I've not been seeking out medal ceremonies - perhaps I should.)

Sweden's Daniel Stahl was an expected winner of discus gold. It always helps to be grounded in the familiar in international meets far away from home. Training partner Simon Pettersson surprised no one more than himself by joining his close friend on the podium with silver and a discus 1-2 for Sweden.

Meanwhile, the path to 100m gold now seems to be through the 400m. Both Shericka Jackson (bronze) and Fred Kerley (silver) were 400m specialists before they stepped down (or up, depending on your point of view) to the 100m. How does 400m experience affect 100m performance? 

The 100m does not have single components in the Olympics in the same way a one-race invitational would. Rather, it rewards a combination of strength and speed as the event progresses through four rounds over the course of a day and a half. Strength helps. It's not uncommon for the finals to be slower than the semis, but this time around, the finals times were astonishing:

10.61

10.74

10.76

10.91

10.97

10.99

11.02

11.12

Imagine running 10.76 in your 4th race in a day and a half - and getting bronze!

In the US Olympics Trials women's 100m, the speed was in the semi-finals (3rd round), not the finals (4th).

Semis         Finals

10.64         10.86

10.83         10.99

10.84         11.03

10.95         11.11

10.96         11.15

10.96         11.16

10.98         11.20

11.03         11.22

Finally, Poland's surprise victory in the mixed 4x400m relay has been cause for much national celebration. And it's always a surprise when, no matter the format, a US 4x400 team is 3rd. But the Athletes of the Day are clearly the silver-medal winning team from the Dominican Republic. 

They were as unlikely to win silver as, say, an Italian winning the men's 100m. Who could ever imagine that?! (With apologies to Pietro Minnea...!)

Off and Running

With only one final in the books, the sport of track and field can at least claim a near classic. 21 year old Selemon Barega won the men's 10,000 meter race, holding off Uganda's dynamic duo of Joseph Cheptegai (24) and Jacob Kiplimo (20). Hard to believe these are Uganda's first track and field distance medals as Cheptegai has already won World track and cross country championships and set world records at both 5,000 + 10,000 meters. 

Barega was a relative unknown when he won the Diamond League final at 5,000m at age 18 in Brussels. He ran 4:01.1 per mile pace (pause and absorb that) for the entire race, and 3:58.88 for the last 5 laps!

Here was my take on that race, which I was beyond privileged to see in person; take a moment to absorb these epic stats:

http://www.trackerati.com/2018/08/epic-mens-5000m.html#more

There was considerable conversation about the chances of the US runners in a race in which they historically have not done so well (forgive me for saying so the day after the 57th anniversary of Billy Mills' astonishing win!). 

Why? Because they ran so well in blazing heat in Eugene to make the team to begin with. So it was not an entire surprise to see Grant Fisher finish 5th, but it certainly was a welcome one. With so much emphasis on shoes and surfaces and pacing lights, it's refreshing to know that a brilliantly executed strategy still has its place, for Barega as well as Fisher.

In the runup to the Olympics, there was, quite understandably, much emphasis on Covid. In the bid process for the Games, there was much discussion of the weather.

If not for Covid, the weather might be dominating Olympic conversation. It played a huge role in making the 10,000m a race rather than a time trial. US 400m hurdles runner, Anna Cockrell, said after her first round race today, "It's soupy out here," and "I'm burning up." Please credit this as the only publication to mention Cockrell without mentioning her teammates.

The empty stadium might well have played a role in an 800m heat. Immediately after the gun went off, a runner stopped as the sound of the starter's gun ricochet around the stadium. There was, however, no recall gun, but the race was restarted nonetheless. 

The day was marred when the whispers of the last 24 hours unfortunately came true. Rumors abounded that there had been a positive drug test of a major athlete. Sorry that it's Nigeria's Blessing Okagbare, nabbed for HGH - human growth hormone. 

Okagbare has had a lengthy career at the top, and I'll note her age - 32 - only to make that point that it's not unusual for athletes to take performance enhancers after the age of 30, presumably to extend careers and the attendant income-producing opportunities.

Meanwhile, on days when it's 90F and with 80% humidity in Tokyo, I hereby declare that it's tacky to call first-rounds 'heats' or paces 'torrid.' 

