2012 Outdoor Track Season

trackster

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You may be on to something about Niit. He didn't run in the 4 by 400. Maybe he's sick? Unfortunately, the relay didn't go well (it was hard to see, but I believe the second leg--Akheem Gauntlet--must have gotten caught up in the mess when the Mississippi runner tumbled, because they were about sixth after two legs). Hopefully, everyone's healthy for a comeback at the NCAAs.
 

white lightning

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Some news from the Ukraine. Olesya Povh opened up her outdoor season with a win running a very nice time of 11.22 into a negative 0.9 wind! This is a step in the right direction for her. She is an amazing 60 meter sprinter. One of the best in the world but she has always faded over the last 40 meters outdoors. This opening time shows that she is working on her speed endurance. I hope it is only the start of a record breaking season for her.
 

white lightning

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There is a meet in Loughborough this weekend. Most of the English Sprinters are going to be running there including Adam Gemeli in the main 100 meters race. It is this sunday. I hope I can find a link somewhere. If the weather is good, I expect another personal best out of Adam. We do have to be semi patient though as he is only 18 and you never know how the pressure of lining up next to guys like S. Williamson will be like. Tom Holigan of Scottland is a youngster,(around 16 I think) that may be one to watch in the far future but he has a long ways to go.
 

Zeus

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There is a meet in Loughborough this weekend. Most of the English Sprinters are going to be running there including Adam Gemeli in the main 100 meters race. It is this sunday. I hope I can find a link somewhere. If the weather is good, I expect another personal best out of Adam. We do have to be semi patient though as he is only 18 and you never know how the pressure of lining up next to guys like S. Williamson will be like. Tom Holigan of Scottland is a youngster,(around 16 I think) that may be one to watch in the far future but he has a long ways to go.

Man.......your knowledge in track and field is out of space. You have always been one of the people who really impressed me with their knowledge in this forum, keep the good work.

I got few questions man, regarding athletes from the two countries of my origin, Greece and France:

1. Can Christophe win a medal in any event this year?

2. What do you think of indoor world champion in high jump, Hondrokoukis? Gold medal favorite?

3. Are you aware of pole vaulter Philippidis? He's always in the final and I think his time to become a medalist has come.

4. Is Periklis Iakovakis capable to get his Olympic medal this year in 400m hurdles ?

5. Isn't it ironic how Kenteris and Thanou were finally found not guilty, but IAAF did everything possible to ruin their career, while Negro cheaters such as Merrit and Gutlin still running with no shame?
 

white lightning

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1. Can Christophe win a medal in any event this year?

I will give him a 75% chance of getting a medal in London. I know he hasn't shown great form but I believe he will be in the best shape of his life by London. I still want to see more time in the weight room soon but he will be ready. Remember one thing. Very few junior or senior sprinters on earth handle the pressure like Christophe does. From the World Junior Champs to the European Champs and on the the World Championships last year. He will be ready to medal in London! He isn't ready for the gold or silver yet though. We will have to wait till 2016 to hopefully see that landmark acheivment.


2. What do you think of indoor world champion in high jump, Hondrokoukis? Gold medal favorite?

I honestly have not seen him compete enough to give an honest prediction. The talent is there but the constitancy is
what wins medals and that usually takes more experience. The Russians, Ukraine and America still have to be the favorites.
I wouldn't mind seeing Jessie Williams win the gold. I have watched him since college and he seems ready to shine in London.

3. Are you aware of pole vaulter Philippidis? He's always in the final and I think his time to become a medalist has come.

Philippidis has a descent shot to make the medal stand. It seems like in every pole vault competition, mens or womens, some big
names don't make the cut. Nerves, wind, bad pole placement, etc. Philippidis needs to jump on the opportunity and finish in the top
3 to grab a medal. This would be a huge boost for his home country. It's sad how Greece has cut the athletics out of the budget. I
hope for better times in the future.

4. Is Periklis Iakovakis capable to get his Olympic medal this year in 400m hurdles ? Without a doubt, YES!! I feel really good about this.

5. Isn't it ironic how Kenteris and Thanou were finally found not guilty, but IAAF did everything possible to ruin their career, while Negro cheaters such as Merrit and Gutlin still running with no shame?

It's very sad. It really pisses me off. I can't help but to be angry. Greece Lightning was the word for both of these sprinters. They are both
incredibly talented and we know how many sprinters take peds. Some get a slap on the wrist while the european sprinters get banned and hung out to dry. What a double standard! Wake up IAAF and WADA!! The only thing they should have probably done is to except the punishment and run after the suspension. That is easy for me to say though. They might have been innocent. Who knows for sure. If I was innocent, I would fight it for a decade if that is what it took to clear my name. Sadly, it ended their careers in the court room and not on the track. That Olympics in Athens, Greece would have been far more memorable if only they would have been allowed to run.

