Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games

May 9, 2008 by Jimson Lee

.
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 […]

Written by Jimson Lee · Filed Under Track and Field, Olympic History, Book Reviews, Basketball, Soccer | Leave a Comment

The Chris Lukezic Workout

May 6, 2008 by Jimson Lee

UPDATE: Sorry, this video has been removed from blip.tv.

When you watch this video, and see lots of medicine balls, hip mobility drills, dynamic stretching, speed and agility drills, you would think he was just another skinny sprinter. But with more and more middle distance runners becoming a more complete athlete as seen in the […]

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Usain Bolt 9.76 100m Video

May 4, 2008 by Jimson Lee

Asafa Powell, step aside. With his world record at 9.74, it good to see his fellow countryman step up to the plate.
Usain Bolt ran a 9.76 100 meters (wind +1.8) at the 2008 Jamaican Invitational.
Here is the video from YouTube (Usain Bolt is in Lane 4):

Second place was America’s Darvis Patton in 10.08 and […]

Written by Jimson Lee · Filed Under Track and Field, Videos, Featured Story | 1 Comment

East Asian Genetic Variant can Help Evade Drug Tests

May 1, 2008 by Jimson Lee

Now this is going too far.
Previous research has shown that the genetic variant that can mask hormone use is far more common among East Asians than caucasians, by a ratio of seven-to-one.
According to this article from Google News, if doping controls for testosterone are to be effective, they need to take genes into account.
The current […]

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Blood Sweat and Tears - Penn Relays 2008

April 30, 2008 by Jimson Lee

Thanks to Wejo of LetsRun.com for pointing this out.
At the 2008 Penn Relays, Stanford’s Alicia Follmar took a hard fall on the leadoff leg of the women’s distance medley. While she was on the ground, Follmar took a spike to the head but got up to finish a gutsy 3rd.
Check out the skin burns […]

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Some Great 4×400 Relays this Weekend

April 28, 2008 by Jimson Lee

The 4×400 meter relay is arguably the most exciting event in Track and Field.
This weekend was no exception.
The Oregon Relays
Check out the number of lead changes in this 4×400m video hosted by Runnerspace. We are so use to seeing USA dominate (annihilate?) the competition at International meets.
University of Washington phenom Jordan Boase takes the […]

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August is Masters Championships Month

April 26, 2008 by Jimson Lee

August is Masters Month!

These Championship provides competition in most events for Masters Men and Women aged 35 years and over, and “sub-masters” aged 30-34.

Here are 3 great Track meets to choose from if your not going to Beijing:

Canadian Masters Championships in Regina August 1-3, 2008

USATF Masters Championships in Spokane August 7-10, 2008

The North American, Central […]

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1968: Black Americans or Negro Americans?

April 25, 2008 by Jimson Lee

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, […]

Written by Jimson Lee · Filed Under Track and Field, Olympic History, Videos | 2 Comments

Who Needs Rabbits? Video of Filbert Bayi 1500m WR

April 22, 2008 by Jimson Lee

My all time favorite race without rabbits is the 1974 Commonwealth Games 1500 meters in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Filbert Bayi’s set a world record of 3.32.2 beating New Zealand’s John Walker in the process. Bayi opened up a first lap 54.9 and ran from start to finish in first place, with Walker closing in the […]

Written by Jimson Lee · Filed Under Track and Field, Videos, 800m-Mile | 2 Comments

Predicting 4×100 meter Relay Potential

April 18, 2008 by Jimson Lee

Last month, I wrote about Track and Field 4×100 meter Relay and Exchanges, which leads me to the question How do you predict a 4×100 meter Relay time?
I say add up the best 4 times of each athlete, subtract 1 sec (due to acceleration) for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th leg, and add 0.1 sec for […]

Written by Jimson Lee · Filed Under Track and Field, Coaching | 1 Comment

TrackandFieldRadio .com - I DARE YOU TO RUN

April 17, 2008 by Jimson Lee

I had the pleasure of working out once with Decathlete Phil McMullen during my years at Berkeley, California. It was a pretty intensive speed endurance workout, and I’m sure glad he didn’t invite me to practice the field events!
On the other hand, his brother Paul McMullen is well known for winning the 1996 US […]

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Where are the Kenyan Sprinters?