Dateline: The Couch

 Greetings track fans. Greetings field fans. The hardiest among you will be watching the 1st round of the women's 100m right now. This is where the Olympics is the Olympics. Athletes from around the world come in search of PBs, national records, and glories yet to be defined. They've traveled a long way and under possibly fearful conditions. 

Someone comes in with a PB of 12.25 and leaves at 11.74, never to advance but having done herself and her country proud. This is the Olympics, and we'll know better 10 days from now if it all will have been worthwhile. She thinks so.

I'm approaching these Games a bit differently than I have in all but one of the previous eight. The predictions I have done in the past will morph into commentary about the events as they progress, most especially once we know the finalists. But I will comment on those results and try to give them some context. Here in the Pacific time zone finals begin as early as 4:15 am. Have I mentioned I'm old?! 

I have an epic schedule on Tuesday and Wednesday when I'll be covering the women's and men's hammer throws for Track and Field News - all of a sudden the fifth time I'll be covering majors for the magazine. That went fast. The women's final begins on Tuesday at 4:35 am Pacific - with a deadline 12 hours after the event finishes! Wednesday: rinse and repeat, only with a 4:15 am start.

While I hope we can all revel - sooner or later - in the achievements of these remarkable athletes, I'm well aware that that enthusiasm might well be muted, especially at first. Imagine the crowd reaction - had there been a crowd - in the first men's steeplechase heat today when Japan's Ryuji Miura unexpectedly shattered the national record with his 8:09.92, which is fast even without barriers. Suddenly he's someone to watch - someone totally unexpected - and the excitement grows. 

Looking forward to having that excitement grow with you over the course of the next 10 days. Thanks for checking in.

Hammerfest Part Deux: DeAnna Price Sets the American Record - Twice!

 Epic Women's Hammer: Track and Field News has posted my report on the remarkable women's hammer throw at the US Olympic Track and Field Trials. DeAnna Price twice set the American Record in the second 'hammerfest' of the week! The article is available at: https://bit.ly/3dpVgAp

The Talented Prefontaines: Steve and Linda

In honor of the men's Olympic Trials 5,000m race today at Hayward Field, I am posting "Steve" - the story of what happened between Steve Prefontaine and me the day he won the 1972 Olympic Trials 5000m. http://www.trackerati.com/2015/05/steve.html

Here, too, is the link to my article "Linda Prefontaine's Tour de Pre" in which you'll discover just how talented the entire family is: http://www.trackerati.com/2017/07/linda-prefontaines-tour-de-pre.html

And the link to the Tour de Pre Facebook page, which includes tour  registration information: http://www.trackerati.com/2017/07/linda-prefontaines-tour-de-pre.html

Linda Prefontaine 

with 

Billy Mills

at the 

Prefontaine Murals

Coos Bay, Oregon

Photo: Mark Cullen

Hammerfest! Rudy Winkler Sets the American Record

Epic Men's Hammer: Track and Field News has posted my report on the remarkable men's hammer throw at the US Olympic Track and Field Trials. Rudy Winkler set the American Record in what became a festival-like atmosphere on the southern periphery of Hayward Field. The article is available at: https://bit.ly/3d2b7Fc

The Shot Heard 'Round the World

This one had been brewing for a long time.

Ryan Crouser shattered the world shot put record with his prodigious 4th round throw of 76' 8 1/4" / 23.37 at today's US Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Oregon.

Photo Credit: Tim Healy TrackTown USA

The Rio 2016 Olympic gold medalist, long seen as the heir apparent of the world shot put record, ended the suspense with a throw so perfect he was celebrating before it landed. Fellow competitors hugged him before the mark was posted. They knew.

"That's it right there!" screamed Payton Otterdahl while embracing Crouser. 

Photo Credit: Andy Eberhardt for Track Town USA

Crouser demolished the previous world record by 10". His performance was part of an epic competition in which there were 14 throws over 70'.

71-8 (21.84) got you only 5th! Just ask Shore AC's Josh Awotunde, whose personal best did just that.

