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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 Olympics (72-76-80-84).
When […]

Do Curves Matter? Indoor vs. Outdoor World Records

NOTE: Some of my older guest posts on other Websites are now being shut down due to the economic climate. Thus I will present them here.
How much do the tight indoor curves affect your performance?
Even with the banked curves to counteract the centripetal forces, it does affect your stride length and stride frequency, and […]

Who wins? Kenenisa Bekele vs. Usain Bolt at 600 meters

Donovan Bailey and Michael Johnson – step aside…
Why on earth would Kenenisa Bekele and Usain Bolt race each other at 600 meters is beyond me.  If anything, it would help promote Bekele as he is not a household name as compared to Bolt, despite his amazing accomplishments.  If you don’t believe me, just go to […]

Dwayne Miller - Coach of LaShawn Merritt

From the mailbag:
Jimson,
You’ve covered a lot of great 400m coaches on your website like Clyde Hart, Bud Winter and Stan Dowell. 
How about LaShawn Merritt’s coach?  What kind of training philosophy does he have?  Long to Short or Short to Long?

First of all, Dwayne Miller is LaShawn Merritt’s coach.
LaShawn’s last 4 years have been impressive […]

Proposal to the IAAF - Scheduling the 100 200 400 for Usain Bolt

If Usain Bolt runs the 400 meters in 2010 or 2011 as promised, and sets the WR in the process, he might consider running the 100, 200, 400 and 4×100m relay all in the same Olympics to achieve his 4 Gold medal dream.  He will achieve iconic status if he accomplishes this incredible feat.
To beat […]

400 meters - The Numbers Game

Ever notice airline magazines and USA Today have those short articles with interesting stats and numbers?
I thought to give it a try with the 400 meters. 
Here goes…
The 400 meters
5800 – Number of subscribers to SpeedEndurance.com
3635 – Age of the current world record (in days)
2010 -  ? Year of the first sub 43 by Usain […]

Wrist Straps and Weight Belts - Good or Bad?

During my weight training days at McGill, I remember a lot of lifters were using wrist straps and weight belts, including myself.
The weight belt was good for the vanity – it tightened your waist and tucked in your beer belly, plus it inflated your chest, hence the inverted triangle appearance.  The 46” chest with 30” […]

43.18- It was 10 Years Ago Today - August 26, 1999

If the number forty-three-point-one-eight (43.18) doesn’t mean anything to you, then you aren’t a real Quarter-miler.  One day, that number (or lower) will be the 100 meter freestyle swim record.
It was ten years ago today, Michael Johnson set the Men’s 400-meter world record in Seville.
Michael Johnson should have demolished the 400 World Record in Zurich […]

Usain Bolt 200 meter splits, Speed Reserve and Speed Endurance

19.19. Sounds like a year from the WWI history books.
What is the take home message, when you compare this with his 19.30 from Beijing 2008?
(1) The faster your 100m time (speed), the faster your 200m can potentially be, with a faster opening 100m (speed reserve) taking the curve in consideration.
(2) Everyone slows down the […]

Usain Bolt 19.19 200m World Record Video

Usain Bolt 19.19 200m World Record Video

How fast will Usain Bolt run?

Will he go for the World Record, like he did in Beijing 2008?

Or, will he just go for the win, and the World Record will be bonus?

The only sprinters who will push him (at least while on the curve) are Americans Shawn Crawford and […]

Berlin 2009 - Why You Won’t See a World Record a Middle Distance or Long Distance Event

Why You Won’t See a World Record in this Upcoming World Championships or Olympics
When was the last time you saw a world record in a World Championship or Olympics Games in a middle distance or long distance event from 800 meters upwards?
Sprinters take advantage of the Championship atmosphere, the multiple rounds, and faster tracks to […]

Usain Bolt London Grand Prix Video

Usain Bolt at the Aviva London Grand Prix Video

How fast will Usain Bolt run?

His past performances in Manchester, Toronto, Lausanne and Paris were all in less than ideal conditions for world records, notably, rain and headwind.

It’s pretty scary to think a 9.79 and 19.59 were set in non-perfect conditions. And his reaction times were […]

Michael Johnson’s 3 Point Plan to Save Athletics

There was some Interesting commentary from Superman (a.k.a. Michael Johnson) on Telegraph.co.uk last week.  Let’s take a closer look at his suggestions:

My three-point plan would be to shorten the competitions and limit the events to only those that most people, in particular young people, are interested in.
Focus on the pure competition between the athletes […]

George Silk - Women Runners at the Olympics

I am a collector of Olympic memorabilia.
I love the old stuff, and I try to collect videos of past Olympics, books, post cards, posters, T-shirts, and even a Michael Johnson collectors watch (Thanks Derek of Running Mechanics for the birthday gift!).
But my favourite collection has to be the Time Life magazines.
The […]

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 […]

200 Meter Speed for the 400 Meters

I was going over the archives of some of my favourite world class quarter-milers, and just wanted an idea on their 100m or 200m times.
This list proves you don’t need to run sub 20.00 for a 200m to break 44, but it certainly helps!
One thing is certain, you must have decent 200m speed if […]

Rest and Taper After a Maximal Performance – Thoughts on Tyson Gay

We all know to rest and taper BEFORE the big meet.  That is just common sense.  For a good review, check out Derek’s 10 Day taper DVD.
Here are two of many guidelines I like to use for my sprinters:

10 day taper AFTER a major Personal Best or World Record.
5-7 100 meter races before […]

400 Meters – Speed is the Key

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 case, my […]

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. […]

Sprint & Hurdles Program Design Overview

This article is guest blogged by Jim Hiserman, author of the book Program Design Method for Sprints & Hurdle Training.

This is a 5 part series:

Part 1 - A Total Sprint-Training Program for Maximum Strength & Power, Core Strength, and Maximum Sprint Speed.
Part 2 - A Sprint & Hurdles Program Design Overview
Part 3 - Training for […]

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