2001 May Issue

A Tale Of Two Jumps - Part I
by Sieg Lindstrom

Once upon a time, the United States absolutely owned the pole vault. Things started to fall apart in the '70s but now Americans are flying high once again.

How much did the U.S. used to dominate the pole vault?

• American vaulters, from William Hoyt in Athens to Bob Seagren in Mexico City, won gold at every Olympics 1896-1968.
• Americans placed 1st and 2nd in the Olympics nine times during that period and swept the medals at four Games.
  oFrom 1912, when Marc Wright sailed over 13-2 1/4 to set the first World Record ratified by the IAAF, through 1976, when Dave Roberts vaulted 18-8 1/4 to become the most recent U.S. outdoor WR-setter, 75% (33 of 44) of ratified WRs were set by Americans.
• In 1947, the first year of our World Rankings, rankers 1-10 all came from the U.S. Through '69, Americans held 63% of the available rankings positions and took the No. 1 spot each year without fail.
• An American had the highest vault in the world every year 1927-61, and in 13 of the 17 years that followed.
• From Norman Dole in '04 through John Pennel in '63, Americans broke the barriers for 12-, 13-, 14-, 15-, 16- and 17-feet.

How far did the U.S. fall from those lofty heights?

• Nick Hysong's victory in Sydney made him the first U.S. Olympic champion since '68. That's a 32-year drought.
• During the gold-drought years, the U.S. take of Olympic silvers and bronzes totaled only 5, with 2 of those coming in the LA-boycott year. Since the advent of the World Championships in '83, the take was a single medal, a bronze by Dean Starkey in '97. Eight indoor Worlds yielded 3 silvers and 1 bronze.
• Since Roberts' record in '76, the WR has climbed nearly a foot and a half, through 27 ratified raisings, and WRs have been the province of a Pole, three Frenchmen, a Russian and one amazing Ukrainian. From '83 through '97 Sergey Bubka set 17 WRs and took the No. 1 Ranking spot 13 times. In '89 and '90, when Bubka didn't earn the No. 1 ranking, Soviet teammate Rodion Gataullin did.
• Since '70 the U.S. has had just four No. 1 Rankers--Steve Smith ('73), Roberts ('76) and Billy Olson ('82) followed by a 17-season gap to Hysong--and the U.S.'s share of World Rankings positions has dropped to less than 28%. In the Bubka era that number dipped slightly further to 26%, while the Soviet Union and the nations that emerged after its breakup held 48% of the spots. Even relatively tiny France controlled 25% of the Ranking positions 1979-88.
• After Mike Tully's 18-8 3/4 in '78, the U.S. didn't have a world leader until Jeff Hartwig's 19-8 1/2 in '98.
• The last three foot-barriers--18, 19 and 20--went to a Greek, a Swede and Bubka.

But to be fair, the wheels certainly never completely fell off U.S. vaulting, and the last three-plus seasons have been full of promise. In '98 Hartwig reclaimed a world-lead position, in '00 Hysong got the No. 1 and Olympic gold (and Lawrence Johnson added a silver) and now in '01 Johnson and Tye Harvey have gone 1-2 at the World Indoor (see p. 24).

Former WR holder Earl Bell--who vaulted 19-3 himself in '88 and now coaches Hartwig and Harvey--thinks a single factor made Americans look worse than they really were: "A guy named Bubka jumping. He sort of Beamonized the sport, and he kept Beamonizing it every meet he went to."

Greg Hull, Hysong's coach, says, "When Bubka came over here in '84, I distinctly remember sitting with Jan Johnson at the LA Times indoor meet the first time he really jumped well. He opened at 18-1/2 and cleared by about 2-feet. Our guys went and sat behind the runway and said, 'We can't beat this guy. We're going to have to rethink this.'"...

Get the May issue of T&FN for the good news on what vaulters like Hartwig, Harvey, Hysong and Johnson, coaches like Bell and Hull, and USATF's imaginative Pole Vault Development chairman Bob Fraley have done to put the U.S. back in the game.

A Tale Of Two Jumps - Part II
by Jon Hendershott

Once upon a time, the United States absolutely owned the long jump. Things started to fall apart as the millenium ended... and there's little relief in sight.