Darrell Hill was a heartbreaking 4th by only 1", while Payton Otterdahl realized his early potential by making his first Olympic Team with his 5th round 71'11"/21.92 personal best to finish 3rd.

2019 World Champion Joe Kovacs had a remarkable no-foul 6-throw series in which each throw exceeded 70'. He gained a firm footing on second place with his 5th round 73-3 1/2/22.34 to make his second Olympic team. 

The US sends an exceptionally - historically - deep shot put team to the Olympic Games. 

Crouser had presaged his memorable mark with a Trials record 22.92/75-2.5 in the afternoon qualifying, his 2nd best throw ever.

Crouser's worldwide competitors should be worried. In thorough analysis of his technique today, Crouser was balanced in describing what he had done well and what he could do better.

However, he said, "...that was nowhere near the perfect throw."

~by Mark Cullen

Hammer Time at NCAAs

I've been covering the NCAA women's and men's hammer throws for Track and Field News in Eugene this week. 

Two scintillating competitions highlighted by Camryn Rogers' two Collegiate Records!

Here are links to my two articles:

https://trackandfieldnews.com/ncaa-championships-wednesday-mens-report/

https://trackandfieldnews.com/ncaa-championships-thursday-report/

Florida's NCAA Hammer Champion Thomas Mardal

photo courtesy of NCAA

A request for a photo of Camryn Rogers is pending.

The House that Waffles Built

Welcome World!

As the international track and field/athletics world celebrates the opening - or re-opening - of Eugene's Hayward Field, I am posting several photos I have taken of Hayward Field in its differing iterations since 2014. Also posted is Bill Bowerman's statement from 1973 in which he thanks sponsors for the rebuilding of the West Grandstand. Yes, we have been down this road before!

In addition, in the left and right columns you'll find

treasures from my collection of track and field memorabilia which I acquired during my years at the University of Oregon in the early 1970s. There is a direct connection between the waffle-soled shoes you see here and the construction of the new Hayward Field. Without those shoes, is there a new stadium?

I began running in Bill Bowerman's beginning running class in the fall of '71 and saved everything: 28 pairs of shoes, including a pair from the waffle iron, and over 220 items, including programs, posters, t-shirts, autographs, and Blue Ribbon Sports and Nike memorabilia. I'll be adding to these columns steadily as the Olympic Trials (2021) and then the World Championships (2022) approach. In the meantime, I hope these treasures help to get you charged up for track and field again!

Underway

Waiting for Opening Day

Almost There!

1975 thank you note from Bill Bowerman to sponsors 

for their support of the rebuilding of the West Grandstand.

From the program for the Oregon Twilight Meet

April 26, 1975

See program cover in left column.

Oregon Daily Emerald

May 18, 1973

The Venerable East Grandstand

July 21, 2014, 11:20 pm

The night before the beginning of the World Junior Championships

Photo credits

Memorabilia from the Cullen Collection 

(left and right-hand columns):

 Devan Kirk

Hayward Field: Mark Cullen

Copyright 2021 All Rights Reserved

Echoes of Silence

In honor of Tommie Smith and John Carlos. 2014 dedication of the 1968 high altitude training camp and Olympic Trials site at Echo Summit, CA, as a California Historical Landmark - a story of that day, and of their times. Addendum reflects recent scholarship on the ‘third man on the podium,’ Australia’s fast-closing silver medalist, Peter Norman.

photo credit: www.usatoday.community

Peter Norman (silver)

Tommie Smith (gold, world record)

John Carlos (bronze)

Men’s 200m victory ceremony, 1968 Olympics,

 Mexico City

Echoes of Silence

by Mark Cullen

June 27, 2014

The 1968 US Men’s Olympic track and field team, arguably the greatest ever assembled, was honored today with the recognition of the Echo Summit, CA, US Men’s Track and Field Olympic Trials and high-altitude training site as a California Historical Landmark.

A crowd of several hundred gathered to celebrate the track and field legends who put their stamp on US social, cultural, and athletic history.

Members of the ’68 team in attendance were Tommie Smith, John Carlos, Ed Caruthers, Norm Tate, Reynaldo Brown, Larry Young, Tracy Smith, Mel Pender, Ed Burke, Geoff Vanderstock, and Bill Toomey. Smith and Carlos were the featured speakers.