Thanks for the questions. It's going to be a great year. Watch out for Guliyev and Gemeli. The two G men who will both go sub 10 soon. One to two years at the most!!!
 

Zeus

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1. Can Christophe win a medal in any event this year?

I will give him a 75% chance of getting a medal in London. I know he hasn't shown great form but I believe he will be in the best shape of his life by London. I still want to see more time in the weight room soon but he will be ready. Remember one thing. Very few junior or senior sprinters on earth handle the pressure like Christophe does. From the World Junior Champs to the European Champs and on the the World Championships last year. He will be ready to medal in London! He isn't ready for the gold or silver yet though. We will have to wait till 2016 to hopefully see that landmark acheivment.


2. What do you think of indoor world champion in high jump, Hondrokoukis? Gold medal favorite?

I honestly have not seen him compete enough to give an honest prediction. The talent is there but the constitancy is
what wins medals and that usually takes more experience. The Russians, Ukraine and America still have to be the favorites.
I wouldn't mind seeing Jessie Williams win the gold. I have watched him since college and he seems ready to shine in London.

3. Are you aware of pole vaulter Philippidis? He's always in the final and I think his time to become a medalist has come.

Philippidis has a descent shot to make the medal stand. It seems like in every pole vault competition, mens or womens, some big
names don't make the cut. Nerves, wind, bad pole placement, etc. Philippidis needs to jump on the opportunity and finish in the top
3 to grab a medal. This would be a huge boost for his home country. It's sad how Greece has cut the athletics out of the budget. I
hope for better times in the future.

4. Is Periklis Iakovakis capable to get his Olympic medal this year in 400m hurdles ? Without a doubt, YES!! I feel really good about this.

5. Isn't it ironic how Kenteris and Thanou were finally found not guilty, but IAAF did everything possible to ruin their career, while Negro cheaters such as Merrit and Gutlin still running with no shame?

It's very sad. It really pisses me off. I can't help but to be angry. Greece Lightning was the word for both of these sprinters. They are both
incredibly talented and we know how many sprinters take peds. Some get a slap on the wrist while the european sprinters get banned and hung out to dry. What a double standard! Wake up IAAF and WADA!! The only thing they should have probably done is to except the punishment and run after the suspension. That is easy for me to say though. They might have been innocent. Who knows for sure. If I was innocent, I would fight it for a decade if that is what it took to clear my name. Sadly, it ended their careers in the court room and not on the track. That Olympics in Athens, Greece would have been far more memorable if only they would have been allowed to run.

Thanks for the questions. It's going to be a great year. Watch out for Guliyev and Gemeli. The two G men who will both go sub 10 soon. One to two years at the most!!!


Thank you very much my friend :)

Greece won 17 medals at those Olympics of Athens, unique achievement for a not so rich country of 9-10 million of population. Greece has a total 148 medals at the Olympics (including 1906 Games) or 113, depending how you see it, but you will never hear in the news how white nations with such small population like Greece, Denmark, Norway etc have overachieved in the sporting world................Now the media will always remind us how Jamaica is so small in population and has won 54 medals, blah blah blah!

Of course they won't tell you how 53 of those 54 medals come just from sprinting........when it comes to Negroes, being good in one or two sports means the world.

At this point I believe that one has to be either stupid or blind to believe the whole great black athlete nonsense. I even see more and more blacks nowadays wondering "if we are such great athletes why can't we compete head to head with other races in swimming, gymnastics, golf, tennis, hockey, pole vault, cycling, triathlon, auto sports, rugby etc"

The Jewish propaganda has failed, it's obvious.
 

white lightning

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A few quick things of note. Fabio Cerutti opened up with a 10.33 several days ago. Christian Blum opened up with a slightly windy 10.29 with Julien Reuss taking 2nd in a time of 10.30. I was glad to see Liu win the hurdles in a world leading time of 12.94 in the rain. He will challenge for the gold in London if healthy. Rytis Sakalauskas ran a 10.28 to open his outdoor season with 0 wind so he is off to a solid start. Jason Smyth of Ireland opened up his outdoor season with a wind legal 10.24 today in Florida! Also in Loughborough Pozzi won the hurdles and Gemelli won the 100 but the races were into a negative wind so the times were slow.
 
