May 2002 Issue

Best Marathon Ever?

by Sean Hartnett

London, England, April 14-A new era in 26-mile racing kicked-off at 9 a.m. in Greenwich when an elite women's field set off 45 minutes in advance of the men in the Flora London Marathon.

By the time Big Ben would strike noon, Paula Radcliffe had ridden a raucous wave of support to a smashing 2:18:56 debut that was just 9 ticks off Catherine Ndereba's World Record, and Khalid Khannouchi had powered away from Paul Tergat and Haile Gebrselassie in the final miles to trim 4 seconds off his own WR with a stunning 2:05:38 masterpiece.

(for more, read the May Issue of Track & Field News)

Redemption For Khannouchi

by Sean Hartnett

Khalid Khannouchi's stunning London victory offered some measure of redemption for the frustrations the Moroccan-born American has weathered over the two and a half years since he set his 2:05:42 standard in Chicago.

First there was the Olympic citizenship debacle, and then an embarrassing DNF at the World Championships. Throughout it all, there were a string of injuries that compromised fitness, racing and confidence.

"After the World Championships," Khannouchi recalls, "I felt like I'd let a lot of people down. I wasn't motivated to do anything for a long time." Thankfully, the down time gave the 30-year-old a chance to heal.

With his career at the crossroads, Khalid committed himself to intensive preparations for London...

(for more, read the May Issue of Track & Field News)

Maurice Greene Does A "Doh!"

by Jim Dunaway

Austin, Texas, April 4-6-Ever since he first came to the Texas Relays as a 20-year-old virtual unknown, Maurice Greene has always found a way to be the center of attention. In '95, he stole the show by upsetting Carl Lewis, Raymond Stewart and Thomas Jefferson in a windy 9.89. This year, the 27-year-old World Record holder and Olympic champion grabbed the spotlight again.

This time he did it by losing...

(for more, read the May Issue of Track & Field News)

Women: Battle Of LA Revisited

The more things change, the more they stay the same. As last year, we predict USC to take the title in a fierce Battle In The Bayou over crosstown rival UCLA, while host LSU could be inspired to score big on its home track and sprint-laden South Carolina is always a threat with its talented stable.

All four squads rely heavily on dash points, and so a botched baton pass here or a false start there could change things dramatically. Both L.A. schools also have big fire power in the field events-particularly the throws, a traditionally more reliable source of points.

Trojan Angela Williams and Muna Lee of LSU could have a fantastic battle in the 100, but in the 4x1 Williams usually leads off while Lee should anchor...

(for event-by-event predictions by Jack Pfeifer, read the May Issue of Track & Field News)

How Did That Happen?

by Jon Hendershott

"Never before" is a superlative used freely, but at the same time trying to convey that the subject is unique. For American women's discus throwing last year, "never before" is both accurate and fitting.

In the World Rankings, not only did two U.S. women platter throwers get rated in the global Top 10 for the first time in their 46-year history, three made it: Seilala Sua at No. 6, Kris Kuehl at No. 7 and Suzy Powell at No. 8. And the three scorers gave the U.S. another first, that as the top-scoring nation of all...

(for more, read the May Issue of Track & Field News)

O'Brien Hanging In There

by Sieg Lindstrom

Dan O'Brien, who will turn 36 in July, has finished exactly three decathlons in the past six years and just one in the past five.

Now at a stage in life by which Bruce Jenner was already a decade past electra-gliding into a brief role on the TV series CHiPs, the '96 Olympic champ and former World Record holder is reentering the competitive arena. In fact, he says he never left.

"I never really retired after the Goodwill Games," he says. "I just kept having injury problems which prevented me from doing a full 10 events."...

(for more, read the May Issue of Track & Field News)

Nelson Hits Mighty 72-8

Knoxville, Tennessee, April 12-13-A PR by Olympic shot silver medalist Adam Nelson and a Collegiate Record for the South Carolina women's 4 x 400 squad-amazingly running without '00 NCAA 1-lap champ Miki Barber-highlighted a great Sea Ray Relays.

And for the second week in a row Tennessee super soph Justin Gatlin put on a four-race fireworks show for the home fans...

(for more, read the May Issue of Track & Field News)

Montgomery 9.94, Crawford 9.99/19.85

Pretoria, South Africa, April 14-"If it was not for the false starts, I am confident we would have had a new World Record," said Tim Montgomery after his 9.94 (wind 0.6) won the Pretoria GP 100. "To start the season with such a time is a clear indication that my plan to break the World Record is on track."

The World Champs silver medalist was chased across the line by PRs for Shawn Crawford (9.99) and Morné Nagel (10.13). Montgomery continued, "Maurice Greene knows I will break his World Record. That is why he is hiding to avoid competing against me."

Crawford scored a second PR-and moved to =No. 10 on the all-time world list-when he won the 200 in a blistering 19.85 (wind nil). "One of these days, I want to be the first person to run the 200m in a sub-19," he said...