Four world records were set during the Olympic Trials at the 7382’/2250m elevation of the Echo Summit site, chosen for its nearly identical elevation to that of Olympic host Mexico City.

The ceremony was at the same time touching and moving, high-spirited and celebratory. It had the look and feel of a family reunion. The eloquent remarks of the speakers were greeted with repeated and sustained standing ovations by the knowledgeable and enthusiastic crowd.

Bob Burns, former Sacramento Bee reporter and the force behind the recognition of Echo Summit, said, “Few teams mirrored the social climate of their times as much as the ’68 Olympic track team did the 1960s.”

Jill Geer, USATF Chief Public Affairs Officer, cited “the importance of these people not only to sport but to society.” Geer pointed out that while the team is rightly noted for its 12 Olympic gold medalists, 20 of its team members have been inducted into the USATF Hall of Fame. “This team was so good that you didn’t have to win a gold medal to make it to the Hall of Fame.”

California state historian William Burg said that of over 1,000 California historic sites, Echo Summit is “the only one associated with both sports and civil rights history.”

South Lake Tahoe Mayor Pro-Tem Brooke Laine paid tribute to Walt Little, South Lake Tahoe’s Recreation Director in the 1950s and ‘60s, who was instrumental in convincing Bill Bowerman, Director of the US Olympic High Altitude Training Program, to accept the Echo Summit bid.

Little’s sons, Walt Jr. and Bill, in a stirring memorial, revealed that their family had lost their house as their father had used mortgage funds to help pay for athletes’ food.

Walt Little, Jr., said that their father was motivated “because of the Olympians and what they stood for. Dad carved his dream of a track and field arena out of the ice, the snow, and the trees. Echo Summit became the most beautiful track and field arena the world has ever seen.”

John Carlos lauded Little as “an icon in the world of athletics.”

“We are proud to have been a small part of your success,” Little, Jr., said to the assembled athletes. “Welcome home.”

My youth was marked by political violence: the assassination of the President when I was 11 and of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy when I was 16. Shortly before the 1968 Olympic Trials began, there were riots at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Upon the opening of the Olympics in Mexico City, protests there were brutally suppressed. The 1963 March on Washington was peaceful, but by 1968 there was a growing divide in both the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements over what kinds of action to take.

That discussion was reflected in the choices made by athletes at Echo Summit. To boycott the Olympics or not? African-American athletes were under heavy pressure to do so. But all made the same choice: to represent their country in Mexico City.

When Tommie Smith and John Carlos, gold and bronze medal winners in the Mexico City 200m, took the victory stand and raised their glove-covered fists in silent protest, I was awestruck at the peaceful eloquence of their statement.

They spoke to the whole world without uttering a single word.

The next day, the US Olympic Committee, under threat by the IOC of having the entire US team disqualified from the Olympics, dismissed Smith and Carlos from the team and they were forced to leave Mexico City immediately.

Tommie Smith and John Carlos have been united for life by their singular act as young men. They have traversed the territory from outcasts to heroes. Their “protest on the victory stand in Mexico City is one of the iconic images of the 1960s and the civil rights movement,” said Burns.

After their peaceful protest, Smith and Carlos paid a heavy personal price, and it was common to find them denounced in the US media for what were characterized as unpatriotic acts.

“Mr. Smith and I, in particular,” said Carlos, “we were vilified.”

Carlos noted the irony of the fact that he and Smith are now regarded as patriots and said, “All the individuals on this team are patriots… In many ways they tried to divide our team: these guys are civil rights activists, these guys are athletes. These guys are for a boycott, these guys are not for a boycott.”

“I’m just here to let you know now that we are one. We have been one all along.”

Smith and Carlos reflected on their days at Echo Summit. Both expressed gratitude and appreciation to the US Forest Service for their support of the ‘100 Days at Tahoe’ in 1968 as well as Friday’s ceremony.

“Look around and you see the goodness,” Smith said to the many youth foresters who staffed this event. “My heart is so full now.”

Smith remembered what it was like to take the turn from Highway 50 to the track at Echo Summit. “I hated to see that turn because that meant I had to train against him, and to train against John Carlos is no fun at all! You would have to run a world best just to stay in his shadow,” said Smith.