April 16, 2008 by Jimson Lee

Kenya, like Canada, has a hard time trying to develop a pool of 100m, 200m & 400m sprinters with Olympic and IAAF “A” Standards. I can’t remember the last time Canada sent a 4×400m relay team to a World Championships or Olympics. (HINT: 1992 Olympics) The Americans are overflowing in abundance in this […]

Written by Jimson Lee · Filed Under 400 meters, Track and Field, Olympic History | 4 Comments

Comparing 400m - Michael Johnson and Jeremy Wariner

April 14, 2008 by Jimson Lee

How Low Can Jeremy Wariner Go?
These stats were published in the March 2008 edition of Track and Field News.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have all of these videos in one place, with a handy playlist pull down menus? (hint hint)
After Johnson broke 44 seconds, it took him 7 years to break the World Record, […]

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10K Runner Galen Rupp Joins Sprint Coach Brooks Johnson

April 13, 2008 by Jimson Lee

I love it when distance runners wake up and smell the coffee.
It All Comes Down to Pure Speed
From Oregon Live:

Galen Rupp, on leave from the Oregon track team while preparing his bid for the U.S. Olympic team in the 10,000 meters, plans to go to Orlando, Fla., to spend quality time with sprint […]

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Maurice Greene 52 sub-10 Second 100 Meters

April 11, 2008 by Jimson Lee

Longevity in Track and Field is rare, indeed. If you time it right, an 8 year career can span 3 Olympics.
One has to look at Carl Lewis and Al Oerter to see remarkable athletes competing in 4 Olympiads… 5 if you include making the 1980 National team.
On the womens side, there’s Irena Szewinska, Jackie […]

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Ties in Sprinting History: 1982 Commonwealth 200m

March 31, 2008 by Jimson Lee

In the high jump and pole vault, a jump off is used to determine the winner, but ties are permitted for the other placings. One has to look back at the drama from the women’s High Jump at the 1984 Olympics with the dual between Germany’s Ulrike Meyfarth’s and Italy’s Sara Simeoni.
Other field events, […]

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Japanese Documentary of Asafa Powell

March 27, 2008 by Jimson Lee

If you enjoyed the British version of Sports Matters “Worlds Fastest Man” with Michael Johnson, you’ll certainly enjoy this 1 hour documentary of Sports Science with Asafa Powell on Japanese TV.
There are no commercials, and you can view the 5 part, 10 min segments of the show below.
The show is in Japanese, but it’s well […]

Written by Jimson Lee · Filed Under Track and Field, Videos | 2 Comments

Complete Videos of Track and Field World Records

March 27, 2008 by Jimson Lee

This video is a great collection of all the Men’s Track and Field World Records (excludes distances over 5000 meters or Multis).
Some of these videos are very rare, as I haven’t seen these in a long long time (i.e. the pole vault or high jump record)
This list has a lot of outstanding performances… let me […]

Written by Jimson Lee · Filed Under 400 meters, Track and Field, Olympic History, Videos | Leave a Comment

Teamwork and Clutch in the Relays

March 20, 2008 by Jimson Lee

Did anyone notice the 4×400m winning time from the NCAA’s was faster than the IAAF World Indoor?
UPDATE: Thanks to Chui for sending the links to the videos!
In fact, all 3 medalist from the NCAA bettered the winning time from IAAF Worlds.
Also, Baylor won the race with only one team member (LeJerald Betters) entered in the […]

Written by Jimson Lee · Filed Under 400 meters, Track and Field, Coaching | 2 Comments

400 Meters: Can you Drop from 45 to 43 in One Year?

March 19, 2008 by Jimson Lee

In the 400 meters, can you drop your personal best from 45 seconds down to 43 seconds in one year?
The answer is yes.
In 1967, Lee Evans ran a 44.9 hand time (equivalent to a 45.04 FAT) behind Tommie Smith’s 400 meter World Record of 44.5, then ran 43.86 in Mexico City in 1968.
In 1987, Steve […]

Written by Jimson Lee · Filed Under 400 meters, Track and Field, Olympic History | 2 Comments