Success in Track & Field ... and Life
Share I wrote about the 400 meter fiasco from my eye witness account at the 2010 Rome Golden Gala. This is unacceptable at any level and the race should be re-run. Athletes who were unaffected should be able to keep their performance (time wise) for ranking purposes only. In all fairness for the sake of [...]
Share The official splits from the IAAF can be found here (PDF). What can we learn from these splits? Standard Coaching Theory If your opening 200m is within 1 second of your best 200m, and the differential between the 1st half and 2nd half is about 2 seconds, then simple logic determines your 400m time [...]
Share Gone are the days where the 400 meters was an event for 800 meter runners who moved down in distance. Today, I am convinced the short sprinters have an advantage over the “strength” sprinters like Lee Evans and Butch Reynolds. I am referring to the successes of Quincy Watts and Michael Johnson. In MJ’s [...]
Share There’s a lot of talk about banning Dwain Chambers at European meets, or even banning him completely from Track and Field for writing the book Race Against Me: My Story. This post is not about whether he was right or wrong in taking steroids and PEDs. I’ll leave that opinion up to you, the [...]
Share This study showed the kinetic parameters at 150m and 350m during a 400m race. The male subject was the 44.94 by Thomas Schönlebe and the female subject was the 48.56 by Marita Koch. The study was from “Incidenza dell’allenamento di forza su alcuni aspetti structurali delle prestazioni dei velocisti – esperienze degli allenatori della [...]
Share I was going to post the last ten 400 meters dash Olympic Champions, but decided to post the last 16 Olympic medalists since the post WWII “modern era”. To read more about these athletes, click on the link under their name. Some names require no introductions. This list is a classic, but it leaves [...]
Share Mike Larrabee is famous for his “come from behind” or “even splits” 400 Meters Gold medal from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. The Americans swept the medals, and they didn’t repeat that feat until 400 meters in Athens 2004 with Jeremy Wariner, Otis Harris, and Derrick Brew. Mike Larrabee also won a second Gold in [...]
Share Here we go again. I hope this court order doesn’t cause the 100 meters US Trials to be delayed by several days. If history repeats itself, you may remember the incident at the 1992 US Trials. In 1990, Butch Reynolds was banned two years by the IAAF. The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) cleared [...]
Share Michael Johnson has a new website for motivational speaking, and it’s not to be confused with his Michael Johnson Performance Center. Who the heck is Michael Johnson? To recap his resume: Gold Medalist, 400m, Olympic Games, Sydney, 2000 Gold Medalist, 4x400m, Olympic Games, Sydney, 2000 Gold Medalist, 300m in 30.85 seconds, Engen Grand Prix, [...]
Share These records were set in 1968, 1988, and 1999 respectively. Lee Evans 43.86 Butch Reynolds 43.29 Michael Johnson 43.18 Here are the races from YouTube as a single file. Note how Lee Evans drives to the line and leans for the finish. Larry James also runs sub-44 for the silver medal. In Butch Reynold’s [...]
Share In both the 1968 and 1988 Olympics, USA ran the exact same time of 2:56.16 in the 4x400m relay 20 years apart. (1968 was set in altitude in Mexico City). The roll call for 1968 was Vincent Matthews, Ron Freeman, Larry James, and Lee Evans. In 1988, it was Danny Everett, Steve Lewis, Kevin [...]
Share The World and Olympic 4×400 meter relay record was tied at 2:56.16 set in the 1968 & 1988 Olympic finals. The 1992 USA Olympic Trials were controversial enough with the appearance of Butch Reynolds and the IAAF “tainted” rule, thus the 400m was delayed several days. He was “named” to the relay pool, but [...]
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When Athletes Hit a Plateau – Change Distance or Change Training?
Share Last year, I wrote about the 400 meter sprinter moving up to the 800 meters. Unless you are a pole vaulter, gone are the days where you can just focus on one event. Usually, you have to double up in events, especially in the High School and College ranks. And then there are relays! [...]