Smith noted the humor that came with practicing at a site that was carved out of a forest. When Bob Seagren came down from a 17’ pole vault clearance, Smith recalled, “I thought he had fallen out of a tree!” 

To say that they raised the bar for each other is to put it mildly. “Tommie and John had to run awfully fast to put themselves in a position to mount a protest that will outlast any record,” said Burns.

Carlos paid tribute to the US athletes who watched the Olympics from home.

'I have to remember those individuals who did not make the team… It’s just unfortunate that God put so many of us in a cluster and we could only pick three. But it didn’t stop us in terms of who we were as human beings... as civil libertarians... as people that were concerned about humanity.'

Smith reflected on his remaining time on this earth. “I hope that it’s longer than I feel sometimes… Sometimes you get up in the morning, you head for the door - and it never gets to you!”

Carlos concluded by noting that “the only downfall that we had here is the fact that we didn’t have a co-ed team. It was a shame that the women that represented this nation did not have a chance to experience the beauty, the love, the understanding, and bonding that we had.”

In 1968, their silent act of courage echoed around the world;  it reverberates still.

Today, it echoed among these trees, one last time.

photo credit: pausatf.org

Peter Norman Update

Peter Norman, Australian silver medalist, also paid dearly for his courage. He wore a badge of the Olympic Project for Human Rights in support of Smith and Carlos, and for this he, too, was vilified in his home country. 

In spite of the fact that he met the 1972 100m and 200m qualifying marks repeatedly, was the 200m defending silver medalist and the Australian 200m record holder (and still is to this day), he was not named to Australia’s 1972 Olympic team. To Australia’s eternal shame, Norman was not invited to the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

It was in 2012 that the Australian Parliament finally apologized to Norman.

Too little too late; he had died in 2006.

Smith and Carlos, lifelong friends of Norman’s, served as pallbearers at his funeral.

Research credit for information about Peter Norman: Riccardo Gazzaniga.

Track and Field Autographs of a Lifetime

Program signed at the dedication of the Echo Summit, CA, site of the

1968 US Olympic High Altitude Training Center and Olympic Trials

June 27, 2014

Photo copyright 2014 Mark Cullen. All Rights Reserved

Copyright 2014  Mark Cullen/Trackerati.com. All Rights Reserved

Listen to the Universe, Dudes!

Ayoub Harrouchi and Mark Cullen
Note the Little Mermaid over Harrouchi's shoulder.

A year ago today I had one of the most memorable travel experiences of my life. 

I was in Denmark on my way to Aarhus and the World Cross Country Championships. At the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen, I ran into a kind man from Morocco, Ayoub Harrouchi. We took each other's photos at the mermaid, chatted for a while, and then went our separate ways. 

I was kicking myself for not having exchanged contact info with this nice and thoughtful man. 

Hours later, as I was about to cross a street, I looked over my right shoulder - and there he was at the window of a coffee shop bar! I went inside and we talked for a long time. We also met for coffee the next day before he departed, and yes, this time we exchanged contact info. 

Utterly remarkable that our paths crossed a second time within hours in a city of over 2 million. 

Ayoub and I have exchanged notes a few times since, and I had especially looked forward to a reunion this May during the Diamond League track and field meeting in Rabat, but for obvious reasons I won't be making that trip this year. The world is a very different place than it was a year ago, and in ways I could not have imagined. 

Nonetheless, this experience in Copenhagen gives me hope. The universe stated rather clearly, "Dudes (yes, the universe says "dudes!"), you were supposed to stay in touch!" 

Miraculously, it gave us a second chance. 

Happy Friendship Anniversary to my kind friend, Ayoub, in Morocco.

Prefontaine Classic and Bowerman Mile Named World Athletics Legends

Millrose Games, Wanamaker Mile Honored As Well

by Mark Cullen

Copyright 2019. All Rights Reserved.

The Prefontaine Classic and the Bill Bowerman Mile were named World Athletics (IAAF) Heritage Legends in a ceremony honoring the greatest milers, miles, and meets in Monaco Thursday night.