(for more, read the May Issue of Track & Field News)

Williams Looking For 4-Peat

Three titles hasn't left Williams complacent, however. To the contrary, she says, "I never want to drown in my accomplishments. I know that there's a lot of good people out there working just as hard, or harder, than I am. I'm paying more attention to the little details this year."... /Toby Cook/

(for more, read the May Issue of Track & Field News)

World Cross Country Champs

by Dan Lilot

Dublin, Ireland, March 23-24-At a news conference in a secluded hotel on the drizzly Irish coast the day prior to the World Cross Country Championships, Kenenisa Bekele, who was entered in both the short- and long-course events, was asked how he would be able to come back in the grueling 12K the day after a tough 4K.

Through an interpreter, the 19-year-old Ethiopian responded that he wasn't even sure his team would enter him in the 12K, depending on how he would do in the shorter race.

The reply elicited some bemused chuckles from the press, who seemed almost charmed by the naïve response, knowing that race declarations had already been made.

But if Bekele's media savvy was in doubt, no one could question his skills over the just-under-2K grass loops of Leopardstown Race Course, where he became the first man to ever win both competitions since the two-race system was adopted in '98.

Almost as impressive was the 2-3 finish by Americans Deena Drossin and Colleen De Reuck, which helped the American women to a long-race team silver, the highest placing in 10 years.

But it was the precocious Bekele who left the fans shaking their heads in disbelief...

(for more, read the May Issue of Track & Field News)

T&FN Interview: Deena Drossin

Two weeks in March and April saw Deena Drossin take 2nd in the World Cross Country long-course race and then set a road 5K World Record in Carlsbad, California.

Following her 2:26:58 in the New York Marathon last fall-the fastest debut ever by an American-the two spring races marked huge achievements in the 29-year-old Drossin's 17-year career. At the same time, each in a sense brought her home...

Drossin: Coach Vigil and I have been working together for 6 years and he has instilled in me that every training session you've got to work and think at a higher level, and we've been doing just that.

He's told me this year that I'd have to take a lot of risks and put myself out there, kind of extend myself, and I feel like I've been taking that advice and it's come out in my favor every time I've pushed beyond what I considered my limitations...

(for more, read the May Issue of Track & Field News)

High School: Another Carter Hot In Shot

by Toby Cook

Carving out a niche in the ubiquitously prodigious talent pool that is Texas high school track is no small venture. Barely registering a blip in the Lone Star State would often make comparable efforts in other states larger than life. Still, there are those episodes when the rumblings of potential greatness can begin to be felt far from its epicenter.

In this case, the epicenter is located in Red Oak, and the master cutler in training is shot putter/discus thrower Michelle Carter...

Maybe most interesting of all, however, is the possibility of simultaneous father/daughter High School Record holders. Carter's father-and coach outside of school-is, after all, the legendary Michael Carter. In '79, dad tossed the shot a Ruthian 81-31/2, a mark that not only still stands but has also never been remotely threatened...

(for more, read the May Issue of Track & Field News)

Fixing The U.S. 800

by Peter Coe

[Peter Coe is the father of, and coached, all-time middle-distance great Seb Coe. "Donning a hard hat to avoid any flak," here's his take on why U.S. men are currently not doing well in the 800, as we explored in the April issue.]

The root problem is simple. In the USA, a country that can promote anything, they cannot promote T&F, because there is nothing to promote! Without a nationwide club system T&F is locked into a high school and college system where it is the poor relation of the money-earning sports of football and basketball.

It is a sport strangled by rounds of meaningless dual meets and short-duration indoor and outdoor seasons. Thus unrelated timewise and practically from Europe, where the action is, it is cut off from regular high-level competition...

(for more, read the May Issue of Track & Field News)

From The Editor

Music Hath Charms To Soothe A Savage Beast... and to send a track fan screaming from the stadium. English dramatist William Congreve penned the first part of that epigram in 1697; I scribbled the second part just yesterday.

In going down the same road followed by the big-league professional sports, track & field now increasingly makes it possible for you to have to cope with ear-splitting rhythms while trying to enjoy your favorite pastime.

Sure, there's a Fuddy-Duddy Factor at work here, but loud music in general isn't what I'm complaining about. A quick ride in my Metallicamobile with the sound system cranked to a Spinal-Tappish 11 will melt the wax in your ears in short order.

No, my gripe with the musicmeisters has nothing to do with either the volume of the music or the selections made...

(for the full opinion, read the May Issue of Track & Field News)

And in the June issue...

Relay racing was invented in the United States, and it's here that you'll find that popular segment of the sport taken to its ultimate expression. And the best examples of the various manifestations of the stick-passing art? That would be at Penn and Drake. And Mt. SAC adds a West Coast spin to the genre, concentrating on individual events at the elite level...