July 2004 Issue

Allen Johnson The Greatest Hurdler Ever?

With his fistful of World Champs golds, Allen Johnson is frequently accorded WGH status. BUT how does he really stack up with history’s best?

by Jon Hendershott

Defining terms like “greatest,” “finest” or “best” can be a difficult exercise at best. It’s tough—likely impossible—to compare athletes from different eras who never met face-to-face, who competed against widely varied levels of competition, who ran on different tracks and who all didn’t have the same competitive opportunities.

But is Allen Johnson the best high hurdler ever in an event long dominated by Americans? He has stats:

-He won ’96 Olympic gold. He placed 4th in ’00 when hampered by a hamstring injury. The only outdoor Worlds final (’99) he has missed since ’95 was due to a calf injury.

-He has won 7 WC titles (4 outdoors, 3 in). No other hurdler has ever won more than 3 outdoors and none except Johnson has won more than a single indoor.

It must be noted, though, that the outdoor WC didn’t exist until ’83 and didn’t become an every-two-years affair until ’91.

-He co-holds the American Record with Roger Kingdom at 12.92, a mark he has run twice and leaves him just 0.01 from the WR.

-On the world all-time list, Johnson owns 10 of the 25 clockings at 13.0 or faster and 9 of 20 under 13-flat. Next on the all-time sub-13 list are Colin Jackson with 4 and Kingdom with 3.

-In T&FN’s World Rankings, Kingdom, Foster and Willie Davenport rated No. 1 five times, with Johnson, Renaldo Nehemiah and Hayes Jones at four each.

There is that one big entry missing from the plus side of Johnson’s ledger: he hasn’t set a WR—yet. But he has gained perspective on that elusive target…

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

Skeets Nehemiah—What Might Have Been

by Jon Hendershott

Renaldo Nehemiah may have been boycotted out of competing in the ’80 Olympics, but he did claim the one big honor Allen Johnson still seeks. Nehemiah skipped to a World Record 12.93 in ’81, history’s first sub-13 , the quickest of his three career WRs and still the No. 5 clocking of all-time.

Nehemiah, now 45 and a sports agent, regretted having his Olympic opportunity taken away, but reveals, “I reached peace with that in ’97 when…

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

The 110H The Toughest Team To Make

by Jon Hendershott

Thirteen seconds. Time for just a few beats of the heart or blinks of an eye. But in the fast, furious—sometimes violent—world of the 110-meter hurdles, athletes have to sprint all-out, clear ten 42-inch barriers and do their best not to hit any obstacles hard, all in 13 seconds or so.

In no other event has the U.S. excelled more at the Olympics than in the highs. Americans have won gold at 18 of the 23 modern Games—not counting the boycotted ’80 edition—and have earned 51 of the 68 medals available, 75%.

Americans have swept the event’s medals eight times, one more than the shot and three more than the 200. While the last U.S. 1-2-3 came in ’60, it has won at least two medals in all but three of the modern Games.

And in T&FN’s annual World Rankings, Americans have led the highs 48 times in the 57-year history of the ratings. No other event approaches that kind of dominance.

All of which means that when a high hurdler makes the U.S. Olympic squad, he has probably overcome the deepest reservoir of American talent in any event.…

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

Olympic Trials Formchart

by Dave Johnson (men) & Jack Pfeifer (women)

800 METERS

1. David Krummenacker (adi) 1

2. Khadevis Robinson (Nik) 2

3. Elliott Blount (NFT) nr

4. Jonathan Johnson (TxT) 3

5. Derrick Peterson (adi) 9

6. Bryan Woodward (NFT) 7

7. Jesse Strutzel (Nik) 5

8. Sam Burley (Asics) 4

9. Paul Cross (Tn) nr

10. Moise Joseph (Fl) 8

(for all the other events, read the July Issue of Track & Field News)

Webb A Meister Again

by Brian Russell

The hoopla leading up to the Home Depot Invitational centered around three things: the men’s 100 with Maurice Greene, a doubling Marion Jones and questions about BALCO. Amid all the hoopla and controversy, however, were a number of matchups which spawned championship-caliber performances, and to most, one such performance was long overdue.