The iconic United States single-day track meet was originally the Hayward Field Restoration Meet, held in 1973 and 1974. It was scheduled to be renamed the Bowerman Classic in 1975 in honor of '72 US Olympic Head Coach Bill Bowerman, but only two days after the tragic loss of distance legend Steve Prefontaine and with Bowerman's approval, the Oregon Track Club renamed the meet the Prefontaine Classic.

Steve Prefontaine and Bill Bowerman
after Pre's first sub-4:00 mile
photo credit: Milesplit.com

The Bowerman Mile is the concluding event of the Prefontaine Classic every year, and its all-time lists are dazzling. The meet itself is usually ranked by World Athletics as the #1 or #2 best single-day meet of the year (the Diamond Monaco Herculis meet is the other).

The Prefontaine Classic and the Bowerman Mile are in good company: among the others named "Legend of the Sport" were Roger Bannister and Diane Leather Charles, respectively the first man under 4:00 for the mile and the first woman under 5:00.

In addition, three other meets were accorded Legend status: The Ivo Van Damme Memorial (Brussels), the Oslo Bislett Games, and New York City's Millrose Games. Oslo's Dream Mile, Millrose's Wanamaker Mile, and the UK's Emsley Carr Mile were honored with Legend plaques as well.

Germany's Indoor Karlsruhe Meeting, site of Genzebe Dibaba's world indoor 1500m record, was honored with a Legend plaque.

Here is the complete announcement from World Athletics:
https://worldathletics.org/news/press-releases/bannister-charles-honoured-heritage-mile-nigh

Somalia's Sister

The greatest athlete in Doha was far from the track.

by Mark Cullen

Doha hotel.

Tall Dutchman, born of Somalia.

We speak of track and field, but that’s not why he’s here.

His younger sister was in the wrong place at the wrong time when a suicide bomber detonated herself in Somalia, where a rash of such attacks have taken place this year.

Among the survivors, his sister is most grievously wounded, with extensive injuries to her left face, her left shoulder, her left hip.

Here to reclaim her young adulthood.

Two days later, the lobby, a tap on my shoulder.

The tall Dutchman with his entire entourage.

This is my sister, he says, as she extends her hand from her wheelchair.

I encounter their mother at breakfast every morning, a towering familial fortress of strength and reserve. I glance and nod, my daily brief greeting.

Impenetrable.

On a day, she holds my eye.

On another, a barely perceptible nod.

Ten days sweep by.

At breakfast, a movement captures my attention. A woman is using a walker.

Her daughter.

Mother follows.

She waves.

                Copyright 2019 Mark Cullen and Trackerati.com. All rights Reserved.

Imaginary Outcome

by Mark Cullen

Copyright 2019 Mark Cullen and Trackerati.com. All rights Reserved.

Joe Kovacs
75-2/22.91
Historic Gold
Photo: Getty Images for IAAF

Last night IAAF issued a results sheet for the men's shot put. It must be a test page to make sure the system is working. On it, they have an imaginary outcome, and you can tell that the techies preparing it had a lot of fun.

It has Joe Kovacs winning in 75-2/22.91. I know there are a lot of guys throwing over 22.00/72-2 1/4 these days, but this has the winning throw almost a meter farther. I know Kovacs has been off the radar screen a bit, if you can imagine a radar not picking up Kovacs, but he's an unlikely pick for gold.

It has Ryan Crouser and Tom Walsh tied at the same distance one centimeter behind. Great to have techies who know the sport so well because this scenario tests the system's ability to break a tie on the countback, and it nailed it.

Interesting, too, that it should be Crouser and Walsh they have behind Joltin' Joe. They must have included the Prefontaine Classic results in their algorithm. There, Crouser and Walsh were co-favories, and Brazil's Darlan Romani was the unlikely winner.

Here, same scenario, different champion. At least this time Track and Field News hadn't asked me to write a feature on the winner. They did at Pre, and I was really well prepared for my story on Crouser or Walsh.

The whole idea of three guys throwing within one centimeter of each other is absurdly fun and creative. Can you imagine ever seeing an outcome like that? You and I could go outside right now - just the two of us -  and take several dozen throws with a shot and we'd never tie.

