What is Speed Reserve? Part 1 - 400 meter Sprinter types
January 5, 2009 by Jimson Lee
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 […]
Frank Wykoff on Track and Field Starting Blocks Controversy
January 4, 2009 by Jimson Lee
When you hear the name Frank Wykoff, you immediately think of Jesse Owens in the 1936 Gold medal 4×100 meter relay, along with Ralph Metcalfe and the 2 Jewish athletes that didn’t run (Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller). Frank Wykoff ran the anchor leg in a World Record time of 39.8 seconds.
Frank Wykoff had […]
3 Feel Good Stories of the Year
December 31, 2008 by Jimson Lee
I am going to end the 2008 calendar year with my 3 “good sportsmanship stories” or what I call “Feel Good Stories” of the year. I will focus on the Olympics (of course) and surprisingly this list does not include a gentlemen named Mr. Bolt.
Tia Hellabaut Retires
On December 5, Tia Hellabaut announces retirement and […]
Million Dollar Man Richard Thompson - Bigger than Ato Bolden?
December 28, 2008 by Jimson Lee
I have to admit, it wasn’t until the 3rd or 4th slow motion replay of the Beijing 100 meter final that I noticed the 2nd place finisher raising his arms in triumph.
He was wearing the red and white colours of T&T - Trinidad and Tobago (sorry, Canada). That man was Richard Thompson. He […]
1996 Gold Medal 4×100m Relay Team Inducted to Sports Hall of Fame
December 21, 2008 by Jimson Lee
1996 Gold Medal 4×100m Relay Team Inducted to Sports Hall of Fame in November 2008.
12 years after winning the Gold medal in Atlanta, the Gold Medal 4×100m Relay Team of Donovan Bailey, Carlton Chambers, Robert Esmie, Glenroy Gilbert and Bruny Surin were inducted to the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.
Also receiving the honours were David […]
Mondo Rubber Tracks and the Mondo Olympics
December 17, 2008 by Jimson Lee
What would Bob Hayes or Ben Johnson run on today’s new artificial track surfaces?
Mondo has been around since the 1976 Montreal Olympics for Track and Field (Athletics), but Beijing 2008 was the first time using the new Mondotrack.
Like the Speedo LZR swimsuits, the new Mondotrack from Mondo gives sprinters a technological advantage.
We witnessed World Records […]
Is Bolt the Greatest Athlete Today?
December 5, 2008 by Jay Hicks
Is Bolt the Greatest Athlete Today?
He may not be a decathlete, but Usain “Lightening” Bolt is hands-down the top male athlete in professional sports today. Yes I am talking about the best today - not five years ago, or last year or even potential for the future.
Why?
Besides the fact that the six foot, five inch […]
Dwain Chambers on Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, Stride Length and Stride Frequency
December 2, 2008 by Jimson Lee
Here are some quotes from the original article on timesonline.co.uk, and some commentary and analysis that follows it.
On Extrapolating 60 meters performances to 100 meters
Charles van Commenee, the new head coach at UKA, has said that Chambers is welcome back and the sprinter is hoping that this message will lead to a change in thinking. […]
Comparing 100 meter Freestyle and 400 meter Sprinting
November 27, 2008 by Jimson Lee
The 100 meter freestyle in swimming resembles the 400 sprint in running.
Their Elite times are in the mid 40’s second range and both events have similar energy systems: Alactic anerobic and Lactic anerobic.
Between 1968 and 2004, only 7 men has run under the magic 44 seconds barrier for the 400 meters (and two of them […]
PODCAST - 400 meter Training with Iwan Thomas
November 18, 2008 by Jimson Lee
Iwan Thomas is the current UK record holder at 400 meters with a time of 44.36 seconds. His best year was definitely 1998 where he won the gold at all 3 major “championship meets” that year, notably the IAAF World Cup, European Championships and Commonwealth Games.