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trackster

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Here's a roundup of some recent running I don't believe has been discussed:

1). At the Loughborough meet in England, Martyn Rooney split 44.7 on a 4x400 relay leg. Every time he's run this year has been excellent.
2) Also at Loughborough, Andy Pozzi continued to dominate the hurdles. And Hannah England started her season with an effortless 2:02 800m victory.
3) At the Manchester BMC meet, Ross Murray, the young, long-injured British runner known primarily for his sense of humor, annihilated the field despite bad running conditions and having an untied shoelace. Afterwards, he gave a typically funny interview.
4) At the same meet, I was also impressed by the even younger British teen phenom, Jessica Judd, going 4:09 in the 1500.
5) What makes the above times especially noteworthy is that the weather has been and continues to be cold in Britain (watch the race videos at athleticos or flotrack and you'll see all of the spectators in heavy winter coats). None of these athletes have even had an opportunity to do speed work yet.
6) In the US, the buzz has all been the amazing Oxy meet for mid-distance runners. Frankly, there were way too many amazing performances to mention. Suffice it to say that we are developing incredibly deep fields in all of the mid-d events, and the times were superb in the 1500, for example.
7) Some highlights from that meet: Princeton's Donn Cabral smashed the American collegiate record in the Steeple. Evan Jager, running only his second steeple, once again showed his incredible talent; he was running away with the race when he fell, face-first on the last jump. He still got up and ran a great time, easily under the Olympic A standard. In the 1500, Galen Rupp surprised everyone with his 3:34 speed (remember, he's a 5k/10k guy). Two other major surprises, were the 800m guys, Robby Andrews and Nick Symmonds. Andrews nearly won his stacked 1500 heat in 3:34 and Symmonds ran a nearly as impressive 3:36. These are fantastic early-season times for a couple of 800 guys running a longer distance. Alan Webb continued to make progress with his comeback (3:37--he's getting there). And finally Dathan Ritzenhein, who has been injured forever, finally ran again, producing a solid 13:54 5k, despite wearing marathon flats rather than racing spikes.

And that's the news.
 

white lightning

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Thanks for the update trackster and it's good to see you back posting. We missed you for a little while. Hope you were on vacation and not too busy working. Lol.


Another personal best by Andrew Pozzi of England today. He ran a 13.36 in the 110 high hurdles despite hitting two hurdles very hard. This time could have been in the mid to high 13.20's! No doubt about it. This kid has the talent to get to 13 seconds flat by 2016 in my honest opinion. Maybe even to dip under it. One of the brightest young hurdlers that I have ever seen. Way to go Pozzi!
 

jacknyc

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Also in the other heat of the hurdles, Emmanuale Abate of Italy ran 13.38 (2.2w).
Arthur Noga, who a few yrs ago, looked like he was heading to the elite class of hurdlers ran 13.53. I hope he can get back on track, so to speak....
 

jacknyc

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Here's some updates from the NCAA East and West regional championships

In the East
-Barrett Nugent is the 3rd leading qualifier today in the men's quarter finals of the high hurdles.
-Brady Gehret is also the 3rd leading qualifier, in the men's quarter finals of the 400m - 45.56.
-Ellen Wortham was the fastest qualifier in the women's 400m hurdles - 55.70
-Curtis Beach of Duke, a decathlete, was the 3rd leading qualifier in the 800m; and also qualified in the LJ! That's a rare set of talents!

In the West
-Jonathon Cabral was the fastest qualifier in the men's high hurdles.
-Katie Nelms was the 4th leading qualifier in the women's high hurdles, and the 3rd leading qualifier in the women's 100m.
Georganne Moline was the fastest qualifier in the women's 400m hurdles - 56.42.
 

Hawkeye2

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I think one of the reasons for the decline in American participation in track is because of baseball, season is around the same time as track in high school. When I was in high school the fastest kids were all on the baseball team.
 

trackster

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With no competition to push him, J. Borlee blistered a 44.88 400 in Belgium a few days ago.

And today, Martyn Rooney yet dipped under 45 yet again, running 44.97.

Both of these guys are running great times. Like the middle distance guys, they seem unconcerned with weather conditions, time of year, etc, all the various excuses being thrown out to explain the awful results by the short sprinters.

Speaking of middle distance, the great Adam Kszczot beat every Kenyan in sight to run a spectacular 1:43.83 in Hengelo, his second major victory in a week. He's the man. Apparently, no one told him it was too early in the season, either.

