Anyone else heading out to the great track meet in NYC this weekend? Definitely hoping to see G. Devers R. Jacobs and S. Dragila. Looks like Dragila is finally getting some competitiong from the Russian. Will be incredible to see her step up. And what can you say about 38 y.o. Jacobs and the times she is posting. Hoping for a good meet

How did this meet pan out?

I am not a big fan of Jacobs. She has a chocke label put on her along with Suzy Favor-Hamiliton. I know the Olympics are not the end all of Track and Field, but it seems it is the only time when the mainstream gets to know anything about any of the athletes.

I was just wondering if Paul McMullen was in the meet.

Regina doesn't choke(I'm assuming that's what you meant She's consistently one of the best middle distance runners in the world. And at 39 years young, that's saying a lot. It's not surprising that her ailments have shown up right when she was supposed to be peaking(World Championships, Olympics). She's done the best racing of her life the last 10 years. She's a highly, toned machine, and sometimes machines just break down. She was a legitimate favorite to win gold in the 1500m in Sydney in 2000, but she got ill and completely missed the games. She was a legitimate favorite for gold at the 2001 Worlds, but she got injured. We're not talking about someone who is a head case(ala Suzy Favor-Hamilton). If Regina could have competed, she would have. So to say that she chokes is definitely misspeaking. She seems to be getting better with age and that speaks tons for a runner.

How did it turn out? I wish Track and Field were better promoted in the U.S. Some of the most extraordinarily athletic and beautiful people participate in the sport, and a number of them register on my gaydar too.

Are the Goodwill Games, which are in the Dominican Republic (!) this summer, going to be broadcast on TBS?

Fantomas

I believe the Goodwill Games were last year in Brisbane (Michael Johnson's swan song). If I'm not mistaken, Ted Turner has decided(or is considering) discontinuing the games.

Zaac and Fantomas - Actually it was AOL/TW that pulled the plug. The last restructuring of the company removed the last vestiges of Ted Turner's control over the TBS properties

Short Synopsis from BBC Sports

Great to find some T & F fans. Definitely will be heading to Phila for the Penn Relays, if only to see Alan Webb compete. Also, there is a phenomenal young girl from Brooklyn who will be there. She is a senior at Boys and Girls High, Stacey Ann Livingston. In Jan '02, broke her own national scholastic record for the 800 three times within 10 days. Should be incredible.

Update: It's the PAN AM games that are going to be held in the DR, but not until next year (Santo Domingo, August 1-16, 2003)

Thanks Wurm, I ditzed out--the Pan Am games in the DR. That sounds like a dream I've had for a while!

Terrence Trammel takes the 60m run AND hurdles to the next level.

Technology at work: Tracks get faster..runners get faster..where does it all end..mind the gap guys! :cool:

I am glad to see all these track and field fans out there. This is a big year for track and field athletes with World championships this year and the Olympics next year. I hope american athletes run well against international competition this year and next

Japan's Koji Murofushi has just entered the record books with the third best hammer throw in history. The last better one was in 1988. Conditions were just about ideal and Murofushi was obviously in peak condition.

Domincan Felix Sanchez continues his dominance of the 400m even in the rain. Someone please get me the video of that!

[ July 12, 2003, 06:43 PM: Message edited by: sportinlife ]

Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva has broken US vaulter Stacy Dragila's 2001 record of 15ft 1/4in by 1/2in.

You go girl!

Domincan Felix Sanchez continues his dominance of the 400m even in the rain. Someone please get me the video of that! [/QB][/QUOTE]

What do you track and field fans think about this... is Felix Sanchez family? I once saw him walking away after a race and he was swinging those hips and sashaying like a diva... he certainly raised my eyebrows. I wonder though?

Dominance in the 400m hurdles right? Although it looks like he could dominate and win as many big schlong contests!!

Track athletes, especially sprinters, are peacocks and love to strut and preen. Whether that means their "family" who knows? I've always kind of thought it does. At the very least they've dabbled, but probably don't identify as gay. Exhibit A: Carl Lewis.

Freeman's win at the Sydney Olympics was remarkable considering the pressure she was under competing in Australia as their greatest hope for track & field gold.

July 15, 2003
Coach: Aussie Runner Freeman Retires
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON (AP) -- Australia's Olympic 400-meter champion Cathy Freeman is retiring, her coach said Tuesday.

``She basically said her heart wasn't in it,'' said Keith Connor, Australia's head athletics coach. ``She said she's lost the essential drive she needs. She didn't feel she was giving it her full effort.''

Freeman told the Web site of the Australian newspaper The Age she ``lost that want, that desire, that drive. I don't care anymore.''

The 30-year-old Freeman had been pondering retirement for the past two months. She has also been beset by minor injuries and personal problems since returning to competition in March 2002.

Freeman took an extended break after the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where she ignited the flame at a spectacular opening ceremony and captivated the nation by becoming the first Aboriginal Australian to win an individual gold medal.

``She came to the conclusion that the time was now to put it aside,'' Connor said.

Freeman hasn't competed since finishing a distant fifth behind No. 1-ranked Ana Guevara of Mexico in Eugene, Ore., on May 24.

``It's very difficult to get back in it,'' Connor said. ``It's a bit of a shock to the system to come in fifth or sixth. All the second guessing plays on your mind.''

Connor was traveling to Italy, where the Australian team is training, but stopped in London to speak to Freeman.

``Basically, she's happy with herself now,'' he said. ``It's a great weight off her shoulders and a relief for her.''

Freeman said last month she would continue training and evaluate her future. She said then that she wouldn't run any more individual races this summer but hoped to compete in the 4-by-400-meter relay at the world championships in Paris next month.

``I love running, it's all that I have known, and I hope the hunger for individual success returns in the coming months,'' she said at the time.

After announcing a comeback for the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England last year, Freeman withdrew from the individual event to help her now estranged husband Sandy Bodecker in his recovery from cancer.

Married before the Sydney Olympics, the pair split earlier this year.

[ July 15, 2003, 12:45 PM: Message edited by: jaydeenyc ]

As much as I'd love to think so, he has spoken of a "girlfriend" - I believe in an earlier Athlete's Journal on the IAAF site. But Dominican macho being what it is, that may not be much. That I know for a fact.