A heralded prep career and controversial professional career made Alan Webb an easy mark for critics. To silence those critics, Webb needed a breakthrough performance…

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

Stevenson Enjoying The Ride

by Sieg Lindstrom

Toby Stevenson is flying high, over 19-81/4—the formidable metric barrier of 6.00—at Modesto and loves the view.

“It’s the mark to hit, besides any mark that Bubka’s done,” he says. He showed his three-PR day to be no fluke when he sprang over 19-53/4 the next weekend in Phoenix to triumph over the 19-1 PR of Brad Walker.

Stevenson’s ecstatic helmet-tossing reaction to clearing 6m was mirrored in the celebration of all the vaulters watching. Women’s star Kellie Suttle, for one, ran onto the pit, jumped into Stevenson’s arms and knocked him down.

Stevenson had a good feeling long before he reached the mat: “It was good enough I was celebrating over the bar. I think I touched it a little bit, but just barely.

“I’ve dreamed about [6m] for 10 years now. Honestly, it’s an amazing mark, I’m glad I got it, and I’ve got to keep jumping it.”

Then, without pause, Stevenson acknowledges the defining fact of any U.S. Olympic season…

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

Cantwell & Hoffa Making Noise

by Toby Cook

Shot putters make a lot of noise. A good grunt at throw’s end will prick up ears from every corner of a track facility, while the accompanying images of enormous men flying with finesse and speed across a small circle leaves one wide-eyed with awe. Such sensory experiences were in abundance, and geographically apropos, in the shadow of Tinseltown as new charges Christian Cantwell and Reese Hoffa did their best to steal the show from the day’s Home Depot headliners.

Though not without credentials, it’s doubtful that either of the World Indoor Champs medalists, until now, would have been able to get a dinner reservation at track and field’s metaphorical Spago…

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

Mo Definitely Back

by Dan Lilot

“It’s just another day’s work.” Or so said Maurice Greene, with his unique blend of modesty and bravado after his windy 9.78 win in the concluding event at the Payton Jordan U.S. Open, the second stop on this year’s USATF Golden Spike Tour.

It may well have been just another day at the office for Mr. Greene. And sure, the aiding wind was a stiff 3.7mps (8.3mph), making the time equivalent to 9.94 in still conditions. But this was no workaday performance by any means. The reigning Olympic champ’s impressive run—and the ease with which he dispatched a stellar field—stamped the 29-year-old as once again the Olympic Trials favorite.…

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

Teter Healthy Again… Again

by Dan Lilot

Nicole Teter’s running career has been a series of ups and downs. And while the upside of the first half of the Olympic year had been that the 2-lap standout was healthy enough to compete, the downside had been the absence of the brilliant form that carried her to a No. 3 World Ranking in a breakout ’02 season that was also injury-truncated.

After a malady-plagued ’03 season that only saw her compete at the USATF Nationals, indoors and out, Teter put together a solid, if unspectacular, winter and spring season. But in her first major outdoor effort, the California native dropped out of the Home Depot 1500. Hardly an auspicious beginning.

“I’ve had some low-back tightness, which caused a pelvic tilt, which affected my hamstring, which affected my psoas,” explains the 30-year-old California native, who also suffered injuries to both feet over the past two seasons.

“But…

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

UCLA’s Johnson & Johnson

by Sieg Lindstrom

“SOME KIDS, when they’ve got a real deep gene pool, you never know when they’re going to show up and really get after it.”

That is first-year UCLA sprint/hurdles assistant Tony Veney’s assessment of frosh Brandon Johnson’s amazing 1.30-second improvement to 48.85 in the 400H at the Pac-10, a meet where 1-lap PRs abounded in the thinner air.