Finally, the European 1500 guys didn't fare as well against the Ethiopians (I think I may have heard they were using Hengelo for their Olympic trials). However, young Ross Murray (I'm becoming quite a fan), pr'd for the third time in three races, hitting 3:34.76. He must have remembered to tie his shoe laces this week.
 

white lightning

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S. Ernst and M. Kessler ran times of 20.42 and 20.79 in the 200 meters. The wind was 2.1 mph so these times will not count. Despite the wind being just barely over the allowable amount, these guys both ran great. In the same German Track Meet, Christian Blum ran a wind legal 10.29 and Christian Reif jumped to a European Leading distane of 8.29 in his first competition of the season! Hopefully these guys are just scratching surface of alot better times to come.

I'm pumped to see Christophe race this thursday in Rome. I hope he pulls of a shock and awe time to make people realise that he will be ready for London!
 

jacknyc

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Andrew Robertson 10.24 in Portugal.
Brady Gehret anchored the Penn State relay team in 44.36 at the regionals!
 

white lightning

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Nice split by Gehret but Robertson had a tornado wind behind him. It won't count but he has plenty of upside since he is young!
 

white lightning

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I was happy to see Christophe run better today in Rome. Menkov and Rutherford both look like serious contenders for London in the long jump finishing one, two! One last quick note. For those of you who like the pole vault. How would you like to train in your own back yard?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91yDbVLzwHI
 

jacknyc

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10.26 from David Rodriguez from Spain in the B race in Rome. He's been around for a long while. I'm a bit surprised to see this fast a time from him.
Julian Reuss was well back at 10.51.
 

white lightning

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Nice time for Rodriguez but I have to wonder if Reuss was injured. That is way too slow a time after he has shown good form.

Michael Leblanc ran two 100 meter races in Canada. He ran a 10.28 and 10.35 both wind legal. I hope he can get into better shape for the Canadain Championships. Maybe him and JayConn can push each other to faster times.
 

white lightning

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Here is a fantastic result for 21 year old Sergey Shubenkov of Russia today. He won the 110 high hurdles in a new p.b. of 13.18! This kid is flying and if he keeps this up, he could make the finals in London. He was amazing in the juniors and he continues to impress. It's great to see some of the Russian Men starting to follow after the women. Now if we could only get another Borzov!!!


110m Haies (106)/TCM Imprimerie NII (31/05/2012) Finale 1 à 20h 35 Vent : +0.3
1 SHUBENKOV Sergey (Rus) ESM /90 RUSSIE 00 _HF 13''18 IA 1225
2 PORTER Jeff (Usa) SEM /85 USA 00 _HF 13''46 IB 1179
3 BERGER Dominic (Usa) SEM / USA 00 _HF 13''52 IB 1169
4 TOWNSEND Frederick (Usa) SEM / USA 00 _HF 13''55 IB 1165
5 JEROME Axel 131663 SEM /85 Entente Franconville Cesame Va 95 I-F 14''59 N3 1003
6 MAURIEGE Denis 266730 SEM /85 Efs Reims A. * 51 CHA 14''81 N4 970
TRAORE Bano 363278 SEM /85 Ca Montreuil 93 93 I-F AB
Record du meeting
2 /
 
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did not want to put this in the lemaitre thread ,for obvious reasons


But lemaitre so far has only one piece of the puzzle , sarms and to
compete with top 5-6 , needs the undectable steroids ,the super yams .
and then he can work on his power , and start and race often and ready nd,
stimulated before races , not the flat heavily trained athlete saw in rome.


his start is not that bad or unnatural for someone of his frame and not to far from
a certain other tall athlete before he started hitting yams .
whether he can develope enough power,strength from lifting , dont know if has natural hormones / body type for it , can tell body type has .
sarms will only help so much here really need hormones , might be just to late for much adaption at this stage .

so improvements in times mighten be massive from here but that is nature of beast and accept it ,( unless adds the yams to diet !! )
nothing can do , just less satisfaction or interest in 100m when watch .




what want is someone that naturally explosive and obviously of that body type and leggy and rangy enough so get benefit of
longer stride and then add sarms early enough in career like lemaitre , for maximum performance gains in formative years and have 9.80 pb sprinter
without need for yams . with yams you have asafa .

. kind of richard kility type .


rant over , good night .
 

jacknyc

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It doesn't really matter what others are doing... Christophe needs to improve on his own race.
The first part of his race is weak. Not just against the Jamaicans, but against normal Europeans.
Even a tall, lanky athlete can have a good start and drive phase.
We can't, and he can't, just believe and accept that 'he's tall, and not on yams, so it can't be done'.
It's not true. And it's too soon to give up on this.
 
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