Statistically improbable.

Physcially, even more so.

Well, good one on you, mates. It was lots of fun to read this. But I have a deadline and the humor is wearing thin.

Would someone please send me the real results?

A Night at the Stadium

by Mark Cullen

Copyright 2019 Mark Cullen and Trackerati.com. All rights Reserved.

Mutaz Essa Barshim
Hometown High Jump Hero

This evening I titled my post "A Night at the Stadium" before the competition began. The general idea was to reflect what happens on any given evening of World Championship track and field. From semi-final race strategy to the interruption of the men's high jump by a medal ceremony, I wanted write without a plan and respond to what was happening in the stadium. But I'll save these for my next post and write this instead.

On my way into Doha, at the airport, I ran into a young man named Daniel and his wife. While waiting for luggage we struck up a conversation, and he grew quite interested in the championships. I urged him to come for even one night, and he picked this night, of all nights, a night of nights.

A world record by Dalilah Muhammad in the 400m hurdles, her second of the year. The crowning comeback win of Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar in the men's high jump in front of a raucous home crowd - a year's recovery from serious injury that had many doubting a return at all. A steeplechase win by the resurgent Conseslus Kipruto - by a thrilling one one-hundredth of a second. And a discus title by Cuba's Yaime Perez in her 6th attempt at a global medal. Her last major title? 2010 World Junior gold.

In a week overshadowed by drugs, Daniel chose the best night of these championships. Here's what I wrote to Daniel:

"I am so pleased that you chose tonight of all nights. To see a world record is something rare and special - when someone does something that no one else has done before.

"And Barshim on top of that - a packed house rocking and roaring.
This was track and field at its best."

So, Daniel, there's hope for this troubled sport yet. Keep on coming back. I can't always promise a night like this, but I can promise that each will be memorable in its own way. It's worked for me for 48 years.

Dahlilah Muhammad (52.16) and Sydney McLaughlin (52.23)
2xWorld Record setter with #2 all-time
Photo Credits: Getty Images for IAAF

Updated 1:47pm 10/5/2019 to include last paragraph.

Doha Dhaze - #1

Air pollution, heat, humidity, a heat index to top all - none stood in the way of a successful start to the World Track and Field Championships - yet.

As I write this, the women's marathon will start in two hours, and while I have pledged to myself that I'll watch in person one of the five midnight events, it won't be this one a starting the Championships by being on a course until 3:00am in this heat and humidity does not seem like a good idea. For someone just standing there, much less running 26 miles.

IAAF has decided to go ahead with tonight's race, and it's telling that a decision had to be made. In a press release this afternoon, IAAF made a revealing comment; read carefully and see if you see what I see.

"Any decision to alter the starting time of the event will be made by 10:30pm, on the recommendation of the IAAF Medical Delegate, who also has the authority to withdraw any athlete before or during the event if he believes the athlete is experiencing any type of severe distress."

Let's check this out: "...has the authority to withdraw any athlete before... the event..." In other words, if an athlete is so cooked by the very act of being outside before the race has even begun..."

I hope this ends well; I fear greatly that it may not.

In better news, DeAnna Price led all qualifiers in the women's hammer to remain the favorite going into Saturday's final. Gwen Berry joined her by finishing 10th of 12, and Brooke Andersen, plagued by injury at the end of the season, ended her memorable 2019 run by finishing out of the top 12. Nonetheless, Anderson is now #3 on the US all-time list and the 24 year-old is still quite young for this event. Nothing but tremendous potential here.

Price delivered a message before competition even began with a sector-splitting warmup toss that had to have left an impression on her competitors. "It was really nice," she said. "That's how it's been; that's how we've been practicing."

Gwen Berry was pleased to advance even though she seemed a bit off her earlier season form. "I was a little nervous," she explained. "I feel like I should have warmed up a little more maybe because once we got into the call room we couldn't warm up, so I'll have to take that into consideration for tomorrow."

"I feel confident about tomorrow," she said. "I got in the ring and shook out the nerves, so I'll do better tomorrow."

Brooke Andersen, "I've had some injuries come up the past few months because it's been such a long season... Unfortunately, some of them acted up before my warmups...I haven't been able to practice the last few weeks as well as I would want to."