How much did the U.S. used to dominate long jumping?

• American jumpers, from Ellery Clark in 1896 to Carl Lewis 100 years later, won gold at 20 of the 22 Olympics in which they competed. In no other event has the U.S. taken as many golds.
• Americans placed 1-2 a dozen times and swept the medals at four Games.
• Of the 18 ratified World Records, 13 (72%) were set by Americans.
• For the first five editions of the World Championships, 1983-95, the U.S. took 4 golds, 2 silvers and 4 bronzes, sweeping the medals twice.
• In the first year of our World Rankings, 1947, 9 of 10 were Americans; for the first 53 years of the Rankings Americans averaged 4.7 places per year. Americans ranked No. 1 for the first 22 years of the Rankings and in 42 of the first 50.
• In the 54 years from 1921 through 1974 an American had the farthest jump in the world in all but 11 years, never more than two in a row. In the 26 years since, there have been 11 misses and non-Americans are working on a string of four straight leaderships.

How far has the U.S. fallen from those lofty heights?

• In Sydney, the U.S. was shut out of the medals for the first time. And it was unique that there was only a single U.S. qualifier for the final.
• In the 5 World Champs (indoors and out) contested since Atlanta, the total U.S. medal haul is 1 silver, 2 bronze.
• Post-Atlanta, the U.S. has just a silver in the WC and in '99 no American medaled for the first time.
• In 2000, the U.S. was shut out of the Rankings completely, also for the first time.Ominous signs for a lack of talent in the pipeline?
• In the 1980s, the NCAA outdoor final averaged 5.6 jumpers over 26-feet. For the '90s it dropped to 4.1, and the last five years have averaged only 2.8.
• A U.S. high schooler first reached the 25-foot barrier in '49. As long ago as '70 there were five over that mark, and in '90 there were six. Last year there were none, for only the second time since '74.
• There have been ten 26-footers in prep history: 1 in the '60s, 2 in the '70s, 6 in the '80s and the last one 10 years ago, in '91.

Where to begin explaining the precipitous drop from the historic heights of what was once a flagship event for the U.S.?

"It may be just a cycle and the U.S. is on the downside right now," says Dick Booth, the highly regarded jumps coach at Arkansas who has directed many world-class leapers, including World Championships medalist Mike Conley, NCAA champs Erick Walder and Robert Howard and '00 Trials winner Melvin Lister.

"But the level of expectation isn't what it was when that very elite group was competing," he admits. "Guys like Lewis, Powell, Conley, Joe Greene, Larry Myricks.

"They held each other's feet to the fire. They all knew they had to go to any meet ready to give all they had. They had to look at 28-feet to even think of winning nationals. But in recent years, performances have slipped down a notch or two."...

Can the U.S. long jump soar once more? Read what experts like Booth, Conley, Powell and Lewis's former coach Tom Tellez have to say in the May issue of T&FN.

Powell Coming Back?
by Jon Hendershott

As the year began, the grapevine started whispering: "Mike Powell is making a comeback." By midMarch, the World Record holder...

More in the May issue of T&FN

Championships Bonanza:
=WR For Mo, AR for Lojo at USATF Indoor
by Dan Lilot

Atlanta, Georgia, March 2-3--Track & field athletes are accustomed to adversity. It's thus no surprise that despite a cavernous facility, poor attendance and shoddy field-event presentation, some of this country's brightest stars did their thing in spectacular fashion at the USATF Indoor Championships. None shone brighter than HSI teammates Maurice Greene and Lawrence Johnson...

More in the May issue of T&FN

LSU At The Wire, UCLA Repeats At NCAA Indoor
by Dan Lilot

Fayetteville, Arkansas, March 9-10--Heading into the culminating event, the 4 x 400, TCU looked to have a lock on the men's team title at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Possessing the year's second-fastest time, the Horned Frogs needed only to place 7th or better to win it all.

The Texans had 33 points, just ahead of host Arkansas (32) and Alabama (31), neither of which had a relay squad. Back in 6th, at 24, was LSU.

For the Tigers to capture the team trophy, an improbable combination was needed: they had to win the relay while TCU didn't score...

After winning her second consecutive NCAA Indoor women's team title, UCLA head coach Jeanette Bolden beamed, "It's track and field. You have to have a balance. I'm glad we showed that."