“It felt great. The whole run was just relaxed,” says the 19-year-old Johnson, who earlier this season dropped from 53-point in his first try at the event into the low 51s in his second…

(for more on Brandon Johnson, read the July Issue of Track & Field News)

HOLDER OF THE Collegiate Record in the 400H ever since her 54.24 at last year’s NCAA Champs, UCLA senior Sheena Johnson starred at the Pac-10 with a world-leading 54.32 time in the heats plus an easy 55.45 win. Fantastic running, although neither mark was quite as unexpected as her 12.79 straightaway hurdles win to take the collegiate list lead there also.

“Sheena wanted to go out there and run a fast time in the heats and then come back and kind of do a body check to see how she was going to feel the next day for the 100m hurdles,” says coach Jeanette Bolden. “She’s very analytical.”

Johnson is a Cognitive Science major. “It’s like a mix between psychology and computer science where it’s basically the study of intelligent systems,” she explains. “We do stuff with computer and human interaction. Last summer I did an internship with that.”

Johnson’s prime motivation for taking the internship last year, rather than try for a World Champs team berth (T&FN, July ’03) was…

(for more on Sheena Johnson, read the July Issue of Track & Field News)

Regionals Reports

MIDEAST WOMEN

Gallo Pips McWilliams In 15

by Andrew Jensen

Anyone seeking a formula for beating NCAA 1500 champ/CR holder Tiffany McWilliams got a textbook example from Lindsey Gallo at the Mideast Regional.

The Michigan junior stuck to McWilliams’ shadow for nearly 1400m before making her move on the final turn. McWilliams, who had repelled a similar strategy by Northern Arizona’s Johanna Nilsson to win the NCAA Indoor mile, buckled with 50m to go as Gallo wouldn’t be denied.

The Big 10 champ strode around the faltering McWilliams and won in a PR 4:11.27, nearly a second ahead of the 4:12.04 by the Mississippi State junior.

“Coach Mike McGuire told me to focus only on the number on her back, because my mind tends to wander sometimes when I am running,” said Gallo. “With 100 to go I swung wide and went past her for the win…

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

Hopley Takes Advantage of Wind

by Andy Friedlander

Hannes Hopley wasn’t expecting to throw the discus farther than any collegian before and when he did, the SMU junior was overwhelmed.

“This is the biggest surprise of my life,” the 23-year-old South African said after his throw of 222-0 (67.66) at the Midwest Regional shattered the 218-5 (66.58) set by Kamy Keshmiri of Nevada in ’91. “It’s the biggest moment of my college career.”

That’s saying something, considering he won last year’s NCAA platter title…

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

5000 WR For Bekele Proves Geb Prophecy

by Phil Minshull

Three years ago legendary Haile Gebrselassie said of young compatriot Kenenisa Bekele, “He can definitely beat my 5000 and 10,000m World Records.”

Gebrselassie proved his powers of prophecy were as good as his abilities on the track when Bekele sliced more than two seconds off his 5K time in Hengelo.

Now Bekele wants to…

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

New OT Pace For Suzy?

by Sieg Lindstrom

Suzy Favor Hamilton is set for her fourth Olympic Trials in the 1500, a competition she has never won while the top spot always went to rival Regina Jacobs. Now if USADA prevails in its THG doping case, Suzy—to paraphrase Richard Nixon—won’t have Regina around to get outkicked by anymore.

With the threat of a late-race sting by Jacobs gone, Favor Hamilton, now 35, says she has some idea how the final may shape up…

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

11th-Grader Craddock Cracks 14 In Bigs

Last year, Kevin Craddock led preps over the 42-inch hurdles with his soph-class record 14.36. This season as a junior, the lanky Californian (Logan, Union City) has ducked under 14-flat for a national age-16 best.

Craddock, who turns 17 on June 25, sped 13.96 to win his section of the big hurdles at the Modesto Relays. The clocking, aided by an exactly-allowable 2.0mps wind, trimmed 0.01 off the former age-16 record set by Rod Wilson (Bartram, Philadelphia) in ’78…

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

Keep The Regionals, Compete Head To Head

by E. Garry Hill

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I’ve always liked that dictum, much as I have trouble following it myself. Those words have become somewhat of a mantra for the anti-Regionals crowd, who way that all was copacetic in the collegiate track world before Regionals were introduced last year…

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