He also won a silver medal at the 1996 […]
Obituaries - 400 meter Specialist Larry James 1947-2008
November 10, 2008 by Jimson Lee
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 […]
Real Sports - Usain Bolt airs October 21 on HBO
October 15, 2008 by Jimson Lee
Mark your calendars and set your PVRs (who still owns a VCR these days?)
From the Jamaica Gleaner:
Bolt to appear on top US sports show
Less than a month after appearing on “The David Letterman Show” and “Live with Regis and Kelly”, two popular television shows in the United States, Jamaican triple gold medalist, Usain Bolt will […]
Asafa Powell or Bob Hayes - World’s Fastest 100 meters?
October 10, 2008 by Jimson Lee
POP QUIZ: Who has the World Record for the 4×100m fastest 100 meter relay split ?
This is not an official event, as timing consistency varies, but we all love stats, right?
Ever since I started watching the Olympics in 1972, historians always referred to “Bullet” Bob Hayes 8.5 second 4×100 meter anchor relay leg at […]
More Good Sportsmanship Stories
October 8, 2008 by Jimson Lee
Here are 3 short snippets of Olympic History with a good sportsmanship story attached.
Lutz Long & Jesse Owens, Long Jump
One of the earliest recorded moments of a good sportsmanship story occurred in 1936 Berlin Olympics between Lutz (Luz) Long and Jesse Owens.
Carl Ludwig “Lutz” Long is famous for assisting Jesse Owens in the preliminary round […]
Paris Golden League under threat: French Athletics Federation
October 2, 2008 by Jimson Lee
I was recently in France and I noticed SEAT was the official voiture for the French Athletics Federation (FFA).
I was so impressed that I had my photo taken with the car. You don’t see BC Athletics or Athletics Canada with a sponsor like that.
Now word has come out that the 2009 IAAF Golden League […]
Coach Says Bolt Could Have Run 9.52 in Olympics
August 29, 2008 by Jimson Lee
I don’t think so.
I analyzed Usain Bolt’s 10 meter splits from his 9.69 Beijing Olympic victory in a previous article.
If you extrapolate Usain Bolt’s last 10 meter segment, without the chest thumping, it would be fair to say he would have ran 0.84 or 0.85 seconds, making his 100m World Record 9.63 or 9.64.
Even a […]
World’s Fastest Nation Results: USA or Jamaica
August 25, 2008 by Jimson Lee
Who was the World’s Fastest Nation at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games? USA or Jamaica?
Jamaica had introduced the Fastest Nation Jamaica T-shirt before the Olympic Games!
Let’s take a look at the 7 sprint events that require starting blocks:
Here are a few random thoughts that come to mind:
USA owns the Men’s 400 meters and 400mH […]
Jamaica Smashes 4×100m WR, Canada 6th
August 22, 2008 by Jimson Lee
In June, I predicted Jamaica could go sub 37.
The next big question is, what will be the order?
Usain Bolt ran the 3rd leg, when everyone expected him to run 2nd, the “longest leg” with his long strides.
This is silly, as the 3rd leg can also be the “longest leg”!
But Bolt ran the 3rd leg, which […]
Video of LaShawn Merritt Beijing Olympic 400 meter 43.75
August 21, 2008 by Jimson Lee
In stunning fashion, LaShawn Merritt upset Jeremy Wariner to win the Olympic Gold medal in 43.75.
LaShawn Merritt appeared to be left in the blocks with a 0.318 reaction time. But in a 400 meters, the reaction time is not as critical as your first 40-60 meters which sets you up for the entire race. […]
Beijing Men’s 4 x 100m Relays - Anything Goes!
August 21, 2008 by Jimson Lee
The 4 x 100m Relay was going to be a showdown between USA, Jamaica, and Great Britain.
However, from my experience witnessed at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, “Anything Goes” (the Irving Berlin song).
In Semi-Final 1, USA, Nigeria, Poland, South Africa all dropped or missed the baton and DNF’ed. Trinidad won in 38.26, followed by Japan […]