The Bruins certainly did, picking up points in eight events to amass a comfortable 53 1/2 total, relegating South Carolina (40) to runner-up status for the second year in a row. Arizona and Clemson each scored 30 to tie for 3rd with Arkansas 5th (24).
South Carolina salvaged some pride by blazing a Collegiate Record 3:30.08 in the 4 x 400 ahead of Texas (3:33.44), which had set the old mark of 3:30.27 in '99. The Gamecocks were paced by open 400 winner (52.37) Demetria Washington, who anchored in a blazing 51.3...

More in the May issue of T&FN

Three 1-2s For U.S. Men, Dragila And Szabo Downed at World Indoor
by Garry Hill

Lisbon, Portugal, March 9-11--Despite fielding a team devoid of many big-name Olympic heroes, the United States still managed to acquit itself very well at the World Indoor Championships, scoring a 1-2 medal sweep on each of the three days of competition.

The final day's sweep came in one of the U.S.'s flagship events, the 60, where Maurice Greene and Tim Harden had gone 1-2 at Maebashi in '99. Greene had equaled his World Record a week before this meet but opted not to compete. In his stead, Harden stayed cool through a rash of starting interruptions to move up a spot...

If you liked unexpected endings, the women's side of the World Indoor Championships was a gold mine, with the year's only two World Record setters, Stacy Dragila and Gabriela Szabo, both going down to defeat.

Dragila's propensity for not making heights on her first attempt did her in at last. Did her in, in fact, to the tune of even being shut out of the medals because it took her two attempts to get over the relatively pedestrian-for-her height of 14-9 1/2. Teammate Kellie Suttle and Russia's Svetlana Feofanova each went clear on first attempt, but that only earned them silvers as surprising Pavla Hamácková, despite needing a pair, then went on to be the only one to clear 14-11 1/2.

The 22-year-old Czech had come into the meet with a lifetime best of 14-6 1/4. She matched that on her second attempt, upped the Czech Record with a second-attempt make at 14-9 1/2, then moved to =No. 3 on the all-time list with her clearance of the winning height...

Given the vagaries of the vault, Dragila's loss wasn't nearly as surprising as Szabo's in the 3000, which ended her 23-meet win string in the event dating back to a loss to Sonia O'Sullivan at Zürich in '95.

The petite Romanian decided to control the race from the front; given that she has shown she can outkick any woman on the planet, it wasn't a bad place to be. Except that somebody forgot to tell lightly regarded Olga Yegorova the rules of the game...

More in the May issue of T&FN

Two Bronzes For U.S. At World XC
by Sean Hartnett

Oostende, Belgium, March 24-25--The IAAF World Cross Country Championships turned into a cross-continent affair as the hoof-and-mouth disease outbreak chased the event from Dublin, to Brussels, and finally to the Oostende horse track.

Despite the venue changes, a thoroughly muddied course, and cold gales off the English Channel, the mighty Kenyan squad swept all three men's team titles along with the women's long course.

Yet, for the U.S. men the weekend may be best remembered for the winds of change signified by top-4 placings of all 3 teams and the bronze-medal efforts of the 12K squad and prep Dathan Ritzenhein. Matt Tegenkamp followed close behind Ritz.

More in the May issue of T&FN

Ritzenhein And Tegenkamp Roll
by Sean Hartnett

For the last several years there has been much speculation about the resurgence of American distance running, fueled by a new generation of young stars. Until Dathan Ritzenhein and Matt Tegenkamp hit the board in 3rd and 5th in Oostende, much of the supposed comeback was perhaps more hype than substance.

Ritzenhein, the prep sensation from Rockford, Michigan, and Tegenkamp, a redshirt frosh at Wisconsin, brought a stir out of the Belgian crowd by challenging the African runners from the get go.

"It helped watching Saturday's races," Ritzenhein says. "We knew we had to take it out hard because you couldn't move up in the mud. We threw the Wisconsin guys in front, especially Josh Spiker because he goes out like an animal. He took us right to the front of the pack; Matt and I just worked together from there."

The American duo were the lone intruders amidst the Kenya-Ethiopia dual meet. Halfway through the race, Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele--who had already earned a silver in the Senior short-course race--surged away from Kenyan Duncan Lebo to victory.