"Right now it's hard to think of all my great accomplishments this season because this was the one thing I was working towards all season and it didn't go how I pictured it. But I definitely had a great season overall and I'm really appreciative for the season I did have and all the accomplishments I did have along the way. It's hard to see them right now - I'm just so bummed."

While her clear goal for 2020 is the Tokyo Olympics, "Right now I'll rest and take some time off and get back to it in a few weeks."

"I'm one of the youngest in the field," she reflected, but takes away the knowledge that this World Championships experience can be of substantial benefit to her as early as next year. I'll take away the experiences like going through the motions like getting through the call room and taking few warmups. It's always a little but different in each international meet.

"I've gotta get used to the net being so close," she said, "and I've got to get used to the competition feel. Being here on this  international stage - track feels way different than being at home is the US. Track is definitely more... they love track over here! They love track over here! It's great coming over here and the atmosphere - you get the whole stadium effect with all the people clapping for you. It's a really good experience for us to come over here and get all this international experience before Tokyo."

"The ring when I tested it felt faster than it did today, so it was a little funky for me. It felt a little bit slower. I didn't mind it - I just wasn't necessarily prepared for the switch up. I don't know if it was the humidity... but it's overall a great facility definitely one of the better ones I've competed in so far internationally in my experience so far - in my rookie year!"

Sometimes You Go to the Mall and This Happens

IAAF Heritage Exhibition Brings Out the Stars

by Mark Cullen

Photos and Text Copyright 2019 Mark Cullen and Trackerati.com. 
All rights Reserved.

Heritage - and Heritage in the Making
Brianne Theisen-Eaton
Jakob Ingebrigtsen
Filip Ingebrigtsen
Ashton Eaton

IAAF Heritage's Doha display is a tour de force of track and field history. Curator and Director Chris Turner has staged an extensive, masterful display of track and field history. 

Yesterday, I rounded a corner on my way to the Heritage reception and found the Eatons and the Ingebrigtsens engaged in cheerful conversation. They weren't the only ones here.

Olympic decathlon gold medalist Daley Thompson, center,

and 2x World cross country champion, John Treacy, right

Mike Powell, World record holder and World champion, long jump

The Heritage display will conclude its six-month run next Monday, October 7, at Doha's City Center Mall. This is must see territory for every track fan here for the World Championships. https://www.iaaf.org/heritage/news/heritage-collection-doha-eaton-ashton-brianne

Ashton Eaton

World and Olympic Champion, Decathlon

Eamonn Coghlan, 1983 World 5000m champion, 

making a point with IAAF CEO Jon Ridgeon

Chris Turner, IAAF Heritage Director

For heritage, note Ashton Eaton, Brianne Theisen-Eaton, 

and Mike Powell in the picture.

My favorite IAAF Heritage moment

Morocco's Nezha Bidouane taking a photo of her own display

Ostrava, Czech Republic, 2018

2x World champion, 400m hurdles

The University of Oregon's track and field bureau, which is onsite here in Doha with four students under the direction of instructor Lori Shontz, conducted extensive interviews with many of the sport's legends in attendance, most especially a lengthy, engaging one with Thiessen-Eaton. They will be posting their work on their website at https://sojctrack.uoregon.edu/. 

Brianne Theisen-Eaton, 2016 World Indoor Champion, Heptathlon
 University of Oregon School of Journalism Track Bureau students
Brett Taylor, Brooklynn Loiselle, Alex West, Nate Mann

It just goes to show that at the reception, you can always get what you want.

OUCH!

by Mark Cullen

Copyright 2019 Mark Cullen and Trackerati.com. 
All rights Reserved.

A single-sentence press release from IAAF

"On the request of USATF, the IAAF can confirm that Mr Alberto Salazar’s IAAF World Championships accreditation has been deactivated."

Teacher's assessment:

Clear focus, crisp writing, to the point.

Effective cause and effect sequence.

Proper placement of comma.

Clear understanding of possessive and where to place apostrophe.

Razor-like use of "deactivated."

Invokes high moral and ethical standards

Restores integrity, trust and believability to track and field performances.

Aspirational.

A+