USA Black History Month – Stan Wright, Track Coach

February is Black History Month in the USA.
In the world of coaching and African Americans, I will honor this post to the memory of Stan Wright.  I was 9 years old when I watched the Munich Olympics in 1972.  I had no idea what was going on in terms of the hostage taking, but I [...]

How Fast can Usain Bolt run 100 Yards?

This article is aimed for readers born before 1960 when running 100 yards was the norm, especially in the USA.
There has been a lot of buzz on how fast Usain Bolt could run a 40 yard dash, which were fuelled by the Chris Johnson’s recent 40 yard challenge to determine the World’s Fastest Man.  (Shades [...]

San Jose State University – Saving Winter Field

This is part 2 of 2 from my recent visit to the Bay Area, California
After viewing the Tommie Smith – John Carlos 23 foot statute at San José State University, the next item on my agenda was to drive down S 10th street towards Spartan Stadium and visit Winter Field.
This was the same track where [...]

San Jose State University – The Tommie Smith John Carlos Statue

This is part 1 of 2 from my recent visit to the Bay Area, California
A trip to Silicon Valley wouldn’t be complete without a visit to San José State University. 
I had two things on my agenda.  Visit the Tommie Smith – John Carlos 23 foot statute, and visit the old Track and Field facility, [...]

Tommie Smith’s 11 Concurrent World Records

I re-read Tommie Smith’s autobiography Silent Gesture: The Autobiography of Tommie Smith (Sporting) and he mentions in Chapter 2 FOUR times that he held 11 World Records concurrently.  The "11 World Records" are also mentioned on his Bio on the inside of the back cover.
But nowhere in the book does it list all the [...]

Another 1968 Olympic Book by Richard Hoffer, Journalist

When you think of the Political Olympics, you immediately think of 1936 & 1972.  Some may include 1968 “up there” in the ranks.  While you`re at it, add 1980 and 1984.  Heck, add Montreal 1976 with the African boycott and the whole Taiwan mess.
That is why Ben Johnson’s 1988 Seoul race was so special.  For [...]

Italian Sprint Heroes – Livio Berruti 200m Rome 1960

During my prime running years, Pietro Mennea’s 200m WR was the holy grail.  19.72 was the 200m WR standard for 17 years.
In fact, Pietro Mennea won the 200m 1980 Olympics in the Moscow Boycotted Olympics.  He also won the Bronze medal at 1972 Munich Olympics at the same distance.  Mennea competed in 4 5 Olympics [...]

Rome Golden Gala – Behind the Scenes

Here are some of the behind the scenes look at the 2009 Rome IAAF Golden Gala Meet
Men’s 400 meters
When you have 6 guys at 300 meters with 100 to go, anything goes.  The one who wants it the most usually wins.  Or the athlete that is better prepared.  Without the top 2 names in 400 [...]

100-200-400 Sprint Doubles and Triples

When Michael Johnson became the first man to win the 200-400 double at the same Olympics, a lot of people didn’t know that feat was accomplished TWICE by a female athlete.  USA’s Valerie Brisco-Hooks did it in the Eastern Boycott Olympic Games of Los Angeles in 1984.  Then Marie-Jose Perec of France did it hours [...]

The “Speed City” Documentary – We Need your Help

Bud Winter coached at San Jose State University from 1944 – 1974 and was responsible for the legendary “Speed City” in the mid 1960’s.
In total, he produced 1 NCAA Championship, 49 NCAA records, and 27 Olympians including including Tommie Smith, Lee Evans, John Carlos, and Ronnie Ray Smith, just to name a few. He also [...]

What do Bud Winter and Usain Bolt have in Common?

Bud Winter coached at San Jose State University from 1944 – 1974 and was responsible for the legendary “Speed City” in the mid 1960’s.

In total, he produced 1 NCAA Championship, 49 NCAA records, and 27 Olympians including including Tommie Smith, Lee Evans, John Carlos, Ronnie Ray Smith, and Ray Norton, just to name a few. [...]

Amazon Kindle 2 for Track & Field and Running Books

If you are like me, you are probably reading 3-4 books concurrently. This is really no big deal. Ever since school, we often took 4 or 5 courses a semester. Our brains can time-slice and multi-task very effectively.

The problem is traveling for an extended period of time. How do you carry [...]

What is Speed Reserve? Part 2 – Training Methods

Click here for What is Speed Reserve? Part 1 – 400 meter Sprinter types

The news of Usain Bolt going after the 400 WR in 2010 inspired me to write this article.

What is Speed Reserve?

Speed Reserve, or Anaerobic Speed Reserve (ASR), is simply the difference between your maximum speed and your maximum aerobic speed.

The concept is [...]

What is Speed Reserve? Part 1 – 400 meter Sprinter types

Before I discuss the topic of speed reserve, I want to talk about the different types of 400 meter sprinters.

Types of 400 meter runners

100/200 sprinters moving up to the 400m: In the past, short sprinters moving up the distance were rare. Remember Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire? Today, we’ve [...]

Obituaries – 400 meter Specialist Larry James 1947-2008

In the past 18 months this Blog has been around, we’ve had a few great ones pass away in such a short period of time:

Al Oerter
Herb McKenley
Peter Norman
Robert Taylor

And now Larry James.

Larry James is best known for his silver medal at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics in the 400 meters with a time of 43.97 [...]

The 2010 Mexico mini-Olympics Summer Games

On September 16, 1810, the people of Mexico declared war vs. the Spanish authorities. This was the start of the Mexican War of Independence (1810 – 1821).

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of this event, Mexico is planning to stage a “mini-version” of the Olympics in 2010 to help celebrate the country’s bi-centennial.

If you want [...]

Track Dimensions: How Many Feet is 400 meters?

The 400 meters is exactly 1312.34 feet or 437.2 yards.

Conversely, the 440 yard dash = 402.56 meters.

You can read a lot more on 440 Yard and 400 Meters Races from an earlier blog post where Tommie Smith ran 44.5 400 meters and 44.8 for 440 yards in the same race.

I am reflecting on my last [...]

Tommie Smith John Carlos 40 Years Later

Black Power Salute, 1968 Olympics, Mexico City Art Print

On October 16, 1968, this photo changed the world. Even in Canada the effects were tremendous.
You would think 40 years later these two men (children?) would settle their differences! They have 2 completely different versions on what happened on October 16, 1968. This story is from the [...]

Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games

.
First, Tommie Smith writes a book 38 years after the fact.
Then, in December 2007, the 1980 USA Olympic team gets congressional medals.
And now this book comes out, 28 years later.
Maybe I should write a memoir: Uncovered Stories from my 1980 High School Graduation. It would be a book like Jose Canseco naming names [...]

1968: Black Americans or Negro Americans?

Here is a video clip from the CBC archives.
The video shows Tommie Smith and John Carlos being interviewed immediately after their 1968 Olympic “Black Power” salute from their Gold and Bronze medal in the 200 meters. They were ordered by the IOC to leave the Olympic Village within 48 hours.
It also has Harry Jerome, [...]

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