Heading into the final 2000m lap, the American pair closed in on Nicholas Kemboi, running in 3rd. Hitting the finishing straight, Ritzenhein launched his diminutive frame into a powerful sprint: "I knew that was a place on the podium so I just took off." In a windmill of arms and legs, he pulled away from Tegenkamp and shot past the Kenyan 100m out.

Tegenkamp had the best view of Ritz's finishing drive, saying, "He wanted it so bad he just wouldn't let go."...

More in the May issue of T&FN

NCAA Coaches Divided - To Regional Or Not?

Proponents of a plan to institute regional qualifying as a way to advance to the NCAA Championships say head-to-head competition and the prospects of sudden-death elimination for some competitors--two elements that drive the popularity of basketball's March Madness tournament--would arouse the passions of fans and the media and inject new life and marketability into collegiate track & field.

But with an NCAA Management Council ruling expected this spring that could make regionals a reality, the passions of opponents are aroused also, and sudden death for the concept is their goal. They hope the Management Council, whose approval is by no means certain, hears their distress.

At the NCAA Indoor a group of coaches from top programs--among them South Carolina's Curtis Frye, LSU's Pat Henry, Texas's Bev Kearney, Stanford's Vin Lananna, Arkansas's John McDonnell and Colorado's Mark Wetmore--met, as Henry put it, "to formulate a plan to turn the tide against regionals" and preserve the current qualifying system of automatic and provisional mark-chasing...

...But coaches who support regional qualifying, many from schools with smaller budgets, note there is inherent unfairness in the current system, which rewards programs that can afford to send athletes anywhere in the country to chase qualifying marks.

Take, for example, men's 5000 qualifying. Of the 20 qualifiers in that event last year, 12 qualified out of two meets hosted by Stanford in March and May, 6 qualified at the Mt. SAC Relays and just 2 qualified elsewhere. In '99 all the NCAA 5K qualifiers came out of just four meets--two at Stanford plus Mt. SAC and the Penn Relays. So it's travel or take your slim chances...

More in the May issue of T&FN

Expert Decries Sydney Blocks

Most people are content to either watch a track meet or read about it in the paper and then accept the results at face value. Not Sweden's A. Lennart Julin.

One of the sharpest and most inquisitive minds ever to grace the sport, Julin analyzed the Olympic men's 100 final and came to the startling conclusion: "The starting procedure used in Sydney added some 0.05 to Maurice Greene's time compared to what it would have been if the start had been carried out in the '99 World Championships."

In other words, his 9.87--already a spectacular time considering the light headwind--was more like a 9.82.

Julin's screed on the subject is far too lengthy for us to publish in our pages, but we will make the complete text available here at http://www.trackandfieldnews.com starting on April 15.

In a very small nutshell, Julin's thesis revolves around the use of "silent gun" technology at the Worlds. This system, pioneered by Seiko at the '95 Worlds, features a "bang" generated by the blocks, not the gun, so the sound has virtually no travel time between trigger and the sprinter's ear. This technology was not used in Sydney, and the situation was exacerbated by the starter taking up a position far from the blocks.

Among the figures generated in Julin's charts are the fact that Greene's 4-round spread of reaction times was 0.041 in Seville (silent gun) and 0.045 in Sydney (regular gun). Essentially the same. But his average reaction time in Seville was 0.139, in Sydney 0.201.

Says Julin, "In the final in Seville Greene's reaction time was 0.132, in Sydney 0.197. Some observers have unfairly interpreted this as Mo 'missing the start' in Sydney. Actually, it was the inevitable consequence of not using a silent gun."

The eagle-eyed Julin also noted that there was some kind of malfunction in the Sydney false-start blocks in the 1-lap races, where lanes 4, 5 and 6 consistently showed unrealistically slow reaction times.

In the open races, 13 of 15 reaction times greater than 0.500 and 37 of 46 times slower than 0.400 came from those three lanes. One must note that after the first round, seeding meant that these lanes were always filled with the fastest qualifiers, those least likely to have bad reaction times.

It's interesting to note that when full-lap sprint racing began again with the relays at the end of the meet that no reaction times for any lane were ever released.